I like fast sedans and find the Giulia to be one of the few really attractive cars sold these days, so when the high-end Quadrifoglio version came to the States I put my misgivings about Alfas aside long enough to strongly consider one as my last ICE car. I came to my senses after at least two of the prominent reviews at release described going through multiple vehicles as their initial review cars died. Car and Driver's 40,000-Mile Wrap-Up of their experience with the car (https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a23145269/alfa-romeo-gi...) said the QF "broke their heart" and lists a litany of issues, with the car out of commission for 80 days out of the 14 months they spent with it. They did say the car's an absolute blast to drive when it actually works, at least.

Modern Alfas are about as reliable as german cars these days, so reliability issues are more myth than fact. That being said, German cars aren't as reliable as Japanese cars.

The real problem isn't reliability but shitty dealer networks. Alfa have a knack for finding dealership networks that think it's great fun to have them in the showroom to pull people in, but aren't terribly interested in selling them or doing a good job servicing them.

My tip is to never use the dealership for servicing your vehicles (of any brand). Find a garage that has competent people, and who have respect for the work, and then pick whatever cars they are competent to work on. You don't want to spend a lot of money on a car only to have a bunch of underpaid teenagers who can only follow a manual work on your car.

> Modern Alfas are about as reliable as german cars

I've just read the other day that BMW is recalling 1M+ vehicles on the US market because of engine fire issues. What?

Last weekend we went on a trip and what do you know, smoke coming out of the hood of a burning BMW X3 on the other side of the road, fire brigade etc. When we returned we saw it reduced to a pile of burned down chasis.

A woman from a neighbouring office bought a brand new BMW X6 (the butt ugly ones). She had to take it back to the dealership because the engine would overheat.

They (BMW drivers) can always drive their cars like normal people, not smashing the foot on the gas pedal.

The perception of reliability still has an affect on price and depreciation. So maybe it's a good idea to buy them used.

Another complaint I've heard of Alfas is ergonomics sacrificed for looks, which is kind of a deal breaker for me.

That's probably true. Except lately. Good luck finding a cheap 4C or Giulia QV here.

The ergonomics: guilty as charged. Alfas are built for people who have the anatomy of an orangutan. I am not kidding. You need short legs and freakishly long arms to be comfortable.

But I don't mind :)

Not using the dealership to service your car requires that you have a lot of time. " Sir, x is broken, it takes 2 days to get it from the dealer".

I've done this for 20 years now and part delivery times are identical to dealer network here. They also tend to offer you more choices when it comes to parts (cheap, standard, upgraded etc).