Remote Start Heating Issue
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Are you saying the heat itself doesn't kick on? I most often use the remote start just moments before I walk out to the car as a way of giving the oil a chance to get pumping so I don't need to wait a minute before putting it in drive, and rarely leave it run long enough for the heat to kick in anyway. The only time I've remote started for the true sake of heating up the car it was -2F true, -25F wind chill, and the car was covered in snow, took ~20 minutes of remote start warming up while cleaning the snow, and what felt like another 15 minutes of driving after that to get the engine to warm enough to give any real heat.
I dropped mine off this morning to (Finally) get the door handle replaced (the little lock button was misshappen from the factory and getting jammed and causing the door to not unlock correctly), and while there I opened several nuisance trouble tickets with them at the same time, all of which they opened Star cases directly with Alfa (perhaps a privilege of them knowing my moderator status, they are now less dismissive of little things, also possibly because the new service manager comes from Land Rover), one of them was for the heated seats not kicking in on remote start. They are keeping it overnight (gave me a loaner Stelvio Sport), and tomorrow it's snowing, which means they can "test the problem" and report the official complaint / issue to Alfa.
I dropped mine off this morning to (Finally) get the door handle replaced (the little lock button was misshappen from the factory and getting jammed and causing the door to not unlock correctly), and while there I opened several nuisance trouble tickets with them at the same time, all of which they opened Star cases directly with Alfa (perhaps a privilege of them knowing my moderator status, they are now less dismissive of little things, also possibly because the new service manager comes from Land Rover), one of them was for the heated seats not kicking in on remote start. They are keeping it overnight (gave me a loaner Stelvio Sport), and tomorrow it's snowing, which means they can "test the problem" and report the official complaint / issue to Alfa.
it was reported in another thread awhile ago. In the winter I want to remote start the car and have the heat come one to warm the vehicle. Some here were reporting that the heat does not come on to warn the cabin as other remote start systems do..
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Still an issue with both Giulias and Stelvios.
No word yet if it's an issue of sloppy copy/paste from another FCA manual or if it's a glitch that will be corrected.
No word yet if it's an issue of sloppy copy/paste from another FCA manual or if it's a glitch that will be corrected.
I'm heading to the dealer in a few minutes where they just finished determining the heated seats / wheel are "operating as expected", aka Alfa doesn't appear to be listening on this one (I'm starting another thread about this in a couple hours, so save the comments for that).
I'm going to ask them about this while I'm there, I'll update you with what they say
I'm going to ask them about this while I'm there, I'll update you with what they say
Service manager said he hasn't heard of the lack of heat working on remote start, but he's going to test the loaner I had last night tomorrow morning after it sits outside on the lot overnight and let me know his findings.
btw, if you haven't seen it yet, I just posted this about various issues including this one. http://www.stelvioforum.com/forum/241-stelvio-complaints-issues-problems/5218-call-action.html i
btw, if you haven't seen it yet, I just posted this about various issues including this one. http://www.stelvioforum.com/forum/241-stelvio-complaints-issues-problems/5218-call-action.html i
My dealer opened several star cases with Alfa yesterday, and today Alfa closed all the cases with the official response for each of them saying that the features are working as intended, no problems with the operation. Service manager also mentioned that they asked if a fix was in the works, and the response was that it wasn't broken, so nothing to fix. :eek
This is not good. Really? A basic feature/operation of a remote start is just that IMO, to warm or cool the cabin BEFORE you get there. One could argue that it "warms up the engine" so that the heat functions quicker...well what about cooling the cabin? Your A/C will come on and start to cool the cabin immediately. This is extremely disappointing to me and a worthless remote start feature for my needs/purposes.
Do they state or advertise this feature in the manual? There is so little info and even the ordering process is difficult. I love this car but they are making it almost impossible for me to consider pulling the trigger.. I buy and don't lease so if Alfa is promising something and reneges I'm stuck for a few years as I wont turn a car over that quickly..and that will make me extremely unhappy. Same goes for ordering. it seems like every other day there is suddenly something new we can order (leather dash, performance package, or some other feature they tell isn't coming then someone posts they ordered it) And if a dealer tells me "oh no that wont be available and then two weeks later someone in here posts they placed an order that will again make me very upset.
I am not pleased with their lack of information and transparency.
I am hoping owners will respond to the "call to action" and start voicing their disappointments and concerns to Alfa to make them wake up and make some changes if they want to move those cars off the lots. If Alfa wants to instill confidence in their brand I can tell you this is definitely NOT the way to do it. I am still hanging on but the thread is getting thin...Alfa please help.
I can't test the A/C (it was snowing here this morning), but my assumption is that it would work, but I have no way to test this until summer. Someone in a more southern climate will need to do a test and report.
yes I believe it's in the printed manual, heard the e-manual in the dash omits that (will look to verify in a bit), Alfa's official stance as far as I know is that the remote start / heated seats part of the printed manual is a typo.
I will say that despite all those little issues, I still love the car, and I don't regret buying it at all. Doesn't mean I don't hope for a software update to fix the small things I don't like, but overall the vehicle is amazing. Look at the http://www.stelvioforum.com/forum/6-new-member-introductions/5194-hello-brooklyn-ny.html thread, that guy lives in Brooklyn, has never owned a vehicle in his life but chose to buy a Stelvio because how fun it is to drive. If I was you, I'd go buy tomorrow, these remote start issues are not serious enough that I think anyone should hold back, the carplay / android auto issue is solved for new buyers, so you don't need to worry about that (I recall you mentioned it was critical for you).
I understand remote start options, car play , and gesture tail gate are not important to you but we are all different in our wants and needs in a vehicle. These were advertised and expected as features of the car when I began exploring and considering it and what was it almost a year before we could even get an answer on car play? It’s still not on the online configurator. Not everyone has a year or more to wait out what was presented as the car. People on lease can’t wait. I actually can wait and am trying to do so because of all the other positives of the vehicle. But the reality is if Alfa wants to be competitive with other vehicles in this class they need to offer similar features. Not everyone out there is buying it for pure drive-ability. They are being used to commute and everyday driving. That’s where the large market (they need to succeed) is. These are very small and basic features literally offered by Hyundai so it’s hard for me to purchase a luxury vehicle I will be spending a great deal of time in without these features that (yes I do use extensively ). I am continuing to hold out hope these last few things can be resolved or I sadly may have to move on from considering the vehicle. I am very curious as to when the 2019 model will be released and with what options but knowing Alfa they will tell us in 2020. That’s a joke everyone
. I am glad everyone loves their Stelvio, I love it too. I don’t want to sound over critical but I’m disappointed these options aren’t available because they are fairly important to my daily driving.
So why haven't you bought a Lexus yet? There must be a little more to it...
It's possible the brand isn't for everyone. It's called differentiation and if soulless perfection is so important, the quest may lead elsewhere.
The best emotion is not perfection- consider art or even science. The sum of the whole is better than each individual part. Perfection is found often in imperfection such as the best and most awe-inspiring art and music. I'm sure you love your children or your pets even more despite- or because of their imperfections, right? How much beauty is destroyed in plastic surgery or remodeling in a never-ending obsession that defeats itself and totally overwhelms the original beauty?
I'm not saying in manufactured goods perfection isn't a noble goal, however we have Lexus for that if perfection is more important than passion and emotion.
As a manufacturer I can assure you that the motivation for a new software release will include a range of comprehensive enhancements but not knee-jerk demands from a small group of militants used to having their way and acting like children when they don't get it. The rest of us are happy to wait for our Maypo and totally enjoying the ride without looking back or overanalyzing each detail.
That's a lifestyle brand that works.
It's possible the brand isn't for everyone. It's called differentiation and if soulless perfection is so important, the quest may lead elsewhere.
The best emotion is not perfection- consider art or even science. The sum of the whole is better than each individual part. Perfection is found often in imperfection such as the best and most awe-inspiring art and music. I'm sure you love your children or your pets even more despite- or because of their imperfections, right? How much beauty is destroyed in plastic surgery or remodeling in a never-ending obsession that defeats itself and totally overwhelms the original beauty?
I'm not saying in manufactured goods perfection isn't a noble goal, however we have Lexus for that if perfection is more important than passion and emotion.
As a manufacturer I can assure you that the motivation for a new software release will include a range of comprehensive enhancements but not knee-jerk demands from a small group of militants used to having their way and acting like children when they don't get it. The rest of us are happy to wait for our Maypo and totally enjoying the ride without looking back or overanalyzing each detail.
That's a lifestyle brand that works.
Dude, I'm not going to argue with you and don't tell me to buy a Lexus, Ill buy what I want when I'm ready.
A small group of militants? Maybe the right choice for a moderator has not been made? WTH is that comment, really? Don't tell me I'm acting like a child either. Get over it yourself and stop taking everything so personally dude.
If Alfa wants to cater to just some older retired guy without a family tooling around in his first luxury vehicle ever that only cares about how it drives and looks then they aren't going to sell a lot of Stelvios.
What we are asking for is Alfa to implement what they already promised. I want a HUD in my car but it was never advertised as option so you don't hear me whining about it do you? I'm not trying to be "militant" and "force" Alfa to develop and add it am I?
SUV's are more for families IMO. Moms and families need convenience - believe me. And again the comment has been made to me since I'm a "soccer mom" (oh I'm way cooler than a soccer mom I promise, we ski, surf and motocross, that's why I don't have sports convertible and need an SUV - with gesture tail gate :smile) I don't belong looking at this vehicle (same cry from the old school Land Rover owners upset over the new designs) Well guess what there are a lot of us "soccer moms" out here looking for an SUV. If Alfa does not care to address that market, then that's their decision. Good luck selling to a small niche group - most of whom will go with a Macan. The Stelvio is the perfect option for those of us in between(price and performance). And Alfa is extremely remiss if they ignore us and this part of the market.
I said I was glad you are happy with your Stelvio as it is, that's all that really matters isn't it?
Why post such a reply to me? Don't take every post about anything remotely negative SO PERSONAL. I guess this is how people act when they get their first luxury car and feel they need to defend their purchase. EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT, respect that. I respect you don't care about Car Play and other things, be respectful of others as well. This post is not respectful for a moderator IMO.
No offense taken, mmoretti. I will let your words stand for themselves.
I have learned after years in business- it might seem counterintuitive- that there are some customers you simply can't afford to have. These are the folks that are never satisfied, venomous and emotional in their ranting when displeased, highly reactive, and simply not possible to satisfy and integrate. Being cursed with an intuition and sensitivity that is useful in many situations but problematic in others, I have observed consumer behavior so out of control that it is not possible to mitigate no matter the effort or expense to satisfy. This is a valuable lesson in business and in life as we migrate away from pain and towards pleasure.
As to you personally, I do hope your eventual decision satisfies your needs.
Generally speaking- It is easy to identify that customer- and even worse before even purchasing the vehicle! If were the brand/marketing manager, people of this nature have the potential to be my worst nightmare and are usually best served by the competition. In fact, I have fired (3) three such customers in my career and in each case it was the best day of my week.
I have learned after years in business- it might seem counterintuitive- that there are some customers you simply can't afford to have. These are the folks that are never satisfied, venomous and emotional in their ranting when displeased, highly reactive, and simply not possible to satisfy and integrate. Being cursed with an intuition and sensitivity that is useful in many situations but problematic in others, I have observed consumer behavior so out of control that it is not possible to mitigate no matter the effort or expense to satisfy. This is a valuable lesson in business and in life as we migrate away from pain and towards pleasure.
As to you personally, I do hope your eventual decision satisfies your needs.
Generally speaking- It is easy to identify that customer- and even worse before even purchasing the vehicle! If were the brand/marketing manager, people of this nature have the potential to be my worst nightmare and are usually best served by the competition. In fact, I have fired (3) three such customers in my career and in each case it was the best day of my week.
I own my own business (2 of them at present, and I've owned / sold 3 others of them in the past), and I too have fired customers before as well, but not until I've tried bending over backwards to accommodate them, and only once they have demonstrated that they cannot be appeased no matter how far I go to satisfy them. If your attitude is fire the customer when all they are asking for the product to do what you advertised, and in many cases even printed as the expected operation in the owners manual, and what is considered standard / normal / expected / logical operation in the global automotive industry, and the request is a simple set of fixes you can issue as an easy to install software update (aka not something that needs a recall, not something that needs new parts manufactured, not something that needs a mechanic to take anything apart to swap), which many brands are now starting to issue regularly as over the air software pushes, I am glad I never did business with you!
Love is blind isn't it? YOU are the one WAY too emotionally attached to your vehicle.
Venomous because @SailDrive asked for them to follow through on their promises? Dude you are overreacting and comical at this point. Really "venomous"? LMFAO Please stop the drama.
Alfa better try to get every customer they can at this point with 100's of stelvios sitting on lots (without car play, heated remote start, and other options the public wants) and dealerships bailing with fire sales. Sorry if that reality bothers you. It bothers me because this car deserves so much more...
Guess Alfa cant afford to have me as a customer because I want to have my heat come on to warm the car in a remote start like every other vehicle I've owned in the past 10 years? How is that venomous or a nightmare customer? Good thing you are not in their marketing division. Good luck with the US relaunch of Alfa and good luck with the value of your cars in the future with this attitude.
Can we "fire" you as moderator as I am now thinking I won't buy the car just because of your completely ignorant comments. This "community" has just been ruined by your elitist (funny for a first time luxury buyer that probably only spent 45K or less) and ignorant comments. People are entitled to an opinion and if you as a moderator cannot respect that without calling people names and making assumptions about them perhaps you should not be a moderator. You know nothing about me personally as a consumer or customer but want to say I'm some nightmare customer. What a joke. I could say more but @SailDrive covered some more things in his follow up post.
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I haven't responded to the "Call to Action" as I haven't taken delivery of my Stelvio as of yet and can't report problems that I don't have.
I ordered it knowing that some of the features are not going to work as advertised. When it arrives if the features, like the remote start/ heat issue does not work correctly I'll have no problem talking to Alfa about it as they have a responsibility to make sure the features they sold us work as advertised. Whats an acceptable amount of things that don't function correctly? 1, 3, 10?
I'd take the same course of action with any new product I would purchase and as far as I'm concerned expecting Alfa to correct these issues is 100% reasonable and within their powers.
One of the issues in commenting pretty much anywhere online is the personal attacks and name calling. I enjoy this community as we've avoided becoming like this up until now and as our membership grows now will be the time to decide if this is acceptable or not. Personally I am disappointed in the direction this thread has gone and hope this is an isolated incident that is not a foreshadowing of where we are heading.
I ordered it knowing that some of the features are not going to work as advertised. When it arrives if the features, like the remote start/ heat issue does not work correctly I'll have no problem talking to Alfa about it as they have a responsibility to make sure the features they sold us work as advertised. Whats an acceptable amount of things that don't function correctly? 1, 3, 10?
I'd take the same course of action with any new product I would purchase and as far as I'm concerned expecting Alfa to correct these issues is 100% reasonable and within their powers.
One of the issues in commenting pretty much anywhere online is the personal attacks and name calling. I enjoy this community as we've avoided becoming like this up until now and as our membership grows now will be the time to decide if this is acceptable or not. Personally I am disappointed in the direction this thread has gone and hope this is an isolated incident that is not a foreshadowing of where we are heading.
Well said, perhaps the thread should be closed. I'm extremely disappointed in other ways to see this reaction to @SailDrive's post and my follow up comments. I've said time and again how much I love the car and am holding on to buy it in spite of the red flags popping up. But like you said, where do you draw the line at accepting these issues and how many do you accept? I'm looking at plunking down upwards of 55K (purchase and keep for 3-4 years, not a short term lease) with what I want to order and yeah I'm sorry I want my car to heat up on remote start and be able to utilize my phone/car play. Not hard to fix and promised by Alfa. I don't think anyone deserves a personal attack about it. I still hold on to hope they will change their mind on some of these issues and I can continue to plan to buy this car. BUT if they don't by the time I NEED to buy my new car this summer then I will have a hard decision to make about living without or moving on. My decision is no reflection on ANYONE else but me, keep that in mind and others who already own please don't take offense at our "criticisms" or disappointments. I sincerely apologize if that is "ruining" your excitement in some way and I wish everyone the very best whether I continue with Alfa or not..its just a car .. that we all love :smile..I get some can get a little emotional.. Please go out and drive your Stelvios and enjoy, I am still waiting for the day I can do that too (hopefully sooner than later)
I've been quite close to agreeing all morning, but only haven't done so yet on account of the fact that some disagreement and discussion is healthy, as long as it's kept within reasonable limits of civility. As the saying goes, You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. However if anymore eggs are thrown across the kitchen.... I firmly believe that people are entitled to their own opinions and beliefs, so long as they don't take the attitude that their belief is better than someone else's, and that makes them right and the other person wrong. Just because something isn't terribly important to you, doesn't mean that it isn't terribly important to someone else (except in the case of daylight savings time, that flawed idea simply needs to go away for all eternity and there's no other right opinion to be had!!!).
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