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It is with great remorse I will be parting with my TI Sport. Absolutely have loved the car, but now the dealer and mechanical issues are overwhelming. Let me explain..

Purchased the Alfa in October 2017 from my dealer in Sacramento, California (closed 1 1/2 years later); nearest dealer 130 miles away (more dealers closing). No local FCA dealer (Dodge/Jeep, Fiat etc) will service the Alfa.

Developed a "combustion chamber" cylinder 4 issue (mis-fire on cylinder, limp mode) they can't figure out and had to consult with "Engineering" (not sure what that means) Two weeks at the Berkeley, Ca dealer...no resolution. Said...Oh it could be a coolant line on the turbo...really? Or they said a "sticking valve".

Bottom line, I bought a 2021 Ford EDGE ST which kicks ass and I have a dealer 5 miles from my house.

I will miss this forum, the Stelvio is a great vehicle.
Understood. The dealer network for AR makes it challenging for so many enthusiasts. When I purchased my first Alfa in 2017, there were two dealerships in town. Two years ago one of them closed - the combo of AF requirements to be stand alone dealerships and low inventory. Now there is one dealer left in town. If that dealership closed, I probably wouldn't have an AR as the hassle might be similar to what you experienced. Have fun the Edge ST, it looks like a hoot!
John
 
Magna International is Canadian. Which technically is American but the implication is US.

Magna Steyr is German (Austrian specifically).

Pretty sure Magna Int is the North American arm of Magna Steyr. Not that that matters, what does though is the part Alfa got from them were re-engineneered by Alfa to be stronger and respond faster then the off-the-shelf parts (those would be what BMW uses).

Saying you don't think Alfa engineered anything....well, that shows what you don't know, not what you do. Just how that is.

On an equally on topic note:

I just ate the best Carne Asada burrito of my life. I am so happy and full right now....ate too fast though. It's ok...no pain no gain.
 
I just ate the best Carne Asada burrito of my life. I am so happy and full right now....ate too fast though. It's ok...no pain no gain.
That burrito was just made from off the shelf parts. Make sure you don’t give the chef any credit for how good it tasted. ;)
 
To each its own. There is simply no other car out there that even comes close to the engineering put in the stelvio/giulia for the money. Anybody that knows 1 or 2 things about automobile engineering can attest to that. Yes service is poor.
 
Discussion starter · #25 ·
Wow, lot's of replies....

So there is a still an engine misfire issue and they have no idea. Alfa "engineering" said to replace a bad turbo coolant line and see if that works (yeah right). Tech thought is may be a "sticking" valve. 2 1/2 weeks in...no resolution.

FYI 36K mileage.

I have contacted other FCA dealers and independents. Basic service can be done, but no one other than an authorized Alfa dealer will touch any warranty work.

I still own the Stelvio ......maybe I will convince my wife to keep the Edge and the Stelvio :)

For what it is worth, here is my take on the Edge ST:

Heavier for sure (~400 pounds), more torque and HP, but frankly the Alfa feels faster with the 2.0. Pretty amazing. Alfa handles better. Edge is roomier, way better tech, and feels solid.

I feel like I took a step back, but can't handle the dealer issues.
 
....I ran the Ford service dept at a couple different branches of one of the biggest Ford dealers in the world and...when I talk trash about dealers.....it's Ford I am talking about. Best thing you have with them is there are always multiple dealers, unlike Alfa. Otherwise..same day, different dollar. Ford techs replace thing to see what will happen all the time..mostly because Ford engineering doesn't respond to most inquiries.

Good luck. Not trying to be negative just ....keep your expectations realistic is all. The cars are a more known factor in terms of what fails and there are more dealers and more techs with alot of experience....but better support from the factory or less manipulative dealers.....yeah..hope I'm out of touch and wrong.

Please enjoy your car, don't let me ruin that in anyway...just..maybe easier to enjoy it long term if you have realistic expectations.

Hopefully, and probably it won't matter as most likely you won't need any warranty work on the Ford.
 
Wow, lot's of replies....

So there is a still an engine misfire issue and they have no idea. Alfa "engineering" said to replace a bad turbo coolant line and see if that works (yeah right). Tech thought is may be a "sticking" valve. 2 1/2 weeks in...no resolution.

FYI 36K mileage.

I have contacted other FCA dealers and independents. Basic service can be done, but no one other than an authorized Alfa dealer will touch any warranty work.

I still own the Stelvio ......maybe I will convince my wife to keep the Edge and the Stelvio :)

For what it is worth, here is my take on the Edge ST:

Heavier for sure (~400 pounds), more torque and HP, but frankly the Alfa feels faster with the 2.0. Pretty amazing. Alfa handles better. Edge is roomier, way better tech, and feels solid.

I feel like I took a step back, but can't handle the dealer issues.
For me, that was what steered me away from the Edge ST. 335hp/380tq and an 8 speed in a 4400# vehicle should be way swifter. I don't know what's up with it.

As to your Stelvio, the last one I heard about like yours had no compression/low compression on 1 or more cylinders. Dealer replaced turbos and everything. Obviously didn't fix it. Im guessing its failure in the byzantine system that is Fiat multiair. Put that as my guess: multi air related failure.

That said, Im super curious how fast an Edge really is, real world, if you have a dragy. I fiund the thread where the Stelvio owner here put his stelvio on the clock without brake torquing it, very enlightening. Drag strip starts just arent my thing. I want to know ahat the car does when you need the beans without planning it out and staging it up, etc.
 
Wow, lot's of replies....

So there is a still an engine misfire issue and they have no idea. Alfa "engineering" said to replace a bad turbo coolant line and see if that works (yeah right). Tech thought is may be a "sticking" valve. 2 1/2 weeks in...no resolution.

FYI 36K mileage.

I have contacted other FCA dealers and independents. Basic service can be done, but no one other than an authorized Alfa dealer will touch any warranty work.

I still own the Stelvio ......maybe I will convince my wife to keep the Edge and the Stelvio :)

For what it is worth, here is my take on the Edge ST:

Heavier for sure (~400 pounds), more torque and HP, but frankly the Alfa feels faster with the 2.0. Pretty amazing. Alfa handles better. Edge is roomier, way better tech, and feels solid.

I feel like I took a step back, but can't handle the dealer issues.
Hello! Sorry to hear about your issues.
Same problem at 55 thousand miles. My dealer seemed to know exactly what was wrong. Bad solenoid in the Multiair cartridge. Have to replace the whole cartridge. That fixed it
 
Is this the high speed oil control solenoid?

Have you changed your oil at 10k every oil change?

Realize contaminants in the oil can cause a solenoid to stick.

Which is exactly why I was worried by the grit I found still in my engine after a 10k oil change.

Not saying you did anything wrong, saying Alfa should have spec'de shorter oil change intervals. Really every manufacturer should IMO. Not because the oil fails..because the filter does and allows unfiltered oil to circulate in various amounts. Hydraulic valvetrain uses engine oil...small pieces of dirt are not welcome. (I think that's why they didn't put an oil dipstick in the Alfa engine but did in the Jeep. I think Alfa knows MultiAir is very sensitive to any dirt.. more so than a normal valvetrain like Jeep uses. Total guess/assumption not fact)
 
The next question is why don't people just ignore the service reminders on the cars. Its called a piece of paper and pen, or an excel sheet in your computer. I gave up on that crap after the first dealer service, then I took over, read online and found how to rest the miles to next change, that other message goes away or is inconsequential. Forget if it was 10 pumps, or on /off/on/off stuff but it worked. Some want a door open , some don't. usually pretty simple. Industry has owners trained like Pavlov.
BTW, just block the little prick like I did a month or so ago....glsad it wasn't just me knowing how clueless he really was all the time. He never did comment on the Motor trend dissection of that Type S.......pathetic was an appropriate word......his vehicle's lineage.
 
I was able to reset my minder the first time but there is a second one that needs the dealer...i ignore the thing even though it pops up every time the car starts. Dealer is 120 or so miles away..car has never been inside one since i bought it. I do have a couple outstanding recalls on it but i just cant take off work for a day to get it done and nobody opens on weekends anymore.
 
Do you ever have anything good to say? Seriously. Why are you here? You contribute nothing except to stir the pot for your own amusement.

Go enjoy your Honda and go away.
I totally agree with you and I'm glad I am not the only one that noticed and felt this way. This jerk with pencil sketch for an icon needs to take his/her always negative $#|* and get the 7$*& out of this forum.
 
Hello! Sorry to hear about your issues.
Same problem at 55 thousand miles. My dealer seemed to know exactly what was wrong. Bad solenoid in the Multiair cartridge. Have to replace the whole cartridge. That fixed it
Can you post the service note for the fix? It will be good information for me to have on hand if I have that issue. Glad you got yours back on the road with a simple fix. (At least it sounds simple …)
 
so is the car gone? Or did they do a compression check and think about rnr multi air parts?
+1
Last OP indicated, he still owned the Stelvio and the dealer was looking into what's wrong. I will be amused if the dude without a Stelvio is the one who posted the solution first, lol! That said, I'll be happy for OP that the fix is easy and straight forward and he can be back to enjoying his vehicle.
 
The ignore function is your friend...
Indeed. It's made this community so much more enjoyable. In my 23 years of being a part of car forums, this is the first time I've ever had to do that.

Even the trolls at Jeeps Unlimited back in the day at least owned Jeeps and contributed to the tech knowledge of the community. They knew to keep their trolling to the off topic area.

Seriously dude, it's just getting weird now. Go find your supply elsewhere.
 
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