I took a chance on Alfa Romeo, despite warnings from car experts on the brand's past reliability and concerns about the brand's commitment to the U.S. The car look is superb, the performance and handling impressive. But car has technical quirks with anticipated specs and protocols, for example, a back-up camera with poor resolution and erroneous perspective; the camera and screen don't do well in sunlight. While the body is stunning, the back seat is almost irrelevant. My son bought a Volvo S60--about same length, but with a real back seat. But I knew this going in. My problem! What I didn't know is the body is not put together properly--I found symmetrical body assembly NON-symmetrical, with extra space.

WORSE: the front bumper disengages with minor and normal impact for a low-clearance car. When I complained, Customer Car secured a $1600 inflated bill for a "new" bumper--and offered to pay for the bumper. Eventually I said give me the bumper, and i'll get someone to install and paint it, or give me the money you will spend for the bumper. After tentative agreement, Alfa reneged; I spent the money myself to re-do the bumper and attach it securely,properly, unlike the original Alfa. Apparently detached bumper is a common problem. You can write me at as1947mail@gmail.com if you wish to be part of a class action suit. Recently, I hadunrepairable flat. Alfa Customer Service towed me to a dealer that didn't have the tire; rather than have it delivered, they towed me to another dealer, who over-charged. All this took THE ENTIRE DAY, and their response was, with a bunch of paperwork and research, they would come up with the $40-$50 over-charge. This is a beautiful high performing car, but Customer Service is nothing compared to my past experience with Cadillac and Lincoln, years ago, and in the 20 years, Audi, BMW, Mercedes. Several people admired my car (super red/black interior) and wanted to get a Giulia, but when they saw the disengaged bumper and how it was ineptly designed, and I explained how unresponsive Alfa Customer Service was, they ruled out the Giulia. The Customer Service people are designed to filibuster--they begin each sentence with "I apologize" and seem to have no idea they are competing with superior customer service with other brands. The dealer service reps are all aware of the disengaging bumpers (mainly front, but possibly back) and the lack of customer support. On the record, they say, "It's because it's a low clearance car." Off the record, they say, "Yeah, I know, it's the way it's designed, it breaks away, and they expect you to get a whole new bumper."

I consider Alfa customer service a farce and will put in an immense amount of time to alert others about the defective bumper design, the indifference, the broken commitments, and the overall terrible customer service--where my entire day is spent dealing with a flat tie to their incompetence. They will delay, keep you on the phone, do "research" and filibuster --take all your time, and then "close the case' without stepping up to the plate.