ALFA ROMEO Complaints

Car was being driven on a highway going around a turn and message for “ATV Service” appeared. Shortly after power to the steering wheel and lost jerked the car and came back. All electric lighting flickered and several other messages for service engine and transmission appeared.

When driving on the I-10 the ATV light came on the christmas tree lights cycled and the car rapidly came to a stop and shut off.

My vehicle parking brake came on suddenly and will not go off. I have seen thousands of complaints online about corrosion to the wiring in the electronic brake system and am wondering why a recall has not been issued as this is a serious safety concern. My vehicle is now inoperable because I cannot get the parking brake off and am afraid that it will happen again while driving.

Car started itself. Vehicle was sitting in garage and was Locked. The radiator fans came on and vehicle started on its own. it continued to run until we unlocked and hit the stop button. Since this has happened it does not turnover on the first attempt. It has set several codes, Start stop unavailable, service electronic throttle, service engine now. My concern is if the vehicle were to start in the garage while we were asleep and carbon monoxide would leak into the house.

The battery will not hold a charge significant enough for the rear window defrost to work, and stop/start to work. Have replaced the battery twice and the dealer's answer is that I don't drive enough to get the battery charged enough as battery health is only 30%. I drive 20 miles a day, every day, somedays 100 miles. Others have this same issue in their Forum. Another solution is to constantly put a charger on the battery. The rear window ices over and is a safety issue.

Vehicle presenting significant life-threatening system-wide failures while driving. These catastrophic system failures result in the vehicle becoming immediately undrivable without warning placing passengers at significant risk, particularly when traveling at high speeds (e.g., interstates). The following summarizes system-wide failures in the 2018 Giulia and failed attempts to correct this defect by Alfa Romeo and dealer: •11/30/20: One (1) day of service after complete multi-system failure while driving locally. Returned same day by service department but failed to repair (see following service report). •11/30/20 – 12/4/20: Five (5) days of service. Vehicle presented to dealer service department immediately after pick-up from aforementioned service to correct 2nd systemic failure which subsequently occurred promptly after departing the dealership. Resulting system failure produced highly dangerous operating conditions in which vehicle became immediately and unexpectedly incapacitated while attempting to merge into interstate traffic at accelerating speed. •1/25/21 – 2/5/21: Twelve (12) days of service following 3rd system failure. As per dealer service reps, an Alfa Romeo service agent stated there was a defect in in the molds used for creating engine / engine blocks in the Giulia and the resulting defects can cause an oil leak while in operation which, based on its location, can result in entire operating system collapsing unexpectedly when said leak occurs. As documented in the service record, metal shavings were found in the oil and oil pump of vehicle and per the guidance of the Alfa Romeo service agent, dealer replaced the entire engine •12/10/21: On 12/10/21, the 4th catastrophic system failure occurred during interstate travel in the rain while attempting to accelerate and pass a slow moving vehicle. Vehicle became unexpectedly incapacitated causing seriously life-threatening conditions. Vehicle available for inspection currently.

While driving on highway at approximately 65mph, the panoramic sunroof spontaneously exploded causing shards of glass to be propelled through the cabin of the vehicle. All windows including the sunroof had been completely closed. My air conditioner was running, there were no vehicles directly in front of me or near me actually. There was no debris that struck the car nor where there any over pass streets or overhead structures in the vicinity. I was driving and a sudden (very loud) gunshot type bang, startled me followed by the whistling sound of wind and falling glass prompted me to pull over immediately. Fortunately my kids were not on the vehicle or they would’ve been struck by the falling shards of glass as there is plenty in the backseat area. The incident happened today, Sunday December 12, so as of now the vehicle has not been inspected by dealer or police or anyone. There was no previous warning of failure or malfunctions.

The brake by wire system failed, and another component caused the vehicle to accelerate when I hit the brake pedal. I didn't have any proof on the last complaint, but I have it now. This brake failure caused me to rear end someone, which caused a multiple vehicle accident. The dealership I took it to was aware that I was having electrical issues with the car, but they said they couldn't do anything about it because they couldn't find any fault codes. I even sent them a video of it as well. I also believe this car was involved in a prior accident as well by one of the previous owners and fixed by one of them under the table, because the front bumper shock absorber plate broke in half, and had writing on it as well that looked like something a repair shop would do. This car is unsafe.

As I am merging onto the highway during high traffic, I hear what sounded like a shotgun/explosion. I immediately swerve to the side of the highway, scared, alarmed, and in fear of causing a major accident. As I inspected the car, I noticed no damage to the body but only to find my sunroof glass was shattered. According to the experts, they stated "there is no apparent impact zone, and if there was, it would show damage inconsistent to what actually occurred here." Looking at the images/videos taken from the incident, the sunroof appeared to have imploded outward, and nothing penetrated the glass from outside forces aka. a rock, a bird, debris, etc... The entire sides of the sunroof all broke outwards. The corporate people at Alfa Romeo said it was due to 'outside forces' but with no evidence of such. This is clearly a manufacturer problem, and if not addressed, can cause severe injuries and in worst case, fatalities. The car has less than 8k miles and is brand new. I am traumatized, concerned and frankly upset about this whole ordeal.

Due to a faulty starter relay, my Alfa Romeo Giulia would intermittently not start or restart. The dashboard illuminated properly but the starter did not engage and the engine did not attempt to crank. Afterwards, a warning lamp would sometimes appear saying "auto start/stop unavailable". This became a safety hazard when the auto start/stop feature shut the engine down at a stop light and the car would not restart when the light turned green. In my case, the light turned green and other cars were approaching the intersection and I could not move out of the way. The problem occurred multiple times on initial startup and while driving in a 3 week period before it the faulty relay was replaced under warranty by my local dealer. The car's ECU recorded P26E4-OO for start stop relay and the dealer had seen the issue before. The part has been upgraded and should proactively be recalled.