2006 Alfa Romeo GT JTD 1.9 diesel

Summary:

Smouldering Looks, Performance and Practicality from the home land of the car... need I say more!!

Faults:

A clip came loose on the clutch pedal after 500 miles leaving the car un-driveable. The Dealer replaced the clip immediately and car has since been fine.

General Comments:

I wanted a more practical and less thirsty sports coupe than an RX8 that I once owned. I craved something with a bit of exclusivity as well. The TT was nice, but common as muck, The Crossfire too ugly, The Hyundai good, but cheap looking leaving only one car that ticked all the boxes - The stunning Alfa GT. For me the JTD was the model of choice giving performance and economy. I've even had mine remapped recently to really give it superb mid ranger performance.

We have an 18mth old daughter and this car is more than practical enough with a very spacious boot.

The interior is well styled and very comfortable. The Leather seats are wonderfully supportive when throwing the car around corners.

For me the car is still one of the most beautiful sights on the road today.

Even the achilles heal for Alfa owners - depreciation, has been resolved with this car. Residuals in the UK are superb.

Minor criticism is that the brakes could be a bit firmer.

I can see me keeping this car for another 2 or 3 years (that's an age for me!!)

After the remap the performance is a 9 - Alfa played the engine set up too safe in it's default guise!!

I really like this car and would urge people looking in this category to take one out for a test - you'll be pleasantly surprised. Even the new Brera is struggling to gain favour over the soon to be classic Alfa GT.

Ignore some of the fools at certain Car Magazines who could only give the Car 3 stars as they felt the residuals and reliability would be a big blight for the car... THEY WERE WRONG ON BOTH COUNTS!!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 1st October, 2006

3rd Oct 2006, 03:57

You must be a lucky sob. I had my GT from new for six months, and had so much go wrong with it. it spent so much time at the garage that I forgot I owned it. Alfa Romeo has been taken off our company car list because all their cars seemed to unreliable. Real shame as it looked like sex on legs and nothing out there comes close in the looks department.

2005 Alfa Romeo GT JTD 1.9 turbo diesel

Summary:

It's a car that is fantastic to drive and looks like a poor mans Maserati, which for me works

Faults:

This is my first Alfa. A decision that I was actually quite proud of until Thursday 5th May when all hell broke loose.

Travelling alone the motorway at around 60-70 miles per hour the car decided to red-line without me putting any pressure on the accelerator. The car wouldn't let me slow down other than by taking it out of gear. By now I'm doing well over the speed limt and then the smoke started coming out from the bonnet and through the air vents. I couldn't see where I was going so I pulled onto the hard-shoulder and ran before calling on the services of the police and the fire brigade. A very scary moment and I am thankful that it happened after midnight when there were very few cars on the motorway with me. It could have been a lot worse.

The car is now with the dealer where its been for a day whilst they find out what happened and why.

I will update on this once I know more.

Other than the above incident I've had the same issues as everyone else:

Electric windows pausing when opening and or closing which does happen on a regular basis. I find this is reset if you fully open the window and keep the button pressed for a second of two before closing it.

Sticking rubber which barks like a seal every time the boot is opened.

The panel in the drivers door for the electric windows and wing mirrors doesn't sit as flush as the passenger panel. Seems to operate OK.

I will get the dealer to look at all of these whilst they sought out the engine.

Has this put me off the Alfa GT. No. It's a car that is fantastic to drive and looks like a poor mans Maserati, which for me works. Has it put me off having this particular car back. Yes.

General Comments:

The rear visibility is as bad as everyone has commented on in past reviews, but when you consider how often you spend time reversing, it's an issue that is quickly forgotten.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 9th May, 2006

9th May 2006, 15:34

I read reviews like this and can't figure out how Alfa Romeo expects to re-enter the US market, especially when they are intending on selling their cars for $50K or more here.

Yes, Alfas are great driving cars, but so are BMWs, Audis, Mercedes, Infinitis and the rest. And those (well, most of them) have substantially better quality than as described here.

I truly wish Toyota or some Japanese company would buy Alfa from Fiat, let the Italian engineers/designers do their thing, but implement strict quality controls. If that happened, Alfa would be unbeatable in any market.

I know quirkiness is part of Alfa's charm, but a relatively new car almost blowing up on the highway will never work in the American market.

10th May 2006, 01:50

Man, I'm driving a 147 and consider myself an Alfisti, BUT if the car put me in a similar situation I would push it off a cliff!

26th Feb 2007, 11:33

Re: the last comment.

The chap in the BMW was arrested for dangerous driving. Nothing to do with the car, everything to do with the attention seeking driver.