On the Car Talk main page is a review of the Plug in Crossover slated to come to the US . The review reads more like a sales broucher than a real vehicle test . Alfa sold just over 12000 vehicles in 2022 . That was a 30 % drop from 2021 .
I did not see anything about the vehicle distinctive other than the front grill and there had to be something the writer did not care for.
Or just buy the same basic vehicle for less (I imagine) as the Dodge Hornet. Given the poor reliability of recent Alfas, I’ll pass.
+1
While the price of this new Alfa Romeo plug-in hybrid is appealing, my Lexus NX plug-in has more power, longer EV range, longer HV range, and–almost surely–much better reliability than a vehicle from the problem-plagued Alfa Romeo marque. I have no plans for trading my NX in for a Tonale.
An Alfa Romeo with a MORE complicated set of electronics?? I’d sooner walk, which is what I WILL be doing before the tow truck arrives!
AlfA expects 90% of sales to be leased, in the C&D review thats online,
They are leased because NO one wants to keep these cars beyond the warranty period.
And they are cheap on the used car lots!
Hate to say it but with a limited dealer base, limited independent mechanic and limited brand reliablity record this is truely a “shot in the dark”.
I expect that most will be leased but on the other hand and a few years down the road, off leased cars at the right price may be worth a shot.
This will likely turn out similarly to the saga of the mostly-forgotten Sterling cars of the late '80s. For those who don’t remember those English sedans, their engines and transmissions were from Honda, and were essentially bullet-proof, but the electrics/electronics, bodies, and everything else were “pure” English, and after the warranty period anyone with good sense dropped those putrid cars like a bad habit.
The saddest part of the Sterling saga is that poor people often bought them from used car lots because of the low price, and quickly found that they had bought a money pit.
I recall Sterlings becoming a ghetto car and being junked at an alarming rate. I would be very surprised if any of them still exist in The US.
A new car that is in shop for repairs a lot is annoying. Maybe your loaner car will be a better marque? Maybe an Alfa/Honda dealer?
The Alfa dealer closest to me also sells Maseratis, Fords, and Dodges.
It still seems like a roll of the dice to get a dependable loaner from them.
Closest dealer is the same owner as the Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram store across the street, probably also a roll of the dice for a good loaner.
There are plenty of poorly made vehicles on the road but alfa - based on my 30+ year old experience before it exited the US market last time - was on top of the junk list. Along with jag, rover, pontiac, and suchlike. I have no reason to believe that it has drastically improved since then.