Re: Dug's 164 opinion, my rant

[Alfa Romeo Search and Rescue Society <alfabill@domain.elided>]

>   look at the 164 - a quality
> product, quality style, competitively priced w/its competition.  while
> marketing
> was poor, it was more marketing than the marque had ever gotten
> previously.
> still, few takers.  unfortunately, we'll never know which of us is right
> regarding success of the gnu gtv/spider here...
> 
> doug s.

While i usually agree with my esteemed collegue, mister seed-in, i have
to disagree here, as i was selling cars,(Volvo, SAAB, Alfa) including
Alfas in USA in the early 90's. 

And I preface this,  you all know i am a BIG fan of Alfa....really.

164 did NOT compete on quality, when compared to the Volvos and large
SAAB it was in the running with. The biggest pitfall to selling a 164 (I
put 2400 miles on a 91 "demo"ing it to ever breathing person i saw
including the Volvo corporate mystery shopper 

The customer's biggest objection was perception of reliability. If my
164 was a typical example, Alfa croaked on warranty claims... Mine
accrued over $5000 in repairs in the first 36,000 miles. This is
inexcusable for any modern make, and general quality was mediocre at
best, from misapplied "164" and "L" emblems to dead batteries and paint
that had to be wet sanded and buffed to make it gloss correctly. Prices
were in Lexus range, and most people that can afford a $32,000 car,
(1991 dollars) didn't have time to screw around with the pisspoor job
Fiat Auto did when delivering the cars. One of the Spiders I sold went
Lemon Law after the auto trans speedo head died 6 times in 8,000 miles.
This isn't clever or character, it's crap. Fiat/Alfa should have learned
fast and responded with permanent fixes. The others did.

Today, LS and Q owners must relish the thought of replacing a $2,300
controller in their dash when the LCD dies or the function ends. Again,
not clever, but pisspoor execution of a great idea. The Japanese have
been screwing together fine components for years and in today's quality
environment, there is no alibi other than apathy for such performance.
It's not art when you are paying $550 a month for it. 

Perhaps i am jaded from a year of watching Alfa enthusiasts finally say
"Enough... this is a losing proposition and i'm just going to get rid of
it". 

As far as the Spider and GTV selling here? It would have done okay, as
it was different and they are pretty cars. The 97 i drove in Orlando
recently, had much better overall fit and finish, and a very nice feel
to it. Owner said it was reliable like a Honda. USA buyers are hardly
purists. This group is here because we choose to be, most buyers want a
car regardless of which end spins tires. 

Alfa's obsession with being in a "niche market" vs. Lexus etc.(words
from long removed Alfa dealer rep) is the attitude that hurt them. When
you excel at trying to sell small quantities, you often fail. Alfa
wanted to be special by being exclusive. the Japanese, Germans, Swedes
and even Rover figured that you had to sell a pile of product to make
money. They did, Alfa didn't. So they are very exclusive now...

Rant over

AlfaBill
Tampa Florida USA.
'91 168B, Sofia, my favorite car ever. Going nowhere, 
'91 164L, detaching my emotions so I can sell it... Need House $$$
'88 SAAB 900 T CV , going going GONE! Monday, See above
"85 Spider going going GONE nest week, to an Alfisti, See above
71 Westy, laquer paint practice unit... FUN!!!

------------------------------