Alfas Reliability

[Kevin.FILLIP@domain.elided]

     Giovanni writes:
     
     >My point is, compare Apples to apples. In the U.S, Alfa was, and if 
     >they come back, will be a prestige brand not a Honda competitor.      
         
     >In Europe they may be just a regular car, but IMHO, they can't make 
     >it here like that, Jorge noted the proliferation of Italian Culture 
     >in the U.S recently, sure but do you lump Armani and Versace in with 
     >the GAP? No, so why is it done to Alfa?
     
     I would respectfully disagree. If Alfa ever decided to return their 
     competition would in fact be Honda in the form of its Acura division 
     and Lexus and Infiniti et al. I spent an interesting Sat. evening with 
     a friend of mine who had just sold his MB 320 for a brand new Lexus 
     GS300. His primary motivation was the reliability and upkeep cost of 
     the MB vs. a comparable Japanese luxo. product. Overall, he was 
     disappointed with the level of problems he'd had with the MB. I found 
     this very interesting as this is the type of individual (middle age, 
     two income, professional) I believe that Alfa would have to capture in 
     order to be successful here in North America. For fun we went out and 
     test drove his GS300. I have to say it was pretty impressive. Fit and 
     finish are outstanding and the car moves out. Steering felt a bit 
     light for my tastes but that usually seems to be the case with 
     Japanese cars. Anyway, don't know if I'd spend 40K for a GS300 but if 
     the decision was between it and a 166, I'd have to seriously consider 
     it. 
     
     Kevin Fillip
     Dallas, TX
     
     '91 164
     '91 Spider
     '91 Spider Veloce

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