Oh, Alfa Romeo. It’s hard to remember the last time things were going really well for you. Were they ever? The Italian automaker currently builds one of the prettier sports sedans on the market, it’s true, but they’re not exactly flying off the shelves. What that does mean is that you might be able to snag yourself a deal.
The Alfa Romeo Giulia hit the scene in 2015 for the 2016 model year. It was the brainchild of Sergio Marchionne during his reign as CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. He saw a rear-wheel-drive sports sedan as a way to return Alfa Romeo to its roots. It boasted good looks, sharp handling, and the range-topping Quadrifoglio paired a hard-to-pronounce name with a mighty twin-turbo V6 derived from Ferrari itself.
The Giulia certainly caught some eyes, and many in the automotive world were cheering the brand on from the sidelines. It made some passable sales early on, regularly shifting over 8,000 units a year, but it’s now getting long in the tooth, and these cars are starting to pile up at dealers. What does that mean? There’s some tasty deals out there that could land you in an Italian super saloon for cheap.
Stylish, No?
Look at the sales figures, and you’ll see that Alfa shifted just 3,461 Giulias in 2023. The numbers are looking worse this year, with just 1,298 sold in the first half of this year. There’s no shortage of Giulias on the market, though, and therein lies the problem. According to CarEdge, there are 1,097 examples currently on sale, with just 80 sold in the last 40 days. At the current rate, that means there’s a total supply of 617 days—or almost two years.
When there’s an excess of supply and limited demand, prices tend to go down. Dealers don’t like having stock sitting around, so they eventually start to discount cars that aren’t moving. We’re now seeing that happen with the Giulia to a more serious degree.
One of the best examples I found is over at Van Nuys Alfa Romeo in the sunny state of California. It’s a 2023 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint, rocking the 2.0-liter gas engine and rear-wheel drive. It’s got five miles on the clock, and it’s currently advertised for $35,000—a full $14,285 below MSRP. Part of the reason for that discount is probably because it’s a 2023 model and we’re almost in 2025. In fact, Van Nuys has not one, but two of them!Â
There’s a similar example over at Champion Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, also in California. The 2023 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti was first listed 443 days ago at $50,760. It’s now been discounted by a full $15,000. You could save even more if you purchased this Giulia Sprint AWD model from Alfa Romeo of Naperville, Illinois. At $31,755, it’s a full $19,615 below MSRP—but it’s got 5,566 miles on the clock, suggesting it’s been used as a demo model.
There are similar deals scattered across the country. If you’re in Florida, there’s a RWD Giulia Ti for $8,450 below MSRP at Alfa Romeo of West Palm Beach. In Washington, Rairdon’s Alfa Romeo has a base model for $6,800 off.Â
So far, we’ve covered the lower-tier models with the 2.0-liter turbo. It’s not a bad car, with 280 horsepower on tap. But the real sauce is the Quadrifoglio, with that delicious 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 with 503 horsepower on tap. Can you score a deal on one of those?
Well, sort of, but not to the same degree. Faulkner Alfa Romeo in Pennsylvania has a delicious green example for $85,134, which is $5,000 under sticker. Jake Sweeney has a similar markdown on a red one in Kentucky. Once more, though, it’s California with the hot deals. Van Nuys Alfa Romeo will do you a Quadrifoglio for $84,049, a full $6,326 under MSRP.
How, Though?
Why is this happening? Well, it’s no surprise that sales of the Giulia are dropping off if you’ve been paying attention. It’s been out for eight years at this point, and it hasn’t had a whole lot of updates in that time. Some early concerns around reliability didn’t help, either. It’s still a cool car, but it’s not the new hotness anymore. It was never a big seller to begin with, either. Most people that wanted a Giulia have already probably got one.Â
Alfa isn’t abandoning the segment, though, even as it turns its eye to building barely-interesting SUVs. There’s a new model due for the 2026 model year, and it’s likely going to be based on the same platform as the new Dodge Charger. Even better, it’s believed that electric and gasoline drivetrains may be in the pipeline. As reported by InsideEVs earlier this year, it’s expected the top Quadrifoglio trim will be a dual-motor EV putting out around 1,000 hp, with the Hurricane inline-six a possibility for an ICE model.
If you’re dying to have a gas-powered Italian super sedan, though, you could do worse than buying a Giulia now. They’re waning in popularity, so they’re getting cheaper, and there’s every chance you might just end up buying a car that marks the end of an era, too. There’s still every chance this generation will end up as the last combustion-engined model. That can do wonders for your resale value long term; you’d end up owning a near-instant classic.
In any case, the rules of supply and demand never fail in the auto market. There are too many Giulias out there right now, and not enough buyers. Consider joining the latter category while the getting is good.
Image credits: Alfa Romeo, Stellantis, Cars.com via Screenshot, Van Nuys Alfa Romeo via web screenshot
I’ve put over 110,000 miles on my Giulia in the past 21 months. (Purchased used with 24k on the clock) It has been a great car, very few issues (it enjoys eating tires, and Evap cannister replaced under warranty) and I average around 32 mpg, its quick, it handles wonderfully, and its the most beautiful sport sedan on the market.
I will probably replace it at the end of the year, and will likely get another.
That gas mileage is crazy. Mine over the last 10K miles is at about 23.5 mpg :(. I was at 25 before i put a roof rack on. I’m prob close to 50% highway. I agree though it is an awesome car – just yesterday i had two comments on it.
“Wow that must be a fun car – It is beautiful” and “Nice to see someone driving a real car” from a guy in a recent panamera.
It definitely gets noticed. Pretty crazy for a car that is probably only worth $15k at this point.
My ’24 has averaged 26.5 since I last reset it about 2k miles ago with an average speed of 37 mph so a good mix of city/highway. I drive it hard and always in dynamic mode, but can easily get over 30, close to 35 when doing long highway stints.
It loses another 15k just driving off the lot.
this is truth (10k anyway) – still recommend getting one, but get it used
I bought one (2023 Veloce) in April that had sat and got it for $40K+TTL vs $56K list. It’s achingly great to drive, gorgeous, full of character… I mean what else has that in a sport sedan these days? Any car will take a $5K depreciation hit off the lot, so that’s all I had to deal with given my entry price. On the canyon/hillside roads around my house it is SUBLIME. You can get the Mopar extended warranty also for up to 8 years/120K miles and for lower usage you can find 8/60 for 2K or so (its $4-5K for the 8/120) So for $42K+TTL, you can have one of the best driving, best looking sport sedans of the modern era with an 8 year warranty… it’s Limited WRX money…
It’s such a shame that they didn’t work out the kinks from the start. The car (and the engineers behind it) deserved so much more for their efforts. The chassis, my god the chassis! The steering, the light, quick, delicate steering! The sublime balance and poise… True you can’t defeat the TC, but I’ll be damned if I’ve ever seen so much as a blip on the dash when I’ve absolutely ripped it around switch backs.
It’s an instrument of excitement and joy that is perfectly content to idle up to drop my kids off at school. Lord there should be more cars like it.
Sadly all it tells me is that true single vehicle drivers car is a dying breed.
The non quad ones are underrated if you ask me. And these later ones probably have most of the issues from the earlier models worked out, so probably a great deal. If I lived near a dealer I’d consider it (I’m brave but I’m not foolish).
Save now. Pay later.
I saw one on fire a few months ago. It was only the second one I had seen in the wild, so I stopped to take a look. Not gawking at the fire, just wondering what they actually looked like in person. The lead sled flat black/charred paint treatment with the real flames was a pretty good throwback to classic hot rod paint jobs.
I’m one of the 2024 buyers, and you’re missing a big part of the lower sales numbers. I got mine in April and shortly after there was a recall and stop-sale for both the Giulia and Stelvio. People reserved specific vehicles but only were able to buy them in the last couple of weeks I believe so the numbers should correct.
There was a small update to the 2024s, new lights and a couple interior updates, if you can find the right optioned 2023 it’s a great deal though. 2024 2.0s are still good deals, averaging around $5-6k off from most dealers.
The comments here suggest that the early reliability issues were not, in fact, fully resolved and one would be wise to avoid spending any hard-earned cash at all on one of these.
The sooner Stellantis fails and someone who knows how to build decent cars buys up all the brands, the better.
I own one (too new to determine reliability) and am a part of the owners groups on Facebook. There’s two distinct types of Alfa owners. There’s the people that think they know better than the manufacturer about how to maintain their car, using different fluids, modifying certain parts, etc. These people have nothing but problems. The people that treat it like a normal car and just follow the manufacturer maintenance guidelines have nothing but good things to say about reliability.
I’ve got about 8k miles on mine so far and it’s been amazing.
Interesting. I’ve definitely noticed that with truck guys as I’ve been shopping. “I ran straight 50 weight oil because I think it’s better than 0W-20 and somehow my engine still blew up at 50k.” 😉
I think the main problem is that behavior also comes with modifying all kinds of stuff, they all seem to have pedal commanders, splicing in and reprogramming to get the race mode the QV has, etc. There’s very little aftermarket support for Alfa in the US compared to something like BMW so they’re getting most of the stuff off of AliExpress, it’s no wonder the cars go to shit.
While the people that just drive their cars and their answer to all the “what’s this engine light for?” questions is “you’re under warranty, just take it to the dealer” get 120k+ before ever having to think about any potential repairs.
As reported by InsideEVs earlier this year, it’s expected the top Quadrifoglio trim will be a dual-motor EV putting out around 1,000 hp, with the Hurricane inline-six a possibility for an ICE model.
Likely yes to the Q, but the ICE version is likely to be an inline four cylinder turbo again. While the yes, it will absolutely be based on the Stella Large platform, it will be shorter and narrower than its new Dodge Charger platform mate. Modern platforms are typically scalable in length, width, and cowl height. There are quite a few vehicles planned for Stella Large and they’ll have a different look and feel that fits their respective market, which means the Giulia will still likely fall within that five meter long sweet spot and also be narrow enough for most EU roads.
I currently own a Giulia and got a pretty good deal on a used late model Sport Ti Carbon. It’s still cheaper than the new ones you listed, but I’m also higher-optioned than those, so it was kind of a trade off for a good deal on a late model used. However, like you mentioned, the sales numbers in the states are pretty low already, so finding one that was optioned how I want it was still pretty tough. I was shopping for about three months before I found what I wanted locally and jumped on it immediately. That being said, it’s been a great car to complement my Scat Pack. Both cars drive and perform so very different from each other with each providing plenty of smiles and each for different reasons.
Considering the shaky launch, the cars have been proven as pretty reliable from 2020 up. My suggestion is that if you were thinking about buying one and put it off because of perceived quality, don’t. It’s an amazing little car with an actually decent quality record that’s fun as hell to drive.
Anybody here actually own one of these? Are the Quadrifoglios as much of a ticking time bomb/financial apocalypse as I’ve been led to believe? The Gulias are nearing 30k for well used Quadrifoglios and the devil on my shoulder is having me wonder if they are thaaaat bad.
I don’t have first-hand experience, but anecdotally the neighbor of a good friend had a Quadrifoglio and his experience was a very mixed bag. The Quad was fantastic when it ran, but it was at the dealer more than in his driveway. It was a third vehicle for him, and luckily he leased it with the hope it would be good long-term so he could buy out the lease for cheap later, but he gladly turned it back in when the lease expired. The IS500 he picked up to replace the Alfa has made him much, much happier, even if he admitted it doesn’t have the soul and character of the Giulia.
Buy one.
If you’re going for the Q, just know that you’re buying a Ferrari-derived engine that requires a Ferrari level of maintenance costs. I’ll just say to look into the cost of an oil change. If you typically do your own oil change, then look into the procedure. While not completely impossible to do on your own, it’s not a typical job, which is why dealers tend to charge anywhere between 500 and 800 for the procedure.
Both the Q and base models also have a slightly complicated brake job compared to what I’m used to doing. It’s a bit more involved to keep from fucking it up, but if you work on your own cars it can be fine. However, its another procedure that can cost over 1500 at the dealer.
As for overall quality, my 2020 Sport Ti Carbon (2.0, Auto, AWD) has been great! No real quality issues other than the steering wheel flaking (typical for plenty of new cars with a “leather” steering wheel”. While not a quality issue, the 2.0 has no engine oil dipstick, but relies on a slow-to-respond oil level sensor, which can be frustrating for checking level or even oil quality.
We took the car on a long trip this year from Detroit to Quebec, across to coastal Maine, up Mount Washington, and back to Detroit via the state routes. The car performed flawlessly with zero issues the whole way. I even pushed hard through the Adirondacks and just stuck to the road beautifully.
I’ve driven the Q and, as much as I wanted one, my reason for even buying a Giulia in the first place was to buy something that my son can also learn to drive in that wasn’t my Scat Pack Challenger. The tradeoff was adding another fun car to the fleet that was easy for him to drive too.
Buy one.
That sounds pretty awful. No wonder these things are cheap. If its difficult to change the oil then its clear the engineering in this thing is probably every bit as fragile as it seems.
It sounds awful that they’ve been driving their car all over the country enjoying the heck out of it?
no. it sounds awful that an oil change is 500+ and a brake job is 1500. how is your reading comprehension?
One additional. I have a friend that leases cars. He got a Giulia when they were new. Has since leased two more since then and is now on his first Stelvio. When I was looking to buy, I asked for his opinion. He said the Alfas were the best cars he’s ever leased. He was a GTI guy before that.
I’ve got a 2024 2.0, it’s been great but still brand new. From what I’ve heard the early QVs are going to be a headache, but you can get a solid 2020-2021 still for a good price. The 2.0 as long as you go 2018 plus is a great platform.
I have a ’21 2.0. Can’t speak for the Quad as it’s a very different engine, but over 38,000 miles I’ve only had one repair; a battery that crapped out. I have to imagine that if the Quad is like the 2.0, they sorted out the issues by ’19 or ’20.
That’s what I’ve heard, and the battery is a known thing you just gotta drive it normally to maximize the life. I don’t consider it a repair because it’s just a maintenance thing that needs to be done more often than other cars, much like Porsche’s 30k mi spark plug interval.
That’s fair. The dealer said the same. I had a much shorter commute before the battery issue than I do now but, just in case, I hook it up to a battery tender overnight every couple of months and turn off the start/stop function. I look at it as a couple minor quirks/inconveniences in the grand scheme of the pleasure of enjoying the benefits of having an Alfa.
I was having some battery issues on mine when i drove less frequently. I also used a tender once a month to top it off. Now that i’m driving more i’ve had no issues in the last 4 months.
I really looked hard at a Stelvio for my wife and the 4 banger reliability is pretty good from what I read. I like working on my own cars and few like finding parts and fixing stuff would not be fun.
I’ve thought about getting a secondhand Quadifoglio but the reliability issues and ownership costs keep me far away
Continuing my ham sandwich analogy from last week-
Since this is an Alpha, with refined European tastes, you’re certainly not going to get one for a ham sandwich. You’ll need capicola, pruiscuto, and maybe even a little mortadella in there to score a Giulia.
I alluded to this too – I think for a car like this, it has to be a hot sandwich.
Damn auto-correct! A-L-F-A.
gabagol
I had a neighbor that got a new Tonale earlier this year. Every time we went past their house and the Alfa wasn’t in the driveway, I joked that it must be at the dealer. Haha, good old unreliable Alfa Romeos.
A few months later, we were walking the dog past the Alfa Romeo house and it was gone. Like permanently gone and replaced with a Ford Escape after 4-5 months.
This is what I assume life is like for anyone who buys an Alfa these days.
This reminds me of the Giulia that I used to see parked outside an apartment complex near my neighborhood. It was that nice green color and I noticed it immediately in the covered parking just inside the fence line. I would see it driving around once or twice a week, then I saw it on a flatbed about two months later. From then on I always saw it parked outside the fence line, as I can only imagine it was a nightmare to get out of the covered parking. After a few months of that I stopped seeing it at all, and in the covered parking stall was a Mercedes CLA.
M-B CLA = Nissan Sentra
I’d rather have the Giulia.
That is such a sad story. They must have been seriously traumatized by the experience to buy something as uninteresting as an Escape.
The repairs needed will easily wipe out that 15k savings LOL
They do have warranties? In fact – you can get extended warranties directly from Stellantis/Mopar. My 2017 w. 80k miles is warrantied until 125k miles or 2.5 more years.
how are they not bankrupt yet? 😛
These are simply shitty cars. Hence the cheaper prices because everyone knows they’re garbage.
I’m not sure I’d say they’re shitty. I had a Ti and while they aren’t as nice inside as their German or Japanese competition, they are better looking and certainly different. It had excellent ride quality for a steel suspension with no adjustable dampers and turned heads everywhere it went. Get one in a good color and you’ll look back at it every time. I think they’re underpowered, 280HP just isn’t enough for how this car looks/what it’s trying to be, but plenty of people in IS350’s are content with 300HP so what do I know.
280 feel pretty good in this car. 350 would have been a better bridge between the 4 and 6 cylinder cars, but drive one. It suits me for regular driving and becomes pretty damn fun when switching to sport mode and manual paddle shift.
My ’18 Ti didn’t have flappy paddles unfortunately. Pretty absurd for a sport sedan with a sticker around $48k IIRC, but it didn’t have a lot of stuff that was standard on a Corolla of the time. I got a similar deal as what’s mention in this article. Leased an ’18 in late December so they had taken like $6-7k off. It was an Alfa Rosso with nero edizione and the dark grey phone dials. And yeah, 350 would have been perfect and more competitive.
It is quicker than a 330i and still better looking at in TI tripe with the phone dial wheels (imo). I’m biased but I daily drive a 2017 (allegedly least reliable year) with over 80k miles. It has been dead reliable with the exception of burning through batteries faster than it should.
Says the guy who’s likely never owned or driven one and probably only drives used shit boxes.
Despite the ads claiming 5, 82, and 2, miles on the clock, I’m going to hazard a guess these are dealer demos/courtesy vehicles and they didn’t bother to update the mileage. In fact, I had a factory order and mine came with 6, so 2 doesn’t seem possible. When I was looking at Giulias and came across an excellent deal, more often than not it was previously a demo.
O/T – Is anyone else not seeing the bell in the upper right? Hard to converse without knowing someone is talking to you.
Same. I was wondering if I had accidentally turned it off.
You probably won’t see this, but I wanted to let you know you aren’t alone.
I understand it’s a website update, soon to complete and then our dinner bell will return!
Oh good I thought it was just me.
I had simply assumed nobody was still on speaking terms with me.
Yeah!!!! I didn’t notice, but yeah! I just assumed nobody was responding.
I can’t find responses to anything now.
That green color is fantastic
I thought so to, and I don’t even like green cars.
It is pretty. But it’s an Alfa, so mine has to be rosso with the phone dial wheels. That’s the law in my household.
This is entirely reasonable
Understood!
Similarly, for the 15k off MSRP, you could just buy an entire used Giulia with under 75k miles, that’s barely if even 5 years old. This is some Ghibli rivaling depreciation.
Would the Genesis format help here? G70 to GV70 Crossover? Giulia X?
The Giulia crossover is the Stelvio. And since it’s AWD the Stelvio Quadrifoglio is actually faster 0-60 than the Giulia Quad.
What would be the point of selling both this and the Charger I wonder? The sedan market isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire.
I guess the decision would be based on the same reason there is a Tonale and Hornet.
Small CUVs are in theory (not in practice for Stellantis) a growing and robust market where it makes sense to offer as many options as possible. Sedans are decidedly not.
Offering a large Charger and a more expensive but smaller Alfa Romeo using the same powertrain seems like a great way to not sell any of the latter.
It seems to be brought up a lot when we talk about how to save Stellantis from our arm chairs, but I really don’t think anyone is cross shopping Chargers and Giulias. Maybe in the used market, but in the new market, they’re different types of people who want different things.
Based on the article, it seems almost no one is cross shopping the Giulia with anything.
I’m just skeptical that will change by selling it as a smaller but more expensive Charger.
If they have a better plan that just hasn’t been revealed yet, I’m open to changing my mind.