The BMW 3 Series is certainly a staple in motorsport, but maybe you want to be different. If so, Centerline’s Joe Cabibbo argues that the 2017-and-later Alfa Romeo Giulia 2.0 is worth a serious look.
“As most Alfisti already know, Alfa’s current four-cylinder Giulia and Giulia Ti models are quick, competent and fun modern sedans in completely stock form,” Joe …
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I was led to believe that the four-cylinder model was the best option, and I'm glad to have that confirmed.
And a quick search shows plenty of examples with fewer than 30,000 miles available for less than $20K, so that's a bit tempting. 
In reply to Colin Wood :
As someone who is possibly looking at getting a new car I did not need to know this information. That is about the same as a comparable Civic Si.
I believe I'm the only GRMer who's had long term experience with one on account of leasing one for three years. They handle pretty well out of the box with the bit of Italian flair that certain stoic Germanic brands are lacking, and are almost as playful as the Evo X I used to have yonks ago. The engine is a far cry from Alfas of yore and feels more like a tractor. From the cabin it also sounds like the dog's had a can of baked beans - oddly enough it sounds pretty good standing behind it, but that makes it harder to drive it.
Not sure where the "thou shalt not jump" comes from, would be interested about that. That said, with the battery in the trunk and no other way to open the trunk than via solenoid, one can use the jump points in the engine bay to open the trunk and hook up a charger. Just make sure you're connecting the charger to the correct points because of the car's BMS (info is in the manual).
To me the only downside to the car itself was that it's automatic-only with the venerable ZF 8 speed. That said, a colleague over in Italy at least test drove the manual version and mentioned that the autobox make the car much nicer to drive. Apparently the manual was/is rather agricultural and unpleasant. The automatic is pretty good and with very few exceptions changes the gears when you expect it to. I barely ever had to use the flappy paddles. The programming isn't quite as good as on a Porsche PDK, but pretty close.
These cars like to drain the battery when they sit (ask me how I know during COVID), so if it sits for extended periods of time, use a battery tender or similar.
I had a Q4 on account of it being an all year car. It did OK in show, but not spectacular. Definitely would benefit from a set of winter tyres if you want to drive it year round.
It's definitely worth seeking out one with the Sport package (gets you an LSD) and the sports seats. The seats are spectacular and still comfy for long drives with good bolstering for the times you have to drive it like an Italian trying to get home for dinner with la famigilia.
The main reason I did return it at the end of the lease wasn't the car itself, but the fact that these are complicated cars like everything else these days, and you either need a specialist or a good dealer. Everyone on the Alfa forums tells you to go to a Maserati/Alfa dealer and not a Fiat one as the former are more familiar with the systems in the car than the latter. My two choices were both about 100 miles away and while the dealer I got the car from started out great, they had a lot of staff turnover during COVID and the quality of service deteriorated. If you decide to own one, you pretty much end up being the specialist much like you'd be if you owned a rotary in the middle of Nebraska.
My wife has been talking about getting a newer car, this is a very timely article.
Great article! (Rushing off to AutoTrader to get prices on used Guilas and Stelvios)
Interesting- I like to start out looking at Carmax to get a base - not one Alfa? Odd?
In reply to Datsun240ZGuy :
Yeah, that is odd. Maybe they don't want to be handing out any of their extended warranties for them.
Datsun240ZGuy said:
Interesting- I like to start out looking at Carmax to get a base - not one Alfa? Odd?
From what I've seen, Giulias seem to be mostly sold by specialty dealers or the owners themselves.
There are bunch on AutoTrader, and a few at HGreg dealerships in Florida and Texas. 2018 and earlier take pretty big depreciation hits, there's a 2017 Giulia at HGreg for $12,198. Later models are still pretty affordable (low to mid 20's) for what's a 40-60K new car in 4-cylinder trim.
Car and Driver: "After 40,000 miles with the 2018 Giulia Quadrifoglio, our heart is broken." It went from "great car, you ought to buy it" to "great car but lease it" to "don't buy this car".
In reply to J.A. Ackley :
Carvana shows 171 Alfa's
Funny this shows up in my in box today! I just picked up a 2020 Ti Sport RWD this weekend. 55k miles $21k. Drove it 600 miles back to Michigan from Delaware.
I've owned a lot...like a lot of different cars. I'm genuinely excited about this one! Was a pleasant highway cruiser getting 29.4mpg in N mode in Ohio/Michigan going 80mph. Reminded me of the plushness of my 1991 Peugeot Mi16.
I didn't spend a lot of time in D mode, but I will tell you that the brake feel is better, the steering fuel is better and shifting with the paddles is about on par with a DSG.
Walking out of Wendy's on the ride home, the car sat alone in the sunshine. I realized just how pretty this car is. It's Monaco Blue with silver wheels. Really stunning.
Already have a RaceChips tuner on the way and cables to perform the Race mode upgrade.
Looking forward to a long-term relationship with this ride. Fingers crossed. Nice to have something different instead of the usual Germans.
Believe me - this will be in my Jay Leno garage when I become Pete Leno.....
