Automotive

At $22,900, Is This 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti Depreciation At Its Finest?

There’s a lot to be said for vehicle warranties. If your preference is to live on the edge, however, then today’s Nice Price or No Dice Alfa might be your cup of tease since it’s from a brand with known quality issues and apparently comes without a warranty. What might that be worth to you?

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“Scrappy” is a term often used in commendatory fashion towards small dogs and pugilists that punch above their weight. It could also apply to yesterday’s 2000 Jaguar XK8 which, while down on certain accounts, seemingly wasn’t out. At $3,999, that still handsome droptop found a lot of fans in the comments and earned a laudable 64 percent Nice Price win.

At one time, Jaguar was known for having some of the poorest durability in the industry. An infusion of cash and self-confidence, first from the Ford Motor Company and then later the Tata Group has rectified most of those quality and durability issues to a great extent. But even when the company was at its nadir, its executive staff, employees, shareholders, and suppliers could at the very least take solace in the realization that “at least we’re not Alfa Romeo.”

Italy’s Alfa Romeo has a storied history of building cars that were within reach of the common car buyer but could still cause the pulse to quicken and offered styling that could tighten a trouser or two. For the longest time, Alfa’s have also had the reputation for being utter crap when it comes to materials quality and certain aspects of their engineering.

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These are issues that continue to plague the marque to this very day and are a likely reason why the company has not been particularly successful in its reintroduction to the American market. It also offers a strong indicator of why Alfa’s current product line depreciates faster than bananas go bad.

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Today’s 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti is only five years old, and yet it’s presently offered by a dealer at less than half its original MSRP. And it’s not because this, one of the lowliest mechanical spec cars, is all that off-putting. The same depreciation can be seen on the Giulia’s step-sister, the Stelvio, which being a crossover should make it a bit more desirable in today’s market than is a “new phone, who dis?” sport sedan.

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The thing is, at a certain point, cars like this do get cheap enough that people start to overlook their foibles and faults. We’re going to have to decide if this Giulia has gotten to that point.

First off though, about the car. According to the ad, this Montecarlo Blue over black leather sedan has 74,000 miles on the ticker and comes with the 280 horsepower 2 liter turbo-four under its gorgeously sexy hood. That’s backed up by an 8-speed ZF automatic and drives the rear wheels. This being a Ti model, those wheels are 18 inches in diameter and wear 225/45R18 meats.

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Other Ti upgrades over the base Giulia include heated seats and tiller, a larger center screen, and a few other kibbles and bits. Of course, were this the range-topping Quadrifoglio, it would sport a 500-horse 3 liter V8 with two turbos and Ferrari heritage. Imagine what that must cost to fuel and maintain.

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Instead, the Ti is a nice mama bear of a car. It’s good looking and the 2 liter has enough poop to keep up with the car’s aggressive chassis tune. This one seems to be almost as-new with no obvious complaints to be had about the paint or bodywork, nor much in the way of issues in the cabin. There is a good bit of bubbling in the tint on the rear glass, so figure on a replacement for that. The title is clean per the dealer-placed ad and a quick VIN search doesn’t turn up anything hinky about the history.

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Facebook Marketplace shows that the ad was first published 10 weeks ago, and the dealer’s website still shows the car available today. There is a price discrepancy between the two sites with Facebook being $600 higher in asking. Screw that, though, we’re going with the $22,900 from the dealer site.

The question of course is, should we? I mean, even hypothetically? Is $22,900 enough of a deal to put up with the potential electrical gremlins for which this generation of Giulia is known? Is it a good idea at all to saddle oneself with a modern Alfa that comes without a warranty?

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What do you say, is this Ti worth rolling the bones at that $22,900 asking? Or, is half-off still too much when it comes to Alfas?

You decide!

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Facebook Marketplace out of Roswell, Georgia, or go here if the ad disappears.

H/T to RevUnlimiter for the hookup!

Help me out with NPOND. Hit me up at rob@jalopnik.com and send me a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your Kinja handle.

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