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Wednesday, December 6. 2023

Life in America: Service

Readers may recall for no reason that I like my Alfa. Not flashy, but zippy, with a happy real rumble, and it's never had any problem. But needed a new battery, cuz with temps below 30 F it won't start so I brought it to the dealer yesterday, and they offered me a ride back home which I accepted.


OK, you can't just pick up a new 12 V battery and pop it in yourself anymore. On a small boat you can, but not on these computer cars.


Car is off warrantee, or I think so. Picked it up this morning. New battery installed and calibrated, car washed inside and out, washer fluid refilled, tires filled up. "No charge, thanks for coming."

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 13:23 | Comments (9) | Trackbacks (0)

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Hmmm . . . .

I was able to change my wife's battery in her 2019 Buick. It's a new generation battery unlike ones used in older models and the cost was about triple a traditional battery.

in regard to maintenance, my brother was at the Chevy dealer yesterday getting the front end aligned on our old 4x4 pickup.

They had a fairly new Tahoe in there with ride control shocks that are monitored by a sensor and allow you to set the stiffness of your ride.

Anyway . . . they all needed to be changed out. The tab was an eye popping $5000. For shock absorbers . . .
#1 feeblemind on 2023-12-06 14:45 (Reply)
It's a new generation battery unlike ones used in older models and the cost was about triple a traditional battery.
Apparently car batteries, for better or worse, aren't what they used to be. As I have a 15 year-old car, I wasn't aware of the current "improvements" in car batteries. Several months ago I jumped the battery of a tradesman, with a fairly new car, who was doing some work on my house. I was rather surprised at how complicated it was to access the battery to connect the jumper cables, compared to the old, "primitive" batteries.

The tab was an eye popping $5000. For shock absorbers
Back in the day, some places where I took my car to get the oil changed would tell me that I needed to replace my shock absorbers. No thanks. But they wanted $1200, not $5000.
I guess I can't complain at what I've paid in repair bills to get my 15 year old car back on the road, when you can pay $5000 for shock absorbers.
#1.1 Gringo on 2023-12-06 20:42 (Reply)
I turned my 2021 Guilia in at lease end two months ago. Fabulous car, no problems at all, not one. I ordered a 2024 M240xi. VERY fast, comfortable, well made but I made a mistake by not leasing another Alfa Guilia. The Alfa has better steering, styling and control-systems are intuitive and not overengineered....has round gauges as well. BMW, are you listening? So glad I had the Alfa, hoping they stay solvent and relevant in three years time.
#2 Joe Wicker (Link) on 2023-12-06 15:58 (Reply)
I had never thought about things like batteries and shocks being that problematic to replace.

Before I buy anything new, I will ask about things like this. I would rather have something old that could be maintained cheaper than have something brand new that would be exorbitantly expensive to maintain.

Thanks for the warning
#3 Dangerous Dean on 2023-12-07 09:12 (Reply)
You can replace the battery yourself. It's in the boot on the right side behind a cover. Alfa now uses an AGM battery in place of a lead acid. You can use a lead acid but the industry claims that they inadequate for the needs of modern cars.
#4 willful knowledge on 2023-12-07 10:20 (Reply)
You are correct. However, it used to take less than a minute to recharge a battery. It took the tradesman 5-15 minutes to open up the battery so that I could jump it.
#4.1 Gringo on 2023-12-07 11:14 (Reply)
The problem with changing the battery on a newish car is that all the electronics will reset if there is zero power.
Aargh... all the saved radio stations ;-)

The solution is simple. A small battery is hooked up before the main battery is removed, keeping the electronics charged.

Once the main battery is replaced, the small temporary battery is removed.
#5 Earl Wertheimer on 2023-12-07 10:52 (Reply)
I forgot to add: Typical battery warranty is for 5 years, so even if the car was past the dealer warranty, the battery was probably not...
#6 Earl Wertheimer on 2023-12-07 10:55 (Reply)
BD, you should have bought a Macan or X3 instead, so your dealer could have said "That will be $1,400 please, Mr Bird Dog" Alfa dealers need to cut customers a break to build confidence in the brand, while Porsche and BMW commit highway robbery.
#7 Ed on 2023-12-07 14:43 (Reply)

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