There’s just something enchanting about an Italian automobile, and for good reason. Like anything made by humans, cars reflect their origins, and Italy is just really good at making tasty, gorgeous, engaging, and otherwise desirable stuff. Think cacio e pepe, or anything styled by Pininfarina, or “Cinema Paradiso”. While entrancing, Italian cars don’t have the greatest of reputations on this side of the Atlantic, with jokes about durability and poor resale value now just common talking points. While the reliability of modern Italian cars is largely better than expected, the pundits seem to have been right on that last point because early examples of the reborn Alfa Romeo Giulia are now selling for less than $10,000. Bad news for original owners, but utter temptation for automotive romantics.
Flash back to the early 2010s, and Alfa Romeo was looking to mount a comeback. Looking to go after BMW, former FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne decided a dream team was needed in order to remind everyone that the sports sedan originated in Italy. The head of this team? None other than Ferrari 458 Speciale chassis engineer Philippe Krief. Over the next two-and-a-half years, this team would move at warp speed to strike the BMW M3 right between the eyes. Guess what? It did.
Right out of the gate, the Giulia Quadrifoglio was a high-water mark for modern sports sedans, a beguiling and effervescent 505-horsepower, 191-mph love letter to the art of driving. It was sharp without being nervous, playful without being a handful, and thanks to a few tricks learned from one of the greatest modern supercars, it flowed with the road like a blade over ice. Alfa’s supersedan carved hairpins, sliced through chicanes, and etched itself into the dreams of anyone lucky enough to get behind the wheel. However, Alfa Romeo also knew that it couldn’t simply rely on a low-volume prizefighter. It needed a more affordable Giulia, and that’s where the standard car came in.
What does garden variety mean here? No Ferrari-derived V6, no borderline cheater-slick 60-treadwear Pirellis, and no carbon-shelled seats for starters. However, much of the Quadrifoglio’s inherent goodness trickled down into the more everyday Giulia. The base car got the same superhuman 11.8:1 steering ratio, roughly the same drop-dead gorgeous looks, and even a similar carbon fiber driveshaft. What’s more, you could option it with giant column-mounted metal paddle shifters, a rear limited-slip rear differential, and adaptive dampers. It just featured a four-banger under the hood instead of a fire-breathing V6.
Mind you, that four-cylinder engine wasn’t a slouch. It’s the same sort of two-liter turbocharged GME T4 unit you’d find under the hood of a Jeep Wrangler, which means it pumped out 280 horsepower and 306 lb.-ft. of torque. Hitched to a gold standard ZF 8HP eight-speed automatic and employed in a roughly 3,600-pound car, it had the motivation to sprint from zero-to-60 mph in 5.2 seconds and run the quarter-mile in 13.8 seconds at 100 mph in Motor Trend testing. Those numbers nip at the heels of a stick-shift BMW 335i, a sports sedan with two extra cylinders and an additional turbocharger.
However, it’s now been nearly a decade since the Giulia went on sale in America, and that means there are bargains to be had. Check out this 2017 Giulia Ti up for sale in Florida. Sure, it may have covered 76,658 miles since new and not be option with the limited-slip differential or the giant paddle shifters, but it has a clean history report and the asking price is a mere $7,926. Yeah, less than eight grand.
Alright, here’s another one, also for sale in Florida, albeit from a different used car dealer. This one’s a Sport trim, which means it gets the huge paddle shifters, and the original owner specced it with a gorgeous saddle interior. It does have a whopping 129,049 miles on the clock, but it’s a year newer than that red 2017 model, and it also has a clean history report. The asking price on this one is $8,900. Worth it for the paddles? It might be.
Then again, if all-wheel drive is your cup of tea, you might want to look at something like this 2017 model up for sale in Michigan. It’s a pretty basic spec aside from the dual-panel moonroof and the 8.8-inch infotainment screen, and it’s covered 114,777 miles, but it’s also listed at $8,995. That’s a considerable amount of sports sedan for the money.
So far, this all sounds great, but I bet you’re wondering what the catch is. Well, the big catch seems to be an undeserved reputation. Sure, the high-output Quadrifoglio models have their issues, but the base Giulia models have a surprisingly good track record for a European sports sedan. The eight-speed automatic transmission is stout, and owners haven’t reported many issues with the GME T4 engine. The plastic coolant bleed screw is known to give up with a set of metal replacements costing $37 from Alfissimo, a $50 coolant return hose gets brittle over time and should be replaced proactively, and a worn wastegate arm and the resulting low boost pressure code can be solved with a $140 aftermarket wastegate arm, but the biggest common problem is low-voltage electrical weirdness caused by old and failing batteries. Otherwise, you’re pretty much just looking at normal used car stuff, keeping an eye out for leaks and sticking to the recommended maintenance schedule.
In fact, the real catches come by way of equipment. For one, you can’t turn stability control off on the base car, which is annoying if you want to autocross it. However, Squadra Tuning has a way to fit Race Mode from the Quadifoglio on a 2.0T Giulia. Secondly, if you want paddle shifters on a car that doesn’t have them, you might need to retrofit them yourself, which can be a bit expensive. A set of paddles will run you north of $600, then you’ll need programming and possibly a security gateway bypass module. However, there is a tuning community around these cars, one that’s been cooking up some good stuff.
So, if you’ve always dreamt of owning something Italian and slightly exotic, you’re basically just a Spirit flight away from making those fantasies reality thanks to the Alfa Romeo Giulia and the magic of depreciation. Plus, if you can handle a used BMW or Mercedes-Benz, you can absolutely handle one of these Alfas. If you’re looking for a newer-but-still-well-used sports sedan daily and the electric power steering era of BMW is wholly unappealing, maybe it’s time to go red, white, and green.
Top graphic image: Autotrader seller
My 2018 Q4 Ti Sport was glorious to own and to drive. Never a single problem in two years. The issue was that due to my age and declining health I had trouble getting into and out of it. So I was driving my wife’s 2018 Stelvio Sport more often, and just decided to trade for one myself. The guy who bought my Giulia loves it. The guy who bought the 2013 Fiat 500 Abarth I traded for the Giulia loves his car, too. Realizing my driving days left are few, I decided to buy my best last car, a 2024 Stelvio Quadrifoglio, the one with 505 hp. Do I love it? Mostly. As a former economy car driver, routinely getting around 16 mpg now is disgusting, but I guess ya gotta pay to play. I once got 21 mpg on a 300 mile highway drive though! My 2 liter Giulia got from 24-32 mpg. I think my wife may actually love her Stelvio more than she loves me. We’ve been very, very happy with our Alfa Romeos.
I had this on my list when car shopping in the spring. In the end I didn’t even test drive one, but I probably should have. You can find well-cared for examples with low miles on the used market for under $25K CDN – sometimes down into the high-teens.
Someone I worked with had one of these. Loved it but it was living the Alfa stereotype of repair after repair (all warranty work). Numerous electrical and mechanical problems, at one point it starved the turbo of oil and cooked it.
He traded it in when it developed a leak from the windscreen cowling down through the dash and into the passenger footwell. Pretty sure he owned it for just over a year and it was off the road for at least a quarter of that time.
Yep, been waiting for the right moment to get one of these. I test drove one once, it was a basic spec even, no paddles or good seats, but it was on a properly twisty farm road and it was Magic. And I can be a bit of a manual transmission maniac but the auto was great (and the redlines so low) that I didn’t mind. Would want the paddles though.
For me, I’d want the Frog over the base, and one only needs to spend an hour in forums to understand that these make Ferrari’s look reliable.
That price for the base model though…about half an older IS350. That’s not a bad deal
Italian cars, the only cars where you want higher mileage because it tells you they weren’t breaking down and in the shop all the time. Heck even in basic olden Days of Fiat spiderscthey weren’t reliable even with nothing to break.
I drove fiats all over the country while people kept telling me how unreliable they were.
Mostly Fiat spiders.
Considered complex at the time, they rapidly became easier to work on than newer cars.
Keep oil in them, do the maintenance and they were ultra reliable.
Timing belt scared everyone, but not such an issue.
If the cogs wear, change them.
That is crucial.
I quickly got to the point I could change a belt in fifteen minutes.
Everything that looked hard had an access designed in.
My Camry is a nightmare compared to even the Lancias.
I have no idea how reliable or accessible the newer Italian stuff is though.
I was looking at a 2019 when I had to to replace the Civic. I’d read about the electrical gremlins and would have factored a new battery in as an immediate purchase. Ended up with my Mazda3 instead. Sometimes I’ll see a Giulia on my way home from work and kick myself for not giving them a longer look, even though I love my car. They are gorgeous cars and the entire owner’s club wouldn’t miss a meeting, to paraphrase Clarkson.
These are great cars. If I lived in the city and was forced into one car, I’d look closely at these. They still command way more presence than anything similar from ze Germans, imho.
Can’t turn off stability control? Which, I’m sure, includes traction control?
How the hell are you supposed to rock it out of a snowbank?
You get to play those sweet guitar riffs from the side of the road while the tow truck gets you out. (“Rock it out, Man!”)
ESC isn’t the same as TC. Every car I’ve seen allows TC to be shut off for such circumstances, though there might be exceptions. ESC, OTOH, often doesn’t have a disable switch, which sucks because ESC sucks in the few cars I’ve encountered it intervening. Maybe on real high powered stuff it’s better.
I had a Stelvio–the traction control could be be turned off. The ESC didn’t have an off setting, but in sport mode it wasn’t very intrusive for spirited driving.
Alas, Carmax does not sell Alfas so I can’t do a Doug DeMuro and buy one with Maxcare.
I guess Carmax is too smart for that.
Nope, but they do sell Fiats! Just got a 2015 500 Abarth 5spd with 80k miles and 4yr/100k maxcare.
I love my 500 Abarth little Ferrari.
Nice try. I’m dumb, but not so dumb to believe this won’t bankrupt me.
Well, perhaps “bankrupt” is a bit too stong a word, but I agree with your sentiment. I’ve got $10K to burn on something this desirable (though it’d cost more in SoCal) but I’d worry. A lot.
When I buy a $5K JDM car, I just think of it as a $12K car to be paid for in installments.
Prudent. 🙂
Unfortunately they are getting snapped up as an upgrade to Altimas. I’ve already seen several darting around in Altima fashion with trash bag as a window and all. Could be some real decisions coming up a completely destroyed Altima replacement for $1k or okish one for $7k.
These are tempting until you go to sit in one. At 5’11”, my shoulder is behind the B pillar. I cannot actually look out my window without leaning forward. Much like the 200 whose rear door cannot accommodate anyone over 5′, these were not designed for American height drivers.
I’m 6’1″ and often find, in small sedans, that my shoulder is behind the B pillar. Which means the seat belt is just sort of hovering over my shoulder.
Not good.
This is why I like 2 doors. Another thing that’s getting rarer.
Honestly if I had a place I trusted to work on it, I’d be mighty tempted. Even at prices higher than that. But… yeah I do not, so I shall not.
I know three people who own these. All are pretty happy with them, no major dilemmas, occasional annoyances. Fair number of software glitches with various updates to fix them. Typical modern higher-end car. They are not Corollas, nor would I ever expect them to be.
If they came with a stick, I would probably own one too. I loved the pair of Alfas I had.
If it came with a stick they might actually sell some. The car begs for a manual.
It certainly would not have hurt sales.
In 2019 I met some friends at Fiumicino and we rented a car to go to a conference at a small village on the other side of the Appenines. We mixed in a day in Anagni with a friend from Rome and a pit stop in Subiaco to see Leo dei Segni. Lots of hills, medieval stuff, and fine dining.
They gave me the keys to a Three-pedal diesel Giulia.
Reader, I kept shifting at 3000/3500 RPM and tore across the country, putting grins on everyone in the car. That lasted until we got to the little village, far from God and the angels. Then the car complained about having low oil.
That’s when I found out they deleted the dipstick as a cost-saving measure. On the way back, I spent fifty bucks of my own cash to put a liter in to see if it made a difference. It didn’t.
Fun car. One of my best rentals.
Who the hell rents a three-pedal diesel, even in Europe?
That’s the best part about renting over there! 3-pedal everything!
Had a Dacia Duster in Iceland that was sorely missed when we left (and thanks to being diesel we only went through 1 tank) and a diesel Volvo in Spain that was pretty great as well.
In Italy I feel like there was a much higher percentage of gas than diesel. Probably related to fuel prices, but possibly because the Italians love to rev the snot out of a tiny engined city car.
I rented a three-pedal turbodiesel Fiat Croma wagon in Italy about 20 years ago. I was a really great car.
I would very much consider taking the risk on one of these. They look amazing, particularly in that stock green they came in. Actually, you know what, I want one in Christmas Spec. Green paint, red leather interior.
I had feathered friends custom make me a red and green down vest.
Green inside.
The urinal face is just really really not my cup of tea.
I’ve never heard that term, but it fits. It has a face only a mother could love.
I haven’t heard it called that yet but I’ve heard it called much worse. Somehow Alfa managed to incorporate that shape into their grills in the 60s-80s more artistically. Today’s Alfas aren’t any uglier than a modern BMW or Lexus but I wouldn’t call them attractive.
They used the Edsel for inspiration.
Predates the Edsel.
If it came in a diesel, you could fill your own ammonia reservoir.
I don’t know if it’s true, but there’s a story that the original grille design was inspired by the anatomy of people who would not use a urinal. Location of the badge is part of that design.
the Alfa Dealer near me has three 2024 Giulia’s on the lot, all with 50-60 miles on them. All still marked up around 50K. I would not be surprised at all if they were still there in 2026.
Marked UP???? For a brand that’s about to be orphaned here?
indeed, seems like a weird flex. they have 2025 AWD versions for not much more.
True, but almost everyone lives within easy driving distance of a BMW or Mercedes dealer. You are going to need more intensive service than an oil change eventually, and you’re going to have to either find a non-closed Alfa dealer or pay the big bucks at an independent shop, assuming you can also find one of those.
You’d think any of the many Stellantis dealers would be happy to charge you money to look at something different than the same 5 models languishing on their lot.
The last time I took a vehicle to a dealer for service was 2014, for a warranty repair. I think I’m good.
I live the same distance from an Alfa dealer as either of those (and every other luxury brand there is, right up to Rolls-Royce), which is to say 45-60 minutes, traffic depending. That probably goes for most of the population who would be interested in owning one.