New Giulietta (Type 940) 2010 - 2020

Having previously owned a yellow Alfa Romeo MiTo and with the arrival of our first baby on the way descsions were put into motion to find something with more doors and a bigger pram and luggage accomodating bootspace. Several estates from different marques were viewed and mulled over however the MiTo still sat on the driveway started swaying my mindset back towards Alfa Romeo.

I'd initally settled on the a petrol variant however browsing Autotrader on a Friday afternoon I stumbled accross a specialist dealer not to far from home who had this Silverstone Grey 2.0l Diesel Speciale listed a phonecall later and a next morning we would be stood in front of the car. Instantly taken in by the soft curving lines hidden rear door handles the deep set carbon headlights and the magnificent curling LED tail lights that I still recall being such a memorable feature when Uma Thurman advertised the Giulietta on the TV! After a good test drive in the Essex countryside the diesel engine up front wafting us along my mind was set and upon return we agreed a trade in price for my beloved yellow MiTo paid the difference and awaited collection the following week after a fresh MOT and service was carried out.

Collection day arrived and after a day detailing the MiTo before it was part exchanged a task most would view as a pointless however I am not a fan of dirty cars even when I am selling them and wanted it to arrive fresh and ready for its new owner whenever and whoever that may be. Final paperwork completed we waved goodbye to the trusty yellow MiTo an settled in for the journey home. Car performing as expected as as per the previous test drive all was well so we decided to stop for lunch where the internal drivers door handle decided it no longer wanted to be a door handle anymore and snapped clean off a regular documented Giuletta issue so it was window down and hang out and get myself out with the external handle not a great look! A quick call to the dealer who agreed to booked me back in and agreed rectify the issue free of charge. All was well until Christmas day heading to a family dinner and the dreaded check engine light illuminated so after a roadside check and no immediate issues with a visual check we pressed on gingerly and a quick call after the festive period to the guys at Auto Alfa in Basildon and it was diagnosed as a fault lamda sensor which was quickly rectified and the car has been faultless ever since

After running the car for a few months the weather started to worsen and with a heavily pregnant wife at the time the Giuletta took up daily driving duties for regular hospital appointments and scans and was ever reliable as we made our way to welcome our first child into the world on the 23rd January 2023 a -7 night with freezing fog, black ice and a heavy frost looming the car made the the two most important journeys firstly getting two of us there safely and then bringing the 3 of us home the next day. It had completed the one of the most important jobs we would ever ask it to do and it'll always be special to us as a family for that reason. Also in my opinion was the best looking vehicle in the hospital car I couldn’t help but glance over at it when I had to endlessly go and feed the car park machine with more coins for parking every few hours!