2003 Alfa Romeo 147 Lusso Selespeed from UK and Ireland - Comments

3 distinct Selespeed failures.

Buyer beware of this car! The question with the selespeed system it is not a question of whether it fails, but rather when it fails. I have had 3 failures of this system in 3 months of ownership, and the car has now been with Alfa Romeo for the past 2 months. The 3rd failure of the selespeed system happend on the fast lane of the M25, in roaring traffic, on an uphill stretch. The gearsystem locked up, and the car could only move backwards. I had to escape my car, leaving it standed on the fast lane, and had to seek refuge in between the two lanes of the M25. Not a nice experience. The police and AA were swiftly on hand to rescue me, and the car duly returned to the dealer, this time with a note that 3 failures in 3 months is not acceptable for a new car costing me over 18.000 sterling, and please send me a cheque for the refund. I immediately phoned a lawfirm, and got a laywer involved. We are now some 3 months down the line, still without a car, and Alfa have still not budged. They claim it was only a minor technical fault, I claim my life was endangered due to their shoddy engineering. Alfa Romeo should take note of other car companies that have the same issues - both the new Mini from BMW as well as the Smart have apperantly suffered some teething problems, and they a had no hassles refund policy. Alfa, you suck!

Have you had the latest selespeed software upgrade? Before I upgraded to the 147GTa I had a 2.0 selespeed which had no end of problems and messages. However the latest selespeed software update resolves a lot of these issues.

I have also had similar problems and would be very interested to know how far you get with your case. If you could email me on gerry@homeldn.fsnet.co.uk Basically I was left with 'Selespeed' system failures after being in and out

of Alfa Dealers over several months. Twice with 'neutral' only heading into two busy A/Motorway roundabouts. Luckily others braked hard I got out without collision/injury. I now have found a good Dealer, Bishop's at Guildford who changed the Gearbox and Selespeed Unit. No problems in this area since. I didn't take it to a lawyer, but did raise it with Alfa HQ UK who offered me nothing!

I too have had no end of problems with the selespeed. The on board computer is meant to log every fault of "selespeed system failure" but it has proved useless in allowing the mechanics to locate and rectify the problem. I've also had the car seize up on me and become uncontrollable in rush hour traffic. Luckily me dealer has been very helpful and somehow 6 months later the probs seems to be sorted - touch wood.