Alfa's MiTo Officially Official

@psarhjinian et. al. Here we go again (and it's really getting old), any Fiat or Alfa Romeo product comes along and the horror stories (usually about ancient 70s or 60s crap) come along... Your anedoctal evidence is just that, you know...anedoctal. I can tell you of mine: How about 2 friend's Honda Civics whose engines gave out before the 100 000 km mark (62, 137.27366 miles to be exact)?? Any small 1,0l Fiat engine gets into the high 200 000km without major ado nowadays (personal experience). Or how about reading in the Car Section of the local newspapers of the abnormal amount of Honda Fits having the manual transmission gearbox die before or at around 30 000km (about 18500 miles)??? Not to mention that Honda and/or Toyota maintenance down here, when you need it, costs an arm and a leg?? Give me a break. Go drive the Alfa if it ever comes your way. It will be very very fun. And just keep it properly and it'll be around for as long as you want it.

But your evidence is just as anecdotal!

I'm not saying that Alfas aren't fun to drive: they are. I had a blast in a 147. What I'm saying is that even today they're flakey cars. And the non-expat wing of my family lives just outside Turin, where FIAT is headquartered. Alfa's the home team. Have a look at, say, parkers.co.uk for the Toyota Auris/Corolla, Ford Focus, VW Golf, Peugeot 307 and Alfa 147. Read the costs and repairs sections: the order I listed them in is the order of "flakiness", from least to most. Even by European standards, modern Alfas (hell, modern FIAT, Renaults, Citröens and Peugeots) are comparatively problematic cars. Your comment "just keep it properly" is kind of the standard refrain for the European car. It's something I hear Saab fans (I own a original-gen 9-3) say quite often. What it means is "baby the car, pay the higher cost of maintenance, and it won't totally kill you to keep". I love my Saab, as do the Saab owners I associate with, but none of us kid ourselves that it's a lower-TCO car than a Camry. The Mi.To is certianly more of a joy than an Auris, but there's no way that, on a macroscopic level, it's the more solid car.

@ M. Ayoub and psarhjinian Ok, that's all I really said, my evidence, like yours in anedocatal. Except I also pointed out a local source for something somewhat less anedoctal. Or maybe Honda wasn't giving the paper its advertising?? Anyway, what I'm pointing out is that, to me, the extra initial cost of buying Hondas and Toyotas in my home market is never recovered. No, down here they don't get any better residuals than the European brands, and, since I guess they use more imported parts, regular maintenance, not speaking of replacement parts, is much very much more expensive. Ok, again, maybe it's just something local. But at the moment I'd not be able to justify to myself buying one of these cars. Plus image. Just imagine a Honda Civic si costs down here USD 62 500. Yeah more than 60 THOUSAND. And they do make you look older and richer (personal interpretation) and boring. And maintenance to me means going to the mechanic and changing the oil every 10 000km and filters and whatever else is necessary. From my experience my 6 Fiat cars don't need extraordinary fixing. The parts give out when if not later than expected. And I've never been left at the side of the road (like my Renault did, anedoctal). And I do not baby the cars. I ride them hard when I feel like some fun. And they don't complain. They just give me a fun, economical, reliable ownership experience. And when it's time to sell, since the car is well-kept, and the brand is highly appreciated in the market, I usually sell it to first or second guy that comes to take a look. As the saying down here goes, a Fiat car is the same as having cash at hand. Not fighting, ok? Just giving my alternative and sincere opinion based on my anedoctal experience. Thanks for the replys!!