Italian cars... An Alfa is supposed to be a nightmare to own, but almost everything they produce is stunning. Hell, the Ferrari 458 spontaneously caught fire.

 

The 1st gen cars had a warranty for 4 years/50,000 miles. Owners had plenty of time to change out the coolant pipes. The 2nd gen cars have a completely new engine and even though the coolant pipe is still plastic, its only 1 small pipe and there have been no reported failures.

PCST above mentioned the ignition had to be replaced if the 1st gen coolant pipes blew.... That is false. The coolant just leaks out the back of the engine; however if its left unrepaired, it could affect either the rear main seal or the transmission seal.

The aluminum replacement pipes were NOT at the factory. They were developed AFTER the 1st gens were out of out production. They became available in late 2007.

 

I haven't signed up for this suit yet but I feel that it is completely w/i reason to do so. My pipes blew while driving 60mph down the highway. The instant it happened the entire dash lit up and beeped and freaked the hell out of me. The entire rear window was instantly covered in radiator fluid and I'm sure the windshield of the car behind me was blanketed as well. I'm assuming the fluid went into the intake manifold and proceeding to blow through then engine and out the exhaust. Very dangerous for both of us!

The engine temps started to climb almost immediately and I had to pull off the highway and drive to a gas station. I still wasn't aware of what really happened. I did have my suspicions though. I checked the reservoir and sure enough it was empty. The underside of my engine was continuing to leak crap. I had to wait almost 2 hours to get a tow truck to haul it to the dealership. A week later I got the car along with a $2000 bill. This all occurred about 1 month after my warranty had expired. The dealership said it was a frequent occurrance. To me, that is a known defect and Porsche should own up to it b/f someone gets hurt physically and not just in the pocket book.

 

458- five cars reportedly before factory recall.

 

That's what I'm talking about, a safety issue. God, hopefully this doesn't happen but typical corps mind usually wait 'til the disaster happens, i.e. someone's life.

The birds told me Porsche has developed *another plastic coolant pipes*, this time w/ the special mixture of ingredients , so they will cease the manufacture of aluminum pipes sometime near future. I jumped the gun and bought myself the aluminum coolant repair kit.

 

I am someone who is seriously anti-lawsuit but in this and other auto cases,.. I am whole-heartedly FORE suing the crap out of manufacturers.

I have owned a number of cars and am a member of numerous clubs where people are constantly making excuses for cars that cost stupid amounts of money.

I get a kick out of people pulling the "you gotta pay to play" mentality when talking about a car (or cars) that cost as much as a house in most of the country.

Why is it that I can buy a $16k Hyundai and have no issues but if I buy an $100k+ Porsche/Ferrari/etc I have to expect to put up with fires,.. coolant system failures, electrical system failures etc... and THEN hear how well engineered that very same vehicle is?

Personally, although NOT a mechanical/Automotive engineer (I was an Electronics Engneer), if you cannot, after years of "refinement" create a car that I can buy and use on a daily basis without a bearing/coolant system/electrical failure, then you are engineering failures.... and then the company tries to hide/deny it??? Load up the attorneys and fire!

 

Pretty sure my coolant pipes just let go. Luckily I have the bumper to bumper CPO for another 15k or several months.

The big question is, can I still make it to my friend's wedding?