Alfa Romeo Giulietta Review (2010-2020)
Alfa Romeo Giulietta cars for sale
3.0
Expert review
Pros
Evocative looks
Responsive engines
More reliable than reputation suggests
Cons
Awkward driving position
Tight for rear-seat space
Poor result in Euro NCAP safety tests
The CarGurus verdict
The Alfa Romeo Giulietta is an emotive purchase. Some buyers will fall in love with the badge, the looks, and the engines. Others will look at the cramped rear seats and the disappointing safety rating, and decide that their money is better spent elsewhere. Any Giulietta is fun to drive, although an F20 BMW 1 Series or a Ford Focus are better still. Most engines are strong and willing, and the petrols have a pleasingly sporty exhaust note.
The petrols are the versions you'll enjoy driving most, but the diesels make most sense for high-mileage drivers. Just make sure you can get comfortable behind the wheel before you spend your money. Reliability could also be an issue if Alfa's reputation in this area is anything to go by.
What is the Alfa Romeo Giulietta?
Alfa Romeo resurrected a famous name from its past when the Giulietta arrived in 2010. It had a mixed reception in early reviews, praised for its handsome styling and responsive engines, but it was criticised for its awkward driving position and excessive road noise.
The Giulietta received a facelift in 2016, and a honeycomb grille, new-look headlights and rear bumper inserts brought the hatchback's styling into line with the larger Giulia saloon.
Practicality
This is the Giulietta’s Achilles’ heel. There is little in the way of head- and legroom throughout the cabin, and the low roofline impinges on space in the back. There’s a 350-litre boot, which is OK but a long way from the class best: a 2015 Honda Civic, for example, offers a whopping 477 litres.
The Giulietta also has a notoriously poor driving position, and the angle of the pedals and the steering wheel make it very hard for the driver to get comfortable. The vast majority of contemporary hatchbacks of the time do a better job on the practicality front in just about every respect.
What's it Like to Drive?
From launch, the Giulietta was available with three petrol and two diesel engines. The entry-level petrol was a 118bhp 1.4 TB, which is lively given its modest power output, but the extra poke of the 168bhp 1.4 TB Multiair made for a sportier drive. The most potent of the petrols was the 232bhp 1750 TBi, which powered the Cloverleaf hot hatch.
This was a serious contender against other hot hatches of the day, such as the Ford Focus ST and Megane Renault Sport. It was capable of 0-62mph in 6.8 seconds and had the engine note to match the performance.
For high-mileage drivers, Alfa Romeo offered the Giulietta with a couple of diesel engines. The tamest and the most fuel-efficient was a 104bhp 1.6 JTDM-2. For performance more in keeping with the Alfa badge, there was the 168bhp 2.0 JTDM-2. If you want a diesel, this would be our choice of the early cars.
The engine line-up evolved with the 2016 facelift, including a 1.6-litre diesel producing 118bhp rather than 104bhp. As well as a manual gearbox, the entry-level diesel was now available with a dual-clutch automatic transmission, which was already an option with the 1.4 petrol and the most powerful diesel. A third diesel engine, a 148bhp 2.0-litre JTDM-2, split the difference between the most and least powerful diesels. Four petrol engines were available in the facelifted car, producing 118bhp, 148bhp, 168bhp, and 237bhp.
As the ageing Giulietta reached the end of its time on sale as a new car, Alfa pared down the range considerably, with just the 118bhp 1.4 TB and the 118bhp 1.6 JTDM-2.
The average standard in the small hatchback class has come a long way since 2010. Compared with a Volkswagen Golf, the Alfa is noisy on the motorway, with too much road noise over coarse surfaces, and, although it's more engaging to drive than many family hatchbacks, it doesn't ride and handle with the fluidity of a Ford Focus.
Technology and Equipment
The post-2016 facelifted models are the ones to go for, because they were offered with two new exterior colours, more equipment and an updated interior with a slightly better finish. There were five trim levels: the standard Giulietta, Super, Speciale, Tecnica, and Veloce.
Standard kit on those examples includes Alfa Romeo’s Uconnect infotainment system, which features smartphone-enabled services such as music streaming through platforms like Deezer and TuneIn, along with a DAB radio. Sat-nav and voice recognition were available as options, but the Giulietta was never offered with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
Running Costs
The Giulietta shouldn't be an expensive car to run, especially if you choose one of the diesels. Early in its life, the 1.6 JTDM-2 had just 104bhp, but was later uprated to 118bhp. Either way, around 55mpg should be achievable.
Step up to the 148bhp diesel for performance more inkeeping with the Alfa Romeo badge, and your fuel economy will sit in the high 40s. Go for the 2.0-litre JTDM-2, and that drops to mid 40s, or perhaps slightly worse with the TCT semi-automatic gearbox.
The petrol engines mostly have very promising official fuel economy figures, but the reality is not so rosy. Even the 118bhp 1.4 will be in the high 30s for mpg. Expect mid- to high 30s from the other petrols. The exception to that is the range-topping 1750 engine, used by the Cloverleaf and Veloce models. Around 30mpg will be possible in everyday driving, but you'll get a lot less if you make full use of the performance.
Insurance groups start from 16 of 50 for the entry-level 1.4. That compares with a group 14 rating for an equivalent Ford Focus. At the opposite end of the scale, the 1750 Veloce is in group 30. That compares with group 36 for a contemporary Audi S3, although in fairness, the Audi is quite a bit more powerful.
For the lowest car tax bills, look for a car registered before April 2017 when the tax system changed to crack down on cars with high emissions. For example, the 118bhp 1.6-JTDM-2 manual emits just 99g/km of CO2, so it has no annual Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) bill if you buy one registered before the car tax bands changed.
Reliability
Historically, Alfa Romeo has a poor reputation for reliability. Conventional wisdom cites iffy electrics and rusting bodywork, and that you look elsewhere if you want trouble-free motoring.
Alfa's notoriety is continued to this day. Indeed, in the most recent What Car? Reliability Survey, the brand finished a lowly 30th out of 31 carmakers considered. On the plus side, the Giulietta is too old to have contributed to this poor performance. But on the flipside of that argument, even the youngest examples on the used car market will now be several years old, and daily wear and tear are likely to have taken their toll.
It's worth knowing about a recall that applied to Giuliettas made between September 2010 and December 2015. Due to a fault in the airbag propellant system, the second stage airbag may not deploy correctly in an accident, or possibly not at all. Any car affected by this recall should have been fixed by now, but an Alfa Romeo dealer should be able to confirm one way or the other. Failing that, it only takes a moment to put a car's registration number into the recall checker on the gov.uk website.
If you are about to buy a used Giulietta, any used Alfa sold through the manufacturer's approved used scheme will have a 12-month warranty and a year's breakdown cover. The mileage and history of the car are also checked before it's offered for sale.
- Every Alfa Romeo Giulietta comes with the manufacturer’s DNA driving mode system, to alter the car's behaviour to suit the road or the driver's mood. Some driving mode features of this kind have subtle differences between the settings, but switching between the DNA system's various modes makes a big difference to the way the Giulietta drives. Put the car in Dynamic mode and there's more weight to the steering, and a much crisper throttle response. In Giuliettas with the dual-clutch automatic, gearshifts are more prompt and urgent. It makes the car more fun on a B-road, but the Normal setting is a better compromise for everyday driving.
- The Giulietta performed badly in its 2017 safety assessment by Euro NCAP. Its adult occupant score of 72% is quite weak, especially when you consider that the new Volkwagen Golf mk8 scored 95%. More damning is the 25% Safety Assist score. It lacks many of the safety systems that are standard on more modern hatchbacks. For example, autonomous emergency braking is neither standard nor available as an option. There's no lane-keeping assist system, and there isn’t an active bonnet to improve pedestrian protection.
- The Giulietta of 2010 is the third Alfa Romeo of this name. The first Giulietta was a handsome rear-wheel drive car made from 1954 to 1965. The original was sold as a coupé, a four-door saloon, a convertible, and an estate car. Just over a decade later, Alfa revived the name with the Giulietta saloon of 1977 to 1985, a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive car. The engines were great and it handled well, but many second-generation Giuliettas have succumbed to rust, and they’re now pretty rare.
- If you want the best all-rounder: go for the 148bhp 1.4 Turbo MultiAir petrol. In a car this small, 148bhp is enough for lively performance while keeping running costs sensible. The 1.4-litre engine is lighter than the diesels, which helps to sharpen the Alfa's handling. It makes for a stylish, fun, and affordable used car.
- If you cover a lot of miles: pick the 148bhp 2.0 JTDM-2. There's a worthwhile step up in performance compared with the 1.6-litre diesel, without a big penalty at the pumps. Plenty of mid-range pull delivers strong in-gear acceleration, and the manual gearbox this engine was matched to was better than the dual-clutch TCT automatic you got with the 173bhp diesel.
- If you want a quick but subtle hot hatch: choose the 237bhp 1750 TBi Veloce. This took over from the Cloverleaf as the top-of-the-range model after the 2016 facelift. It's a very quick car, and comes with sports suspension and 18-inch alloy wheels, but it isn’t as much fun to drive as, say, a Ford Focus ST.
- If you’re on a tight budget: go for the 118bhp 1.4 petrol. Turbocharging coaxes respectable performance from the little petrol engine. It's certainly not quick, but there's enough going on under the bonnet to make the most of the Giulietta's handling. The entry-level petrol is affordable to buy and run as a used car.
