For the first time in a long time, a brand new Alfa Romeo has appeared in the NHTSA (an American governmental organization, remember) Recall database. This is both a good sign and a bad omen. For one thing, it signifies that: yes, Alfa is back. Yeehaw. On the other hand, or perhaps the same hand, it also means that Alfa is back and is ready to be brought back into the garage.
Due to NHTSA’s lack of true oil-in-the-veins car guys and gals, auto writers like The Good Car Guy are forced to make educated guesses. See, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published notice of this here Recall that includes, according to NHTSA, the Maserati Quattroportes from MY2005, the Maserati Quattroporte from MY2006-2008, the Maserati GranTurismo from ’08, and the Maserati Alfa Romeo from 2008.
So that’d be the plurally named Maserati from ’05 – didn’t know they made the Quattroportes – and the Fiat-connected Maserati Alfa Romeo. Having analyzed this information, it is the belief of The Good Car Guy that NHTSA is referring to the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione that’s sold through Maserati dealerships (Fiat owns/runs Maserati, Alfa, Lancia, and kind of Ferrari) and clearly imported by Maserati. Overall 7,912 cars are involved in the Recall.
What’s the problem? “Incorrectly torqued upper and lower ball joint nuts may cause the ball joint nuts to loosen”, which over time, “could lead to noise, vibration, and damage or separtion of the suspension arm.” As NHTSA so capably points out, that increases the risk of a crash.
Wanna check this out with Maserati/Alfa Romeo? 1-201-826-2600. That’s gotta be one of the first NHTSA-provided manufacturer phone numbers I’ve typed that doesn’t appear to be toll free. If you’re driving one of those cars, it sounds as though you can afford to make the call. By the way, the pic is of the Maserati Quattroporte from MY2008, not the Quattroportes from ’05.
