I am for the most part very happy with my Alfa M1028A1. Here are some of my observations about the truck, Alfa Heaven & Tom. I paid $9500 because it was an A1, Milage was low, 39,000 and was listed as having no rust.
The paint was excellent as was the body. Inside front panel on the bed is dented. Engine runs perfect, transmission shifts perfect as well. There is an issue with the detroit locker and/or alignment of the rear axle to the frame. When I step on the accelerator, the truck shifts to one side, when you let off, the truck shifts back. I've had detroit lockers on 4x4's in the past, they are funny animals. Everything needs to aligned and the tires need to be the same pressure and height. They are tough though, hard to break them. When I asked Tom about this before I left his facility, he said it was the NP205 transfer case that caused this to happen, he even went so far to say that all M1028A1's he's every driven do this. I looked at him like he was nuts, and tried to explain that the transfer case could not be the cause, and tried to explain the alingment of the axle to the frame when you have one of these lockers. He did not listen. My impression of Tom is that he's very knowedgable and knows it.
With regard to the statement that the trucks are serviced and ready to go, none of the fluids had been replaced in mine, the air filter was caked with dirt (I had them replace it before I left, they had to find a clean used one as they had none that were new), The tires were not balanced and the truck shook so bad, I was worried about shaking it apart. I had to stop at a truck stop and pay to have them balanced on the second day of the trip. When I talked with tom about this, he said they are bias ply and should warm up and round out. Pure BS. (for a guy that used to build race cars, he knows that's BS). I do understand bias ply tires, as I used to run Arnstrong Truetracks and 36 inch Grand Prix's. I did find a new set of Military OZ's on ebay from Tiresfast. With regard to the undercoating, they shoot everthing, evan the caked on grease. I asked if the original jack was in the truck. he said it was, It was not, He said he would send it, he has not.
I asked if there were any leaks before I left, the answer was "no way". Well it has a major leak at the rear pinion, I can fix that. Small leak from the transmission, I can fix that.
The interior is excellent. When I got in though the only thing that was not painted was the cieling and rear pillars, when I asked Tom he really wanted to tak about something else. In the add he lists the seat as new, it is not, only the cover. The pad under the cover and maybe the springs need to be fixed on the driver side. I can fix that.
The add said no rust. When I looked under the front battery when I got it home there is significant rust in the panel under there. When I spoke to Tom about this, well he kinda blew this off as well. NO RUST MEANS NO RUST!!! He also lists the M1008's and M1028's as have a Dana 60 in the rear, they clearly have a 14 bolt rear. When I asked Tom why he lists it this way before I left he said, it's because averyone knows what a Dana 60 is. Huh? you've got to be kidding I thought. By this time I getting a pretty good picture of Tom the Salesman.
Oh and the blackout drive head light, it did not work when I tested it at home, he said it worked when I left. So I opened it to replace the bulb and rusty water poored out. This thing had not worked for a very long time. Oh well. And how did it get filled to the top with water?
I also pruchased an LDT-465 from him as well. It was listed at $3000, he gave me $500 off since I bought a truck. It was listed as being an unrebuilt very low hours engine. Well when I looked at the tag on the engine It's an LD-465-1C Not an LDT. It has a D turbo on it. It has no rebuild tag so what the heck. Is this an Alfa built engine? Who knows. I haven't evan call Tom on this one. I was supposed to get some sort of documentation showing me that the hours were truely low, it's been since September, I have not. Also the engine is drained but when I open the oil filler cap I seems like I smell diesel in the engine. Hmmm. Anyway the engine looks very nice, kinda like my truck.
Before anyone reminds that it's a 21 year old truck, I did pay a premium for this truck because of the way it was sold to me. I do love the truck and will keep it for a long time. I am very unhappy about the Multi-Fuel engine, It may be a great engine though. But it's not what I thought I was buying.
Bottom line is: Alfa Heaven puts alot into getting these trucks ready to sell and Tom is in business with people and expenses to pay. My truck overall is very nice. Just be very carefull and check the vehicle out with your own eyes or someone who is qualified. If it doesn't feel right, go with your gut feeling. And remember, Tom is in the sales business, used car sales business.
Would I do it again, maybe.
