Not happy with the new purchase so far.

[IRWFO]

Well my friend barely got home with his M1009 from Alfa Heaven yesterday. First off this is what the website listing said about the truck.

1985 M1009 6.2 DIESEL 4x4 #MC86
30,xxx MILES.
6.2 DIESEL w/24V START (ALL OTHER ELECTRICS 12V)
Just back from Europe. Pre-wired for communications.
Excellent, never rusted or dented body.
Factory Ziebart. Correct 383 CARC paint.
New floor mat, dash top. Goodyear Wrangler ATS tires. Glow Plug Saver System.
Just serviced and detailed. Runs & drives great.
This is an extremely nice example and is correct in every way.
$8000.00

He flew from NY to Wis. on Wed. After picking up the truck he had to turn around because the window washers weren't working. The weather wasn't good at all and he needed them. Alfa did some type of quickie fix & he was back on his way home. Later that day the washers stopped working again & haven't worked since. When darkness came, the dash lights went out. Now the horn is out too. While on the phone with me asking advice he hit the horn & the dash lights came back on. For the next couple of hours they would go out then come back on. He stopped for the night.
Next morning uneventful except some vibrations at certain speeds. My guess tire balancing. The volt gauge was on the high side just touching the red. Alfa said this is normal. Just like when I was told my low reading was normal when I bought mine from Alfa. Both times Alfa is wrong. Well after night fall the Gen1 light started to glow. My friend said it would get brighter is the heater fan was on high. This morning he goes to start it & sure enough it's dead. Just a clicking starter. Now throughout the 2 day trip he was on the phone with Alfa asking for help.
Before I go any further there is much more to the story but I don't want to bash anybody. Plus my friend is really pissed right now & I'll let him calm down a little & find out more.
Well this truck is suppose to have 2 brand new batteries. New #2 Alt. In the 15min I was just looking at the truck (it's only 15 degrees out) the Alt. does look new. If the batteries are new they must be some kind of remanufactured ones. There are no tags or manufacturer stickers on them. Battery1 has 12volts. Battery2 has 15.5volts. I also saw there was quite a few new crimp connectors in the wiring. The wiring is also much sloppier then my Alfa truck. Right off the bat I saw a fusible link that had it's sheathing cracked & wire corroded. Tomorrow I'm bringing my friend 2 new batteries so he can start the truck, get the road salt washed off it & get it to my shop & see what the hell is going on with it.
I will keep you guys informed of my findings. Here are some pics I took today. Take a look at the way the door fits on this so called excellent body. One last thing. Imagine driving 1,000+ miles with no washers in you truck you just paid $8,000 for + another grand in expenses for what you were led to believe was a mint truck.

 

[maddawg308]

Wow. Thanks for the update. I'll tell you what - I've heard good things about Alfa, then I've heard bad things. This is probably one of the worst ones I've heard so far.

I have only ordered spare parts for my M-725 from Alfa, no trucks. Their shipping was prompt, but I will say this: the condition of the parts was much worse than expected.

 

[alphadeltaromeo]

Ouch!

 

[OPCOM]

seems like he kinds got cheated on that one.

 

[jkelly66]

Sorry for your freind for that money it should be good all over

 

[JoshC]

I was told it was mechanically perfect as well as the body when I spoke to them about it. Obviously not the case. Hopefully your friend will get some compensation.

 

[builder77]

If I remember correctly from my days working an auto parts store counter part-time battery's date codes are often stamped into the plastic of the battery housing.

For 8K you should not have had these troubles.

 

[N1265]

For 8K you should not have ANY troubles for a long, long time. I hope they are good enough to make things right with your buddy.

Please keep us posted on this.... There is a member who is considering comming over from Iceland ( I think ) to get an M880 from them.

 

[clinto]

Re: RE: Not happy with the new purchase so far.

Sorry for your freind for that money it should be good all over

ditto

 

[maddawg308]

RE: Re: RE: Not happy with the new purchase so far.

Just as a quazi side note, is there anyone else out there in terms of a company that redoes CUCVs/M880s that look this good, but have no mechanical problems?

 

[steelsoldiers]

RE: Re: RE: Not happy with the new purchase so far.

There's a guy in NC I think that redoes CUCV's. I can't think of his name off hand, but he advertises in MVM regularly. I'll check my collection when I get home and get the contact info for you Mike.

 

[gasser]

RE: Re: RE: Not happy with the new purchase so far.

Seems like Alfa, and while gets a special deal on those tires, always have issues with them - like out of balance. This is like the 3rd report I have seen about a CUCV coming from Alfa and having the tires be out of whack. Such a simple thing too .... um.

Yeah man, sorry to hear about your friend. Is he a SS member? Tell him to join up! Any future issues with his CUCV (not trying to forecast .... but) , tell him to post and we can help!
Take care,

-graham

 

[Recovry4x4]

RE: Re: RE: Not happy with the new purchase so far.

Chris, you thinking of Jim Henry in Albemarle?

 

[OPCOM]

RE: Re: RE: Not happy with the new purchase so far.

hmm a possibly dishonest/misrepresented sale involving merchandise across state lines.. Hmm..

 

[BKinzey]

Be sure to take notes & pics of everything and give Alfa the chance to make it right. Should this turn out to be a lemon you'll need all this info.

Hope it works out though.

 

[IRWFO]

Well here is a little update. I was over my buddies working on his still not running truck. First I would like to let you know some of the good points about the truck. I spent a good hour looking it over, top to bottom. Inside & out. Other then the misfit drivers door, the body is really nice & not a hint of any rust anywhere. It was factory rust proofed when new. I saw 2 places that I think had some bodywork done. You could see the air pockets from the bondo that they didn't fill before painting. You had to really be looking to see. The Passenger door needs to be closed hard to catch. That door looks like it had some body work done to the top of it. Now that I'm thinking about it, I wonder if something dropped on it because the upper corner between the door & the windshield is one of the spots I found the body work. I'll investigate some more next time. The front windshield wasn't changed, like on mine so the body work might have been done when in service instead of by Alfa. The exhaust is in good shape. The rear seal on the transfer case is leaking bad but the motor & tranny are bone dry. One very big disappointment was the oil filter doesn't look to have been changed. It's a fram & looks old. It has a fram fuel filter too. The belts don't look good to me so they will have to be changed. Looking at this truck compared to mine my engine compartment looks much cleaner but it's mostly because of his factory undercoating. They hit the whole firewall, wheel wells and frame. Mine has that nice satin black that looks so good when washed. My friend said the washers are working again. I'm not sure what he did to them. I repaired the bad fusible link. We also straightened out some of the messy wiring. The interior is really nice. Alfa even painted the ceiling which they didn't do in mine. The back & passenger seats are very close to perfect. The drivers seat looks like a very large soldier spent most of his tour sitting in it. It really should have been changed. BTW mine definitely has a passenger seat in the drivers spot. The inner seatbelts are missing the plastic that keeps them strait. His truck leaks in the back just like mine. Most of the weather-stripping needs to be replaced.
Now last night my friend went out & bought 2 new batteries. The old battiers both have a small K6 burned into the top. November 06 if I am decoding them right. I didn't have my load tester with me to check them. The truck started right up. He took it to the do it yourself car wash & got all the salt off. Then he was stuck for a short while because the starter wouldn't catch the flywheel. When he got it started he got it home & it did it again. I got there this morning & it wouldn't start at all. He turned it over for just a few seconds & it almost fired but it didn't. It was very cold in the morning. On his second attempt the starter was turning it over very slow. I told him to stop. The battery cables got so hot you couldn't hold them. This truck really needs new battery cables. When my friend replaced the batteries he said the connectors needed a good cleaning. When I pulled them off they where actually eaten up inside from past corrosion. Either way I think they are clean enough to turn over the motor. I pulled the starter for him. The connections were perfect down there. Tomorrow he is going to have it tested. I'll keep you informed of our progress.

 

[CUCVFAN]

Man, that is tough luck. Alfa should make good on some of these items.

A side note on the engine compartments. I have never seen a CUCV or other Chevy truck from this era that was factory undercoated over the entire firewall (even my 1987 M1028A3 didn't have this and it was Ziebarted when new). They only shot the seams at the factory. From the looks of other Alfa trucks, I'm guessing they did this as part of their "engine detailing"...

 

[IRWFO]

My Alfa truck only has the seams also. Alfa only shot the underneith of mine. This ones ziebart looks like it was done a long time ago. I thought that was weird too.

 

[carguy455]

Sounds like a hose job to me........

 

[84cucv]

WOW, that really sucks to hear i hope it works out for you..