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Is there any news after your visit to the dealer?
no news yet - alfa care is involved and dealer as well...I believe its better if i wait till this is taken care of before i can give you full details...
I don't have the shield either on my 2015 LE, but might have the TCM flash.

I haven't experienced this particular issue and do wash the car with a pressure washer, taking care not to spray towards that area of the engine bay. Car has been rained on plenty of times, but the TCM is so far back in the engine bay, I'd be surprised if rain can touch it.
 
I wouldn’t say much as the transmission but the electronics and externals parts that DCT transmissions are know to have. When I had my Carrera S with a PDK transmission, I had several times transmission errors on the cluster. Basically the transmission wouldn’t go into gear. I know the actual mechanical part of the transmission is bullet proof but the computers, coolers and other attachments are the weak link. These DTC transmission are very computerized to the point that it learns your driving habits.
 
For all of you that care about what happened here it is.

A bit of history (2015 coupe non LE no tcu shield - no tcu update)

1) AUGUST 2019 car was brought in into herb chambers of Boston - 1-3-5 would engage 2-4-6 would not - check transmission and check engine light were on - dealer performed a hard reset - no parts were changed- no TCU shield was installed - no software was updated.

2) FEBRUARY 2020 - car was brought in into herb chambers of Boston - 1-3-5 would engage 2-4-6 would not - check transmission and check engine light were on - dealer performed a reboot of TCU - no parts were changed - no TCU shield was installed - no software was updated.

3) JUNE 1 2020 - warranty expires on the car

4) MIDDLE OF JUNE 2020 - car was brought in into herb chambers of Boston - 1-3-5 would engage 2-4-6 would not - check transmission and check engine light were on - Alfa customer service was involved - announcing that I was within the 30 day grace period and i was in for the same issue (3rd time now in 10 months)

Long story short Alfa Customer service is willing to pay half of 3300$ bill - and Herb Chambers is giving me an additional 150$ off of my half. 1495 TOTAL

I obviously think this is extremely unfair since the car has been in for two times same issue. Alex the representative of Alfa cares denies of the existence of a TCU shield, and has no knowledge of a TCU issue with the 4C "first time i hear about this" - ALFA CARE if you re there please reply.

You can imagine how I feel - for all the times i defended Alfa Romeo, for all the love I have for the brand - this is complete rubbish.
I have emailed the dealer to see what are they willing to do for the 3300$ repair bill - no answer yet - maybe they wont even install the shield. I will wait and see before commenting on this.

I requested to be called by a supervisor since the "offer" Alex gave me will expire in 7 days...yes they gave me an ultimatum, take or leave it. Great customer service really.

Is there anything I can do at this point?
 
Wow.

Rock . . . you . . . hard place.

Yeah, that's not stellar customer service. Great way to avoid warranty responsibilities - just keep mis-diagnosing a problem and hope that you can get it past warranty so that you can charge the customer for the real repair!

Problem is, your options are likely limited.
You could get a lawyer involved, but by the time you have paid them you aren't likely to be better off than if you take the deal that is on the table now.
You could trash the service department on social media, but that's only going to hurt you eventually. And it isn't going to repair your car. To be clear, that is not what you are doing here and I'm not accusing you of it - you've meticulously presented the facts as you see them, and asked for suggestions. For which I applaud you.

I definitely think I'd hold out for the shield being installed as part of the repair, without additional charge. It is something that Alfa has put in newer cars (I think we linked to the thread earlier here, including the part number). My 2015 LE does not have it, but my 2016 coupe does. Alfa recognized a weakness and fixed it in later cars. There was no recall and no obligation to update your vehicle. We are guessing that moisture had something to do with the failure, which it may or may not have. And it is unlikely that installing the shield after the first failure would have prevented a recurrence - I'm guessing that if this was a water issue then the corrosion had begun and the damage was already done. But why play with fire? The cost of the part to them is pennies, and the labour zero as they are already right there swapping out the computer. For peace of mind, I'd pay for it, but I don't see why you should have to.

I don't know your options or the strength of your position, but I can see why they want to limit the time period of their offer. The car is out of warranty, so either you want to fix it or move on. You need to fix it, so my gut says to bite the bullet, take the offer, but push to have the shield put in with the new TCU.

If you have a friend or relative who practices this area of law in your state (or is consumer protection purely federal in the USA?), then ask them if they would give you some cheap advice as to how strong a case you'd have to fight back? But realize that will take months, and cost money to pursue. So you might still be better off to pay for this now, under protest, and try to get compensated for the repair after the fact.
 
i didnt say specifically because i still dont know what they are doing to the car - I was just given the amount - im hoping that it will take care of TCU and shield at least
I would continue to push with Alfa corporate, clearly the dealer failed to correct the issue when the car was under warranty and being just outside warranty expiration they should pay for the repair. Squeaky wheel and grease and such.
 
It's hard to find a good dealership. Most of them are incompetent idiots. I hate them with a passion.

FYI



The shield cost 50$. The TCM 600. I would ask them specifically what is the issue.

Show this clown at Alfa this thread:




 
I would continue to push with Alfa corporate, clearly the dealer failed to correct the issue when the car was under warranty and being just outside warranty expiration they should pay for the repair. Squeaky wheel and grease and such.
That can’t hurt. Talk to someone at head office FCA. There must be a number. Does someone here know someone who knows someone?
 
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