One of the hardest decisions for me, as a car guy, is deciding on a car that I want to drive every day. I’m a married, father of 3, so I need enough room for the whole family at times. I live in the midwest, so it will encounter snow, rain, and other conditions. Plus, I like to drive, so it has to be fun and up to the challenge of a twisty road or a sweeping on ramp. There are so many cars out there, but for a car guy, the list gets shorter and shorter with each requirement.

During the 2017 Super Bowl, Alfa Romeo ran a spot that introduced the new Alfa Romeo Giulia. As far as I am concerned, it was a marketing masterpiece. It had all the buzzwords that spoke to me as a car guy: turbo, all wheel drive, Brembo brakes, sport suspension, carbon fiber, and it looked amazing!

I was hooked! It made its way onto my short list of cars that I would consider at my next purchase. Fast forward to late 2022. My oldest daughter was a few weeks away from her driver’s license and I started the shopping process.

As a general rule, I don’t buy new cars, so I checked the used car market daily. I contacted a couple of dealers and people in the industry to keep an eye out for me. The more I researched, the longer my list of must have packages and options grew.

Pretty soon, I found myself shopping for a Giulia Ti Q4 (all wheel drive). It had to have the sport package, which included the paddle shifters and sport style leather bucket seats. I also had to have the moonroof option and 19 inch 5 hole wheels. I really wanted the performance package, which includes the active suspension and limited slip differential, but it wasn’t a deal breaker.

Then came the hardest part of the process. Finding the right color. The first one that I test drove checked most of the boxes, but it was black on black. I really didn’t want black since this car would be parked outside a lot. While looking at a few others, I fell in love with the red interior option and I heard that Italian cars should be red (Rosso).

While shopping for a used car, there are 2 schools of thought: get a certified, low mileage pristine example with a warranty, or find the lowest price version of the car you want. I rolled the dice, finding a 2017 with a few minor imperfections and higher mileage compared to a few others that I looked at. I was rewarded with a price point under budget and money left over for future upgrades… I mean maintenance. I’ll let you all know how it works out for me. Ciao!