Yes

Alfa’s aren’t “crap”. They’re elegantly styled and designed to be fun to drive… but they’re very maintenance intensive. That doesn’t mean they’re crappy cars, but the penalty for their design and their components is they need a lot of maintenance

My boss had one and it was very fun, but also was in the shop quite a bit.

I love my Alfa (Giulia). I haven't had any issues in the three years I've owned it, but I would suggest getting a long warranty just in case.

I just rented a Stelvio while on vacation & didn't like the car much at all - didn't like how it handled, and the check engine light came on repeatedly during our CA road trip. No fun. Would not recommend. I did love the Peugot I rented in Ireland, though!

Super fun to drive

What year? If I could afford the maintenance, a newer Stelvio would be fine there are plenty in that price range (because most people can't afford the upkeep on a alpha). Something like a Spider would be a nonstarter for a high school kid

They are beautiful cars that are fun to drive. They are also some of the least reliable cars made. Hopefully when something goes wrong, it's a part shared with other stellantis cars, otherwise you're paying a lot and waiting a long time because their presence in the US is minimal

What year and mileage? 21K doesn't seem that cheap without knowing more details. Set aside a reserve fund for repairs and try to get it as cheaply as possible.

PS It's easy enough to get pricing for routine maintenance items like oil changes and other fluid replacements, and brake pads - just call a few dealers and a few independent shops.

Check Consumer Reports for objective rather than anecdotal reliability ratings. You'll likely find reliability to be below average, but whether that matters is another question since most cars these days are actually quite reliable, and individual cars of course vary from sample to sample. If well maintained, even cars with low reliability ratings are probably not going to leave you stranded by the side of the road; oftentimes reliability relates to complicated electronics (Merecedes is chronically dinged for this) which are associated with convenience features but which don't prevent the car from being driven.

Alfas are often viewed as attractive designs with good handling, a minimal dealership network, and unimpressive general reliability (with the caveat about "reliability" noted above). They are not terribly popular, so depreciation is likely to be worse than average, of that matters.

is a crap car, right? My ds is looking and likes one but I feel like maintenance would be expensive. The car itself is cheap, 21k.