does this ad look overpriced? (my first alfa -gtv v6)

[browna]

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/alfa...

this car is local to me, i want to go view it soon. what do you think of the price? the car looks pretty nice, the descriptions makes it sound mint.

id have to have it looked over by someone who knows alfas as im a virgin to the italian marks.

ive got an old shed mk1 focus as the moment, do you think i could run this alfa a reliable daily drive to get to work (7 miles) as well as the odd blast? or would you keep the shed as a backup/tip car. (the wife has the nice-ish family car)

thoughts gratefully recieved beofre i get carried away with the bussa v6 sound! yummm

Edited by browna on Thursday 17th July 15:39

[crostonian]

Condition is becoming the driving force behind the values of these now with low miles and a comprehensive history a bonus. This car looks worth a look, possibly a little over priced but maybe not if it's had loads of money spent on it. Personally I'm not a fan of Silver although that is subjective and as with so many described as having the Aerokit it doesn't have the black front splitter - not sure if these are available from Alfa any more??

[cabbagepatch]

if you pay full price for it you will have paid more than most other people in the last couple of years for the mileage. i note the cambelt was done 20k miles ago- you also need to watch the age of the cambelt as it should be changed afte 4-5yrs.

[amancalledrob]

It looks like a very good example but that price is high. I've had two of these. The first (and the better of the two) I bought in 2008 for £2850 at 97k in immaculate condition.

cabbagepatch said:

if you pay full price for it you will have paid more than most other people in the last couple of years for the mileage. i note the cambelt was done 20k miles ago- you also need to watch the age of the cambelt as it should be changed afte 4-5yrs.

Agreed. Alfa's original guideline for the cambelt was every 72k. This has since been revised to 36k. Other things to check are the clutch (an absolute nightmare to replace - I speak from experience) and it's worth putting an LSD in for approx £550 fitted as the original diffs have been known to let go in spectacularly expensive fashion.

Those are the wheels you want but they do make for a 'crashy' ride, especially at the front. The GTV V6 carries over 60% of its tonne-and-a-half weight at the front and the car would benefit from aftermarket shocks, Bilsteins work very well on it.

Clonking from the rear means worn bushes - not a problem on the V6 and easily solved with polybushes, but the rear end will skip about a bit if you don't upgrade the stock shocks at the same time.

Sorry if I've gone on a bit. I learned a lot about these during my ownership and I'll be in the market for another next year. Any questions do ask.

[Oilchange]

I think the cam belt was revised dow for the twinspark cars but dont quote me...

[amancalledrob]

Oilchange said:

I think the cam belt was revised dow for the twinspark cars but dont quote me...

It was for both. The twinspark had its own issue with a dodgy belt tensioner which fortunately the V6 didn't suffer from.

I've just realised I've gone directly against your wishes and quoted you. Sorry about that

[MrC986]

The adage is buy on condition & also the amount of paperwork available with the car to back up any claims on work done in the last 3-4 years. Silver is a good safe external colour though people seem to prefer interior colours other than black to make the cars different. Be patient & if necessary walk away....oh & the front bib spoiler is about £125 according to ebay.

[Oilchange]

amancalledrob said:

It was for both. The twinspark had its own issue with a dodgy belt tensioner which fortunately the V6 didn't suffer from.

I've just realised I've gone directly against your wishes and quoted you. Sorry about that