Buying advice GTV 2.0

[jacko lah]

I saw a p reg gtv in practical classics at the weekend and the photo was taken in such a way that my wife said "yes i'd like one of those"

So tell me everything I need to know before a serious search for a good one.

Budget is £1500 to £2500.

Bloke at work has an R reg one and all I could get from him was "Mine had a grumbling front wheel bearing and watch for boy racers - avoid big bore back boxes and 17's"

[jamieboy]

Have a look at the buyer's guide over on alfaowner.com

Loads of people ask the same question, so worth a search on there too.

There's another buyers guide on sportsalfa.com, but I think it focuses more on the V6.

[Chris71]

Would I be right in guessing gearboxes are a bit of an issue?

[jamieboy]

Chris71 said:

Would I be right in guessing gearboxes are a bit of an issue?

Somebody asked that exact question on alfaowner, and the general consensus seems to be 'no'. What makes you ask?


edit for spelling

Edited by jamieboy on Monday 18th June 16:46

[Robertf]

Ask the same question on sportsalfa.com - loads of GTV TS owners on there.

[wadgebeast]

There are a few buyers guides out there. Try this one:

www.aroc-uk.com/BuyingGuides/Spider_gtv.htm

The main things to look for are cambelt change (they were originally supposed to be changed at 72k, but don't last that long. Recommended interval is now 36k), no noise from rear suspension (bushes fail early and therefore expensively) and that the oil is checked regularly and is a good semi-synthetic.

Electrics can be a bit dodgy, but rectifiable. Main issue here is the windscreen wipers.

Enjoy. Your budget won't get you a brilliant one, so you'll be on a high mileage motor. Just make sure the cambelt has been changed.

[Chris71]

jamieboy said:

Chris71 said:

Would I be right in guessing gearboxes are a bit of an issue?

Somebody asked that exact question on alfaowner, and the general consensus seems to be 'no'. What makes you ask?


edit for spelling

Edited by jamieboy on Monday 18th June 16:46

I've heard a lot of comments about not being able to rush the GTV gearbox and just wondered if there were any inherant problems with the transaxle layout. If nothing else I suppose home mechanics might be put off because it's different.

Glad to hear I'm wrong though. Do keep thinking about getting a GTV6, trying to sort the fact from fiction on alfa reliability

[jamieboy]

Chris71 said:

jamieboy said:

Chris71 said:

Would I be right in guessing gearboxes are a bit of an issue?

Somebody asked that exact question on alfaowner, and the general consensus seems to be 'no'. What makes you ask?

I've heard a lot of comments about not being able to rush the GTV gearbox and just wondered if there were any inherant problems with the transaxle layout. If nothing else I suppose home mechanics might be put off because it's different.

Glad to hear I'm wrong though. Do keep thinking about getting a GTV6, trying to sort the fact from fiction on alfa reliability

That makes sense - the transaxle gearbox you're talking about was on the older rwd Alfetta GTV, the OP is talking about the almost-current fwd GTV, officially the 916 GTV.

[Chris71]

Ah sorry.

Don't mean this in a bad way, but when they said classic I assumed it would be the RWD one.

[twin sparky]

If it's a TS then take a good look at the service history ...

cambelts NEED to be changed around every 50k not 70k as the Alfa originally said.. also check the rear suspension, this can wear and rub on the rear sub-frame causing major issues.. the rear bottoming out on bumpy roads is a good indication of this.

17's are not an indication of boy racers, alot of TS had the V6 wheels put on them... I did.

Fun car, my advise look for the Phase 2 (2000 upwards), better looking. The "SportsAlfa" are an excellent mine of info... so use them.

[pdV6]

euroboy said:

twin sparky said:

cambelts NEED to be changed around every 50k not 70k as the Alfa originally said..

I thought it was best to do them every 36k/3 years now?

[churchill dog]
Oh
[/curchill dog]

[jamieboy]

twin sparky said:

17's are not an indication of boy racers, alot of TS had the V6 wheels put on them... I did.

Fun car, my advise look for the Phase 2 (2000 upwards), better looking.

Phase 2 was late '98 onwards, the change in 2000 was the shift in production from Alfa to Pininfarina. I think it was during this change that P2 cars got the auto-drop windows and the shield + script on the side, instead of just the script on earlier P2s.

Standard wheels for the V6 were 16" too.

Edited by jamieboy on Wednesday 20th June 13:10