Finding a Good GTV V6

[chim500nj]

I am trying to find a mint example of an Alfa GTV V6 with a budget of up to £5k. I think I might have an easier job going on a crusade with Indiana Jones for a Crystal Skull.

Is it just a bad time of year or is no one selling the mint ones currently. I have a chap that has said he might sell his in a couple of months and it is a lovely one but apart from that just shabby examples being sold for around £3-£3.5k.

Are these cars seasonal or something?

[badger_royale]

They're hard to find, I looked for about 3 months before getting mine. I think less than 1100 were sold here, obviously there are less now and they're a rare sight, I've seen 3 others in nearly 2 years!

Are you after a phase 1,2 or 3? Phase 2s have a better interior than phase 1s and phase 3s look a bit odd IMO (obviously I'm biased!). P2s should be the easiest to find but there are quite a few ropey ones about, good luck!

[chim500nj]

Looking for a Phase 2, wth aerokit and 17 Inch Teledials.

Better just prepare for a long wait I reckon.

[Cyclone1]

Try alfaowner.com if you haven't already. You have to be very patient, I found mine totally by luck and it's a cracker (low miles, black/black, fsh, teledials, ph2 etc), I intended on just keeping it as a runabout until spring while between cars but not sure whether I'll bother selling it now. Bide your time and one will appear.

Jules.

[chim500nj]

jamesc_1729 said:

I'm looking as well. There are a couple of good examples in PH classifieds, including one which has had 5k of work in the last 18 months:
http://pistonheads.com/sales/1421827.htm
It's had everything which is likely to go wrong replaced already..

Have you been to have a look at this one, someone from Alfaowners.com said they had been to see it and it was a bit shabby cosmetically and the current owner has only had it a month?

[darth_pies]

chim500nj said:

I am trying to find a mint example of an Alfa GTV V6 with a budget of up to £5k. I think I might have an easier job going on a crusade with Indiana Jones for a Crystal Skull.

Is it just a bad time of year or is no one selling the mint ones currently. I have a chap that has said he might sell his in a couple of months and it is a lovely one but apart from that just shabby examples being sold for around £3-£3.5k.

Are these cars seasonal or something?

This probably doesn't help, but i bought this V6 advertised on PH last week for 4k.

http://pistonheads.com/sales/1426638.htm

2001, 57k, 3 prev owners incl. guy i bought it from, >2k spent on cambelt/rad last year, over-serviced all its life (already had 60k service at 53k), 4 new Goodyear F1's, mint interior, a few scratches but nothing OTT for a 9 year old car.

Like you i decided i wanted to spend a bit more and get one in good nick with low miles. Only had it 4 days but i'm thrilled to bits so far! The creamy V6 growl is worth every penny!

So on this basis your 5k should get you a minter!

When i was looking for a car it seemed that there were loads of shabby high-milers about and a few overpriced dealer cars, but not much inbetween.

My advice is just to do plenty of research on alfaowner.com (free signup - really good resource!), Alfaworkshop buyer's guide and in the classifieds. Then just be ready to strike when a good one comes along. In my case there were 4-5 people in touch with the owner wanting to view, but the snowy weather and the fact he lived nearby just meant that by chance i was the first one to view it and snapped it up.

Jan is quite slow for car sales anyway....you may find more for sale soon.

There are apparently only about a thousand 3.0 V6 GTV's left on the road, although i can imagine that quite a few 1998-2000 cars were scrapped in 2009 with the government scheme so probably even less.

Good luck!

[Harbuzi]

As per everybody's advice...shop around...and wait for the right one! They are relatively rare, but on the plus side it means you are not looking through hundreds of examples as if you were buying a golf or 3 series etc!

You seem to have good taste (wanting teledials and aerokit)!! For your budget you will be looking at a mint phase 2 (which in my opinion is the best edition).

I have just had a quick look and although red interior is not to everybody's taste this seems like a decent example (maybe even a little underpriced). Oh, and it is silver, which is the best colour!!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

Badger Royale - just looked at your profile...how do you manage to get 25mpg??!!

[darth_pies]

Harbuzi said:

I have just had a quick look and although red interior is not to everybody's taste this seems like a decent example (maybe even a little underpriced).

If that's underpriced then i must have bagged a bargain! Nice

Red leather interior is lovely and makes it feel a bit more 'special' IMHO....this is a luxury italian coupe with a legendary V6 engine after all!
Oddly though mine has black carpet with the red leather/dash so its not quite so overpowering as in that silver one which has all red carpet and mats

[Harbuzi]

Yeah, I personally like the red interiors myself. That one I posted has a black dash doesn't it, whereas yours is red, but as you say you have black carpets! It's interesting to see a couple of different examples...I think they both look nice!

FWIW, I think you did get a bargain if you paid £4k for your one...looks in very nice condition.

[badger_royale]

Harbuzi said:

As per everybody's advice...shop around...and wait for the right one! They are relatively rare, but on the plus side it means you are not looking through hundreds of examples as if you were buying a golf or 3 series etc!

You seem to have good taste (wanting teledials and aerokit)!! For your budget you will be looking at a mint phase 2 (which in my opinion is the best edition).

I have just had a quick look and although red interior is not to everybody's taste this seems like a decent example (maybe even a little underpriced). Oh, and it is silver, which is the best colour!!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

Badger Royale - just looked at your profile...how do you manage to get 25mpg??!!

Not sure really! I don't drive it like a granny all the time, give it some stick now and then, but I mainly do country/motorway miles at a reasonably steady pace. Recently dropped to about 21 mpg with the cold weather and a heavier right foot... I once got 28mpg but that was really trying hard, and ridiculously frustrating.

[pdV6]

badger_royale said:

Not sure really! I don't drive it like a granny all the time, give it some stick now and then, but I mainly do country/motorway miles at a reasonably steady pace. Recently dropped to about 21 mpg with the cold weather and a heavier right foot... I once got 28mpg but that was really trying hard, and ridiculously frustrating.

I tend to get about 18mpg out of mine, but that's with a lot of driving around town.
Better on the motorway and, like you, the best I've ever seen was on a long, slow motorway cruise that returned high 20's.

[chim500nj]

Harbuzi said:

As per everybody's advice...shop around...and wait for the right one! They are relatively rare, but on the plus side it means you are not looking through hundreds of examples as if you were buying a golf or 3 series etc!

You seem to have good taste (wanting teledials and aerokit)!! For your budget you will be looking at a mint phase 2 (which in my opinion is the best edition).

I have just had a quick look and although red interior is not to everybody's taste this seems like a decent example (maybe even a little underpriced). Oh, and it is silver, which is the best colour!!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

Badger Royale - just looked at your profile...how do you manage to get 25mpg??!!

I did go and have a look at this one, it needed a cambelt service, the front bumper had dropped a bit and the thermostat needed replacing as on the move it did not get above 50 on the temp gauge. So it probably needed around 700-800 spending on it to get it tip top. It was in very good nick though

It was a nice car but I would rather buy one for around £5k that needs nothing doing to it.

[darth_pies]

chim500nj said:

Harbuzi said:

As per everybody's advice...shop around...and wait for the right one! They are relatively rare, but on the plus side it means you are not looking through hundreds of examples as if you were buying a golf or 3 series etc!

You seem to have good taste (wanting teledials and aerokit)!! For your budget you will be looking at a mint phase 2 (which in my opinion is the best edition).

I have just had a quick look and although red interior is not to everybody's taste this seems like a decent example (maybe even a little underpriced). Oh, and it is silver, which is the best colour!!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

Badger Royale - just looked at your profile...how do you manage to get 25mpg??!!

I did go and have a look at this one, it needed a cambelt service, the front bumper had dropped a bit and the thermostat needed replacing as on the move it did not get above 50 on the temp gauge. So it probably needed around 700-800 spending on it to get it tip top. It was in very good nick though

It was a nice car but I would rather buy one for around £5k that needs nothing doing to it.

Funnily enough the one thing wrong with my car is the thermostat. As soon as i put my foot down for the first time on a dual carriageway the water temperature fell from 90 (normal) to 50 (cold). Thermostat failure is very common on the GTV, but the good news is they are 25quid plus an hour to fit...a simple DIY job at home.

At least i hope it is because i'm going to have a crack at doing mine this weekend!

Cambelt and bumper though.....hmmm, not cheap.

[pdV6]

Budegt about £400 for the cambelt from a specialist.
Not sure about the bumper; it could be anywhere between as simple as tightening a couple of screws to visible sign of accident damage...

[Cyclone1]

Check the Alfa owner forum and search for bumper sagging, there are one or two threads.

The thermostat as mentioned is common and easy to replace / fix.

Even at £5k you'll struggle to find one with everything done, because there will always be something to do. Sometimes a car at £2k less is much the better option.

I paid much less for my 2001 V6, but it did need a basic service and also the front lower wishbone arms. At only 54k miles you'd struggle to find a better one mechanically and condition wise.

Jules

Edited by Cyclone1 on Thursday 21st January 11:13

[Harbuzi]

Hmmmm...if it needs that doing to it, then I guess it is in the right price bracket! I have no clue on the bumper, but as others have said the thermostat is a very quick, easy and cheap job. Surprised the owner hasn't had this done as it something that would put people off.

Regarding the cambelt, when I bought mine I factored in that this would need doing, and as long as you can save the equivalent money it is probably not a bad thing getting one and getting this done yourself (you then know it has been done and you can have a car checked out by a specialist at the same time)!

Good luck!

[hornetrider]

chim500nj said:

Harbuzi said:

As per everybody's advice...shop around...and wait for the right one! They are relatively rare, but on the plus side it means you are not looking through hundreds of examples as if you were buying a golf or 3 series etc!

You seem to have good taste (wanting teledials and aerokit)!! For your budget you will be looking at a mint phase 2 (which in my opinion is the best edition).

I have just had a quick look and although red interior is not to everybody's taste this seems like a decent example (maybe even a little underpriced). Oh, and it is silver, which is the best colour!!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

Badger Royale - just looked at your profile...how do you manage to get 25mpg??!!

I did go and have a look at this one, it needed a cambelt service, the front bumper had dropped a bit and the thermostat needed replacing as on the move it did not get above 50 on the temp gauge. So it probably needed around 700-800 spending on it to get it tip top. It was in very good nick though

It was a nice car but I would rather buy one for around £5k that needs nothing doing to it.

Hmmm, you could negotiate discount off it given it needs looking at and still come in under 5k total outlay with jobs done. And as Harbuzi says, you'll know it was done right and it can be checked over at the same time. If its cosmetically good then why not go for it?

[hornetrider]

I went to Cornwall to get mine and all 'them down there' appear to know each other! The guy I bought mine off said this one on eBay is supposed to be 100% mechanically with some very minor cosmetic marks. Trouble is its a long way to go on the off chance which I guess is why its still for sale. I got my seller to email me high res pics prior to making the trip - I got the train down and it was £30 down to Penzance from Bristol.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Alfa-Romeo-GTV-3-0-V6-Only-5...

[chim500nj]

hornetrider said:

I went to Cornwall to get mine and all 'them down there' appear to know each other! The guy I bought mine off said this one on eBay is supposed to be 100% mechanically with some very minor cosmetic marks. Trouble is its a long way to go on the off chance which I guess is why its still for sale. I got my seller to email me high res pics prior to making the trip - I got the train down and it was £30 down to Penzance from Bristol.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Alfa-Romeo-GTV-3-0-V6-Only-5...

I did drop them a mail about that one about a week ago and had no response so that kind of put me off. Maybe their E-Mail is only delivered once a week (poor attempt at humour). In the meantime something else has come up a minter 99 V6 with 65k on the clock in stunning condition which is right up my street hopefully when the chap finds a new car he has promised me first refusal so fingers crossed. Will Post some pics if it all comes to fruition.

[hornetrider]

Nice one. I rang the guy when I was looking for mine and got him to walk around the car and describe it to me precisely, as I'm a fussy bugger! He told me if I was after a 100% minter bodywork wise then this was not the car, but that it was very good with only minor blemishes, but that mechanically it was absolutely sound with nothing needing doing at all.

Good luck with your search!