GTV 2.0 Twin spark owners
Discussion
Hi Guys
Any owner opinions please, I've been 'thinking' about getting one for years, this year, I want to take the plunge!
Any tips, or advice things to look out for please. I'm looking for one with the lowest miles possible as I want to keep it for as long as I can, I've always loved them, I want something to cherish, a keeper.
Cheers Guys.
Any owner opinions please, I've been 'thinking' about getting one for years, this year, I want to take the plunge!
Any tips, or advice things to look out for please. I'm looking for one with the lowest miles possible as I want to keep it for as long as I can, I've always loved them, I want something to cherish, a keeper.
Cheers Guys.
volante5767 said:
Hi Guys
Any owner opinions please, I've been 'thinking' about getting one for years, this year, I want to take the plunge!
Any tips, or advice things to look out for please. I'm looking for one with the lowest miles possible as I want to keep it for as long as I can, I've always loved them, I want something to cherish, a keeper.
Cheers Guys.
Join Alfaowner, sure you'lll get a much better response than on here.Any owner opinions please, I've been 'thinking' about getting one for years, this year, I want to take the plunge!
Any tips, or advice things to look out for please. I'm looking for one with the lowest miles possible as I want to keep it for as long as I can, I've always loved them, I want something to cherish, a keeper.
Cheers Guys.
There's also pretty comprehensive buyers guide.
https://www.alfaowner.com/threads/gtv-spider-buyer...
had several over the years, TS and V6. Mine have all been phase 2's. here's an ammended verson of a previous post
the Busso is a robust unit with no real maladies (apart from getting a little rattly around the bottom - is ok, they all do it) so it's more about the stuff that alfa bolted on around the engine.
many prefer the TS and i can see why. the belts interval is the biggy and it needs doing so often that it's worth buying the tools for DIY. Variator and pump at the same time. oil cooler will eventually start to leak - annoying drip or exxon valdez is in the lap of the gods. for some reason i seem to have had a disproportionate number of stat failures on TS's. Beware a TS that's had a top end rebuild after a belt failure - many have experienced a bottom end failure a few 000 miles later. plugs are expensive and, of course, there are 8. TS's use oil - they just do. the manual tells you that they do.
never had a JTS - Paul at AforAlfa hates working on them but i dont know why.
some parts getting hard to find but perseverance always pays off. took me over a month to find a brake compensator valve but got there in the end (from latvia of all places).
I've never had a rusty one but i believe they do like to rot if neglected. Floor seams, sills under the plastic cover etc. although the body doesn't rust don't be lulled into thinking that nothing bolted to it rusts. bonnet hinges as a case in point. they can get a bit corroded and stiff and do suddenly pull out of their housing. this will leave you desperately trying to wrestle what is essentially a large plastic sail back into position. it may be composite but its arm-achingly big.
front lower arms should be considered service items - decades of running 916's of any persuasion means i just use pattern parts and replace relatively frequently (others will swear by genuine but i didnt really find a difference in longevity). other suspension stuff is manageable (noted some neglected cars beginning to present with rear subframe issues). i've found modified cars to be hopeless in the suspension department and converted them back to standard ride height at quite a cost. refurbed, future proofed spring pans are readily available but a bit pricey.
rear suspension is quite complex and there's a lot of bushes under there. the passive rear steer can get a bit more "active" (and by active, I mean "startling") as things get more loose at the back end. upgrades are available
none of my 916's have ever had electrical faults despite what the received wisdom about italian electrics may suggest. the meta alarm can go a bit squiffy but can be either unplugged (immobiliser will still be active) or refurbed. however, the exception that denies the rule is "beach ball boy" - any attempt to do anything at all with the seats without removing the battery and dropping the keys off in the next county will result in his appearing, i miss him when he's not there. speaking of keys - make sure you get them all as its very confusing trying to work out what works and what doesnt work if you don't have the master.
trim is holding up well, even the cloth seems to last. check doorcards for the signature "closed the door and trapped the belt buckle" hole. many small bits will fall off but they can usually be forced back into place. Red with tan leather my favourite combo but had a couple of black with red which was also nice. The special trim levels ("red line" and "blue line") dont seem to be commanding higher prices and the red dash that some had just looks a bit over the top. floppy door pull is a slipped bowden cable. what can be a massive pita though is window alignment - the manual lists approx twenty-twelve separate measurements to get it right.
the Cup/Aero kit is, i think, attractive but doesnt seem to add much value despite being quite expensive to buy in component form.
driving position is fine for me but i'm quite small. others moan about offset pedals and the like but never a problem for me. what are problematic though are the sun-visors. fold them down and your forward vision is akin to a comedy "peeping through a letterbox" sketch. speaking of vision - the HRW relay can fail and has been known to trigger small electrical fires - a hack is available.
rear seats are rubbish. tiny people will fit but they will moan if you're going further than the end of the road. boot is vestigial and usually full of space saver (although some later cars got a tyre pump and foamy stuff) and CD changer.
wipers tend to lift off the screen at higher speeds - no real fix for this, Rain-X helps. the wipers were never really properly converted to RHD. this results in some weird non-seating issues at times. they do a kind of half wipe after switching off which may mean they stop in the 12 o clock position - flick wipe reseats them.
this is just quick top of head stuff - they are great little cars and the V6 is genuinely (sort of) fast even today, strongly recommended
the Busso is a robust unit with no real maladies (apart from getting a little rattly around the bottom - is ok, they all do it) so it's more about the stuff that alfa bolted on around the engine.
many prefer the TS and i can see why. the belts interval is the biggy and it needs doing so often that it's worth buying the tools for DIY. Variator and pump at the same time. oil cooler will eventually start to leak - annoying drip or exxon valdez is in the lap of the gods. for some reason i seem to have had a disproportionate number of stat failures on TS's. Beware a TS that's had a top end rebuild after a belt failure - many have experienced a bottom end failure a few 000 miles later. plugs are expensive and, of course, there are 8. TS's use oil - they just do. the manual tells you that they do.
never had a JTS - Paul at AforAlfa hates working on them but i dont know why.
some parts getting hard to find but perseverance always pays off. took me over a month to find a brake compensator valve but got there in the end (from latvia of all places).
I've never had a rusty one but i believe they do like to rot if neglected. Floor seams, sills under the plastic cover etc. although the body doesn't rust don't be lulled into thinking that nothing bolted to it rusts. bonnet hinges as a case in point. they can get a bit corroded and stiff and do suddenly pull out of their housing. this will leave you desperately trying to wrestle what is essentially a large plastic sail back into position. it may be composite but its arm-achingly big.
front lower arms should be considered service items - decades of running 916's of any persuasion means i just use pattern parts and replace relatively frequently (others will swear by genuine but i didnt really find a difference in longevity). other suspension stuff is manageable (noted some neglected cars beginning to present with rear subframe issues). i've found modified cars to be hopeless in the suspension department and converted them back to standard ride height at quite a cost. refurbed, future proofed spring pans are readily available but a bit pricey.
rear suspension is quite complex and there's a lot of bushes under there. the passive rear steer can get a bit more "active" (and by active, I mean "startling") as things get more loose at the back end. upgrades are available
none of my 916's have ever had electrical faults despite what the received wisdom about italian electrics may suggest. the meta alarm can go a bit squiffy but can be either unplugged (immobiliser will still be active) or refurbed. however, the exception that denies the rule is "beach ball boy" - any attempt to do anything at all with the seats without removing the battery and dropping the keys off in the next county will result in his appearing, i miss him when he's not there. speaking of keys - make sure you get them all as its very confusing trying to work out what works and what doesnt work if you don't have the master.
trim is holding up well, even the cloth seems to last. check doorcards for the signature "closed the door and trapped the belt buckle" hole. many small bits will fall off but they can usually be forced back into place. Red with tan leather my favourite combo but had a couple of black with red which was also nice. The special trim levels ("red line" and "blue line") dont seem to be commanding higher prices and the red dash that some had just looks a bit over the top. floppy door pull is a slipped bowden cable. what can be a massive pita though is window alignment - the manual lists approx twenty-twelve separate measurements to get it right.
the Cup/Aero kit is, i think, attractive but doesnt seem to add much value despite being quite expensive to buy in component form.
driving position is fine for me but i'm quite small. others moan about offset pedals and the like but never a problem for me. what are problematic though are the sun-visors. fold them down and your forward vision is akin to a comedy "peeping through a letterbox" sketch. speaking of vision - the HRW relay can fail and has been known to trigger small electrical fires - a hack is available.
rear seats are rubbish. tiny people will fit but they will moan if you're going further than the end of the road. boot is vestigial and usually full of space saver (although some later cars got a tyre pump and foamy stuff) and CD changer.
wipers tend to lift off the screen at higher speeds - no real fix for this, Rain-X helps. the wipers were never really properly converted to RHD. this results in some weird non-seating issues at times. they do a kind of half wipe after switching off which may mean they stop in the 12 o clock position - flick wipe reseats them.
this is just quick top of head stuff - they are great little cars and the V6 is genuinely (sort of) fast even today, strongly recommended
paulmakin said:
....great advice....
Sums it all up rather well I thought! i have a few 155s which share the engines - as Paul says, the 2.0 16V cambelt is the biggie every 3 years - with variators costing a bomb, this is quite and expense whereas the V6 only needs cambelt around 5 years and not as likely to suddenly go pop!
Having said that, i prefer the balance of lighter nose heavy feel of the twinspark versus the V6 although the V6 sound and grunt is to die for but i have my Alfetta GTV6 for that V6 experience and for me, the interior space of the 155 makes it a more practical car.
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