Alfa Romeo GTV. Any good?

Jigsaw

Hi all,

I am thinking about getting a new car some time this year. I don't have a massive budget but I wanted something that would stand out from the crowd a little but at the same time be a relatively sensible car. On looking through autotrader I found quite a lot of Alfa Romeo GTVs going for around £5000stg. For this you would be getting a 2001 car with no more than 50000 miles on the clock, full leather upholstery, alloys etc. Basically I think they look very nice. I would intend to spend around £5000 stg and when I look around I see some Ford Focuses for that price (nothing wrong with Ford Focus of course) and then I see the Alfa Romeo GTV for the same price it is very tempting. I just need to know if there's anything I should know, like, are they notoriously unreliable, do parts cost a fortune, are they very uneconomical? Stuff like that. Any comments or views would be appreciated.

Cheers,

R

Lex Luthor

here ya go

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-brera-gtv-and-spider/23905-gtv-spider-buyers-guide.html

as with all Alfa's service history is a must, especially to ensure the cambelt & variator have been done every 36-40k miles

Best of luck if you get one....2.5V6 would be a beauty if you can find a good one

Defo black is the best colour in the GTV

Henry Ford III

I like them in red too.

There was a very good looking one value wise one on carzone...here it is http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=623498

bogmanfan

Henry Ford III wrote:

I like them in red too.

There was a very good looking one value wise one on carzone...here it is http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=623498

I think they look amazing. Alfa really make sexy cars. However, I'd worry about a car that had 3 owners in only 22,000 miles...

Lex Luthor

bogmanfan wrote:

I think they look amazing. Alfa really make sexy cars. However, I'd worry about a car that had 3 owners in only 22,000 miles...

I spotted that one last week while I was searching through carzone for a GTV and thought exactly the same as you....seems like a lot of owners in that time

Henry Ford III

It may be innocent but might be a lemon.

Check it out.

ambman

alfas are nothing but trouble. i had one and the problems were endless. leaking oil elec problems new exchaust sparks plugs cost a fortune. the list is endless one thing after another. great car when everything works fine. that will be the time you drive it home from the garage. then the problems will start. better off throwing your money down the drain. you might get some of it back:D and no good having a nice looking car if its stuck on the hard shoulder:eek:

prospect

ambman wrote:

alfas are nothing but trouble. i had one and the problems were endless. leaking oil elec problems new exchaust sparks plugs cost a fortune. the list is endless one thing after another. great car when everything works fine. that will be the time you drive it home from the garage. then the problems will start. better off throwing your money down the drain. you might get some of it back:D and no good having a nice looking car if its stuck on the hard shoulder:eek:

Don't feed it people, resist the temptation.......

Lex Luthor

prospect wrote:

Don't feed it people, resist the temptation.......

I'll need to talk to my shrink fast....I am having trouble with resistance on this one.....:mad: :mad: :mad:

Lex Luthor

ambman wrote:

alfas are nothing but trouble. i had one and the problems were endless. leaking oil elec problems new exchaust sparks plugs cost a fortune. the list is endless one thing after another. great car when everything works fine. that will be the time you drive it home from the garage. then the problems will start. better off throwing your money down the drain. you might get some of it back:D and no good having a nice looking car if its stuck on the hard shoulder:eek:

the spark plugs only cost a fortune if you buy them from the dealers

sorry, couldn't resist, although I thought I kept it brief and didn't rise to the occasion

Anan1

ambman wrote:

alfas are nothing but trouble. i had one and the problems were endless. leaking oil elec problems new exchaust sparks plugs cost a fortune. the list is endless one thing after another. great car when everything works fine. that will be the time you drive it home from the garage. then the problems will start. better off throwing your money down the drain. you might get some of it back:D and no good having a nice looking car if its stuck on the hard shoulder:eek:

Maybe your Alfa didn't like you?

alias no.9

If you're looking at a twin spark, make sure the timing belt and variator have been changed. They can use oil at an alarming rate so you'll have to keep an eye on that too. Suspension bushings tend to wear heavily. Spark plugs are expensive because there are 8 of them and they're long life, 60,000 miles, if you're buying from a dealer, insist they change them and you wont have to worry about them for years, much longer than the timing belt which needs doing every 36,000 miles. If you're mechanically minded, DIY maintenance is actually quite handy with most things easily accessible, I'd stick with a specialist for the timing belt though.

tc20

OP - would you consider a FIAT Coupe as an option. Roughly similar pricing in the UK as the Alfa, a rare enough car, and sharp looking too imo. The 5cyl turbo is an animal to go too..

just my 2c

TJM

Lovely cars (I have a Spider). But - prone to things going wrong if neglected, esp. the twinspark (less so the v6). I wouldn't buy one without having a specialist look at it first. Alasta Autos or TI Autos are the two specialists in Dublin - I bought mine from Alasta and have been very happy with the service.

unkel

My best mate has a tuned 3.0 V6. He loves it

ismynametoolong

Jigsaw wrote:

Hi all,

I am thinking about getting a new car some time this year. I don't have a massive budget but I wanted something that would stand out from the crowd a little
R

You will be standing out a lot all right by the side of the road LOL !

Anan1

ismynametoolong wrote:

You will be standing out a lot all right by the side of the road LOL !

Yawn. Care to tell us which mate told you that down the pub?

Lex Luthor

bash alfas all you like lads, but you know you all want one....:p

Unkel, is that 3.0 V6 you talk about, the one that got the new springs last week? If it is, I hear his bum is parked on a hospital trolly at the moment

redman

Alfas are wonderful, now my 3.0 V6 may have blown her gearbox last week but she is looking for a nice new one to slide in and get her going again.
( I also had a friends brand new VW Passat driveshaft go two months ago!)

You can pick good ones up for peanuts, due to the broad poor image they are great overall value - so let it work for you. Thus afford the odd problem


Alfaowner is the place to get good advice as previously posted.
Full service history is v.important as is the timing belt change.