Info on problems and buying an Alfa Romeo GTV 2.0?

[geeza]

Hi. Anyone own or owned one of these and know what niggles they have and what to look out for?
Cheers

[goldnrust]

I had a GTV 2.0TS a few years ago and while I had a bit of a love hate thing with it at the time, I do think it was a cool car. They are not without their flaws, but make up for it with that 'special feeling'.

The 2.0TS engine requires a little more care than most; they always use a bit of oil and require cam belt changes every 36,000 miles or 3 years to be safe. Also the actuator for variable intake cam timing, known as the variator, can wear which is expensive to fix.

Watch out for worn suspension bushes, especially in the rear, the rear bushes shouldn't be left worn for too long, the steel wishbones can rub the aluminium subframe if left worn and damage the subframe.

Loads of info here :

www.alfaworkshop.co.uk/alfa_romeo_gtv.shtml

[roccoguy]

A mate has one that I had to do a bit of work on, no idea if these are common problems or just issues with his car.

The drivers seat had broken on one side giving it some mad gangster lean.

There didn't seem to be much sill left under the sill covers.

Seemed underpowered

It had electrical issues but tbf I think a lot of them were down to a shafted battery that he was too tight to replace

[geeza]

Cheers

[groovy]

listen out for variator rattle when cold. check the cambelt has been done every 36k or 3 years. if it hasn't budget to have it done right away, including the variator if it rattles..... same for servicing, don't forget it has 8 plugs!

check the oil, if it is low, walk away. they don't like to run low on oil. as already said, listen out for clunks on the front end over bumps, this = wishbones.

try to get a phase 2, not a phase 1 - phase 2 have the round air vents amongst other things.

the 17" teledials are the most desirable wheels. if they are 16" teledials, look carefully, as they may have spacers on due to the different offset....

if the aircon doesnt work, it's probably beyond help. the clutches on the aircon compressors die if unused for lengthy periods.

any damage to the rear wings can be a real pain to sort, as they are double skinned and you cant get the dents out from inside.

don't buy a red one! the bumpers fade differently to the rest of the car. ive seen about 40-50 red alfas that were all the same colour parked together - not one matched lol

if the airbag light is on, it is probably the pretensioner plug under the seats. the light will need resetting, freeware alfadiag and the right lead is cheap and esy enough to get hold of :-)

probably the best car i ever owned - i loved it and should never have sold it :-(

Lee

[ChasR]

I am only talking from the perspective of owning a couple of 147s and driving a mate's 156 but as you may know they are the same car underneath.

As said, the engine is a jewel of a unit but it does not come without its issues. For what they are the engines are quite thristy ; if I am honest, my 944 Turbo driven relatively sensibly did not seem that much worse! The 2.0s seem to do around 30MPG on a motorway, with it obviously becoming worse in town ; I recall a mate saying he only ever saw 35 MPG as his best figure from the 156 2.0TS and that was sticking rigorously to 70MPH ; The Clio I have now would walk over that figure.

The cambelts need to be done every 36k and with a dial gauge etc; with the variator requiring changing if it is rattly. Due to the bore honing they do love to drink oil so one with a lack of servicing should have you walk away from it. I would not say that the engines are terrible, on the contrary. They are a very sweet engine but like any mistress they can be tricky to keep fickle:P.


Upper wishbones do go as do rear trailing arms. It would seem that the only fix for these is to go with genuine Alfa wishbones (even if they are twice the cost) or with SuperPro upper arm bushes ; these will feel as good as stock bushes on the road and outlive them. I went through a pattern upper wishbone arm in a year on my 147 (from new to MOT failure) and the Lemforder wishbone was not far behind. If I am honest my 147 2.0TS was no different here. A well known Italian specialist near Dunstable practically laughed when I told him what I had fitted to my 147, where he cited what he would only fit to cars in his workshop (I.e genuine or poly).

IME electrical issues are rare bar the aforementioned points, and tend to rise from people bodging them ; they are CANBUS based from memory) ; again, another reason to walk away from a car.

Despite these flaws I would buy an Alfa GTV, GT or 1XX based car. As a matter of fact I almost bought a 156 2.4 JTD as a daily recently, but anything unabused was few and far between.

[goldnrust]

Aug 31, 2015 9:13:36 GMT ChasR said:

Despite these flaws I would buy an Alfa GTV, GT or 1XX based car..

Yes reading this back I think it's worth pointing out that I liked my GTV lots, despite it winding me up at times, since owning the GTV I've gone on to have a 155 and currently daily driving a 147

Roccoguy, having been around Alfa's for a few years, those issues are new to me, so potentially just the signs of a car that's had a tough life? The GTVs are galvanised, so body rust is rare.

[paulmakin]

all of the above.

and, oil - can't be said enough. even the manual tells you that the TS uses it. many people ignore this.

change tensioners etc when doing the belts (some people don't and find out a few thousand miles later that it's probably never been a belts issue after all).

front lower arms definitely made out of chocolate, treat as service items.

beware of a car that's had a top end rebuild following a belts/tensioner failure. many will experience a bottom end failure shortly afterwards, secondary to the trauma it's just been through.

other daft things happen;

wind noise due to worn door rubbers and a ridiculously time consuming procedure for window alignment.

that annoying hole on the driver's doorcard - the one you create when you shut the door before the belt has retracted fully, trapping the buckle between the seat and the door.

the stupid three-quarter wipe when switching the wipers off. the one that leaves a vertical line of whatever right in front of the driver.

comedy "letter-box peeping" effect when you have the sun-visor down

got an Aero pack rear spoiler? that just means double opportunities for letter-box peeping

the air-bag light, or "beach-ball boy", won't recycle itself out even after fixing the fault. i miss him when he's not lit, like an old friend who's gone off and got married

bonnet hinges that fracture leaving you trying to control a big flappy piece of windblown composite

swarf build-up in the box that effectively renders it a 3 speed + reverse.

Couldn't in all honesty recommend one to a friend but i'd not be without one. V6's much more robust than the Ts's but rapidly getting expensive, mine was cheap to buy (sub £2k) but i've had to spend the same again getting it good. genuinely fast car as well.

paul