hello

[daveboyle]

Hi All,

Just bought a 2000 GTV6 in November from NSW and to say its awesome is an understatement. Needed little convincing from dad who owns an 85 gtv6. Anyway, just wanted to say gday.

David

[Davidm1600]

G'day David and welcome to Alfa ownership    I have driven a couple of late model GTV6s as well as Twin Sparks, and enjoyed them a lot.  The sound of the V6 very intoxicating.  The best part to is that they have become affordable for mere mortals now to buy.  You definitely get a whole lot of Alfa fun for not so much $$$ these days. 

I needed a really practical modern daily driver Alfa, as I already had two other classic Alfas (1750 GTV, Giulia Super) as well as a Fiat 124 sport, so ended up buying a '03 JTS 156 Sportwagon.  Mind you I was very tempted to get a late model GTV6.  Perhaps sometime in the future.

All the best with it, and join the club if you wish. Plenty of knowledge, and good cameraderie there. Dave

[daveboyle]

Yeah, it really purrs when cruising.  affordability was a big attraction, although i've had to spend a bit to get it roadworthy (tyres, pads, discs) and did the big service on it, cam belt, pulleys, water tank etc but it should be good to go for a couple of years and i've still spent less than on the other cars i was considering (rx8, evo 6, sti). As many people have mentioned on the forum, when people ask you what sort of car you drive, the reply of an alfa really has a good ring to it. Plus i've never once seen one on the road so it has the unique factor that an evo or rx8 doesn't have.

Cheers,

David

[alfisti2]

hello and welcome. 

[alfisti2]

hello and welcome.

[John Hanslow]

Welcome.  Good interstate purchase.

If you check out the latest edition of Auto Italia Issue 152, there is a well written article on the joys of ownership of the recent 916 Series GTV's. 

As always there is mention of the V6 versus the Twin Spark debate, but who cares.

There is good write up of a few issues and required maintenance to keep the car operating at its best.

By the way, make sure the car gets a good once over by your local Alfa Specialist so you know what is required to be done in the future. 

Cheers.

[daveboyle]

Cheers,

i'll give it a read. I've had it down to my local alfa guy a couple of times and he's given it the full service so should be ok for the time being. but i'll certainly do some more research on how to care for it best.

cheers,

David

[spieret]

G'day David,

Welcome to the ranks of 916 GTV ownership. I'm glad to see you did the sensible thing and did the cambelt on it regardless. Remember that the dealer recommends 80k for the cambelt but 50-60k is better. I have owned mine now for 2 years and it has been a very reliable car. The only problems i've really had (touch wood) have been related to heater/fuel hoses wearing, so that may be something to get the mechanic to check next service, as when my heater hose went, i had to wait 2 weeks for the part to come from Italy, plus i did the sensible thing and replaced both heater hoses when it happened. The other thing is to check the oil level about once a month. It doesn't use a lot but it can creep up on you if you don't check. Also just duck your head under the dash on the drivers side and check all your fuses. Found one of mine totalled the other day.

The car has it little quirks, like the remote door lock quirk. This is where you push the button and the door unlocks and locks again straight away. can be most annoying , especially in the rain. To get around it you have to unlock both doors manually, open them, then lock them again manually, push the button so the system is active again, then next time you push the button it should open again. Happens to me about once a month.

But the joy this car brings far outweighs litttle things like that. I get a silly grin every time i drive mine. It's intoxicating. Congratulations.

Cheers

Tony

[daveboyle]

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the info, i'll take note of it. Haven't had the locking problem thankfully, and i'll make sure i check my oil regularly and the fuse's. I did have a problem where the engine wouldn't turn over until about the tenth attempt but that has been mostly fixed. Seemed to still have trouble on one of those 46 degree days, but still turned over on the 3rd attempt, not the tenth.

Another weird thing that happened right after i played my first CD in the tuner when i was leaving sydney was that the CD player died on me and stopped reading CD's. I ended up buying a new tuner, knowing full well that its a very good tuner with the sat nav built in. Bit of a shame..

Anyway, cheers for the info

David

[spieret]

I believe the sat nav never worked in australia, tried tracking down the CD you needed to make it work once and got nowhere. I got a new tuner with USB port and SD card slot. So much better than CD's that skip all over the place from the stiff ride of the car.

[daveboyle]

Yeah, same, just bought a new tuner and whack in the ipod. yes, the sat nav didn't work, but according to the guy who installed it, he said it was worth about a grand, so had the cd player still worked, it might have been a good ebayer.

[spieret]

Have to try ebaying mine then , cause it still works. Probably need that funky looking thing that attaches to the aerial to go with it maybe.

[daveboyle]

I had to buy some european aerial piece for the new tuner to get the aerial to work. is that the same thing? if so, it cost $8 from JB