[staffsgtv]

After living with my GTV for nearly a year, I thought I'd write a quick update. When I bought it, it had a few issues. The rear demister didn't work, the wipers only worked on the first setting, the driver's window did not work, and the driver's mirror was loose. The paint also had a bit of laquer peel, and the electric aerial had to be given a pull to get it started.

Many months later, I've replaced the wing mirror, and slamming the door too hard by accident one day made the driver's window spring back in to life :biglaugh:

I've got a bit of time in the next couple of weeks so I'm going to work on the other stuff. The laquer peel is now quite bad, and as my car is parked under a tree, sap and bird **** have had their toll on the paint. The car has also had nearly £600 of suspension work, and new tyres. This week, I went to press the hazard light and the button + the fog light buttons disappeared into the dash, which have also caused the heaters and air con to stop working. There is also a different engine note to normal, which may be the exhaust. And it has just started cutting out when I'm driving it when the revs drop at traffic lights, roundabout, etc (idle valve?) It's going to Alfatune in a fortnight.

I sometimes think I should get rid of it and get something that is more reliable and doesn't break when I look at it. But then I come out of my house in the morning, look at it, and everything is forgiven. It is so beautiful. And I'm not going to get anything as pretty and fun to drive for less than £2000, so it's staying. I just need to get my toolbox out more...

 

[cgc]

Is it a TS or V6?

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[allandwf]

TS I would think if less the £2k .

 

[cgc]

If it's a TS it hardly sounds worth saving all the troubles it's got.

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[Mitch916]

If it's a TS it hardly sounds worth saving all the troubles it's got.

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Daft post

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[cgc]

Daft post

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Yeah could be.

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[AceCobra1]

I sometimes think I should get rid of it and get something that is more reliable and doesn't break when I look at it. But then I come out of my house in the morning, look at it, and everything is forgiven. It is so beautiful. And I'm not going to get anything as pretty and fun to drive for less than £2000, so it's staying. I just need to get my toolbox out more...

I have found my rx8 to be way more reliability than my GTV. You can get one for under £2k these days and probably one with a recent engine rebuilt. You might not get a mint one as they seem to have rust all over the wheel arches. But they are a hell a lot more reliable than the GTV. I bought a 640d recently and initially was thinking of trading in my rx8 for it but I was offered £330 so I am going to keep it as my 2nd car and probably going to buy a donor car with a good chassis but a knackered engine and moving my rebuilt engine into it to keep it alive. I think I have spent almost as much on the GTV as my RX8 (which included the engine rebuilt @ £3k).

I am not sure if the GTV I bought is just bad or if it is just an old car. Had a number of problems that was "rectified" a few times only for it to reappear in a year or so. I don't mind spending some money on it but the fact that the car is going to a garage 30 miles away every 3 months is not acceptable.

I initially thought that the brakes on my GTV were just needing some new pads etc. so had that changed and still no improvement - I overshot red lights at least 3 times - I have never done that before in any car. I then spend £400 having my brakes stripped, cleaned, powder coated. Absolutely no difference, and I was assured by CM Garage that it was "normal". When he did the MOT for me, he actually said that my brakes were better than the other GTVs. This is the 3.0l with the brembos too and all I can say is I don't feel safe to drive in it. This is one of the few other problems I have encountered but if I were given the option again to buy another £1k fun car, I would have chosen another one.

Would be interested to drive a "proper GTV" to compare but the garage has assure that my car is actually fine.

Nice car to look at but not a drivers car for me.

 

[Nickhoughton567]

Is it a TS or V6?

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Never mind that, :biglaugh:, I can't breathe from laughing too hard that slamming the door fixed the window!

 

[cgc]

Those brakes don't sound right all. I don't think I've ever had better brakes on any other car.

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[cgc]

Never mind that, :biglaugh:, I can't breathe from laughing too hard that slamming the door fixed the window!

I aim to please lol.

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[AceCobra1]

Those brakes don't sound right all. I don't think I've ever had better brakes on any other car.

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I didn't think it did but I was told by CM Garage who did those brakes and then my local MOT tyre garage that they were fine. Both actually stripped and redone those brakes. If I put my foot down, it wouldn't give me a whiplash.

The brakes for some reason feel like there might be air inside the system. I need to pump the brakes a few times before it feels "tight". I don't need to do it with the RX8/ 640d or any other hire car I have driven.

But I was thinking to myself, surely 2 places can't be wrong. I have highlighted this problem a few times so it must be just the car.

I was thinking of upgrading the brake line - is it called a braided cable or something but was told it wouldn't make much of a difference.

 

[cgc]

Braided hoses are the best brake upgrade I've ever made!! But you shouldn't have to pump the peddle, I haven't done that since I had a '70s mini. Could the master cylinder need changing. If I was you I'd take to an alfa specialist, where do you live?

It sounds like you couldn't do an emergency stop if you had to.

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[cgc]

Maybe you could meet another local member of the site and try there brakes for comparison.

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[JRow]

Pumping the peddle to make them hard is almost certainly air somewhere in the system,possibly the abs pump.Which afaik cant be bled with the rest of the system,the pump has to be 'fired' in diagnostics to bleed it properly -CM Garage should know this tho .Dont think i'd be happy using an mot station that would pass a car that needs its brakes pumping either tbh

 

[AceCobra1]

Pumping the peddle to make them hard is almost certainly air somewhere in the system,possibly the abs pump.Which afaik cant be bled with the rest of the system,the pump has to be 'fired' in diagnostics to bleed it properly -CM Garage should know this tho .Dont think i'd be happy using an mot station that would pass a car that needs its brakes pumping either tbh

Thing is, this is my 3rd year of owning the car, 1st 2 years, CM Garage did the MOT and passed it. As I said, I was told that my brakes were above average. This is after stripping the brakes and refurbishing them. I would think that if there was any leaks or air, it would have been "bled" ? I would also think that they would have test drove the car before handing it back to me. I know £400 might not be a lot of money in the grand scheme of things but considering the car is probably worth no more than £2k, that is about 20% - that is just the labour. I supplied my own brake refurbishing stuff. Not that I don't trust CM Garage but I wanted a 2nd opinion from my local garage who I have a lot of my work in the pass and they said the brakes were fine. Surely they can't be both wrong ?

 

[thomash]

If you have a brake feeling like that something is wrong.
What age are you brake lines? The hoses can look good but be a mess inside due to old age. Changing the brake fluid is also a good idea, and a proper bleeding of course.

 

[sraouf]

TBH none of the problems you mention are that major or unusual for a car of that age. The RX8 is a nice car but if you want to know why they are are so cheap google "RX8 hot start problems"

 

[JRow]

I know £400 might not be a lot of money in the grand scheme of things but considering the car is probably worth no more than £2k, that is about 20% - that is just the labour.

I feel your pain
I just wouldn't be able to drive a car if i wasn't confidant that the brakes were good.
It's a gamble we take when buying old,relatively expensive cars (when new) for little money

 

[AceCobra1]

TBH none of the problems you mention are that major or unusual for a car of that age. The RX8 is a nice car but if you want to know why they are are so cheap google "RX8 hot start problems"

Yeah - it would be recommended to buy one which has had a compression test done recently. Mine didn't have any problems until about 115k miles from the original engine. Once I had it rebuilt, it was all good. A lot of the premature failures are caused by owners not putting oil in the car regularly. Other than that, a great car and for £2k, really great bang for the buck :thumbup: - I bought it @ 12k about 8 years ago but still an excellent bargain back then

 

[AceCobra1]

If you have a brake feeling like that something is wrong.
What age are you brake lines? The hoses can look good but be a mess inside due to old age. Changing the brake fluid is also a good idea, and a proper bleeding of course.

I suspect that the bleeding would have been done when the brakes were stripped and rebuilt? This has actually been done for the last 2 years and my most recent MOT (car still in garage lol). So I think it has been done 3 times in last 3 1/2 years so it must have had been bled. The brake fluid would be changed as well I take it?

I might get new hoses. Can you recommend me one ? Do you have any rough ideas as to how much it would cost labour wise ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Goodridge...el:GTV&hash=item25ba8334ef:g:d~kAAOSwlfxXFbHV

That one any good ? - is for per wheel or is it like a complete kit ? I remember a post a while ago I was told there was an "upgraded" braided line. I just didn't feel that a brembo should brake like this. My rx8 has 1 piston sliding caliper and expected it to perform worse than the GTV if anything but ironically its the opposite.