I'd prefer to have oil gauges too.

Other things:

The turning circle is horrendous.
Boot space.
The car looks so good you feel guilty if it gets dirty.

Erm, that's probably it.

 

The turning circle is horrendous.
.

So true, when trying to get into or out of tight spaces I am tempted to wind the window down and tell anyone looking as I maneouvre back and forth that it's the turning circle of the car and not that I'm a crap driver as it probably appears. It may just be me but I often feel that people are watching thinking "****** can't drive his posy car properly". I could of course just be paranoid:lol:

 

Agree with just about all Muz said, would like an oil pressure gauge, not really required but it would add to the " sporty " feel of the car. Must have a clock as well though.

Not bothered about the armrest but the lack of storage space in the cabin is a shame, I keep my sunglasses in the door pocket but they do rattle in there and get on my nerves.

I'll put up with the well documented window issues, did try to adjust mine but gave up.

Don't like the battery in the boot, it's very awkward and I think it could have been squeezed under the bonnet.

The remote boot lock that only works with the ignition off, rather self defeating I feel.

Am I complaining though ? No, I love it, you never get exactly what you think you want in life in any aspect. I love my GTV even with all the little foibles, really enjoying my mid life crisis !

 

Hmm.....

No comment :lol:

I will let you know next week when I will be driving it proper!...

But im sure you guys have already covered all the issues!!

 

Good question! In no particular order (sorry for any duplicates):

Rock hard, unsophisticated feeling suspension

Very light steering (got used to that though)

Super-cheap, undampened feel to the intermittent wiper control

2 wipes of the wipers even if you want just one

Sides prone to door dings

Dropping and winding up windows if they haven't popped into the rubber channel properly upon door closure

Seats with ZERO lateral support

Due to the noise, acceleration and light accelerator it's very hard not to drive fast everywhere

No standard auto-closure for the windows on the alarm

Having to tell mechanics/car washers not to move seats with ignition on in case air bag light goes off

No trip computer

Poorly packaged so the rear seats are too small as is the boot

Long throw of the gear stick

Too big steering wheel and gear knob

Massive turning circle

Not being able to open the boot from the glove box with the car running

Not as hard wearing interior compared to German marques

Rear view mirror that is too narrow due to the sun visors

Curved sun visors

Expense of maintaining it

Think that kind of covers it! Probably one or two more that I've forgotten... But in saying all that there's much I love about it, but the two main things are the looks and sound, which are well worth all the moans. Nothing this side of £15k comes close, and even then I'd only put a Nissan 350z and Boxster in there, though the Boxster is so bland looking and not all like the 350z (but I do), but they do both sound good. Actually there's one other problem my GTV has given me: what on earth do I get next that looks as good??

Markos
'99 Black and red 3.0 6-speed GTV

 

1: turning circle definitely
2: door locks ruin line of car - wish theyd have put micro switches in where you put your hand
3: yes the wiper doing that last sweep that you didnt need - its already cleared
4:the shut line on front bumper-bonnet
5:the steering wheel cowl which is slightly different colour than the rest of the inside

 

5:the steering wheel cowl which is slightly different colour than the rest of the inside

YES! THIS! Why is it blue?!

 

love it all (have to say that incase it hears and something else goes wrong!!) though those side on junctions that the only way to see whats coming is have 1: exorcist style neck 2: get out of car look and get back inor 3: which is normal for me sod it im just going lol

 

Most of that, and, why are the stalks angled down at rest? Meaning when I indicate left, any clutch action and my knee knocks the
blo0dy thing off.

Never mind, I just don't indicate anymore

But when she starts singing to me I start to forget all this.........

 

This is great thread, i'm literally sitting at work nodding at it all with a big smile on my face, i'm peeing myself with some of these!!! Its so true all of it is.

I dislike the fact that sometimes you just have to push it over the 3k rpm to get any kind of smooth enjoyable driving, engine below these revs can feel rough.

I hate the driving position, even if i play about with the wheel / seat position etc etc it never feels jsut right., and sometimes feel like i'm just too high up for sports car.....need to beable to move seat lower!!

Leather seats offer no support and any kind of excited cornering can result in your passenger falling onto your side...this happened once..(always wear seat belt)......
And i hate it when it rains because it LEAKS and whatever i do i can't stop it!!!!

Sometimes the whole package really grates on me, i use mine for everyday driving so sometimes i just hate it's guts when i'm crawling through traffic on way home from work!!! So impractical really.

But i do love her really, she's my bella and even my girlfriend says i have a special relationship thats just wrong with my Spider......:lol:

 

This is great thread, i'm literally sitting at work nodding at it all with a big smile on my face, i'm peeing myself with some of these!!! Its so true all of it is. QUOTE]

So true!

Turning circle? Bad

Under 3000rpm? Glad I'm not the only one who's is rough under 2.5 rpm, (mine) mid range very,very good! Loves to be driven:GRTE:

Roof? My roof fine

Oil gauges? Dont need more dials to watch and worry about! GTV maybe, Spider no!

Seats? Found very comfortable! Must have an Italion backside:GRTE: :lol:

My "Bella" is nigh on perfect, or will be when I've finished with her!
Mid range speed for overtaking breath taking. That speed coupled with the surprising way she handles(GTV must be unbelievable) make cornering such a thrill!

She's all original and beautiful. Black, shiny and a head turner!

In traffic? To quote Mr Clarkson.. " I look around at people in their little Euro boxes....And I just feel...I don't know.....better off!"
Also, everybody appreciates an Alfa, especially a spider, and I always get let out at junctions by admiring drivers!

 

One-touch operation on the driver's window but not on the passenger's - how much would it have cost to add that?!

The standard stereo & CD changer are a bit cheap and nasty.

Gear knob wears too easily and is a b*gger to remove.

Other than that, the car's totally

 

Like GT i am laughing at a lot of the comments here...they are all so true....

But.......
you only have to drive it and all is forgiven. The handling, the noise, the sheer beauty of her.....

Ist a bit like a girlfriend who has been flirting with your mates :tut: , but she is soooooo good looking and does 'special' things so well that you just have to forgive her :thumbs:

 

Maybe I'm easy pleased but I haven't got anything I dislike about mine.

I agree with some of the things folk have already said but nothing diminishes that

 

Ok the fact mine has a tendency to feel like its going to snap in half when i go over a pothole (which is common on britains rubbish roads), and the fact when i pull onto my drive the whole dash creeks and groans!!!

But seriously i'd i agree with earlier comment, there is no car up to 15k i'd rather have than this little beaut.

 

Squeaks, Groans & Rattles on anything other than a super-smooth road (and these noises mostly seem impossible to trace/rectify)

Spaghetti wiring by monkeys

Lack of glass/demisting rear window in convertible roof (spoiled by ex-Saab)

Lack of rear vision

Crap stereo & speakers

Battery drains over a couple of weeks

Terrible ABS/Pretensioner design

Crappy MAFS

Crappy belt intervals

Crappy idle actuators

Lack of boot space

Always a pain to work on, especially interior & wiring

Short-life suspension bushes

Daft emissions for 2.0 (road tax + planet)

Poor performing and unreliable air-con

Stupid boot release

Fairly heavy on gas (although very light on oil in my case)

Bonnet catches / bumper panel gap

Boot interior light has a mind of its own

Dodgy thermostats

Dodgy clutch slaves

Poor quality standard shocks

Poor braking performance

and last but not least.... I absolutely love her to peices. :thumbs:

 

Doh, how could I forget....

Pathetic low beams

Pathetic fog lights

Lousy reliability reputation / dealer reputation

poor resale values

ok, that's all I think, but I still love her.

 

Damn driving position, can never get comfy, unless my knees are by my ears,
seat to high
no armrest in p1
steering wheel p1
when Fiat done the 20v coupe, why did they not put it in the gtv.
Other than all the electrics and everything else that goes wrong, i love her

 

I can Honestly say with hand on heart NOWT

 

One more thing,,,,when I have a phone charger or sat nav plugged into the cigarette lighter changing into 2nd gear becomes a problem...and I haven't got fat hands either

 

new ones only i think,

Stupid air box design as mine sucked loads of water in during the floods,

prices on parts, plug leads and plugs, ouch

the crap wheels on my p1 might aswell be wheel trims,

i live in lincolnshire, the roads have ruts, she bottoms out on single tracks, and in the multi-storey going up ramps.

speakers are crap, but engine noise is awesome, barely use the radio.

the exhaust system, must be restrictive, how many boxes do you need!


but, however, although, the noise, the handling, the noise, did i mention the noise and feel are AWESOME

 

The only thing i can think of is haveing to turn the ignition on to let the windows down.Doing this means that the injectors have chucked a load of fuel down the bore for nothing apart from bore wash, and again to put them up.As for one touch windows on both sides as Omega2Alfa mentioned, i have that.Is this a P1 P2 thing? Most other things that have been mentioned i can relate to but dosent cause me any bother.It's a coupe after all. Worst still it's an Italian coupe:lol:

 

As for one touch windows on both sides as Omega2Alfa mentioned, i have that.Is this a P1 P2 thing?

No, mine's a 2000 P2. Maybe they came in with the drop window upgrade in late 2000

 

I only dislike my airbag light ,it has a mind of its own.
Apart from that i love my GTV:inlove:

 

My quibbles are similar to the ones above for spider version but the joy of driving it outweighs it all. Here are some bad points but below that I insist I must write some positives...

Bad points:

Generally poor worksmanship on some cars, such as bad wiring, creaks and rattles - Italian slackers...!! (one of my good mates is Italian so got nothing against Italians.. you are just slack!)
Window problems such as sitting to high and needing to be opened and closed to get rid of noise.
Stereo's are not very good - Fitting aftermarket one can be a pain due to no switched live etc..

Service and running costs are high - fuel consumption is not good, tax and insurance costs fairly high (especially V6 models) parts tend to be expensive, services and belt changes are costly and frequently needed.

BUT lets have some positive points!!

Looks - No car in the same price range looks better than a well presented alfa, and thats a fact. Alfa's have style and flair.

Sound - The engines make a great sound and run nice and smooth if well cared for.

Performance and handling - When they are running nice and hot they have great pickup, always have good cornering and generally good handling.

Drivers car - You sit in an alfa it feels like a man's car (or a ladies... sorry ladies ) - The feel good factor is always there.

 

The boot and the super tanker like turning circle are just about all that peev me on the car!

 

Do spiders/gtv's show outside temperature??? or do u have to take your arm off the window and guess it???

 

There's a sensor on the wing mirror I think to guage the outside temp for the air con, but there's no display to tell you what it is

 

The radio is rubbish........ The seats are rubbish....... The thermostat is rubbish..........the suspension is rubbish ............. No "one touch" on the passenger side window is rubbish.......back seats are rubbish ....... boot space is rubbish.......... But leaving that lot aside it's a bloody lovely car...........and I love it.