Andy4200
Member
- Messages
- 146
Hi, just joined yesterday so thought I should introduce myself. I'm Andy and although I don't yet have a Maserati yet I'm not new to Italian cars and their 'character'
I've run Alfa's as my daily car for the last 16 years. GTV TS - 156 V6 - GT JtD - Giulietta, 170 in that order I think.
I also have a 1987 Lotus Excel as my fun car, which I've gradually restored and upgraded (Just shy 200bhp engine, computer controlled ignition, retrofitted aircon etc)
Anyway I'm possibly going to be looking for a 4200 manual and have been doing my homework, hence joining the forum before getting a car.
My local specialist is Duncan Slade of Alfanet and having spoken to him he put the fear into me of how much these cars cost to run, despite the car likely to only be doing around 3k miles a year.
I would be looking at doing a lot of any work required myself to help keep costs down but from looking on this site it would appear the main things to look out for are:
Clutch (possibly more so on Cambiocorsa - can you get an idea of clutch wear on a manual as you can on the auto?)
Suspension (The price of arms is astronomical. This seems a real cost issue with these cars)
Heater matrix (Not a particular worry as the Alfa equivalent part is cheap and I would do the work)
Those certainly seem to be the main problems that crop up on the forum.
I haven't even been in one yet but I'm fairly confident I would like it!
Anyhow, that's me. I'll keep my eyes and ears open for more technical fixes etc and if anyone knows of a manual 4200 that may be coming up for sale I could be interested. Although I need to sell my Lotus first to raise funds so I'm in no rush and realistically it would be next year I would be seriously looking.
Cheers all,
Andy.
I've run Alfa's as my daily car for the last 16 years. GTV TS - 156 V6 - GT JtD - Giulietta, 170 in that order I think.
I also have a 1987 Lotus Excel as my fun car, which I've gradually restored and upgraded (Just shy 200bhp engine, computer controlled ignition, retrofitted aircon etc)
Anyway I'm possibly going to be looking for a 4200 manual and have been doing my homework, hence joining the forum before getting a car.
My local specialist is Duncan Slade of Alfanet and having spoken to him he put the fear into me of how much these cars cost to run, despite the car likely to only be doing around 3k miles a year.
I would be looking at doing a lot of any work required myself to help keep costs down but from looking on this site it would appear the main things to look out for are:
Clutch (possibly more so on Cambiocorsa - can you get an idea of clutch wear on a manual as you can on the auto?)
Suspension (The price of arms is astronomical. This seems a real cost issue with these cars)
Heater matrix (Not a particular worry as the Alfa equivalent part is cheap and I would do the work)
Those certainly seem to be the main problems that crop up on the forum.
I haven't even been in one yet but I'm fairly confident I would like it!
Anyhow, that's me. I'll keep my eyes and ears open for more technical fixes etc and if anyone knows of a manual 4200 that may be coming up for sale I could be interested. Although I need to sell my Lotus first to raise funds so I'm in no rush and realistically it would be next year I would be seriously looking.
Cheers all,
Andy.