Good afternoon. New to the forum here as a poster, although I've been browsing the classifieds for at least a year now. Finally ready to move on a car (this will be my first Alfa), so I've stepped up my search.
I'm located in the Dallas area, and while there seem to be a few cars in Austin worth checking out, I've zeroed in on a car in New Orleans. It's an '83 GTV6, silver on blue. Two owner car (second owner has had it about a year) with 55k miles.
Exterior looks decent from the photos, interior looks absolutely immaculate. Current owner seems to know his stuff about various Italian automobiles (says he just sold a Lancia Beta as well), but isn't an expert by any means.
He claims all is well mechanically and with electrics/gauges/etc, but he does believe that the clutch is about to go because the takeup is very high in the pedal travel. On the other hand, he also admitted that he has done zero work to the car in the year that he's owned it and really doesn't have any maintenance information.
In short, the low-mileage and lack of maintenance history kind of scare me, as I feel like there may be a lot of deferred maintenance to go through. I'm fully prepared to have a steady stream of work in owning a GTV6, but I'd like to daily this car (my DD commute is light) and I'd also rather not have a whole lot of work (and $$) pop up immediately after purchasing the car.
I've looked around and can't find much in the way of Alfa mechanics/shops in the New Orleans area, so I may just have to take a leap of faith on this. Do you folks have any recommendations of what I can look for/expect, or perhaps someone may be familiar with this car (current owner said it came from Michigan)?
Ordinarily I'd just go check it out and make a judgment call, but I'd like to have all of my ducks in order before I fly out and potentially drive it back.
Thanks, look forward to being more active here shortly (hopefully).
I'm located in the Dallas area, and while there seem to be a few cars in Austin worth checking out, I've zeroed in on a car in New Orleans. It's an '83 GTV6, silver on blue. Two owner car (second owner has had it about a year) with 55k miles.
Exterior looks decent from the photos, interior looks absolutely immaculate. Current owner seems to know his stuff about various Italian automobiles (says he just sold a Lancia Beta as well), but isn't an expert by any means.
He claims all is well mechanically and with electrics/gauges/etc, but he does believe that the clutch is about to go because the takeup is very high in the pedal travel. On the other hand, he also admitted that he has done zero work to the car in the year that he's owned it and really doesn't have any maintenance information.
In short, the low-mileage and lack of maintenance history kind of scare me, as I feel like there may be a lot of deferred maintenance to go through. I'm fully prepared to have a steady stream of work in owning a GTV6, but I'd like to daily this car (my DD commute is light) and I'd also rather not have a whole lot of work (and $$) pop up immediately after purchasing the car.
I've looked around and can't find much in the way of Alfa mechanics/shops in the New Orleans area, so I may just have to take a leap of faith on this. Do you folks have any recommendations of what I can look for/expect, or perhaps someone may be familiar with this car (current owner said it came from Michigan)?
Ordinarily I'd just go check it out and make a judgment call, but I'd like to have all of my ducks in order before I fly out and potentially drive it back.
Thanks, look forward to being more active here shortly (hopefully).