I've always liked the look of the GTV but never driven one, now I'm looking for a replacement for my poor coupe i'm considering a GTV. Anyone had any experience of them/what i should be looking for?

Great cars, better to drive than the coupe thanks to a much more impressive rear set-up (imo) Check suspension points all round. TS engine is trouble free if well maintained (my old one had 160k on it) and V6 a corker if you want 20VT pace. Other than the obvious things like and tiny boot and pathetic rear seats, all good if you fit!
Rust not too much of an issue
Did I mention check the suspension? Particularly the expensive to replace spring pans

My experience:

Standard Vs Standard I always felt the GTV had the edge in handling, that rear suspension does actually work. However it's prone to wear and a lot of people replace the bushes with Powerflex ones. I was never convinced that these were as effective as the V6 spherical bearings, but a lot of people swear by them.

Engine - People rave about the V6, I never found the attraction (I had just came from the 5 cylinder coupe) Yes it looks nice, sounds nice, but I never quite grasped why people held it in such high regard. I never saw much above 22mpg. It wasn't that fast either, the Coupe always felt quicker but that may have been due to the kick due to the turbo vs the smooth NA.

It felt more "sporty" than the Coupe (The interior felt more sporty than the roomy Coupe) The rear seats are useless, the boot is useless, more so if you have a spacesaver in there.

After spending £2k repairing mine after the first year, I stopped keeping track, maybe I had a bad one, but it had approx £13k of receipts when I bought it! in the end I sold it quite cheaply. Would I have another? No, would I have another Coupe? Maybe.

Try and get a later one with autodrop windows (2001 onwards) They can be purchased for peanuts now, it's a buyers market (certainly was when I sold mine in 2011)

I've heard the telemetry (not sure about the spelling!) needs frequent reseting after potholes! Given the state of the roads currently this could be a problem.
I'd like a V6 but think a 'sansible' TS would do.

Nah, no more than any other car. Just keep an eye out for wear leading to subframe damage. A specialist like AutoLusso can look over any car you're looking at

As an LE owner it would only be natural for me to say I've a hankering for a GTV Cup....... Loving them limited editions

3 twinsparks in my day, (one with full cup kit ) . i would agree handling slightly sharper.

Just completed 500 miles in GTV V6, very different to the 16vt in driving technique; power very smooth, huge torque, strangely doesn't feel as rapid until you look at the speedo.
Handling does feel better but has got a new set of rubber all round which always feels good.
Big difference in the approach of their forum, eg I posted about the rear visibility (lack of), no wiper and demister not working, the response was drive faster and don't worry about what is behind you! Great advice unless you are trying to reverse it on a frosty morning or you happen to have a police car behind you!
More seriously apparently they can have a serious problem with the rear demister catching fire, I can't imagine someone on here not pointing that out to a newbie!

There are two different forums; the official AROC club and alfa.owners.co.uk (or org or com) which is sort of unofficial (and free). Both are good in their different ways; alfa.owners tends to be a bit less stuffy IMO, and they will point out more faults. AROC tend to think they have the best cars on the planet.

These are nasty generalisations as there are good and bad folk on each forum, and the guys at my local Alfa meet (official AROC) are fine apart from the occasional idjit. I need to be careful as I am a member of both (owning a 916 Spider) ..... . The fccuk forum is by far the best that I know

I'm on Alfa, VW and which is definately the best I know. My wife has a Suzuki Splash so called because you need to throw large amounts of freshing cold water at anyone who drives them in order to keep them awake, there's no point in a website because they'd be asleep all the time.

I have both and an old forum go-er/friend had both so will write a unbiased view when i am home from holiday....sadly which is tomorrow, give me a day or two though.

De-mister fault can be serious but a simple mod that cost under a £10 and a total newbie can do can sort it...mine works a treat now!

This forum is far better than the Alfa forums but they are good too, its just that this is excellent A++++