Thinking of buying an MG TF 160, anyone had one ?

[Wullie 1]

I think the earlier ones had the same hydrolastic suspension setup that the Austin 1300 and othe BL models had.

[daleyboy 0]

I think the earlier ones had the same hydrolastic suspension setup that the Austin 1300 and othe BL models had.

 

This is an interesting read for you Wullie.

 

http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/mg-cars/mgftf/technical-hydragas-explained/

[davidwort 0]

Dont forget Mr Wort i have had two alfa's on the bounce so things like flickering lights, to me, are just things cars do.......

 

You've got a point, and to be fair I'm a bit jealous seeing as they are 2 seat mid engined rwd sports cars, and probably less 'hair-dresser' than any of the alternatives and a few more creature comforts than a plastic lotus :)

[P3rks 11]

They also seem to have the electrics quality of a old Fiat, I've followed numerous MGF's with random lights coming on at the back or stuck on, remember, these things were built in Birmingham, same people responsible for the Rover SD1 & 800!

 

Interesting fact: The 3rd brake light and wiring is from a VW. Stamped VW on the Hella rear light and on the wiring loom plugs.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Haha, yeah the Hydrolastic suspension was dropped. Pretty sure the TFs have standard struts. Too many MGFs (like my old Allegro) dragged their arses along the ground like a dog after it's taken a dump.....because of failed hydrpolastic strutty things.

 

Daleyboy, I've got an Alfa at the moment, a 147 Twin spark. To be fair mine's been well behaved. Been in the family for 120K miles and never broken down. The only thing I've had to fix is the failed 'body computer' thing causing the offside rear sidelight bulb to stay on (dimmly) which drained the battery every 2 days. I just ran a wire over from the nearside light :D

Spark plugs, horrific - £160!! Once every 60K though, so not too bad. It's an old schitter really and has been crashed by my brother and sister in law, but I've grown to like it. Much nicer interior and exterior styling than you average euro box.

 

Quite fancy the 3.2 147 but my head really is over-ruling my heart on that one :lol:

[Jim 2]

Friend of mine had the MGF (before they became TF's) and he too suffered from head gasket problems.. ended up ditching it. Pretty sure he really enjoyed it when he had it though :)

[daleyboy 0]

The first alfa i blew up (my fault, a 145 cloverleaf) and my second the 156 which is 13 years old has been perfect, i paid £820 18 months ago, i suppose the point being if you listen to horror stories you'd never buy one, but they are not true. Alfa's reliabilty reputation was ruined by cars like the alfasud, great car but it fell apart, modern ones are just as reliable as any other car (nearly) but their reputation stuck, which is why resale values are appalling.

 

The same can be said of the mg tf the early ones (mgf) did blow headgaskets too often, but the later ones are no worse than any other car, the benefit of that is they are quite cheap to pick up second hand (good for me)

 

Lots of the problems have been addressed, like dumping hydragas in 2002, the headgasket problems have nearly gone away but not quite, there are mods which come from the freelander which help, but there is not enough capacity in the cooling, as davidwort has previously said.

 

Sometimes you have to buy a car with your heart and not your head, if i used my head i wouldnt have had two alfa's, i wouldnt have bought a 15 year old corrado (5 years ago), im 41 now and want to make the most of my driving life, if that means taking a few risks then so be it, i wont be saying in my wingbacked chair in 30 years, i wish i would have tried this or that, they say you only regret things you dont do.