Hello all - although I actually registered years ago, this week is my first proper time having a nose round the forum. An ex-coupe owning friend on here (Roly?) has suggest a 20VT as a car that might suit my needs next. Having now driven one, I'm pretty happy that it matches what I want - very different to my current car - I've been driving MX5-s for 4 years, wonderful cars but fancy something with a bit more of a characterful engine, bit more space, speed, even if that means giving up on the fantastic handling/lightness/agility. A bit more of a GT car, if you will...
I've done loads of reading, feel quite comfortable about the car and what its about. I reckon ill be on for spending £2-2.5k on one, something reasonably tidy hopefully, however as a keen DIY’er I’m not worried about on-going maintenance etc, it will get looked after properly(The tinkering aspect is actually an important factor for me, and a great club scene of course) .Yesterday I went to see my first one, for sale not too far away. Portofino Blue 20VT on eBay, @ £1600 IIRC.
I have some specific questions to ask, but Ill put them in the buying section.
I'd also be interested to know if theres any local owners to me (Between Leeds/York maybe?) who wouldnt mind me having a nose round their car too maybe, or if theres any meets going on locally soon? I'd like to see a good variety of cars rather than jump in.
Finally a couple of odd coupe questions I have outstanding –

- Do they have roof rails?
- Now that all cars are older, out of dealer network etc, how important is this red/blue/polka-dot key business?

my personal experiences with the Red Key scenario from the 3 coupes i've owned:

1st coupe - Didn't have a red key when I bought it and I hoped all would be ok.
That wasn't the case, I had some engine problems which led to the need of the red key. As I didn't have it, cut a long story short, I bought a key set off here complete with locks, ignition barrel and code box (about £100 IIRC). These are now fetching around £50 so worse case scenario is a £50 DIY jobby to sort it out.

Although... with this code box, keys etc.. I had the red key light come on again, and the Red Key made no difference at all and didn't fix the fault.
But a simple disconnect of the battery for 20 mins sorted out the red key issue and I never had to change the keys etc again.
I must of had the red key issue 5 times in 5 years of ownership and disconnecting the battery trick worked everytime.

So.. second and third coupe I made sure came with the Red Keys, of which I never had the Red Key light come on.


A few people on here have owned many coupes and never had the light come on once, whilst others have had the red key issue numerous times.

Personally, I'm now not bothered if a coupe came with a Red Key or not, but that's just my opinion.

Hope that helps and welcome.

Potential welcome to the forum.......

You are welcome to come have a look round mine, if you want. PM me and we can set something up. I'm on my second, so can point out things relevant to both.

Hi Snotrag

You can get a roofrack, but they're pretty rare as an original Fiat accessory. It clamps on over the top edge of the door openings as there's no other way to fix a rack on top. I use mine to carry a bike, but probably wouldn't stick anything much heavier on it.

The only real aftermarket alternatives would be those inflatable roofbars you can get - useful in dry weather only and not enough to keep you afloat if you drive off a cliff.

Mansilla - you have mail, thanks!

Speakey - yes, I was thinking about bikes - but seeing as I manage to get my bike IN my MX-5, then I've no worries about the practicality of a car as comparatively enormous as the Coupe!


Useful info on the keys - so nice to have, not 'crucial' so long as everything checks out...