(T) Stilo probs

<font face="Georgia"><font face="Century Gothic">Hi Pete,

Thanks for your reply. My Stilo has been in the garage twice for the same fault, they keep clearing it, but it reappears, it does seem to happen when slowing down, so maybe its the same problem yours had, I'll speak to the dealer see what they can do. I only got the car in May so it probably had the fault on it when I bought it, but they didn't bother to tell me, hopefully it'll be sorted soon. Seems a shame about all these stupid faults on Stilo's , their nice cars (to look at), Fiat also need to sort out their aftercare.
Tash </font id="Century Gothic"></font id="Georgia">

Tash

HI I really do feel for you, I can also confirm that Caledonia manchester are a fantastic bunch of guys, they have been a joy (sic) to deal with with the few faults i have had with my stilo - they are available on 0161 708 9000, I am sorry to hear that you have had problems, please dont let this taint your view of that marque, note I have owned Hondas, Toyotas, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Rover, Citroen, and a Mini, as well as some yank barges (Dodge, Chrysler, GMC, Caddilac) And for new cars Fiat are second only to Mitsubishi in my experience. (mitsi replaced my car, gave me a courtesy vehicle without question for the 48 hours they thought i was to be without - it was 12 hours and i got a call asking if it was ok to deliver a new car - it was a major engine fault that i reported on a saturday evening at 4.30ish and they delivered a new car to me at 9.15 am sunday, i had a similar replacement/courtesy from 4.45 on the saturday - awesome service.)

caledonia manchester again, have always been helpful, they have taken into consideration that i am a mechanic/tuner and with that appreciate that my car is customised and still they do warrantee work if needed because they appreciate that people like to make their car their own - my experience only, but this is right up to dec29th when i had an airbag failure (seat switch dislodged) where the salesperson, came out to check the car and genuinely enjoyed looking over what i have done to the car. Again sorry you have had a bad experience, but I for one welcome Fiat as a fixture in my collection of vehicles - until next september (2005) when i am going to get an Alfa, but thats just for personal preference.....


Stilo 1.6 17" alloy upgrade, minor engine mods only 170 tame horses atm.

Hi Stasi

Sorry to hear about your problems! I've had a few with mine, but thankfully I have 2 great dealers who are really trying to help. With regards to your problems:

1. Front Suspension - mine makes a "wallowing" noise. I've been told there are modifications to the torsion beam and anti-roll bar, which is a warranty job.
2. Rear Suspension - the famous Stilo creaking rear suspension. Either needs a new subframe (which FIAT still insist mine has after 6 months of me taking it back to the dealer), or failing that, get the modified rear axle bushes put in, and make sure they're greased up (also try the rear axle washer kit (this was a bulletin)).
3. Low Fuel Consumption - mine had high fuel consumption, which I'm sure you mean. I put RON 98 fuel in twice, the second time putting STP Petrol Additive in, and my MPG's have increased dramatically.
4. Same as above - there is an ECU Update (the dealer can reprogram the Throttle Body and ECU, which can also sort out problem 3).
5. Frozen doors - a known issue. Mine had the rear passenger door stick - my dealer put a new door lock mechanism in and its gone away (touch-wood, apparantly the worm drive for the deadlock is too long and it jamms the door locked - again this is warranty (as it ALL is)).
6. Rain Sensor that never worked - get your dealer to get an AutoWindscreen company in to properly bond on a new sensor - they can de-laminate and not work. Does the dashboard show an error with the sensor? It may need a new Body Computer (my sensor is tempromental).
7. Loose Drivers door trim - get them to fit a new trim; warranty WILL cover this (I've had 3 new door trims).
8. Doors unlock themselves - if this is all doors, its a Body Computer fault. I've been told by my dealer that they've had a few back that do this on the drivers door - the Door Node needs replacing.
9. This again sounds like a Body Computer fault, or a wiring fault.
10. We all have to live with it . . .

Hope some of that helps!

Good luck in getting your problems fixed. Believe me, I know how annoying it is when they're not, or when you get FIAT Syndrome - it's fine when you get the car back from the dealer, but give it a week and it'll all be back!

Stilo 1.6 Dynamic, 5dr, 2002, Crystal Green

By the way, for those Stilo owners with "Engine Fault" messages, idle problems e.t.c (see Tashy and stiloactive's posts), the problem is the Throttle Body - my parts manager at my dealer (whom I get on really well with) told me that Stilo 1.6's suffered from major faults in their throttle bodies, and it caused faults such as those listed. Even though the dealer may not replace it immediately (they cost £450 each), get them to!!!

It's FIAT's fault!

Stilo 1.6 Dynamic, 5dr, 2002, Crystal Green

jeez makes me glad to have a (very) basic cinq;)

The Fiat Cinquecento
Fun While It Runs

not to mention the radio coming on automatically as soon as you start the ignition - whether it was on or off when you last had the car running (well it does on my dads 5door 1.9JTD)


This can be turned on and off by accessing the Alternative Menu on the Radio.
If you hold down the Menu or Sound ( ie Bass etc ) control knob for more than two seconds you can choose to switch the radio on or off with the ignition.
Sorry I can't be of more help but I watched my dealer do it rather quickly ! used to drive me mad !

Good luck

Nice thread revival - only 20 months old

Lol, lets go digging for some "FIAT Announce Bravo/a replacement, to be called Stilo" threads

Stasi what was in the letter from Fiat UK in the end or did it never arrive?

Lol, Stasi last came onto this forum in about August 2003!

Bet he never received a letter

My experience of Caledonia manchester has been mixed - they deny my car has ben in 26 times (so far - washer pump just went so make that 27) they are helpful, however on one of the 4 occasions I have been aa trucked in - this time for a coil pack, took them nearly 3 weeks to source what is effectively a golorified HT lead. when i could have taken the courtesy car (that took nearly a week to arrive) to euro car parts in trafford park and picked one up and fitted it in less than an hour.......

As for Fiat Uk they are a central call centre who have no sway whatsoever... they are the fiat lip service team - and that my friends is word for work what I have had one of their phone monkeys agree that they are - they also deal for ford, nissan and some other company and send emails.......

you have a legal case - and if you are anything like me, persistence gets you an extended warrantee and written apologies. Though they will still not admit liability for misselling a financial product, though that is partly my fault (but i wont go into that.

Anyway 36k miles later (27k mine) we have had:
Interior drivers door panel replaced
2 Horns
3 Gearboxes
Mass airflow senson
Lambda sensor,
Countless ECU resets,
Coil packs
19 visits were to sort a stalling problem - remove foot from throttle = engine dying - eventually after replacing most of the ignition system and some other random parts found to be cracked throttle bodies - it took Caledonia and Priory nearly 3 years to figure this out - it was only when i told them that I was not going to take the car back from the garage as my partner had lost power on roundabouts off the m60 a number of times, and that i consider the car a death trap that they took it for 3 weeks, in which time they called me to collect it and called back to say it had broken down again etc....
and now, and this WILL be te final problem i ever have with a fiat, the windscreen washer pump has gone, meaning that until i can get the heap of junk into the garage, i am relying on lay-bys and a water bottle to be able to see.

This might be an unfair representation though, as I have had a bad experience with my Stilo altogether and am getting rid.... But yeah, when it comes to caledonia you need to threaten legal action, and you need to willing to back theat threat up - thats how i hav a 4th year warrantee... and good job i have copies of invoices for appox £2500 of repairs over these 3 years.........

And the award for the thread that keeps getting dug up goes to . . .