(G) Stilo?!

Is Stilo as dreadfull car as it seems? I can hear only warnings regarding a possible buy. A local dealer stopped selling them after a year due to number of faults. What about your experience?

your going to get both sides TBH.
theres owners withbad experiences nad owners who give the stilo a glowing report.
a quick search around the stilo section will show both but bear in mind a lot of people come on here with a problem so it can seem disprportionatly bad

I had my fair share of problems BUT stilll loved the car.

Well, I'm looking for all indications and opinions. I took a test drive yesterday, and first Stilo (2002) at local Fiat was absolutely lovely car in great condition, except it seems to be faulty. The engine shakes when car accelerates (faulty ECU??) and on my way back from a 5 minutes ride it beeped and flashed 3 times "Engine Fault". So I'm scared and I'm considering to replace my 2000 Punto with anything but Fiat - I was considering smth. like 2003 Stilo.

Sounds like a dodgy coil. easily fixed in about 3 minutes for less than £50.

Could be a good haggling tool for you - get a knockdown price

I had the same concerns when I changed my Marea weekend, went Stilo because of the space but made sure it was the revised version with the two tone interior. Fiat took some things off like the traction control and seperate glass door on the MW rear door but that means less to go wrong. Just had a couple of things under warranty but the car starts, goes well and hasn't cost me anything more than normal servicing in 9 months and 14,000 miles.

Fiat will fix the car you tested before they sell it anyway. Just point out the faults and get an agreement from them that they will do the work. They will just plug the car in to Examiner and find out exactly what the problem is.

Had my 1.6 5dr now for nearly two years an I love the car ..yes I have had some problems but they are all ironed out now [fingers crossed] wifey just bought a new 3dr so I got best of both worlds

What engine size have you got you havnt said ?

yeah i wouldnt bother getting the pirce down on a fault.better to only take it when its fault free so tell them to sort it if they want a deal

Never broken down, always starts and still on original battery
Any glitch I've had - I've fixed within an hour
Just got back from a faultless round trip of France
Just passed her 3rd MOT in a row without a fault
What more do you want?

"no problems at all" is a bit extreme for any car but if you exclude wear & tear items like heater plugs and things just needing a clean then that's my choice.

My 02 JTD is just stacked with all the extras, all 100% functional, and I just love it

I've also excluded all the erroneous warning messages Stilos tend to generate at startup. These are nearly always due to low battery volts but considering I'm still on original battery at over 4.5 years old then I'd say it's doing pretty good. The general rule of warnings is that if they ALWAYS repeat on startup then get it looked at. But if they only show now and again then just ignore them. Engine warning messages should always be acted on though.

Almost all Stilo owners will have to face up to the dreaded front spring failure issue but if you fit after market springs (as I did - before mine broke) then that's easily resolved plus your car looks stacks better too

Errrrr...... your car in exchange for mine

Ha! Good one
Stilo is parked on the drive next to my Bravo. Now there's another one, 110k mileage, always starts, never let me down, just passed her 5th MOT

Niether of them have ever been to a Fiat garage or any other garage

I'm never gonna buy another Fiat. they're just too boring. I need something that can keep me occupied enough to avoid the bloody gardening

should have got stu's stilo

Stu liked the free coffee and butch receptionist at his Fiat garage. Any excuse for a visit