(G) Thinking of buying a Stilo, persuasion needed!

Evening all,
I'm currently in the market for a new car. After a lot of reading I'm pretty set on getting a stilo, more than likely an abarth.
But theres a small part of my mind thats worried about the selespeed gearbox.
So im in need of a bit of persuasion.
How about some reasons why you would have a Stilo over any other car on the market?

Thanks

Matt

Personally although many reviews say the Stilo has 'bland' styling I really like it, plus they are more 'exclusive; than all the Focus' and Astra's you see on the roads. Its most important you look for a car thats been serviced regularly and looked after, theres no reason why a Stilo would be any less reliable than any other car!

If your after an Abarth, take the time and look for a manual, (you can do this on autotrader!) and avoid the sillyspeed, (although again many owners on here have had no problems with this!). The only difference ive seen is the sillyspeed cars come with sat nav and the manuals dont.

Also look for one with the 'claw' alloys - they look the business!

If you worried about selespeed get manual version. It called abarth gt

If you need convincing dont do it, it needs a special kind of owner to cope with Stilo (FIAT?) randomness for faults.

P.S. Off Topic BUT....

That Audi A8 on the advert on TV is simply stunning!!

My stilo has been fine. It is reading this forum that makes me nervous

Wifeys 1.2 Active Aircon is good to go too... except for the blasted Airbag thing but I will fix that.

Owners just need to be prepared...

I have a 2004 Prestigio Selespeed, which was the ph2 5 door abarth.

This has lots and lots of kit, nice "big car" touches inside and out. In addition, as above, it is far more exclusive than Foci, Astras etc. Debaged from Fiat but replaced with the Scorpion, I get 2-3 people per week asking what sort of car it is!

My thoughts;
Interior - very roomy and of reasonably high quality considering the brand.

The engine - 20v 5 pot sounds lovely and is fairly capable. Comfortable at "higher" speeds, can accelerate well when pushed. Very very thirsty though - not a car to commute far in! 170bhp as standard is not a lot for the size of engine though. And is outshone by modern "performance diesels" in terms of power:economy tradeoff.

Handling - very floaty as standard - can be modified though...

Running costs - 19-31mpg depending on driving style. Insurance group 15. Complex engine and catalyser system. Lots of electrical kit that may or may not go wrong.

Selespeed gearbox is great fun, I really enjoy having an automatic option - jerky as it is -that can be driven in a relaxed style. This kicks down like a true auto, not to mention the fact you can "stab or paddle" to force downchanges. (ie, getting revs ready to overtake).


I'm very happy with my car - NO issues whatsoever. Others have had problems though, so search carefully and buy wisely..........

As Gaz says just reading this Forum tends to put you off (same for many car Forums I guess)

In truth my Stilo rates as one of the most reliable cars I've owned (2+ years now). I do get the erroneous error messages on startup sometimes but almost every Stilo owner eventually learns when these are false or genuine. Only problem I've ever had was a split piece of tubing (not the cars fault) and 2 heater plugs (which the car even told me were faulty). Never even seen an air bag fault!

Personally, I'd avoid the Abarth and go for the pick of the bunch which is the JTD

I don't know if it's the exclusiveness, or what it is exactly, but I just love mine

Very good point - the only 2 things that i'd argue the abarth over for are a) levels of kit - connect nav etc, and b) the selespeed gearbox - i do love mine!!!!

A remapped JTD can offer all the performance of the 5 pot with upto double the economy...

JTD with Cruise Control and Selespeed gearbox would be my choice...

Unfortunately that option does not exist

Post #7 by dibbers is an impressively honest & straight forward summary of the overall situation on Stilo purchase. Bought right, you will struggle to find anything with the amount of kit the Stilo has at the same age/price range...

even though my selespeed gearbox died, I love it, I must be one of them "special owners" that can put with it

5 pot noise - brilliant, loads of kit, mine has connect nav+, climate control, skyroof, 2 tone leather, 100w sub in boot as standard, auot wipers/lights, cruise control and im sure there's more but you wont get that kind of kit anywhere else other than a Stilo

Hmmm, not true I have to say . If you can live with the depreciation and fuel costs of an Abarth then they are great cars, but finding a well looked after manual one will be hard to find IMO.

Hi, mines a 52reg passed mot with flying colours a couple of months ago and the selespeed gearbox good for cruising in auto or paddle when a spot of road rage hits...lol

You can get an abarth without the selespeed gearboxes cant you.

What about a 150 multijet , remapped that could probably produce more power then the abarth (wont have the same noise though)

I only generalized by looking at the Abarth's on autotrader, most the manual cars don't seem to have the sat nav screens!