(G) Stilo discoveries and questions.

Hi.
Flashing red led on driver door: what is this for?
Is it the deadlock engagement light?
Last night wasnt flashing...maybe tonight I have kept the remote control pushed for longer than 2 secs...probably this could be an explanation.
Anybody knows more?

Green cord coming into the glove compartment in the boot: what is this for?

Left handside of the gear: 3 available buttons, I have just 2 in use, one the City and one ASR, whats the 3rd one for?

I have just discovered that something fantastic happens if you keep unlock or lock buttons pushed for longer than 2 secs on your remote, try it.
If you have Sky window something marvellous happens.

Thanks.

Radar only you can help here.

Flashing LED shows that the doors are locked and may act as some type of deterrent to a would be thief, ie a thief may think there is an alarm and move on to an easier target. That's the theory anyway, possibly. Cannot explain why yours wasn't working last night - "reliable" Fiat electronics

I havn't seen the green cord yet. I had one on another car and it was to release the petrol cap door in case it could not be opened from the outside.

The third button - can't help, don't have one.

The salesman at the dealershio showed me the trick with the remote, and even though I don't have a sky window, it is still cool to be able to open and close the windows with the remote. How many times on other cars have I taken the key out of the ignition, locked the doors only to realise one of the windows was still open.

"Reliable" Fiat Electronics you said:
not to defend Fiat here but I think last night was not working because I did not engage it, I will check this procedure again, I remember to have read something about deadlocks engagement.
Even aircraft pilots would tell you that electronics can be "faulty" sometimes, this is nothing to do with Fiat but just a feature of all electronic apparatus, including the most advanced I am afraid and Fiat is not directly responsible for these glitches in my opinion.
The Fiat negative sentiment of some people is just a false legend in my opinion, a wrong perception of facts, and The Stilo is really a superior car but only owners know this and the very few that encounter problems are "shouting" and these seem to be everywhere because happy clients are just silent as in any customer service environment unfortunately.
It is a lot easier to write for a complaint rather than for a thank you letter!
FIAT created a fantastic car again (we cannot forget the success of the first Punto, 1995 Car of the year etc)and the Stilo is undervalued by the public and the media I think.
Even a Ferrari can have problems, and they do, believe me.
It is nothing to do with the Manufacturer, or the Italians...things can go wrong also for the Space Shuttle or a new Airbus or Boeing: it is only that statistically you will find always more complaints than "thank you" letters.

Option available with SeleSpeed gearbox. This button changes auto/manual mode

yes i dont have selespeed
thats why then

I have done my research and it seems that the Xenons are very rare...

... and in Xenons we don't have to change the bulbs so often

I apologise if you are offended in any way by the tone of my post with regards to "reliable" electronics. It was not meant as a put-down to Fiat at all. I just didn't know why your LED was not functioning as mine does every night. I wholeheartedly agree with what you say. Everything has it's problems. This is my first Fiat, and I have to admit I was sceptical about buying one. When I last lived in England in the 80's Fiat, I hate to say, did not have a good name in general. Maybe this was just legend, I don't know. On my return to England I needed a good, reliable car, and I saw some reviews on the Stilo. I did some further research and chose to buy one. I am very happy with the car. It is a shame that it does not get a better reception by the press and public.

As I said before, it is a great car, full of character. It has it's problems (as do many cars), but thankfully none have really affected me yet, apart from the creaking clutch pedal, but that will be taken care of. This forum is full of remarks about problems with electronics, and many are far worse than my "reliable" comment.

Go to it DtP.

It's a FIAT forum - so I guess we discuss problems with FIATs - check out a BMW / SEAT / VW / ANY OTHER CAR MAKE forum and people will be discussing problems with those makes - doesn't mean they're not brand loyal. We love our FIATs us! - doesn't mean we don't have problems - they are cars after all - complex things.

Chill....

My A/C is on and working, so I'm a chillin'

Why Xenons are more reliable radar??

Just a note about the clutch: this is a known problem, and to be honest with you does not affect the performance or the realiability of the car at all as it causes ONLY a noise that can be more or less annoying.
Anybody that has contacted a Fiat dealer (officially authorised by Fiat) must have had it resolved quickly and for free.
If somebody did not get his clutch repaired, is either because they did not mind the clicking noise, or because they did not contact an authorised dealer.
There is an official bullettin that came from Head Office in Italy about the clutch and they have changed the mechanism: the only problem reported was the noise, nothing else.
Many Fiat test drivers did not notice this noise (not even on their own cars) because 99% of drivers have been driving in noisy conditions anyway, eg traffic, music etc and the noise can be heard only in total silence: once you are aware of the noise you hear it all the time because you get paranoid, is humane nature.
I think in such a modern and advanced car the clutch problem is finally a success for Fiat: it means that all the rest is working very well, except the usual individual cases that are not generally representative.
I am trying to say that if a driver is looking for 100% perfection on all systems of a very advanced modern car like the Stilo then it would be impossible to succeed in this task because the machine is very complex: a modern car that is 100% reliable (for an unlimited time) has not been invented yet and probably it will never be, but Stilo is extremely reliable.

Ciao.

Largely true, but what really breaks the reputation of the Stilo is the often truly appaling 'customer service' provided by either Fiat or the dealership.

I bought my 3dr Stilo Abarth in September 2002. Since then, it has spent 56 days in total at the dealers, having problems sorted out (or *trying* to sort them out, due to total incompetency by the dealer and Fiat). The car had a new engine at 10,000 miles due to head gasket failure and has suffered no end of electrical faults. The selespeed box decided to shut down in a contraflow, leaving me with no drive. Not a nice situation to be in. Essentially, I have no confidence in this car at all.

It is perfectly clear that I have a "Friday afternoon car" and hence I am ditching it back to Fiat in the next month or so, to be replaced with a new Stilo Abarth - this will cost me money, but will be at an advantageous price by various underhand means....

The dealer is under no uncertain terms that if this car is not absolutely perfect, I will reject it on the spot.

1. The flashing red LED acts as a deterrent function. When locking the doors, it will switch on for about 2-3 seconds then satrt to flash. If any of the doors or the boot are not closed correctly the red LED will start to flash quickly along with the direction indicators. I did notice on my vehicle one night it wasn't flashing so I went outside thin thinking I'd not locked it, but I had, so I opened then locked again and hey, it started to flash again. it still flashes without the activation of the dead locks so it ain't connected to that.

2. The green cord behind the flap on the boot right hand side is for the fuel lid emergency opening

3. As posted by Radar

Hi Neil,
I understand your case and it must be a tragic one.
Let me know what happens with this dealer.
If you will still have problems with this dealer you can let me know by private message.
I should be able then to contact someone very high within Fiat in Italy and we can let them check internally and start a proper Co. investigation: if this dealer is failing so often they simply cannot continue selling Fiat cars, and your case does not sound right at all and it is very suspicious indeed.
Do not forget that within Fiat Italy all Managers responsible for foreign sales are very strict, and I have seen also in Italy many dealers and/or so called "authorised garages" losing their Fiat licenses due to lack of customer service or even for incompetence. It is only that sometimes in large multinational Co. nobody positioned high within the hierarchy really knows what is really going on down the floor until a client let them know directly.

Keep me updated. Thanks.

I was amazed to be told by a dealer that they lost their Toyota franchise due to the high standards expected by Toyota including professionalism & hygienne.... but they had no trouble becoming a Fiat dealer....at this point the technician who I'd asked to see if the 2000 reg Punto could take the battery cover modification (which they were replacing on my car because they broke it and didn't bother telling me) climbed through the boot and over the seats of another customers x reg Punto to open the bonnet release because they couldn't find the keys at that time to see if it looked the same as my battery......sums up UK Fiat dealers!