HI All,

I tried to post earlier, but it disappeared! Anywhoo, long story short, I'm finding myself really REALLY likeing the 3 doro Stilo, but I know nothing about Fiats. I generally own Mazda's with no electrical faults to speak of. I also have a Ford Maverick, and have recently finished fixng some pretty dire electrical faults with it, now running sweet. SO, I read a lot about electrical faulst on the Stilo, headlight bulbs are a pain and suspension issues. Come on, whats it all about? Anything to worry about? its just...well..ALL used cars have issues, why is the Stilo picked on, is it really that bad?

Welcome to the Forum Clivvy. Many of the so-called electrical gremlins are spurious errors due to poor battery performance. A good investment is to upgrade your battery (75Ah or better). Have a look in the Guides section for other trouble-shooting tips.

Thanks Mr Yellow!

keep the comments coming, although im pretty sure I will at least go to a dealer and test drive one and make up my own mind. I just cant imagine they are as bad as many review make out. Dont get me wrong, I will listen to bad reviews and take them on board, but i have had just as many bad reviews about Golfs, Focus Astra etc etc but i get the impression i need some feedback from current owners....

You'll see more complaints about electrical problems than anything else because Fiat made the Stilo pretty well and generally mechnical faults are few and far between.

cheers StiloBoy, yes, this is what I am finding so far. Im doing a lot of reading up, because im really liking the Stilo 3 door. I have seen only one example of rust, hardly anything with regards mechanical issues other than tracking, tyres and rear bushes (nothing of which is unusual for any car).

I am reading about weird electrical problems, but again, nothing that cant be explain or fixed. At one stage, I was reading about windows opening themselves, doors unlocking themselves and thisbothered me untill I read deeper and found that the keyfob is simple sensitive, but the funny thing is, the actual feature of thewindows automatically opening is something i want!


anyway, other things I have read are ECU problems, BODY ecu (?), sunroof opening itself, light bulb changing issues and so on.

I want to know more about this electrical steering, is it something that is common to fail or break? if so, how the heck do you get on driving down the motorway and the steering fails? or is it just electrical power asistance?

Personally I've only had electrical gremlins, and my remote locking failed (soon to be fixed hopefully with a key recode).

A few mechanical problems, drop links, exhaust, battery. Nothing out of the ordinary until my clutch went, but even that was a fuss free fairly inexpensive fix.

My 53 plate has a couple of bits of surface rust. Bottom of front arches, wee bit on bootlid, and a bit on bottom of drivers door (it was reskinned though so that where I lay blame). It's on surface rust though, no holes or even particularly bad. I'm fixing it shortly.

Agree with Stiloboy's comments, Stilos are like many others, they suffer from gremlins but nothing really sinister. I've just traded an 02 plate JTD that had done 138K for a newer MW version. The old one still had most of the original exhaust - front down pipe was replaced after it cracked - but it had hit the road very heavily due to local council leaving a 6" pothole!

I had no corrosion issues - even where the paint was missing from the back edge of the front wheel arches - the galvanised body protection does its job.

Drop links on front suspension wear but are easily and cheaply replaced.
Headlight bulbs are a nightmare:bang: - RH side is just about do-able if you have small hands, but LH isnt - options are to take the bumper off or to access thro the LH wheel arch - theres a guide on how to do this.

I was warned by my local garage, when I first purchased that Fiats were notorious for wiring defects - they agree nowadays that it isnt an issue. One of the few common electrical defects is failure of the OCS sensor under the passenger seat - 3drs suffer more because the seat is moved frequently.

If you go for a diesel version, go for at least the 115Bhp version - it gives excellent performance and 50+mpg - theyre also easy to chip if you want a bit more performance. A common fault on all of the diesels is failure of the turbo solenoid boost valve - Fiat stupidly site it very low in the front LH wheel well - when it gets soaked from large puddles its almost guaranteed to fail. A lot have been resited to the side of the battery box (I wrote a guide for this) or other parts of the engine bay.

Electric steering - its common on a lot of cars nowadays - it makes for an easier installation, without messing with hydraulic pipes. I've done 138k without any issues, if you get the City option, it makes car park/town driving a doddle. If you want to look for issues with electric steering, have a look for a toyota forum - toyota managed to keep a major recall on Yaris electric steering very quiet - it was just after their brake recall issue!

Final comment, the auto opening of windows from the keyfob is good, but even better if you get a stilo with the skyroof - it'll also open with the windows

Good luck with your selection - when you start looking you find that there are lot out there to choose from and because Fiat still has a reputation, you get a lot for your money

Ive had my 2004 '54' Stilo JTD (115bhp) 3dr for just over 3 & half years & 30,000miles now. Bought on 50,000 miles & now on 79,300 (yes, to the nearest hundred, i'm that sad ) The main thing i've had replaced is suspension parts:

*Front Springs @ 6 years (circa 65k miles)
*Front Passenger Top Strut Mount @ 6.5 years (70k ish)
*Front Suspension Arms @ 7 years (circa 74k miles)
*Front Passenger Top Strut Mount Bearing? @ 7 years (circa 74k miles)

Biggest expense of those was Front Springs at around £250, plus £50 for the tyre that one wrecked when it snapped, but Fiat UK reimbursed me with £300 vouchers so can't moan at all

Only other thing was a Crank Sensor (£100 fitted, part about £30) that went at 7 years (like most of the above). Had two sidelight bulbs, which are a bugger to change but garage did them, one in 2010 cost about £20 coz they removed the bumper to get at it but didn't charge for the second one that's just been done 2 weeks ago (that's a Fiat main dealer too - they ain't all as bad as some reports say!)

Fitted a new battery in 2010. Got 'Alternator Failure' on display just as batter was dying but never had any random other warnings. Never had airbag warnings but mine is a 2004 model which i think was the point they removed the OCS seat sensor, so that might've helped.

Last & only lot of front tyres (since i bought car) lasted 23,000 miles (20k if i wasn't being tight/unemployed) & back ones were on it when i bought it 30,000 miles ago & still have 5mm on them. New rear pads @ 64k & front discs & pads @ 74k. Still on original exhaust, clutch & many other things.

Important to do cambelt & (especially on JTD) waterpump around 4-5 years & 50k. I left mine till 6yr/60k but waterpump was leaking & ready to fail so would advise being sooner than me. Power Steering problems that effect Punto, Grande Punto & Panda don't effect Stilo or new Bravo as they have a different make of electric motor, so no worries there. Look for a 1 or 2 owner car with evidence of servicing & cambelt & budget for a few suspension repairs & possibly airbag warnings (especially on pre 2004 cars). A pretty sound car overall, would buy another without hesitation.

Hope that (essay) helps

Liam

I've had my stilo jtd 2 years now it's an 05 I've had no electrical gremlins. I changed the timing built and water pump when I bought it as a precaution cost just over 200 fitted bought parts meself. I fitted a nice big varta battery in the winter as it was struggling slightly cost bout 75 I think. A front spring went so had them replaced cost 100 fitted. Recently replaced front discs and pads and rear pads too as they were rubbish fitted by previous owner. Fitted a set of part worn michelins for 120 as the previous owner had Chinese rubbish fitted. Changed the drivers side headlamp myself was a bugger tho.

Most of that you will find with any car with the exception of the front springs they do commonly snap on stilos.

Hi and welcome! I've just bought a 3dr version, and have been told that the newer models are less prone to faults than the very early models. I have bought a 56 plate and some of the electrics etc have been improved..I guess they learn over time what needs sorting in a car..although I guess with older modles if it has been well looked after any faults would have been sorted by previous owners. Just drive a few- gut instinct is usually a good guide

chaps, thank you so much for these replies, they have made interesting reading and really helped me out. I love my cars, and I sort of saw moving from owning reasonably sporty cars (Prelude, Mazda 323f, Mazda MX6 and Mazda mx3) a bit of a bummer BUT I have always loved the 3 door Stilo, every since I saw one of our Directors blue Stilo quite a few years ago, very sporty looking.

The replies above are really helpful, means I can no go looking armed with some knowledge - check suspension/springs, cambelt, passenger seat sensor etc etc but to be fair, none of it sounds unreasonable for an "old" used car, heck, im used to owning mid nineties cars so an 03 plate Stilo is a major step forward for me! I dont know what it is, I hav etried to focus on Golf, Astra, Ibiza etc etc but for some reason the Stilo has stuck in my brain.

I fully understand its not one of the great cars of the early 2000's, its not the best ride its not the best car etc, but from what I have read, actually, it is pretty darn good, its underrated thats the problem and again to be fair, all I have ever owned are underrated cars! it makes the idea of there being a "risk" in buying one less stressful. I am all excited now.

I have seen one over in Bradford that I want to go view. I dont have the money yet, but it seems a great buy. Its a Grey 03 plate, 53,000Miles, MOT till March next year (tax almost out) and looks in very good condition, oh and its less than £2k at £1850. For that, i'd be askinn for the cambelt done, and if thats done, some tax please! Seems a good price though.

well, again, thanks for the responses im well chuffed you all replied, cheers!

well, after seeing a Stilo 3 door in the car park of The Range in Halifax, we went off to see this Stilo for sale in Bradford. Now, I immediately noticed a few issues that put me off, but I am still left loving the car.

First off, there was a very annoying dint in the edge of the front wing where it meets the light cluster. I also noticed that the bonnet seem "asqew", as in looking at the lights, one end of the bonnet is lower than the other OR the bumper isnt straight. Alloy wheels were touched up and one of the rear lights was fogging. Got in, smokers car. Noted damp or something passenger front frame near the handle. Glow plug fault, car wet drivers side sill but he explained had been in the garage-glow plugs to be replaced. Engine started with a smallish chugg, all ok. Quite dirty inside, heck, mines 1997 Mazda and its way cleaner. Very sticky buttons, especially the right side control unit (dont know too much about this) and the print is wearing off a bit.

Tried the air con, as there is no way I am buying a car, odl or new, without workign air con. I have never had it, every car i have bought had it, but it was broken! Anyway, tried it, nothing, looking in the engine bay (which looked quite untidy) the air con H cap was missing. well, I can only assume its a broken system now.

Apart from that, love it. Seats felt really comfy, good position, shame there is no foot rest so that might bug me as I dont want to be riding the clutch on a long journey, but again, everything about it felt good, i like it!

So I am quite pleased I went to see it, because rather than come away feeling like the car is a let down generally, I have come away feeling like "great, now I know what to look for I can find myself a decent one"

I loved the bonnet, always wanted a car with bonnet struts, and the engine bay looks like something I can work in-seems to be lots of room compared to what I am used to (my Mazdas were all V6 engines).

I have to say though, I think I really want one with the Sky Roof. I have read several posts about problems, but it seems to me that if it goes badly wrong, I can manually wind it closed?

my search continueth!