Hey im finally get rid of my Stilo "Blue" and upgrading to an abarth stilo.


I have a few quick questions as im going to view today.

What should i look out for? its a 2002, selespeed model with 60k displayed. i know the gearbox can be an issue but what exatcly can go wrong and how can i check?

Also insurance, my best quote was £1900 does anyone know of a way i can bring that down... any secret insurance tips im 19 been driving for nearly 2 years but have 0years no claims bonus. no accidents or convictions.

Any help would be greatly appriciated.

Thanks. Jon.

Get an RAC check on the engine, loads of failures normally around 50k I believe. Gearboxes are normally ok if maintained, so FSH is an essential really.

Regarding insurance, just a case of biting the bullet, earn your NCD and your insurance should slowly drop.

Well im a fully qualified vehicle techy, so i can carry out the inspection but was just hoping for some insight as to what the danger areas are in the abarth selespeed, would'a loved a stick shift but insurance is waaay to pricey for a manual.

limited edition said:

Well im a fully qualified vehicle techy, so i can carry out the inspection but was just hoping for some insight as to what the danger areas are in the abarth selespeed, would'a loved a stick shift but insurance is waaay to pricey for a manual.

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The manuals are more expensive to insure

Just check the CS Speed fluid is upto level and has been changed as per service intervals indicate

Yeah strangely the manual is £4500 for a year outright whereas the selespeed is £1900, i guess its because of the age group i fall under "high risk" as most of the "car enthusiasts" my age want manuals.

Ok thanks for the info i will check but the car only has service history up to 40k it now stands at 60k so i hope that its been serviced in that time and someone's just not documented it.

So is the gearbox the only issues with these or anything engine wise? its a whole lot of engine to fix/replace if anything goes wrong

I managed to break my engine

Stu DemonD said:

I managed to break my engine

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Uhm how? i'd like to avoid this from happening

Most Easterly Pandas said:

loads of failures normally around 50k I believe.

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Steady Easterly! I hope you have evidence of these 'loads' of cars with failed engines..? As far as I know, the few failures that have been recorded on this forum have been due to heavy modification or running low on oil . Hope you're not smearing the Abarth on the basis of rumour and conjecture.

Yellow Peril said:

Steady Easterly! I hope you have evidence of these 'loads' of cars with failed engines..? As far as I know, the few failures that have been recorded on this forum have been due to heavy modification or running low on oil . Hope you're not smearing the Abarth on the basis of rumour and conjecture.

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I hold my hands up, cannot say how many is loads, just from what I've seen on here, seems a vast number seem to be around 50k mark. I will concur with what you say though, that most seem to be modified and / or without regular services as scheduled

I personally wouldn't have an issue with getting one with any mileage, as long as its a FSH. I've a feeling I might own a 5-door Abarth Selespeed one day

limited edition said:

Hey im finally get rid of my Stilo "Blue" and upgrading to an abarth stilo.


I have a few quick questions as im going to view today.

What should i look out for? its a 2002, selespeed model with 60k displayed. i know the gearbox can be an issue but what exatcly can go wrong and how can i check?

Also insurance, my best quote was £1900 does anyone know of a way i can bring that down... any secret insurance tips im 19 been driving for nearly 2 years but have 0years no claims bonus. no accidents or convictions.

Any help would be greatly appriciated.

Thanks. Jon.

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That's an astonishing insurance cost - I'm imagining it must be about the same price as the car itself.

Here in NZ the insurance costs less for my Abarth than for my 500. It seems to be loaded based on value of the car and driver age. Performance of the car counts for very little! My insurance when I was 21 was about $500 (£240) for my Uno Turbo.

Anyway - back on topic - it isn't really the gearbox that gives trouble - I think it's more likely to be the clutch. As it gets near the end of its life, things get jumpy as you try to park. Moving off may require lots of revs, and the 1-2nd gear change can be a bump, too. I think the job requires a dual mass flywheel replacement, so is quite possibly the most expensive clutch job you'll do.

It would be a good idea to take along a laptop, an ELM327 cable, and FIAT/MultiEcuScan. That way, you'll be able to check for stored fault codes. For example, ignition coil faults/misfires.

The interior suffers from sticky plastics in the lower half, plus the coating wears off the buttons. Both the stickiness and the buttons started off as a soft-touch rubbery coating - which either liquifies or wears off. Can be cleaned off and painted matt black.

Look for evidence of resprays, especially if you're buying a bright non-metallic colour such as yellow, red, or blue. Fade can be a problem, and resprayed areas will obviously fade at a different rate, which you won't see until a few months after you buy - so try to spot them first.

I just realised that these last two concerns relate to southern-hemisphere sun

Anyway, lift the bonnet and look at the wiring behind the engine and around the battery (there should be a cover over the battery - if not, be very worried, because the fuse box must not get wet). If the wiring looks like it's been removed and not clipped back properly, with missing coverings (wires hanging free, not bound with cloth tape), then it shows it's been apart and not put back together properly. Ask yourself why it's been apart.

Basically, you're looking for a car that's been looked after, and not suffered at the hands of hamfisted mechanics

-Alex

limited edition said:

Yeah strangely the manual is £4500 for a year outright whereas the selespeed is £1900, i guess its because of the age group i fall under "high risk" as most of the "car enthusiasts" my age want manuals.

Ok thanks for the info i will check but the car only has service history up to 40k it now stands at 60k so i hope that its been serviced in that time and someone's just not documented it.

So is the gearbox the only issues with these or anything engine wise? its a whole lot of engine to fix/replace if anything goes wrong

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Hi there

To be totally honest with you I would avoid the Selespeed Abarth like a plague, in all honest truth it has to be one of the worst automatic gearboxes talked about on this Forum, the same unit was also used in the Alfa 147 I believe and it too had colossal issues, just search it in the Alfa Forum and you will see what I mean.

If you can I would seriously save the pennies and get a proper manual gearbox Abarth, you wont regret it, you will love it trust, i miss the sound of that engine so much one thing is for sure, as Most Easterly already stated, full service history is a must, these engines can burn oil and if they have not been looked after properly you will suffer the consequences later on.

With regards to insurance, I am not the best person for this but, a few tips you can try is having one of you parents as named driver or a multi car insurance policy does apparently work out cheaper

Thats my two cents worth

BLKC99 said:

To be totally honest with you I would avoid the Selespeed Abarth like a plague, in all honest truth it has to be one of the worst automatic gearboxes talked about on this Forum, the same unit was also used in the Alfa 147 I believe and it too had colossal issues, just search it in the Alfa Forum and you will see what I mean.

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Most issues cause by people not maintaining them properly, or going to garages who haven't a clue what they're doing. Its the same gearbox setup still used by Fiat, Bravo, Panda & 500, along with GP etc.

If it was that bad Fiat would have scrapped it tbh. You'll only hear of the problems don't forget, not the people who have never had problems

Most Easterly Pandas said:

Most issues cause by people not maintaining them properly, or going to garages who haven't a clue what they're doing. Its the same gearbox setup still used by Fiat, Bravo, Panda & 500, along with GP etc.

If it was that bad Fiat would have scrapped it tbh. You'll only hear of the problems don't forget, not the people who have never had problems

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Whats with the negative attitude FFS

You can have your opinion and it may make perfect sense but it wont change the consensus and the reputation of these gearbox units on the Fiat Stilo models. All I have ever heard and read on this Forum is enough to put me off one of these transmission units. Key maintenance is required and as already stated most people would have neglected this aspect of the car. The selespeed model released with the Fiat Stilo is way temperamental.....

I am not making these facts up or dissing anything about the Fiat Stilo model for the sake of it, or trying to make myself sound like some smart ass engineer, etc, etc, it makes me mad when people just have to be so narrow minded about their opinions on this Forum, so protective of their religious beliefs...... it was my factual opinion and there was simply no need to be so god dam rude!!

By all means, if Fiat are still today using the same trip tonic gearbox unit as you have stated i very much doubt that it is the exact same unit with the exact the same parts, etc, etc... things must have had to be upgraded or changed to rectify previously experienced issues, this transmission unit is not saint and yes if people could be bothered now days to actually read their car manual and pay attention to simple routine maintenance checks and so forth, these kind of issues would never exist in the first place or simply not as many ......

WTF.... Not sure how my post had a 'negative attitude'. Just expanding with my factual opinion. I didn't completly dismiss what you said, didn't brand it rubbish or anything did I? All I did was merely expand on the background around a lot of Selespeed failures. Now whos the narrow minded (and rude if we're going by your interpretation) one, on the attack?

I must admit I've been put off by the selespeed boxes. My reason for this is simply because I'm old school and I don't know anything at all about how they work? They could be really good for all I know? I just like Manuals ..... I have to say though that people who write posts on these gearboxes will tend to ask questions about a problem as apposed to writing about how good they are? I've always felt that there's not a lot of maintainace that can be done on them by the home mechanic other that keeping an eye on the fluid levels and listening for noises? ...... Perhaps the current semiauto gearboxes are better now because of the testings of the stilo? I mean, you have to start somewhere don't you?

BLKC99 said:

Whats with the negative attitude FFS :...

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Your reaction seemed more negative to me - but you're entitled to your opinion

BLKC99 said:

By all means, if Fiat are still today using the same trip tonic gearbox unit as you have stated i very much doubt that it is the exact same unit with the exact the same parts, etc, etc... things must have had to be upgraded or changed to rectify previously experienced issues, this transmission unit is not saint and yes if people could be bothered now days to actually read their car manual and pay attention to simple routine maintenance checks and so forth, these kind of issues would never exist in the first place or simply not as many ......

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Your first post made a big assumption that the Selespeed of the Stilo is the same as the 147 and 156. It's not, except GTA 6-speed models.

FIAT (actually Magneti Marelli) redesigned it completely to use separate components, rather than all components combined into one actuator. This is the upgrade/change. The current FIATs with Dualogic use a similar system layout.

Also - one other minor point - 'tiptronic' is a Porsche term relating to manual override of an automatic gearbox. It would be more accurate referring to a Selespeed as an 'F1'-style or flappy-paddle 'box. The current term is 'MTA' (Manual Transmission Automated'.

There should be no doubt that Selespeed is different to a standard automatic - so to get a standard automatic, buy a Toyota. The real comparison here is between Selespeed and manual, and I reckon Selespeed comes out pretty well. Like the manual, the clutch will need replacing at some point, and the pump or accumulator might need attention (like how the gearchange linkage of a manual might need attention).

-Alex

gadge said:

I must admit I've been put off by the selespeed boxes. My reason for this is simply because I'm old school and I don't know anything at all about how they work? They could be really good for all I know? I just like Manuals ..... I have to say though that people who write posts on these gearboxes will tend to ask questions about a problem as apposed to writing about how good they are? I've always felt that there's not a lot of maintainace that can be done on them by the home mechanic other that keeping an eye on the fluid levels and listening for noises? ...... Perhaps the current semiauto gearboxes are better now because of the testings of the stilo? I mean, you have to start somewhere don't you?

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I think that's a great summary

Personally I don't know how a valve body works in a standard automatic. I tried to rebuild an auto clutch pack once - and failed dismally - and because I'd put a ball in the wrong place, the valve body wouldn't select 2nd when changing down through the gears... Therefore, I find Selespeed conceptually simpler and much easier to work on. In spite, or maybe because of this, my own Selespeeds/Dualogics have never given a moment's trouble.

Anyway you are quite right - these systems all start somewhere and happily that was the 156 Selespeed in 1998 - the Stilo is the second-generation.

-Alex

I think you've summed it up fairly well Alex

alexGS said:

I think that's a great summary

Personally I don't know how a valve body works in a standard automatic. I tried to rebuild an auto clutch pack once - and failed dismally - and because I'd put a ball in the wrong place, the valve body wouldn't select 2nd when changing down through the gears... Therefore, I find Selespeed conceptually simpler and much easier to work on. In spite, or maybe because of this, my own Selespeeds/Dualogics have never given a moment's trouble.

Anyway you are quite right - these systems all start somewhere and happily that was the 156 Selespeed in 1998 - the Stilo is the second-generation.

-Alex

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I gotta be honest Alex, I find a bog standard auto (the proper old school slush box) a complete dark art? I mean a car that moves by fluid?! ...... How did they ever sell that idea back in the 40's ...... For me, I know where I stand on a manual, I bet there are loads of people who can testify only good things about there selespeed boxes but like I say, who's gonna start a thread saying "I just wanna say I think me selespeed box is awesome"?

I loved the selespeed setup, although a 45 mile+ commute everyday [round-trip] with my right foot planted didn't help