(G) fiat stilo great review

Good friend of mine lost £4K on a new golf in 4 months with 2,000 miles on it

Thats why sensible people buy Skodas Cheaper to start with, so in money terms wont lose as much!

Skoda's cheap to start with.... only just these days!

Too true, they're not so cheap anymore, plus along with SEAT they don't seem to do the discounts that the likes of Fiat, renault, vauxhall, etc, etc will.

but of course with a Skoda or a Seat you get better reliability? Hmm same engines, same basic shell.....hmm!

Less Skodas and Seats are sold, compared to VWs so breakdowns will be fewer- im guessing. But if we're talking about reliability, how come Fiats (for example) dont come with a 3 year AA cover anymore? They get 1 year. Is it being used too much?

Interesting the way this thread's going. I've also got a Fab vRs in the family (same colour as your's btw, W - but then red's the best anyway) and had forgotten that the AA cover is 3 years. As you say the Stilo only has 1 year but, and I might be wrong, iirc an Astra bought new only carried 1 year.Must check that....
Anyway, the Fab vRs - great fun car. Relaibility? need to wait and see but no probs to date (new Feb '05). Residuals?- Great at the moment 'cos there still aren't that many used on the market(so I'm told) but no doubt that will change and I'll know when/if I go back to the dealer to change.

Yeah Vauxhalls only get one year, same as Fords. Its a recent change because my 2002 Punto had a three year cover.

Maybe Fiats come with 1 year AA because most cars are likely to have problems in their first year and if not then they are usually pretty good reliability wise! 2 years and i've had no need for a breakdown company!

Fiat stop doing 3 years AA as it cost too much for them, 1 year much cheaper. They most likely were loosing more money than they were hoping they would make.

what problems did you hear about? i'm considering a Golf IV gti (1.8t 150bhp)

I've heard VW has had problems with certain versions of it 1.8t, I seem to recall it was the 180 though

Why? Get a stilo abarth mate! Faster, cheaper to buy & run, it's got more character & kit & more reliable than a V5 golf! I work for a VW dealer & the main problems with the V5 engine seem to centre around the secondary air system, which is supposed to warm the engine up quicker. TBH they were never that reliable as it's such an unbalanced engine & they always idle rough! The 1.8T engine is ok but has been known to knock it's own valves out! & they don't actually like being tuned which is why there are several versions of that engine Ranging from 150bhp to 225bhp. The only water leaks I know of are the early MK4 passats which had a dodgy pollen filter cover where water got in & all round down into the passenger footwell.

What......! The VAG 1.8T has got to be one of the most successful modern engines for tuning.... Ive been on a few VAG forums and never read any comments about it not liking to be tuned!

Depends on which version & state of tune already! I have a mate who had his S3 quattro chipped to 270bhp & it blew plus what we have seen at work, where people have fiddled & when it's gone wrong tried to get it fixed under warrenty. Like any other engine you can only go so far before having to strip & install uprated parts.