Hi all,

Im 19 and my first car was a fiat punto, but things are beginning to go wrong with the little beast and the final nail in the coffin was when some **** keyed down both sides of the car doing about £300 worth of damage and requiring a 4 panel respray. Ive been looking around now for a new car, but the only ones ive been interested in are the civic type r, seat coupra and golf gti. All of these are dreams because a) theyre too expensive and b) insurance would cripple me. But today ive been looking on this site and i saw a sweet stilo. Never really been interested in them before, but this one caught my eye. Had a look around the net and saw they were going for around the 5k mark and i dont think insurance would be too bad. I would like someone to give me the low down on the models, engine sizes and added extras. And if it is really worth shelling out the money, or should i just get the respray.

Cheers
Andy

well theres the:

1.2 16v - insurance group 4
1.4 16v - insurance group 4
1.6 16v - insurance group 5
1.8 16v - dunno the group
2.4 20v - insurance group 14
1.9 jtd - insurance group 5

If i were to buy another stilo id go for the jtd 115bhp turbo diesel and the insurance aint too bad on it either The 1.6 is also a good option.

I take it you see a 3 door then?

Theres also different spec levels such as active, active sport, dynamic and abarth. Someone else can explain them better than me. Hope that helps

Bob

Bob in disguise said:

well theres the:

1.8 16v - dunno the group

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Insurance group 7, I believe.

Go for the Abarth mate, same kind of performance bracket as the Civic and golf, although more of a GT, a hell of a lot more equipement, a lot cheaper and with bags more character. Take a look on my site bellow, there's a few Abarths on there

KoArAnG said:

Go for the Abarth mate, same kind of performance bracket as the Civic and golf, although more of a GT, a hell of a lot more equipement, a lot cheaper and with bags more character. Take a look on my site bellow, there's a few Abarths on there

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At 19 though mate I doubt he'll be able to insure it. If not the abarth then the JTD is the next best thing both in terms of performance & economy plus they can be remapped up to 170bhp!

they look well sweet. what kind of insurance quotes you get for one. my punto is £925 with 650 excess

I should think a JTD would be pretty good insurance for what you can get out of the car.
My insurance on an Abarth is £650 with mods but im an old fart (says Ben )
but i also have only 1 year NCD.
As Ben says it would be way OTT for someone your age

KoArAnG said:

I should think a JTD would be pretty good insurance for what you can get out of the car.
My insurance on an Abarth is £650 with mods but im an old fart (says Ben )
but i also have only 1 year NCD.
As Ben says it would be way OTT for someone your age

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'ere I can't talk mate I'm not that far behind you lmao!

Hi Andy and welcome to the Forum

I think in your circumstances [re fact Abarth at 19 may be out of price league insurance wise], a 3 door JTD is the way to go 115bhp standard, easily remappable to 155 then 170bhp :woot: And only Group 5 insurance, I think...

I would avoid the 1.6 [less tuning potential ], IMO

andyjonespunto1 said:

they look well sweet. what kind of insurance quotes you get for one. my punto is £925 with 650 excess

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Jees your insurance company is giving it to you without any KY. Thats rediculously high excess! My little brother has a punto and hes about a grand but his excess is about 300.

I have a 1.6 active sport. It's in my gallery. It's got quite a bit of balls for a 1.6, drives nice and smooth. Doesnt have as many gadgets. Does have CD player, abs, pas, trip computer, 16" alloys, skirts and spoiler as standard but it has something special, its got the "ooh what is that car factor". Handles very nicely, looks the dogs nuts in techno grey. There stereo for a factory fit is great. Looks nicer than a Type R and a golf gti (less common too). If remapping is important to you don't look at the 1.6, you cant remap it, maybe look to a 1.4 6 speed or the 1.8 Dynamic.

Insurance wise, i have 2 yrs no claims, turned 26 in feb and im paying about 550 a year. Costs about 40 quid a tank for normal (non supermaket) petrol. And about 44 for the good ultimate stuff. In town i get about 350-400 miles a tank on a long 5th gear trip your looking quite a lot more in terms of mileage.

If you own a punto then your used to fiat quirks and most probably dealers, so bite the bullet and get your ass in a 3dr stilo! You will love it...i promise. As always make sure its got a full service history and log of any recalls and warranty work carried out.

I was looking at what it would cost me to insure an abarth, just out of curiosity. Direct Line quoted me 966 a year with 150 excess. Not to shabby, i was paying that for my fiesta when i first got it and that was a 1.4i ghia x. Gotta love being 26 now

my insurance company told me my 1.8 was between group 5-7 the didnt give me a persific group?! But they sed it cam in the same group classification as 1.2 8v punto which i found hard to believe but ther ya go! Bu the stilo's are good on insurance, well apart from the abarth being group 14! I around the same ages as you, im 19 and have a 1.8 i pay just over 1k wiv no ncb and quite a few mods!

if you are happy with your punto save yer pennies and get a respray

course i like my stilo but at 19 stick with something small and build up a no claims bonus

A Stilo JTD was only slightly more to insure than my old Punto 1.2 Active! Think it was 50quid or so for the year when we got a quote from Frizzell (Im 19)

Hello M8T,

Abarth for pure performance (no mods reqd) , toys and pure joy. JTD for less peformance (to start with), toys as extras and less joy but sensible insurance premiums (for a youngker). Speaking as an old sailor I chose the Abarth and despite all the problems that have been dealt under Warranty - I luv it .

I think the JTD is a good choice if you are going to change. Good low down urge excellent economy and more reasonable insurance group.

Speaking as an owner of a 1.6 Stilo and a Leon Cupra I can honestly say that the Leon cupra is ausome. The 1.8 turbo engine is a gem but they're pricey and at insurance group 16 it's gonna hurt . If you want any specifics on the Leon Cupra let me know.

cmc

cmc said:

I think the JTD is a good choice if you are going to change. Good low down urge excellent economy and more reasonable insurance group.

Speaking as an owner of a 1.6 Stilo and a Leon Cupra I can honestly say that the Leon cupra is ausome. The 1.8 turbo engine is a gem but they're pricey and at insurance group 16 it's gonna hurt . If you want any specifics on the Leon Cupra let me know.

cmc

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The JTD is sounding like a sensible option! I've never driven a fiat diesel before i dont recall anyone complaining about performance at all. Next time round im definitley going to give a jtd and 2.4 a spin. Next car may well be a 2.4 abarth. If i ever get full no claims and my stilo is paid of quicker than 5 years

When i insured my 1.6 Stilo at 19 it cost me just over £1200 from Tesco and that was with 1 years no claims and a own fault claim before. Coincedentally it was going to cost me more to insure my Y reg 1.2 8v punto that i had at the time...........there was no contest!

Whitevanman said:

course i like my stilo but at 19 stick with something small and build up a no claims bonus

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Agreed. Wait a couple of years and build-up your NCD. If you really want one, I would get the 1.2 16v 3dr Active and forget about tuning it in any way (they look great standard, but start to look like chav-wagons when the big alloys and exhaust arrive, IMHO)

Cheers for all the info, i took a quick tootle round too my local fiat dealer the other day. (hissboo). and had a quick look around one of them, but it was a bit too late to have a test drive. The looks from the bonnet back are amazing, but not too sure about the back end, but im sure that will grow on me. The creces running down the side make it look a lot more aggressive. Just got too pop down in the day time and have a play in a jtd, because that seems like the best option.

Once again cheers for all the response
Andy