Hi:

I am new to the forum and to Fiats.

I have just taken the plunge, and bought a new (well somewhat new)Stilo. Actually it is a 2002 (52 reg) Active 1.6 with aircon that only has 30 miles on it. Apparently, there are quite a few about that were just never sold and are at Fiat's storage area. Maybe that is just a line from the delaer. I don't know. I feel I got a good deal, on what is basically a brand new car. I bought it from a dealer in Slough, and made sure to purchase 2 more years of warranty, thus giving me about 3.5 years of warranty. Hopefully, I have not made a huge mistake. But, I have been reading about the Stilo in the past few weeks, and it seems to be a misunderstood car that is worthy of more respect than it is given, but it has some issues.

So, I ask, is there anything I should watch out for, or ask the dealer to check (ie, service bulletin/recall fixes that should have been done) before I pick it up.

Many thanks for any assistance.

No, relax, it's generally a good all round motor, I think you'll find that most owners are having a love affair with theirs.

There were some teething problems with models registered from 51 to 03, but these problems have been ironed out for the 53 onwards models, but if you have a warranty read through the forums, I know it's laborious, but find all the niggly faults and get the dealership to fix them while it's free.

Just out of interest how much did you pay for your car? I can't believe that they are still holding 52 plate cars with only 30 miles on the clock!

Anyway, congratulations and good luck with the car and we hope to see you on here often and don't forget, go to www.clubstilo.com and join our owners club!

TC.

Thanks for responding.

I am always nervous about buying any car. When I left England for the States 18 years ago, Fiats did not have a very good name (nor did Skodas, and look at them now), so I was very dubious about purchasing one after coming back to the U.K. I am one of these people that spends ages deciding on what to buy (at least something mechanical or electronic). But it seemed like the Stilo was very good value for the money. I am not really concerned about resale, and will run it until it dies. My Chevys in the States both had 160,000 miles on them when we got rid of them!

I was looking at used Stilos at the car supermarkets with 12,000 miles on them and they were running about £6200. I was nervous about them, since I had a feeling they were ex-rental and God knows how they were treated or maintained, if at all, so I felt that was a bit of a risk. I also saw some new 1.9 JTD's at Trade Sales in Slough for £8999, but they were the 80hp version, and were imported from Southern Ireland, with a different type of warranty, and their trim looked pretty bad. I was not sure how they would be accepted at Fiat when a warranty issue would come up. Then I saw in Autotrader that the Fiat dealer down the road from Trade Sales had the car that I ended up purchasing for £6999. Anyone had any experience with that dealer (Thames Motor Group)? May be I am wrong, but that seemed reasonable. I have a warranty and will certainly look through the forum to see what's up. But, I suppose if I know that the car is liable to have a particular problem they won't fix it 'til it breaks!

Once again, I appreciate any help.

i was the same mate with a fiat? i just sold my corsa sport. had my 115bhp jtd a week now and it is a very high spec car for what i payed for it.. £8300, with sky sunroof, sat nav, built in phone aircon, and much more, it beats many cars for there spec, something to show off about.lol but they are cheap cars, even if i did get a problem with it, they have warranty till 2006, mine being an 03 reg..

hopefully nothing goes wrong within my period of holding the car, then i can back up my word and say there good cars... and not that popular too. hope you like...

Dropthepuck, how much did the extra two year warrany cost to buy. Is it worth it ?.

Well did you pick it up?

Do you like it?

Well, to answer the previous two questions. Firstly, my insurance cover letter did not arrive today, and the dealer said that I would need the original (no faxes) for the tax disk. I've been out of the country for 18 years, so I am a little confused on that. I don't mind. I would rather know that I have proof of insurance on board, just in case something were to happen.

As for the extra 2 years of warranty, the dealer charged £400 for that. I probably could have got it cheaper, but I didn't feel like fighting with them on that. In the States, they would charge us about $1,200 for a 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty. I would argue with them and get it for about $400. I was not sure if dealers here did the same type of wheeling and dealing, so I just let it go.

Hopefully, tommorrow......

all new cars from fiat are already warrentied for 3 yrs and most cars i think.... so till 2006 mine,

Well, I was finally able to pick it up today. I have to say it is pretty cool. So much kit on it for the price, and it feels like quite a big car on the inside when driving it around.

The only problem I had was while pulling out from the dealer. I pushed in the clutch, and when trying to take off, the clutch pedal stayed stuck to the floor. I thought great is this an omen or what, and thought the spring or whatever had gone out on the pedal already. Then I saw that the pedal got stuck under the floor mat. I moved the mat and promptly stalled right in front of everyone! Anyway, the mat problem has been solved. I am still getting used to the car. To be honest I have stalled a couple of times in addition to the above. I'll have to get used to the sensitive clutch, and also I have been driving an automatic in the States for the past 18 years, but manuals are so much better, in my opinion.

The only thing I would like to do is to put a leather wrap on the steering wheel. I did a pretty good job on my last car, but if it can be done professionally that's fine too. Any ideas on that? Are they places that do it, or do they have pretty good kits to do it yourself here?