Hi, first time in the stilo forum! I'm thinking about buying a jtd 115 3dr stilo and was wondering if anyone could give me any advise, what to look out for etc... .Think I'll be going for a 54/55 with less than 20/25k miles. Anyone had any reliability issues with theirs?? Do they lose there value quite quickly??

Cheers, Ed

I have a JTD 04 and if I could get another one (new) I would be placing my order now. I have had one or two issues with airbag light and overboost valve but apart from that she's tip top. Just got to 40K and condition is superb.

To get it to this loveable state I did remap the engine, replaced the springs (Eibach -30) and replaced the speakers all around. This made my Stilo a pleasure to own. Low insurance, low tax and great economy with good performance are four good reasons to get one. Another one would be the sky-roof but most importantly you really have to find a yellow one.

I have an 05 115 JTD 3 door in dynamic spec

Its in greyish silver, and it has everything i was looking for in a new car.

Its also got the skyroof, 17 inch alloys, and abarth bodykit, and hopefully - soon to be abarth performance.

I still cant fault the standard performance of it, as it is a decently powerful machine for what i pay for insurance, and it will leave all the cars that lads my age usually get for dead

I get arounf 500 miles from a tank, and have seen 600 from one once .

Its cheaper to insure then the equivilent car in its class (Focus, Astra etc), and is a lot more rare.

I have had a few problems with mine, but nothing major, get one from a garge with a warranty and you will be okay

It is one of the best kept secrets around, and i wouldnt change it for the world

Hope you get a good one if you do decide to purchase

If your after a diesel look for the 150bhp Multijet in Dynamic or Sporting trim! Also make sure your prospective Stilo has been regularly looked after, despite the reputation Stilo's are no less reliable than many other cars!

coyotes_uk said:

If your after a diesel look for the 150bhp Multijet in Dynamic or Sporting trim! Also make sure your prospective Stilo has been regularly looked after, despite the reputation Stilo's are no less reliable than many other cars!

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:yeahthat:

my stilo has only had little minor problems on it, but its never been anything to bad

you hardly ever see any broken down at the side of the road (golf/a3 yes ), i havent seen a broken down stilo - cept my own in the floods

if you do get a 115jtd you can always remap it to about 155bhp, and quite a lot of torque

the seats in it are really comfy, and it is excellent for motorway journeys and a road journeys with hardly any wind noise, and just a little bit of road noise (depending on the wheel size ).

coyotes_uk said:

despite the reputation Stilo's are no less reliable than many other cars!

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Damn right! In over 2 years of ownership, only issues I've had:

• Spring recall (all models, and not quite as bad as Vauxhall's 'ABS Pump fire' recall)
• Sticky rear caliper (under warranty)
• Clutch slipped after overheating, my own stupid fault for riding the clutch

In perspective: My friends shiney '02 VW has been to the garage more in 6 months than mine has in 2 years. Don't believe a word of it when people say the Stilo, and indeed Fiat on the whole, is unreliable. It's pure weapons grade BS peddeled by people who don't know enough about the car to give a useful comment

FIAT got bad press with the Stilo because they didn't pay the motoring media millions of quid to write nice thingsd about it.

Yes, this will cause it to de-value compared with a VW or Focus etc but to give you some indication, I own an 02 115 JTD and the only issues (not including general maintennance like cambelts and brakes etc) that I have had are the airbag light, having to reset the roof once, broken interior door handle and the extremely occasional bogus fault warning that clears as soon as I restart.

I was chatting to some old boy in the waiting area at my local FIAT garage when I had my cambelt/water pump changed and he had a Stilo. He didn't have a good word for it. Couldn't stop moaning about the tiniest things. I ascertained that the only real issue he ever had was bent suspension on the nearside rear after he bounced a kerb that was causing uneven tyre wear. FIAT did not diagnose the problem straight away and so he wrecked another tyre in 4 months and decided to brand FIAT as the worst organisation since the Nazis.

If only he had the same experience I had with Vauxhall and their sporadic 6 month sensor failures after only 36k, then he would think himself lucky.

Great car, well equiped, comfortable, great looking, very roomy inside and good to drive. Oh and very economical unless you drive like I do

I think the problem Fiat has is that people have an inbuilt reaction that anything that happens with a Fiat is a catastrophic disaster! Personally I was a bit like that myself but made sure my Stilo had been looked after and 'touch wood' she has been!

As you said LoBsTeR the guy in the garage with you only had minor niggling faults but because its a Fiat they were obviously huge faults!