My 03 Stilo..................................

has given me lots of pleasure. When I first got it there were a few minor niggles, squeaky clutch, squeaky suspension, indicators didn't flash when locking, but all of these were put right by the dealership, and the last time I had to visit them was on the 10th of June 2004 for my cars annual service.

Good build quality, good value, good fun. go ahead buy your Stilo, you won't regret it!

Re: (Drunk?) Neighbour wrote off my parked VW - need a new car.....need Stilo 1.2 advice!

Freelancer said:

Stilo revision was in 2004, so you would need to make sure it was a MY04 built car.

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I don't think I can stretch to an 04 car. £6000 would be my total budget and because of my credit history I'm limited with where I can get finance.

cmc said:

I think you need to take thee sites with a pinch of salt. Just one quick glance down the list shows that Marcedes and and VW are also in there! (the sold called cars with great German build quality).

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I know what you mean.

So are we saying that in general there's nothing catastrophic or badly dangerous that will go wrong, it'll likely just be niggly annoying gremlins that annoy the life out of you?

Exactly.................................

you're getting the drift now!

Cars built after May 03 had all the faults corrected at source, then February 04 saw all technical revisions made at the factory also, so you'll be fine!

Re: Exactly.................................

twincamms said:

you're getting the drift now!

Cars built after May 03 had all the faults corrected at source, then February 04 saw all technical revisions made at the factory also, so you'll be fine!

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Let's say I could stretch to an 03 car.....how would I know if it was one of the corrected ones or an old one that had been sitting unregistered? Is there some way of telling by chassis number or something (probably a daft question I know )

So what's the most annoying faults we have so far then? Are we talking about squeaking wheel bearings, doors that unlock themselves in the middle of the night and radios that mysteriously won't power up on a tuesday?

I have owned my Stilo since 2002 and can say it has been the most reliable car I have owned, yes there have been a couple of minor faults but nothing serious and nothing less than you'd expect from any other manufacturer. I've had occasional screeching from Sat Nav (fixed with upgrade), alarm fault (fixed during service), rattle from heat brake heat shield (fixed at service) and thats about it I think - not what you'd call major! All fixed under warranty. If things have improved in the time that they've been making them then its going to be one very reliable car now.

I bought my Stilo after my brother owned a couple of Fiats (Brava and Cinquecento) and he recommended them on their reliability. The downside of having a bad reputation is the monumental depreciation, which is pretty bad.

No Common serious faults, any faults are not unique to the 1.2.

All the 1.6 owners claim the 1.2 is slow, 1.2 owners refute this, they are backed up by the Abarth owners! The 1.2 is a gem of an engine, revs sweetly, gets up to speed quickly enough, can be massively economic for a Petrol, and nice and quiet on a run when tootling down the motorway in 6-gear!

1.2 can be bought very cheaply, and doesn't have all the extra's that some models have, but for the budget price, its more extra's than you'll get with another mainstream manufacturers motors.

Buy one, you won't regret it! I've covered 16,500 miles in my car so far, owned for a year, and my average fuel economy has never dropped below 40mpg, often averaging 42-44mpg. Best average was 49.9mpg for a full tank over a long weekend trip to Alton Towers, with the car 4 up with luggage!

Re: (Drunk?) Neighbour wrote off my parked VW - need a new car.....need Stilo 1.2 advice!

But then for the last month my 1.6 has averaged 38mpg so to be honest if you can get a slightly higher spec dont automatically rule it out.

I am aware however that some 1.6 owners are not happy with consumption.

Re: (Drunk?) Neighbour wrote off my parked VW - need a new car.....need Stilo 1.2 advice!

It does all depend on what you are used to - I have driven a 1.2 Stilo as a courtesy car, and was pleasantly surprised.

However, it would not be my choice 'engine size' on day-to-day antics. From what I hear, the 1.8 is a cracking engine, although not sure on fuel consumption.

However, I would wholeheartedly recommend a Stilo in any guise

The best my car................................

has ever returned is 29.7mpg, worst is 22.3mpg to a full tank!

I don't even bother checking any more, stops me getting upset.

Re: (Drunk?) Neighbour wrote off my parked VW - need a new car.....need Stilo 1.2 advice!

Are you a bit heavy footed TC?

You could always try some injector cleaner, my mate put some in his clio and it helped it a bit

Bob..........................

tried it all, nothing changes it, even tried driving like a ***** for a whole tank, didn't go above 3000rpm, that's when I made my record, 29mpg!

Re: (Drunk?) Neighbour wrote off my parked VW - need a new car.....need Stilo 1.2 advice!

I heard injector cleaner was bad for the engine??? No?

Re: (Drunk?) Neighbour wrote off my parked VW - need a new car.....need Stilo 1.2 advice!

well, i have the 1.8 and fink its pretty great; rather nippy from what i was use to the 1.2 8v punto! But mine averages around 30mpg n i dont drive slow; nor do i drive like a boy racer! i have my moments when i spank it; and its still dosent go that much below 30mpg!

So have you decided yet what your gona get?!

Re: (Drunk?) Neighbour wrote off my parked VW - need a new car.....need Stilo 1.2 advice!

Still think there is something wrong there TC, even in this cruddy weather the stilo 1.6 is doing 33mpg here, and thats driven by my mother who can on ocation leave it in 2nd gear around town.
I took it into the city last month and the run gave the average mpg upto 35. also when getting the 39mpg on the trip from scotland to holland and germany via france. the car was averaging 85 - 90mph. So it wasnt as if it was being driven with regard to economy.
This being in the heavier 5 door loaded up with people and a full boot.

Back on the subject of the 1.2 16v. Really I think of the engine as if it was a 1.4. As for the majority of 1.4's used on the market this 1.2 is more powerful then them. only really the Fiat 1.4, Rover 1.4 and posibly the Honda 1.4 that is considered more powerful, while at the same time as being economical.

Just to revist the brava, just got to had they where made to 51 plate, so they arnt that old and the stilo here is only 8 months newer then the brava is.

Re: (Drunk?) Neighbour wrote off my parked VW - need a new car.....need Stilo 1.2 advice!

Look at these 2 old posts by me!

https://www.fiatforum.com/showthread.php?t=5907

https://www.fiatforum.com/showthread.php?t=7853

https://www.fiatforum.com/showthread.php?t=17461

All sources of good Stilo 1.2 info, especially the last one, i spent ages collating that little lot. Go on rate me as being useful on this post!

Re: (Drunk?) Neighbour wrote off my parked VW - need a new car.....need Stilo 1.2 advice!

Interesting. Firstly, it appears from reading new-FIAT-owner experiences that you will have less likelihood of problems if you buy a car that is not new. And, as a bonus, you'll be able to afford it without the finance? Otherwise aren't you losing pretty much your whole £3000 in depreciation? Oh, I see that Dave said pretty much the same thing.

The Top Gear survey is of people that bought their cars new? It would be interesting to have an otherwise-identical survey of second owners!

Secondly, engine size does make a difference. If I get out of my 1992 Alfa 164 and drive a 2004 Toyota Corolla, yes it is a lot slower. Funny that, considering it's a 3-litre V6 against a 1.8L four cylinder that feels like a 1.5 - no contest.

If you really like the Stilo, why don't you look at getting a Stilo Abarth that's a couple of years old? Surely that will be a much nicer car than a 1.2 Stilo would be. A 1.2 Stilo (65bhp?) must be at least as gutless as a 1.0 Uno (45bhp)...

As for the Tipo you mention, I bought a 1989 Tipo DGT in 2001, and sold it within a few months. Nothing had gone wrong with it, so nothing for me to improve on, and the 1.6L engine didn't impress me (felt like a 1.3 really). I had mainly bought it for the not-rusting body, but the boredom of total reliability with lacklustre performance was not what I had expected, especially for that much money! Three years later I spent twice as much on a 1988 X1/9... I've only driven it a few thousand kilometres!

I always go for value with cars - what actual motoring do you get out of it compared with what it costs - and new cars are a hopeless bet in this respect (unless, possibly, you keep them for about 15 years and clock up a huge mileage, in which case - how boring!)

-Alex

Re: (Drunk?) Neighbour wrote off my parked VW - need a new car.....need Stilo 1.2 advice!

Stilo 1.2 is 80bhp for your info. In an ideal world everyone would drive the Abarth, its fast and its got all the goodies. Still the 1.2 has most of the goodies, its nippy, and its far more economic than the Abarth. A lot of folk swear by the JTD, but they ain't so common second hand.

Why don't you go back to searching for Legolas!

80 bhp in a car that heavy would be pants. With 170bhp in the Abarth is still isn't that fast so I can imagine it being an absolute tortoise. Don't get a 1.2 in a Stilo, as all the reviews say, it is underpowered.

Stilo 1.2 - 1090kg

Stilo 2.4 - 1265kg


So the extra performance is sapped by the extra weight! The 1.2 is plenty nippy enough!

You wouldn't happen to have a 1.2 would you Stilo Boy. 100%+ more power <20% additional weight. Don't mean to insult anyone but my wifes Saxo 1.1 could be described as nippy; anyway you can cus me cos I have a 5 door Stilo which aren't as striking as the 3 door to say the least; some would call it ugly. :yuck: