Finally managed to trade in my 03 Stilo 1.2 Active Five door for a new 1.4 Focus Zetec, what a difference - a car that drives brilliantly,looks great and is well put together, reminds me a lot of my old Fiat Brava 1.2 HSX.

In my two years and 17,000 miles (bought new) with the Stilo it broke down three times, had two "spanner" faults and was back to the garage twice to get it's suspension greased, not that it made any difference, my 1967 MGB GT is quieter to drive!

Before everybody jumps to conclusions this was my ninth Fiat in a row, I go back as far as the 127! I have been hugely disappointed with it's reliablility, sure I had problems with other Fiats I owned but it was always silly things, nothing serious - none of them ever refused to start or break down.

Apart from noisey suspension and dodgy warning lights, the car handles like a sponge it's too soft, awful fuel economy (note to Fiat - 1.2 engines DO NOT require a six speed gear box), it's underpowered, in a hatchback - rear seats should fold,unsupportive front seats, front wiper blades last about 7K miles, no foot (clutch) rest - only available in left hand drive cars and the paint comes off the gearknob!

I remember being in a well known dealer in Dublin when the Stilo was launched, the salesperson nearly laughed a guy out of it when he asked for a trade in on his Brava against a Stilo, she explained how superior this vehicle was, remember "Forward Thinking" and then gave him a crappy trade in price!

Fiat need to get it's replacement sorted quickly, maybe building it on the new Opel Astra platform will help, I can't help but think it won't! They need to get back to building small quirkey cars that appeal, like the Panda, Punto,Bravo/a.
Ford, Toyota and Volkswagon do mainstram and do it well!

Now that I've offered my opinion, I'm off for a drive in my Focus!

And welcome to the forum

Oh dear then new focus

Yeah i wish they'd put that funky 7-speed thing into the 1.2 Stilo..... maybe i'd get 50mpg then!

1.2 Underpowered in the Stilo... well hmmm, enjoy your high powered 1.4 Fordy. Are the seats still back breakingly rock solid in the Focus.... perfect match really with the overly firm suspension.... great though for backroads but rubbish on a long motorway journey. And yes, before you ask, i had one for a week.... and it was a 1.4, glad to give it back when i did.

Great first post

I think Stilo Boy misses my point, a 1.2 does not need a six speed gearbox, a five speed should suffice, it means that the engine is geared properly. I would consider an average 28mpg poor for an urban mix in comparison to my previous Brava and Punto with the same engine, the dealer even admitted it was poor but couldn't find anything wrong.

I never claimed that the Focus was more powerful but it is definitely a nicer car to drive and feels better built.

The point is that Fiat promised a lot with this vehicle and it hasn't delivered, poor design and even poorer quality, a family member's 11 month old 1.4 Stilo (7K miles) has been off the road for two weeks waiting for a replacement clutch, the original's springs went soft which means it doesn't engage properly, Fiat can't source a 1.4 clutch for one of it's own vehicles! It's passenger door lock has also gone faulty!

I really feel sorry for the dealer in this situation.

twea said:

Finally managed to trade in my 03 Stilo 1.2 Active Five door for a new 1.4 Focus Zetec, what a difference - a car that drives brilliantly,looks great

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should have gone to spec savers
i got 7 gears in my 1.2 punto, and get up to 50 mpg

I've never got less than 39mpg in my 1.2 Stilo. And that was after a particularly stressfull week where i spanked the car everywhere i went! 85mph in 3rd etc etc

I average lowish 40's mpg, and at the moment i'm only doing a short 6 mile jaunt each way to work. As said before best i've done so far was 49.5mpg from a single tank.

I just think you've maybe had a particularly bad Stilo, mine had a sticky door (fixed), squeeky clutch pedal (to be fixed, when i can be bothered), a broken air vent, and one faulty interior light. I've done 19,000 miles in about a year and a half.

So why did you post on this forum? I mean its a bit strange you came along, first post, to say cheerio! Or do you secretly miss your Stilo already!

A 1.4 focus

Maybe you just bought the wrong Stilo for you. If you wanted performance AND economy you should have got the Stilo JTD.

Is it the new focus your talking about ?

If so then you should have gone to specsavers

I have no idea what twea meant to achieve by this post/thread

What exactly does he want us to say? ooo, a Focus, well done :spin: - I still love my Abarth, even though it is stuck in a garage.

I think Stiloboy is right, as always [j/k] - may be you got a bad one, if so, you should have joined this forum a lot earlier, along with your family member; the dealer won't mind, any warranty work is lucrative, surely - the fact you have come on here to say cheerio is sooooo bizarre

And as for cars 'not being correctly geared if they have 6 gears' - what a load of tosh

BTW, I wear contacts

The 1.2 Stilo has the 6-cog box to keep the engine on the boil and feel a bit peppier than it ultimately is. WIth the extra gear, you can shorten the ratios of all the cogs, meaning less RPM is lost between shifts and the car stays in the power band under hard acceleration.

I think although opinions here are going to certainly be pro-Fiat, people could still take a step back and realise the Focus is actually a good car and appreciate Fiat's offering isn't the only option to go for.

The Focus is a good £2k more than the Stilo, however. Whatever floats your boat.

Did't want performance, if I had I would have bought a bigger engine!


I'm just trying to make some honest observations and feel that I've had enough Fiats (and other vehicles) through my hands to make them, I don't expect everybody to agree but can at least expect some valid posts not comments about my eyesight or lack of !

Valid posts? Seem all valid to me.

twea said:

Did't want performance, if I had I would have bought a bigger engine!

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My answer to that one was answered by no other than twea

twea said:

it's underpowered,

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M'eh, whatever, he hasn't a Stilo anymore - I will just delete the thread

The new Focus looks like a smacked ar$e!

spike192 said:

The new Focus looks like a smacked ar$e!

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Not a finely shaped female smacked ar$e but a hairy pimply fat guys smacked ar$e

6 Speed box on the Stilo has first 5 gears shorter than standard 5 speed box, and 6th slightly taller! Not to make it "feel" quicker than it is, but to make it quicker! No it won't beat a 150bhp JTD Stilo, but because the 1.2 engine has a fairly high red line it means you can exploit the full rev range and still get nippy performance.

Whats so strange about a modern 1.2 engine in a medium sized car..... i mean my old MKIII Escort was made in 1984 and it had a 1.3 engine, and it was perfectly acceptable then.... and it had loads less power than the Stilo 1.2.

One thing that has to be said about this forum, your all mad for BHP and 0-60, whereas in the real world, or congested streets and speed camera's everywhere its just not that important.

Nor will it beat a 115BHP stilo....

On top of that, revs aren't good, unless you're on a race track.

StiloBoy said:

One thing that has to be said about this forum, your all mad for BHP and 0-60, whereas in the real world, or congested streets and speed camera's everywhere its just not that important.

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Actually.... your right, it's not that important. I don't want to tear around the streets at 80. What is important is sitting at the traffic lights next to a jumped up little prick in a blinged up motor, giving it large and pumping his music, and then casually blowing him away! There'a nothing like seeing the look on the face when you leave them standing

Why would you do this..... because you can. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.