Ok....I know reviews online are pretty much only others opinions etc but are the stilos really as bad as they say....Honest John for example gave it one out of five.... Could it really be any worse than a punto????

As a range, the Stilo was plagued with a lot of electronic/electrical issues and - as I understand it - the Abarth gearbox was made of chocolate. Mechanically and stylistically lovely cars, and if you can find one now which is working fine chances are that it will continue to do so for a long time, provided it's serviced on or ahead of what the book calls for

Hi,
First Fiat car owned, Stilo Wagon JTD, solo mpg = 55-60, towing 1100kgs caravan = 37-42mpg.
Not yet had any serious problems, tailgate did start playing up on the locking/unlocking, but sorted itself out.
05 - 54 plate with 83k on the clock.........

Paul S.

You'll probably get biased opinions here.

I've personally not seen any posts regarding Abarth failed gearboxes in the time I've been here, so i dont know where that comment comes from. Maybe in relation to the Selespeed electronic/hydraulic shifting system. They are more problematic than a normal manual.

Take a look at what was about competing with it at the time and make your own mind up whether you'd be better off in anything else? Vauxhall Corsa, Peugeot 206, Renault Clio, Alfa 147. I can't imagine you'd be any more or less fortunate in any of these.

The Stilo is a good step up in build quality compared to previous generations of Fiat. My Abarth still feels very solid this far down the line with no significant problems, so i cant really complain.

Artermis said:

I've personally not seen any posts regarding Abarth failed gearboxes in the time I've been here, so i dont know where that comment comes from. Maybe in relation to the Selespeed electronic/hydraulic shifting system. They are more problematic than a normal manual.

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Not necessarily saying that they fail, but that (based on the number of posts I've seen about them in the last 10 years) they do seem problematic more often than not (a quick search of the Stilo section revealed 40 pages worth of threads containing the word Selespeed!).

Didn't really think if that..... Not until you compare to the other cars at the same time that you realise they were all pretty crap lol. I like em ! Am very tempted and at the prices they go far it'd be ridiculous not to at least try one!

Our stilo is much more reliable than our previous passat and focus cant say its as reliable as our 90s almera, primera and carina but nothing post 2000 is that reliable anyway. When something goes wrong with a fiat everyone says I told you so, fix it again tony etc etc. When something goes wrong with a Volkswagen people are brainwashed into thinking its a one off. I'd buy another stilo in a heartbeat I would never own a ford or vw again having worked on a lot of them.

Have had different cars in my time but a still think fiats are reliable . I would not listen to honest john . Or even geramy Clarkson . There only trying cars when there new . You got to know the car for years before judge ing it . It like marriage it takes time how they preform ?

Still see my old 1.6 petrol Stilo drive past at work and regret selling it every time. :'(

Not bad at all - especially the JTD's. Five doors look a little plain but are generally useable cars to this day. Sooner have a Stilo than most of the opposition of the same era.

The main issues are set out here:

https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo/273562-buyers-guide-fiat-stilo.html

Eklipze3k said:

Not necessarily saying that they fail, but that (based on the number of posts I've seen about them in the last 10 years) they do seem problematic more often than not (a quick search of the Stilo section revealed 40 pages worth of threads containing the word Selespeed!).

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The Selespeeds are an entirely different kettle of fish and I grant you - a bit of a headache.

The actual mechanical elements are the same - the difference is the gear shift cables and knob are replaced by a set of hydraulic actuators which shift for you. So it becomes an electronically controlled, hydraulically operated manual gear shifter.

When you replace 2 simple cables and a control knob with a bunch of electronics and hydraulics it's bound to be more costly. It's not so much that they go wrong all that often - because they don't. The real problem is when they go wrong parts are main dealer only expensive and very, very few places truly know how to work with them.

My Stilo Abarth is 2004 54 plate. That car has less rust on it now than a 2006 Audi A4 I had two years ago - and that had less miles on it too.

Fiat genuinely upped their game with the Stilo. As you say, with possibly the exception of the Abarths, they're available for throw-away money. I'd have said buying a really cheap one is possibly a little on the dangerous side but buy a reasonable one and you're laughing.

Better yet if you can find one of the late model 1.9 JTD M-Jet 16v (16v diesel for the un-initiated) it'll be long term bulletproof and everyone who is anyone knows how to fix it and makes parts for it. That 1.9 diesel was found in pretty much every fiat taxi, fiat van, vauxhalls all over the range and Alfas too. It's common as much and parts are plentiful. Even the older 8v models are still well enough known to not cause you an issue with parts or repair and are still strong as an ox.

My JTD has 133,000 miles now.

From what I've discovered of it's life history (poking around, in and under it);

Exhaust will rust every 65,000 miles or 5 years... My beast is just on its third silencer (fitted by me).

Suspension - unknown history viz. front wishbone arms but the dampers and springs on my old beast are factory originals. No problems with front tyre wear so I presume the wishbone arms were changed at some point (that or they last 133,000 miles, which would be epic).

One (original) rear bush was squeaking on mine (lost fluid) so I swapped the pair. It's aboot a £150 job, including bushes.

Brakes... my discs are at least the second set it's ever had... but they're lasting okay, so I doubt they are the third set. Pads.. probably been swapped more often.. but let's see.

The body looks pretty 'ard. Not much corrosion (odd spots on the underside) and it appears difficult to dent (although a few people have tried).

Clutch lasts 120,000.

Tyres last okay .. . If you swapped front and back to spread the wear, I think they'd go to 30,000 miles.

EGR valve can soot up. It can soot up even more if you overfill the oil (the crankcase breather vents excess oil/mist into the inlet manifold).

The MAP sensor can get bunged up with oil.. (see above).

MAF sensor lasts 130,000 miles and a new one (original Bosch) will pay for itself in no time with extra mpg's.

Lambda sensors - mine is on it's second one. Use the original manufacturer (Bosch) with a moulded connector block, not a cheapo un-named brand which you have to splice in.

Instrument console can play up. It's all CANBUS and computerized with a lot of stepper motors. It's not tooooo severe to fix (Yellowstilo - a member on here can do them cheaper than a Googled specialiste). I bought a spare set (mine got lost in the post) and they packed up shortly afterwards, so it's a fairly common problem.

On mine I had problems with the Body Control Module which seem unusual on the Forum. That's all CANBUS and holds the immobilisor codes so you can't just throw it away and fit a new one. I needed to find someone who could transplant the EPROMS from my old one to a second-hand new one. No problems since.

I have an intermittent problem with the Central Locking to the rear passenger door (5 doors).

The mirror demisters don't work.

The Air conditioning compressor seems FUBAR.


I don't know that these few issues wouldn't affect any other 13 year old car .. My biggest aggro' has been the electrical issues (BCM and console) since they affected me being able to use the car (MOT) but otherwise it's been pretty much "okay"... other than to sort the inherited problems and the instrument console failure, I've only needed to fix the clutch, the silencer and fit new pads. I can't really grumble.


Ralf S.

I've got to say there seems to be a lot more information online about fixing issues with Stilos than there was when it came to a 13 year old Honda HRV I had last year.

Maybe that's down to the quality of the community of folk working on Stilos and Fiats in general though.

I bought my first Stilo with 40k miles (and no service history) and thrashed it until it started to suffer from suspected ECU failure at 115k. It only went to a mechanic once for something that wasn't general wear and tear and that was right after I bought it, so was likely an existing fault. I loved it so much that I bought a Schumacher as a project car a few months back.

You can look up any car you like and you'll find bad reviews!

kevgibs said:

I've got to say there seems to be a lot more information online about fixing issues with Stilos than there was when it came to a 13 year old Honda HRV I had last year.

Maybe that's down to the quality of the community of folk working on Stilos and Fiats in general though.

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HRV is very reliable most problems are mileage / age related e.g worn suspensions, seized calipers. Compares very favourably with other 2004 cars:
https://good-garage-guide.honestjohn.co.uk/mot/honda/hr-v/2004

Great car shame the back seat is only 2.5 adults and they didn't come with a more economical engine.

My 1.4 Stilo 5 door is the most reliable car I have owned and I have owned a lot of cars that weren't Fiats. Eleven years old, no rust, 91,000 miles, uses no oil, drips no oil, interior like new. What else could you want. Golf and other VW model reliability is a myth perpetuated by their marketing arm. Just remember the fiasco with timing chains (had to be abandoned mid run in favour of belts), the incessant coil problems, the DSG gearbox unreliability, clutch disintegration etc etc. My Stilo electrics are faultless and very cleverly thought out in terms of user convenience.

Yep i think older Fiats get a bit of an injustified hard time on a number of fronts. Personally i can say that my 2004 1.4 (nearly 130k miles) is the most reliable car i have ever had. Other than wear and tear stuff, consumables and so on I've never had a failure or indeed any electronic weirdness. This car has never let me down. I think its also a reasonably easy car to work on for the diy mechanic for a lot of stuff (but dont mention current issues with replacing the radiator...). Styling in my view still looks much fresher than its contemporaries and has stood the test of time well. These days you also have the added benefit of a degree of exclusivity.....

The problem is that new Stilos didn't catch on and so old Stilos depreciate like they fell off a cliff with a rocket pack attached to them.

That means they end up in the clutches of people who just want a £500 to run around in until it blows up.

The Bangernauts won't spend £200 servicing it, replacing any worn parts or giving their beast some synthetic oil etc. (since all this would quickly double the value of the car.. )

But I don't see many Stilos that can't be fairly easily fixed.. usually the owner decides that spending £15 on brake pads for the MOT isn't worth it and the car gets scrapped.


Ralf S.

Ralf S. said:

That means they end up in the clutches of people who just want a £500 to run around in until it blows up.

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They sell for €120-€250 around me all the time its mad cheaper to buy another stilo than put tyres on the wifes one.