Hi guys, did reply yesterday but it screwed up and lost my masterpiece. Taken me till now to summon up the effort to re-write this! :bang:
7zark7, actually went to FOW to look for a newer car for the wife. She has a Citroen ZX 1.8 Advantage. They are very local to us and have a very good reputation, loads of WhatCar special awards etc. For the money we could have had a 1.8 LX Mondeo, but saw the Stilo Abarth and was knocked out with all the goodies you got for the same price. Mangoletsi had (have) an Abarth in with virtually the same mileage and the same age as mine, no 17” alloys, or leather or alarm but £500 more. Won’t be buying a car off them in a hurry! :yuck:
The selespeed is a doozie once you get used to it. I lazily keep it in auto and manually change when I feel like it. It does boot down well though on the motorway!
I had a look at you blue one, but the mileage was a little higher and the car a little older (but of course a little cheaper), so decided on the Red one. Interestingly I got the feeling both had been there for a long time, as mine had a very flat battery and both have very under inflated tyres. You may want to check yours as mine came with them at 30psi, the direct conversion from BAR gives around 33.5psi but I’m running at 35 PSI for a those high speed conditions and to give a bit more MPG.
As for the service indicator I believe, having read on this forum, you need to use a computer that only FIAT dealers have. They will do it for you but want money for effectively nothing. To comply with the FIAT warranty you do not have to use a FIAT dealer but they have to use genuine FIAT parts and adhere to the FIAT service schedule. For the RAC warranty you just have to use a VAT reg garage and it appears only have an oil change and a fluids check and cam belt check to comply. I think the Abarth has it’s cam belt changed at 5 years, but I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong.
Something to check is that the two recalls have been carried out this should be stamped in your service book. One is for a sensor on the radiator that stops the engine cooking itself and the other for the side window airbags to stop them deploying by themselves! If you phone a FIAT dealer they can tell you via their computer system if it has been done.
The Nav+ upgrade does actually only take about 3 minutes. I was on 8.5 so your owner obviously had more idea than the previous guy who had mine. Pongo has a disc as do I if you need it.
As you work in Knutsford I’m sure we can count you in the Cheshire set.