General After A Stilo - Few Questions Please :)

[Xila]

Ok, I currently drive a Seat Leon 1.8 20v Turbo kitted out with leather interior, climate control, leccy windows/mirrors..it's gorgeous and I love her but I need more money so am after a new job, and that cushy work from home job will cease, hence more travelling.

Swapping jobs will mean I may make less money as I'm spending it on fuel, so I popped on Autotrader and looked for cars and up popped a yellow Stilo. Onto PistonHeads and a 2.4 Sillyspeed caught my eye, but it's an Auto and looking on here I won't save much on fuel.

So - perhaps a JTD. The insurance and tax will save me lots (21 this summer, will have 2years no claims in December as I preferred push bikes to cars and didn't start driving til later in life) - lots and lots infact.

Why get a fuel efficient car? Simple - money. Lots of money means moving out (again!), no debts, I can get a better PC and an LCD TV (15" CRT here ). Once I'm settled in to a better paid job and have more money anyway, I can always upgrade!

Anywho - the questions.

Abarth bodykit - who sells it, how much will it cost, what delivery times did you all experience from various places? I searched and found a price for bumpers and skirts for £495 from Marcus at Fiat but then I realized it was a Punto topic.

Remap - Does anyone still do the 170bhp remap? I'm in Essex, so who do you recommend? What prices are we looking at - obviously a new exhaust may be required - what do you recommend..nothing stupildy loud - I had that on by mk2 Ibiza GTi!

The common faults on Fiat Stilos are *fill blank*

What should I look for when buying one. I love the yellow, but there's also a very dark blue which is almost black which is lush. The missus went from silver to black on her Saxo..she'd kill me if I got a black car. What about white - do they come in white? My Leon suffered from leaky door sills so no suprises from the Fiat please.

Finally, what's the deal on the 1.8 16v - bhp/emissions/remaps and mpg.

Cheers

 

[john55]

One piece of advice. Avoid an Abarth unless you have very deep pockets. Very high road tax, insurance, fuel consumption. Also the selespeed and 2.4 engines are far from reliable and when they do go wrong, it can be very very expensive. There are many horror stories from Abarth owners regarding engine/ gearbox failures. If I were you, I would keep your Seat, over having an Abarth. Also road tax will soon be £400 /year.

For cheaper, go for a JTD and although they cost more, the running costs are so much lower. Also faults on the JTD tend to be cheap to fix. You can also remap them to over 150bhp if you want.

Just my 2cents worth.

 

[Xila]

Hi John,

The insurance for the Abarth is much less than my Leon - the tax is £100odd higher yes, the only other query I had was the MPG but the research I did on this forum suggests perhaps I should steer clear of the Tiptronic/Abarth alltogether.

Just looking on the net for a JTD at the mo - I can't find one in a colour I *really* want. Infact it's hard to even find one!

 

[Stu DemonD]

A yellow modded JTD - when is bozzy selling his? :chin:

 

[PNL]

One piece of advice. Avoid an Abarth unless you have very deep pockets. Very high road tax, insurance, fuel consumption. Also the selespeed and 2.4 engines are far from reliable and when they do go wrong, it can be very very expensive. There are many horror stories from Abarth owners regarding engine/ gearbox failures. If I were you, I would keep your Seat, over having an Abarth. Also road tax will soon be £400 /year.

For cheaper, go for a JTD and although they cost more, the running costs are so much lower. Also faults on the JTD tend to be cheap to fix. You can also remap them to over 150bhp if you want.

Just my 2cents worth.

Good and very truthfull post..saved me getting slagged by abarth owners for a change..:devil:

 

[john55]

After they change the tax bands next year, an Abarth will cost stupid money to tax. Several people on here have sold then for that reason alone.

 

[Xila]

After they change the tax bands next year, an Abarth will cost stupid money to tax. Several people on here have sold then for that reason alone.

Over £400 I believe. The Leon is just over £300. Ghastly! I have as much right to contribute to global warming as those Chelsea Tractor drivers lol.

I did see Bozzy may have been selling, but I think he was keeping it afterall?

 

[Argonought]

Why get a fuel efficient car? Simple - money. Lots of money means moving out (again!), no debts, I can get a better PC and an LCD TV (15" CRT here ). Once I'm settled in to a better paid job and have more money anyway, I can always upgrade!

Seem fair enough but it's followed by....

Abarth bodykit - who sells it, how much will it cost, what delivery times did you all experience from various places? I searched and found a price for bumpers and skirts for £495 from Marcus at Fiat but then I realized it was a Punto topic.

Perhaps I'm being dumb here but did you really mean to say "I've got a bit a debt at the moment and I'm really keen to keep it that way. Anyone got any good suggestions?"

 

[Xila]

Perhaps I'm being dumb here but did you really mean to say "I've got a bit a debt at the moment and I'm really keen to keep it that way.

Clairvoyent?

There is no harm is asking and getting ideas of costs and so on and the money saved on fuel, tax and insurance would most likely buy the bodykit in a few months lol.

For a serious cost breakdown -

I could hopefully get £6000 for my Leon (55000 on the clock, full seat history, 1 year MOT 6 months tax) and spend, say £4000 on a Stilo - giving me £2000 'profit.' This would pay back most of my debt (insurance for the Leon FYI, saved a few hundred by paying annually on a credit card with 0% money transfer for 1 year, pay back the minimum each month and the remainder *(insurance £ / 12) - monthly minimum* goes into an ISA - so it's not debt per say! My other debt is a measley figure which is pretty much non-existant now as I sold my Ibiza GTi, my 1.4 Ibiza, Weitec coilovers and Recaro N-Joy seats retrimmed in leather.

Ta


Edit: £199 remap on an r/r day - best one to go for?

 

[Argonought]

Fair enough

I was just a bit taken aback when you said you wanted to save for a new PC & Monitor (very useful) and then suggested you were going to buy a body kit (not too useful unless you think your car's too fast ).

I'd buy Bozzy's JTD, before anyone else does, and leave it just as it is (saves you even more that way)

 

[Xila]

I'm as deep as a puddle sometimes, and the bodykit just finishes the car off (as would some nice rims and maybe a little bit of lowering)..just looks more appealing - is it a facelift look?

I swear Bozzy is keeping his car - I haven't seen anything to suggest he's still selling it. I'll have to find some pics of his motor, thanks.

Also - anyone know what colour this is http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/480694.htm
it's very, very, very nice. But my current car is Copper, I like to be a little different

 

[Dogspods]

...Also - anyone know what colour this is http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/480694.htm
it's very, very, very nice. But my current car is Copper, I like to be a little different

That's 'Vitality Blue' - the ONLY colour to have

 

[Xila]

Have you got a paint code - I can get a full respray for £150 plus paint *ponders*

Also - do all Stilo's come with that huge skyroof thingy?

 

[Dogspods]

Have you got a paint code - I can get a full respray for £150 plus paint *ponders*

Also - do all Stilo's come with that huge skyroof thingy?

Code is 480 - some do, some don't. Would have thought the description would have said so if it did.

 

[PNL]

That's 'Vitality Blue' - the ONLY colour to have

Its new orlean blue and said so on the touch up..

 

[Xila]

So is the paint code still 480 we just can't decide on the name, or are those two different colours and thus different paintcodes?

 

[Dogspods]

Its new orlean blue and said so on the touch up..

Ah! I stand corrected

 

[PNL]

Ah! I stand corrected

Thats OK they couldnt make their mind up at the dealers either

 

[Dogspods]

So is the paint code still 480 we just can't decide on the name, or are those two different colours and thus different paintcodes?

Paint code for Vitality Blue is 480 - don't know the code for that other 'new orleans blue' - email the seller and ask him.

 

[PNL]

So is the paint code still 480 we just can't decide on the name, or are those two different colours and thus different paintcodes?

Cant check the code number till her in doors comes home but will do for you later if thats OK..