General So what made you pick a Stilo?

[alexGS]

I can’t say I’m jealous of very young Stilo drivers as I think they’re missing out on something. At that age I had enormous fun stripping cars right down to the crankshaft and then having to rebuild them so I had some wheels for the Fri/Sat night (biggest problem as I remember was getting clean afterwards). Small things; like just having a means of transport are so much more rewarding if you have to work for them - instead of having it dropped on your lap. Also it gives you something to work up to instead of owning, what a good many people would consider, a luxury motor as your first car!

I couldn't agree more.
My first cars (in the last eight years):

1. Austin Princess 1980 (given to me when I was 17 by a girl at school); total rebuild of three cars into one including a 12" sub boxed into the boot, 20 aerosol cans of British Racing Green followed by a 'touch-up' from the pros , and a particularly tasteful 'custom' interior in reddish-brown fur, two DIY-rebuilds of the automatic transmission (never again!), about 2000 pounds spent (in your money)... $5800 (in ours)

2. FIAT 126 1982, the ride-in lawnmower, highlights included tying the door back together with fibreglass and the full respray in metallic blue. Also, upgrading the gearbox to one with a working first gear, and the fibre-optic colour-changing UFO light for the dashboard where there could have been a radio... $900

3. FIAT 128 Coupe 1974, actually inherited from my father, this was a three-year project being a bare-shell rebuild, with hand-built 1498cc engine (I put an Uno head on it, for 10.5:1 compression), hot cam and twin DCNF carbs. Also a five-speed box. It ended up quite a modest road car rather than the extreme racer that I could have made it. Fun and fast. $5000+

4. FIAT Uno 60 1986, bought for $11, first-ever online auction purchase for me. Drove it home 140km the same day and set about fixing the rusting-off doors, full respray in a slightly different white to standard... interior made of miscellaneous materials with various parts metallic blue (yep, still had some paint left) and a bright-blue Blaupunkt CD stereo. Engine had a quick hone (while still in the car!) $900

5. FIAT Tipo DGT 1989. It worked. $3000

6. FIAT Croma i.e. 1988. What a machine! Just $500 (online auction) and only the water pump to fix before the 140km drive home, again. Actually had no work to do to the engine, but the tailgate needed replacement, I resprayed various parts (metallic silver), and had a field-day fixing the electrics - it was a disaster zone... Nice car to drive with 4-speed auto. $900

7. Lancia Thema V6 1987. Like the Croma, but better. Also needed various parts resprayed (the same metallic silver) particularly the blistered roof. Went to town with the audio system for this one; MP3-playing stereo, Infinity Kappa speakers, 15" sub. Had to change the transmission (only a 3-speed). $2500 plus about $1000 of stereo gear.

8. FIAT Uno Turbo 1988. Have only recently done the work to this one that it surely deserves - three years after buying, it finally got a new clutch, windscreen, left door, various parts repainted... $2300

9. Bertone X1/9 1988. Drove pretty well, shame about the rust bubbles. $6000 and sold for $4000.

10. Alfa Romeo 164 1992. Replaced the Thema really, was better still. Smooth and powerful, looked great, didn't rust. A few items like door handles replaced, the dashboard completely stripped to fix 'heater' seals and improve the air-con. $8000

11. FIAT Uno 45 1988. $180 and sold for $900 after, obviously, a substantial tart-up.

12. Toyota Celica 1990. Awful car, the most boring I've ever driven and a floppy, rattly old shed as well. And slow... 166bhp? must be joking... $500 and sold for $2000, once again after a makeover including respray of the roof and bonnet - blending metallic-black...

13. My Stilo 2003 (by now, you can probably guess why I picked a Stilo...) $20000 earlier this year.

Since almost all my cars have received a large amount of attention and general 'bonding' from me, I feel that I have earned the right to own the Stilo. Certainly there are not many things that one takes for granted after owning a FIAT 126!

The irony is that the price of the Stilo was catered for mostly by investments that I had sitting there all the time I owned the other 12 cars.

You'll love this! Dropping my 20 year son off at University his parting words were "Drive a bit slower on the way back Dad!"

Ha! That just gave away your age
Mind you, you are from the Brakeless Driving Club, so I would expect even the legal limit to feel fast with you driving

-Alex

 

[Big Black Stilo]

My Stilo is my second owned car, I have always bought my own cars, and can comftably afford more than a Stilo anyway, so why should I stick to 10+ year old cars for my everyday runner?


Anyhoo, I liked the look of the Stilo, and the prices, so I test drove one and thought, bang on, im having it.

At the time I was driving a Seat Ibiza which was getting a bit stale. Was looking at a non-turbo impreza, merc c240 and mx5 when I noticed the stilo. For the same money I could get a 4 month old car (ex demonstrator) with cheaper running costs. Insurance quotes were comming back the same for all these motors.

Sometimes I wish I had bought a bigger one than a 1.2 but it does the tricks, and still impresses people being a 1.2.

Never had a dealer issue but plenty of issues with FIAT UK, it took an exploding gearbox to finally make a decision on a 5 month old complaint.

 

[Big Black Stilo]

Alex GS, My old man had a princess HLS and that was his favourite car, second to his maestro Turbo. (princess for cruising and comfort, maestro for seeing off xr3i's!)

I still want a decent car as my everday runner, doing 30+miles a day to work, but in the future want something like an SD1 V8 as my weekend car, and something I can work on.

If I one the lottery there would be 2 classy new cars in the garage, surrounded by old BL cars as 10 years ago they were laughed at but people find them cool now!

Just as a comment, when I bought my seat ibiza i nearly bought a 1983 austin ambassador with 28k on the clock, garaged since new and looked after- not a spot of rust on the car at all and was £295 as apposed to the ibiza being £3k. I was talked out of it

 

[Argonought]

Mind you, you are from the Brakeless Driving Club, so I would expect even the legal limit to feel fast with you driving

You're so true there Alex

My wife has just confided with me that if we want to travel far then we'll have to fly

She reckons that being my passenger is like getting a free go on a fairground ride! She can stand it for short periods but not on a long run!

And there's me looking forward to taking my super economical JTD for a nice run up to the farthest glens of Scotland or a nice tour of Europe.

Not sure whether to about it or

 

[french bean]

Bought my MW JTD because of moving further away from work and the need to carry baby clobber - buggy, car seat, spare nappies, toys, bottles and the dog. Didn't particularly want a Stilo because of poor reported reliability on earlier models but as mine is a 54 plate I expect it will be as good as the Marea weekend I chopped in. Had to go Dynamic because of the comfort factor.

Just one thing to report though - does any one know what causes a squealing noise from the rear nearside wheel. It's not pads because it happens at all speeds whether braking or not, the noise goes if a little steering input is put in so I suspect it's a dry bush. It's not there permanently but comes and goes. Also before buying the car it did only 70 odd miles in the previous 15 months so may be that has some bearing.

Any ideas?

 

[Argonought]

Just one thing to report though - does any one know what causes a squealing noise from the rear nearside wheel. It's not pads because it happens at all speeds whether braking or not, the noise goes if a little steering input is put in so I suspect it's a dry bush. It's not there permanently but comes and goes. Also before buying the car it did only 70 odd miles in the previous 15 months so may be that has some bearing.

Any ideas?

As I understand it the Stilo uses fancy sealed hydraulic oil filled bushes for the rear. They can be an issue on the MW so you might want to get it checked.

 

[french bean]

Thanks for the advice Argonought, I'll have a quick peep to see if the seals are dry or for scoring - if I can see any shiny bits to start with, if not then its down to the dealer to see how good the third year warrenty is

 

[Cris]

Long story but.....

Needed a cheap car quickly so was looking around for something around £2k. Saw a Bravo TD100 and a Colt 1.3. Ended up buying the Colt as I was after something with very low insurance. The Colt ended up being an anvil and having masses of cash spent in a vain attempt to keep it running. Wishing I bought the Bravo.......

Then bought a Tipo 1.9TD had that for a bit (now for sale) and wanted an upgrade which had air con and a JTD (read about them and rated them over the other alternatives). Was going to be a Bravo or Marea 2.4JTD or an Alfa 156 JTD, but a Stilo came up which I couldn't refuse so.......

I might add it has been spot on no failures in 9k miles and counting.

[That's the end of my good luck then!]