Fiat Stilo

peasant

Honest John has the following "flattering" statement to make:

Reader feedback tells me this is a disaster zone of a car with too many problems to list. Best stayed well away from.

Is it really that bad?
Anybody got anything good to say about them?

Reason I'm asking is that purely from a looks and functionality point of view I could kind of picture myself driving the estate version (Diesel) one day ...

Kaskade

If your really interested check for the common faults and try buy a car with them rectified, Fiats normally depreciate very heavily so it could be a bit of a bargin 2nd hand. On carzone Cheapest 02 Diesel stilo €6750 cheapest 02 diesel focus is €9650 .

r3nu4l

I own one Living in the UK. My December 02 Stilo cost me £3000. I bought it used in late October 06 and I'm bringing it for a service soon.

It drives well although my 1.2 petrol engine is a bit small for the car (I knew that when buying). It still manages to cruise along motorway at 80 mph no problem so managing to keep up with other traffic and it's a comfortable car and very nice to drive.

The best thing for taller drivers is the massive headroom compared to others in its class.

Only thing is that Fiat no longer make the Stilo, it originally replaced the Bravo/Brava name which Fiat are re-launching in the UK again this year.

In my opinion it is a vastly underrated car but Fiat did get one or two things wrong (1.2 engine for a start!). Hopefully the newer Bravo will bring its reputation up to where it should be The up-side of this is that Stilos should become cheaper soon

su_dios

I drive an 05 3dr Stilo. Beautiful car and very underestimated. As with ALL cars they do have their problems. People just come down much harder on them when they do have problems because of the stigma attached to them. They relaunched the car in 04 with very minor changes. Most problems seem to have been fixed since then. So buy newer rather than older.

BrianD3

I don't know a whole lot about them although the ones I've experieced seemed impressively solid with good interior build quality, plastics, paintwork etc.

Honestjohn is not a great site TBH. There is wrong information on there and the site seems to rely on comments from outraged owners. The site can fail to mention common known problems with cars while at the same time placing too much emphasis on other problems.

If you want to know about the Fiat Stilo, it would be better to visit a site for Fiat enthusiasts.

su_dios

BrianD3 wrote:

I don't know a whole lot about them although the ones I've experieced seemed impressively solid with good interior build quality, plastics, paintwork etc.

Honestjohn is not a great site TBH. There is wrong information on there and the site seems to rely on comments from outraged owners. The site can fail to mention common known problems with cars while at the same time placing too much emphasis on other problems.

If you want to know about the Fiat Stilo, it would be better to visit a site for Fiat enthusiasts.

Agreed.. fiatforum.com

techie

Have had a 2005 Stilo from new and never gave an ounce of trouble from day one. They are seriously under estimated out there, they are great value if you get one though, more gadgets etc than other " major " rivals.

Our one is up for sale at adverts at mo though due to new company van

gyppo

BrianD3 wrote:

Honestjohn is not a great site TBH. There is wrong information on there and the site seems to rely on comments from outraged owners. The site can fail to mention common known problems with cars while at the same time placing too much emphasis on other problems.

If you want to know about the Fiat Stilo, it would be better to visit a site for Fiat enthusiasts.

How truthful or unbiased is a site for Fiat enthusiasts going to be?
Or indeed any site where the focus is on one particular manufacturer?

techie

gyppo wrote:

How truthful or unbiased is a site for Fiat enthusiasts going to be?
Or indeed any site where the focus is on one particular manufacturer?

Have a look at it, its a great site, warts n all views of the fiat cars in general.

BrianD3

gyppo wrote:

How truthful or unbiased is a site for Fiat enthusiasts going to be?
Or indeed any site where the focus is on one particular manufacturer?

Generally these sites are very good. They'll usually have a "technical" section where people who actually own the cars in question talk about problems, give advice etc. The advice available is specific and constructive.

Compare that to the rubbish spouted in this forum anytime there is mention of Alfa, Fiat, Renault etc. Ever notice how most of posts about these makes say nothing helpful or specific?

Morpheus

Had a fiat stilo until 3 weeks ago from 2004. loved it, sad to part with it, it was standard red 1.2 3 door, sexy as hell, great extras in it, the "secret" glove box, the auto open / close windows, great engine (if you take care of it) very good bodywork too, no rust anywhere. Drive it carefully if its the 1.2 the engine has enough grunt to travel motorways etc its 16valve and fuel injection as standard i believe. If your picking a 2nd hand one, just ensure its not a lemmon and youll be well rewarded, get it from a dealer and be sharpish to get any faults fixed under warranty in 1st year. There shouldnt be too many if you get a 03 or later.

Just upped to nissan almera 3 door hatch in red also, but its not a patch on my old stilo *sniff sniff*

Oh, and goes without saying, join FiatForum.com and post all technical etc issues under Stilo/Technical, dont come here with them, theyre great for prompt replies and search their forum for your problems as some other drivers will have had the same issue, youll be surprised how easy it is to fix some serious looking issues yourself.

su_dios

gyppo wrote:

How truthful or unbiased is a site for Fiat enthusiasts going to be?
Or indeed any site where the focus is on one particular manufacturer?

Very unbiased because the people advising or helping you are the people who drive and own these cars. There are plenty of negative posts too.. but the common theme on those boards is that people only post when they have problems and want to rage about it or ask for help. There are quite a few threads though with people saying how much they love the car. Despite all the bad threads I had read I went and bought one and love it. Just don't buy before 04 really if you can help it. Its mainly the 02s that had a lot of problems.

The Stilo seems to be a different breed of Fiat in all fairness. I can hardly relate it to any Punto. I guess it shares the same badge..

techie

Morph&#233 wrote: »

Had a fiat stilo until 3 weeks ago from 2004. loved it, sad to part with it, it was standard red 1.2 3 door, sexy as hell, great extras in it, the "secret" glove box, the auto open / close windows, great engine (if you take care of it) very good bodywork too, no rust anywhere. Drive it carefully if its the 1.2 the engine has enough grunt to travel motorways etc its 16valve and fuel injection as standard i believe. If your picking a 2nd hand one, just ensure its not a lemmon and youll be well rewarded, get it from a dealer and be sharpish to get any faults fixed under warranty in 1st year. There shouldnt be too many if you get a 03 or later.

Just upped to nissan almera 3 door hatch in red also, but its not a patch on my old stilo *sniff sniff*

Oh, and goes without saying, join FiatForum.com and post all technical etc issues under Stilo/Technical, dont come here with them, theyre great for prompt replies and search their forum for your problems as some other drivers will have had the same issue, youll be surprised how easy it is to fix some serious looking issues yourself.

Yes and if you are looking for a great example of one with 2 years warranty left and lots of extras try here:

http://adverts.ie/14074