Fiat Stilo?

dave 27 · 07-02-2011 7:28pm #1

Hi guys..im thinking about buying a fiat stilo 1.2 litre and was wondering has anyone heard about them? (reliable etc), i know its a fiat which is supposed to be dodge but anyways..

Ardennes1944 · 07-02-2011 7:31pm

supposed to be a goodish car except the electrics are supposed to be dodge. the 5door is ugly but the 3door, not so bad. id prefer a mk2 punto tbh

CiniO · 07-02-2011 7:34pm

dave 27 wrote: »

Hi guys..im thinking about buying a fiat stilo 1.2 litre and was wondering has anyone heard about them? (reliable etc), i know its a fiat which is supposed to be dodge but anyways..

Stilo is a very nice car. 1.2 won't be too fast, because car is not that small, but with it's 6 gear gearbox, it should do.
1.2 16v engine is very reliable (it's one of the best fiat engines from late 90s). Should be no problem with it.
Car is as well very nice to drive, and quite comfortable.

Only problem with stilos are electrics. Plenty of strange things happening, dashboards light (engine, abs, etc) coming in. Lights not working etc.
Wet Irish climate makes this problem even bigger.

So even I'm a fan of Fiat cars for a long time, I wouldn't really advice stilo, unless you know some cheap garage to fix elecrics in car, as it can be very expensive in Ireland.

dave 27 · 07-02-2011 7:41pm

hmm interesting..im looking at some very nice stilos, 1.2 litres 2002-2003, i had my car robbed last year so im looking for a replacement..still on my provisional so not looking for anything really fast but something top of the price range (2,500 ish), i dont want a crappy car anymore, this looks like the better of the cars within the price range and engine size.

L1011 · 07-02-2011 7:44pm

My father's 02 had electrical gremlins but no mechanical issues; although it couldn't fight its way out of a paper bag either - 1.2 16v engine on the heavy 5 door model, with aircon and other power sapping options (it did have a LOT of features for a car of its time)

The later ones were a different car entirely underneath - they actually were allowed resubmit it to NCAP as a "new" car despite an identical body. They're a lot more reliable.

CiniO · 07-02-2011 7:45pm

dave 27 wrote: »

hmm interesting..im looking at some very nice stilos, 1.2 litres 2002-2003, i had my car robbed last year so im looking for a replacement..still on my provisional so not looking for anything really fast but something top of the price range (2,500 ish), i dont want a crappy car anymore, this looks like the better of the cars within the price range and engine size.

Because a I said it is great in most domains, except from electrics.
If you are prepared for it, and have some spare cash for repair in case it breaks, go for it.

I was thinking about Stilo as well one time, but finally went for bit older, but really reliable 01 bravo 1.2 (the same engine).

dave 27 · 07-02-2011 7:51pm

i never knew the brava was 1.2..i was also looking at the peugeot 206, nice looking car too, something with a max 1.2 litre and it looks good and is reliable, thats what im looking for really

Ardennes1944 · 07-02-2011 8:12pm

dave 27 wrote: »

i never knew the brava was 1.2..i was also looking at the peugeot 206, nice looking car too, something with a max 1.2 litre and it looks good and is reliable, thats what im looking for really

mk2 punto 8V not 16v! i know most people here would swing towards the 16v saying its more reliable but i really do think the 8v is. just dont drive it hard when cold and you will not experience problems.

Max Power1 · 07-02-2011 8:14pm

Deutschlandfürimmer7 wrote: »

mk2 punto 8V not 16v! i know most people here would swing towards the 16v saying its more reliable but i really do think the 8v is. just dont drive it hard when cold and you will not experience problems.

Whats that sound? Is that the sound of HGF?

Celly Smunt · 07-02-2011 8:15pm

get a 1.2 bravo,bulletproof,faster,cheaper and prettier

CiniO · 07-02-2011 8:20pm

Deutschlandfürimmer7 wrote: »

mk2 punto 8V not 16v! i know most people here would swing towards the 16v saying its more reliable but i really do think the 8v is. just dont drive it hard when cold and you will not experience problems.

Anything to support your thesis ?

Ardennes1944 · 07-02-2011 8:25pm

CiniO wrote: »

Anything to support your thesis ?

well the fact that my brother had one, continuously drove it hard from cold rushing to work and had HGF twice in one year and then when it was passed onto myself for the next two years i covered 30kmiles and never had one problem. its commonly known that when the head heats up too quickly it is prone to cracking. the 3mechanics im buddies with all say they've seen much more variety of problems with the 16v

CiniO · 07-02-2011 8:34pm

Deutschlandfürimmer7 wrote: »

well the fact that my brother had one, continuously drove it hard from cold rushing to work and had HGF twice in one year and then when it was passed onto myself for the next two years i covered 30kmiles and never had one problem. its commonly known that when the head heats up too quickly it is prone to cracking. the 3mechanics im buddies with all say they've seen much more variety of problems with the 16v

I suppose you are saying about 1.2 8v.
So you showed the difference yourself.
He drove it hard from cold, and head gasket was gone twice.
I know plenty of people with 1.2 16v and actually never heard the any head gasket went in any of these.
Mine bravo 1.2 16v has over 180k kms mileage, and engine works like new.
What kind of problem your buddy mechanics seen with 1.2 16v?

L1011 · 07-02-2011 8:39pm

I've also never heard of a 16v 1.2 having the HG go, compared to constant failures on 8v ones. And I've had a lot of Fiats and know a lot more owners of them than average...

Ardennes1944 · 07-02-2011 8:46pm

CiniO wrote: »

I suppose you are saying about 1.2 8v.
So you showed the difference yourself.
He drove it hard from cold, and head gasket was gone twice.
I know plenty of people with 1.2 16v and actually never heard the any head gasket went in any of these.
Mine bravo 1.2 16v has over 180k kms mileage, and engine works like new.
What kind of problem your buddy mechanics seen with 1.2 16v?

yes we know the 16vs dont suffer from HGF much at all if ever. i am not saying the 16v engine is crap im just saying that i personally would go for the 8v. just voicing an opinion which i ,and a few of my friends in the know, have. and also i do not know the problems they stated with the 16v as i had an 8v and was obviously more interested in them doing my brakes

Howitzer · 07-02-2011 10:38pm

I drove a load of cars summer '02 for hertz. The Stilo was the worst. Clutch was rubbish - no feel to it. It's a shame cos i didnt mind the shape. Would take a punto from same year over stilo any day. 1.2 would be very underpowered for comfort in this weight of car. Happy hunting

shamwari · 07-02-2011 10:48pm

A mate recently bought a Stilo 1.4 16V and it was mint. It drives very well and the extra torque of the 1.4 addresses a lot of the shortcomings of the 1.2 unit. It's almost as quick as the 1.6 as well and my mate says he bagging low 40's mpg which is not bad considering the amount of metal he's pulling around.

Perhaps the biggest bugbear is the connectors and cables for the seat belt sensors. They all seem to wear after a while and put the airbag light on. Having said that, cars from mid '03 onwards seem to be better in this department.

If I had the need to justify it, I'd go for a 1.9 JTd dynamic. A lot of car for money, 115bhp on tap but 50mpg too, and the extra weight of the engine cancels out the floaty ride that mars the 1.2

And then there's the obnoxiously fast 2.4 abarth....:pac:

Fiat Stilo?

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