General Are Stilos really that bad?

[Babz]

Hello.

I'm thinking of buying a Stilo to replace my little Yaris. I mainly want a car that will be reasonably economical but a fair size with 5 doors. I'm really looking at the 1.6 16v as I do alot of motorway milage as well as alot of town driving and this seems a good compromise.

I have also been looking at MK1 Ford Focus' and Pug 307s but out of the three, Chris (bushboy) has said he would go for the Stilo and I do really like them. He says the Pugs all catch fire and the Focus', whilst supposedly good cars, are common as muck. My cousin has a 307 and has had loads of problems with it since he bought it.

My main concern is that from looking at various review websites, the Stilo appears to be a bad choice. There is all sorts saying that all of the cars in the range suffer from common problems, from airbag failure to aircon sensor problems. Also I have read a number of owner reviews and there doesn't seem to be alot going for the Stilo. Also, the range wasn't regarded as a success. Surely this must have been down to the problems mentioned on the review sites. A bad reputation doesn't come from nothing!

I don't want people to reply telling me how amazing the Stilo is. I would expect a biased view asking a bunch of Stilo owners, afterall, you must love the car if you are on a forum talking about it!

What I really want to know is what does go wrong with them. What should I look for an expect to go wrong if I am to buy one. What you have experienced which you shouldn't have etc. I don't want a load of replys telling me how superb the car is and how everyone should have one, that wont help me atall.

Are Stilos really bad cars?

 

[Morty Mort]

Well, going on a specific car's forum is really the way of finding problems.

But you are going from a strange case scenario, when leaving a Toyota for a Fiat.

 

[dave]

go for the JTD or leave alone imo

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Well, going on a specific car's forum is really the way of finding problems.

But you are going from a strange case scenario, when leaving a Toyota for a Fiat.

Lol. Thats all we've got in our house hold a Toyota (Yaris) and Fiat's (Panda's), lol.

I'd get bored personally with a Toyota, never having anything go wrong or need fixing:yum:

 

[Babz]

go for the JTD or leave alone imo

Why, whats wrong with the petrol engines? Are they not just the same engine range from the Bravo/a?

Whilst the Yaris is and has been very reliable for me, I just need something bigger and more comfortable for the sometimes 100miles + traveling I do everyday. The yaris can get a bit cramped when in it for a long time.

 

[bozzy]

I have had two Stilo's. 1.6 5 door and latterly a JTD. The 1.6 isn't particularly economical whereas the JTD got me around 50mpg and it was fast.

The Stilo will go faulty, you can reduce the risk by getting a phase 2 or later (04 on). The real risk is the dealers, if you are used to Toyota then you might be in for a shock when you come to use a Fiat dealer. I loved my Stilo's but for peace of mind I would choose something else, even if it does look better than the rest.

 

[ABZSTILO]

No, despite the faults the Stilo is a good car - the fact that many folk 'tweak' theirs shows that fundamentally Fiat could have done a better job in developing it but the Stilo is genuinely, on the whole, a good car

I thought long and hard about a replacement for my Stilos predecessor and tested many Stilos. The 2.4 was out for me as it was thirsty and I really disliked the selespeed gearbox intensely. Although the 5 cylinder lump makes a lovely noise I felt that it was down on power for an enine of that size, I've never driven the manual 'box 2.4 but I'd think it would feel OK. The 1.2 was 'clever' but felt more than a little underpowered. I initially thought I'd have a 1.6 petrol but drove two and (honestly) thought it was pants
Gutless.

Then I drove the JTD It's easily the choice of the range IMHO although I'm told the 1.8 is probably the choice of the petrol engines I've yet to drive one, haven't driven the 1.4 (which replaced the 1.2) either and that could be a good choice.

If you were to buy one then, as Bozzy says, go for as late a model as you can afford - as they're all pretty cheap that shouldn't be too hard. I'd urge you to try at least two Stilos out (if you want a serious performer then the 150 multijet sporting 3 door would be my choice) as regardless of what we say here about the faults/dealers etc etc it comes down to your decision about the car suiting you There's plenty of threads about the common faults which might put you off the idea of a Stilo - in which case if you want to go Italian go try an Alfa 147 :idea: Similar car..... slightly fewer faults..... better petrol engines in twinspark form.

Worst thing about owning a Stilo The dealers

 

[PNL]

Was looking on ebay yesterday and there's loads of them on there and mostely over priced ..I would say with my hand on my heart..stay with toyota and leave the stilo alone..

 

[charlieb0y]

Stilo wasn't my first choice of car originally. However can honestly say it's been a pleaseure to own. This was the first one 1.6 16v. (well is the wifes car). Ok it has the common faults but apart from that, starts first time runs well and is quite the workhorse.
I've now brought myself a 1.9 JTD MW. Blimey what a difference drive there is no comparision between the 1.6 and the JTD. Loads of power through the gears. They are both a really comfortable drive, to be honest me ol mans got a 57 plate B180 merc and I think the drive is better in the stilos IMO.

So IMO I would go for a 1.9 JTD.

 

[Argonought]

Good question - and the simple answer is no they're not!

That answer doesn't mean you should go out and buy though as you need to work out want you want from the car. The JTD (as many have suggested) can provide a very rewarding, exciting drive and in 5 door form is amazingly practical. It's also the most economical although I wouldn't necessarily class it as a good 'town' car. Another key reason for ownership is the 'prestige' of owning an uncommon car

In terms of overall reliability, I think you should place the Stilo in much the same bag as most European car makes. You'll find bad examples of any make and buying guidelines are much the same as for any other car too.

On the other hand if reliability means more to you than anything else then stick with Jap

 

[Morty Mort]

Hello again.

What to look out for? Difficult, but mostly the sellers.

If the car has no service history, it doesn't mean the car hasn't been taken care of. Many of us do some of the service checkpoints ourselves, except things that require special tools, as timing belt change etc.

Don't think you will get good service after you have bought the car, as there is a slightly difference between the positive sales management and the negative garage .

But the two most common faults in my opinion are:
- Many headlight bulb changes. And they are painful to change with big hands.
- Airbag connectors, and the sensor mat for it in the passenger seat.

There are other failures ofcourse, but not which another car wouldn't suffer.

Except a Yaris perhaps, but you can't really love a Yaris at all. And that's a fact.

 

[Argonought]

But the two most common faults in my opinion are:
- Many headlight bulb changes. And they are painful to change with big hands.
- Airbag connectors, and the sensor mat for it in the passenger seat.

You surprise me on that Morten, I've not had a single issue with either.

Stilo did moan once when the front passenger took her seat belt off and started kneeling on the seat and one other time when I left a bottle of wine on the seat

The only common issue I can think of, based purely on my experience, is the false warning messages (on startup) which are debatable if they can classed as a fault anyway.

 

[Yazza54]

The 1.2 was 'clever' but felt more than a little underpowered. I initially thought I'd have a 1.6 petrol but drove two and (honestly) thought it was pants
Gutless.

I know you say its gutless but I've not driven mine yet....and I'm going from a punto 1.2 8v to a stilo 1.6 16v so surely itll be a fairly big step guts-wise for me?

 

[gaz.d]

my stilo was fantastic, roomy, comfy, gizmos and a pleasure to drive

i got worried about it after reading this forum - little noises or lights staying on startup made me paranoid

my ex manager had a 307, she drove courtesy car more times than her own and my mates parents had one and they say it not very good

 

[Morty Mort]

You surprise me on that Morten, I've not had a single issue with either.

Well I've got. It's a 2002 model. I don't know how many bulbs I've changed the last years. As far as I know there should be a new wiring loom - so a treat for it - to fix this, but Fiat here don't have a clue about it.

The OCS sensor is really annoying, but there is a fix for that aswell, and that is to change the OCS mat. Which I haven't had time to do.

The trick for a ship and shape Stilo commitment is to keep the battery fully charged at all time.

 

[JFL]

you can get a good version of a car, just as you can get a bad one, as with every car

my car gave me a few problems when i got it, but touch wood all is fine now.

 

[ABZSTILO]

I know you say its gutless but I've not driven mine yet....and I'm going from a punto 1.2 8v to a stilo 1.6 16v so surely itll be a fairly big step guts-wise for me?

You'll notice a big leap, but for me coming from a 1.6 Renault Laguna (yes, I know..... a moment of madness I try to forget ) I was very underwhelmed by the 1.6 in the Stilo - I suppose I expected more from a Fiat having been a huge fan of the old twincams in sundry Fiats & Lancias

Nevertheless, you'll appreciate the extra oomph

 

[alexGS]

Although the 5 cylinder lump makes a lovely noise I felt that it was down on power for an enine of that size

You're not the first to say that, but it has always mystified me considering that 170bhp for 2.4L is a higher output-per-litre than 80bhp for 1.2L, and also more than for the 1.6 and 1.8. Therefore the 2.4 has very good power for its size compared with the other Stilo engines. And, 70.8bhp/L for the 2.4 is especially good compared with the old FIAT twin-cams that had as much as 120bhp from 2L, which is 60bhp/L.

In my Abarth I managed 37mpg overall too, which is good considering the extra performance that was available. It's the same consumption that my 1.2L Punto returns, because the Punto has a silly belt-drive transmission.

Otherwise yours was a great post

-Alex

 

[ABZSTILO]

You're not the first to say that, but it has always mystified me considering that 170bhp for 2.4L is a higher output-per-litre than 80bhp for 1.2L, and also more than for the 1.6 and 1.8. Therefore the 2.4 has very good power for its size compared with the other Stilo engines. And, 70.8bhp/L for the 2.4 is especially good compared with the old FIAT twin-cams that had as much as 120bhp from 2L, which is 60bhp/L.

I think what perplexs me about the 2.4 is that the 'old' 5 cylinder 2 litre produced 155 in the Bravo HGT (I think that's right - Bravo fans please advise) so thats around 77.5bhp/litre. So by rights the 2.4 should have been making around 186 bhp as standard if you apply the same bhp per litre calculation as per the 'old' 2 litre 5 pot; but it fell some way short of that mark. Now that could be because of emmision requirements etc etc but somehow the engine feels 'stifled' and that is a great shame. I still need to try one in a Stilo attached to a manual 'box, it's quite possible the selespeed I tried was a tad 'thrashed'. Nevertheless, I maintain that the BHP figure for a 2.4 badged as an Abarth is, well, disappointing

Pleased you liked the rest of the post though

Here's hoping Babz becomes part of the stilo 'massive'

 

[ajc00]

Im a little confused really.

Firstly I've always heard that FIAT in general was crap but I own a 2.4 Abarth (02) and yes i go through tires like crazy and yes the airbag light is on for the passenger. But apart from that ive had mine nearly 3 years and touch wood nothing else has gone wrong apart from the usual.. (Bulbs, tires, oil etc)

I have to admit mine was in the garage for a day last week getting new suspension springs but they were old springs so cant complain.

For such a big car, those people that say they cant get good millage, stop it with the led foot, i have fun in mine but generally the mpg is excellent its been know to get to about 48mpg on a good motorway run.

I know your thinking about getting a 1.6 so i cant really comment on that but id say the Stilo is like any car, some people have good experiences and some have bad.

Thankfully mine have been good, so all i would say is look carefully make sure its been looked after and then hell why not go grab your self a car that isnt bad at all.