I bought my Fiat Stilo16v 1.6 Dynamic in May 2006 for £5800 from a private dealer, using the Autotrader website (www.autotrader.co.uk) It was just two years old and billed as 'under 3 year warranty'
It is a nice looking car, although quite sensible looking with nice paintwork and alloys.
The interior is impressive, with a cloth interior, comfortable seating and the most interesting thing is that the back seats are adjustable to allow either very generous legroom in the back or a very large boot. Even if you go for the middle ground you still have a decent boot size for a hatchback and enough legroom for your average to tall
adult. It has nice little touches like cupholders in the rear centre console/armrest and a pull down picnic tray on the back of the passenger seat. It will seat five adults.
The front seats are very adjstable, in every possible way and the centre console has various compartments and can be down to be an armrest for long journeys in 5th gear (it's not easy to change gear with it down) or it folds neatly back between the two seats otherwise.
It has two cupholders in the front, a compartment overhead for your glasses case and a lit mirror in the passenger sunvisor.
It has an airconditioned glovebox which is so cleverly disguised as dashboard that I didnt find it for ages and a more standard glovebox with light underneath. Storage is also provided under seat and it's obviously something Fiat have given considerable time and thought to.
The car is gadget crazy. My dynamic has an on board computer that tells you everything you could ever wish to know about the running of the car and has several seperate trip computer settings. It tells you when you're low on petrol and keeps you updated with how many miles you have left (dependant upon your driving speed/style at the time). It even tells you when it's likely to be icy on the road.
It's air conditioning is climate controlled and dual zone, so if your passenger is more sensitive to cold than you are, they can turn up their thermostat and get more heat. Clever stuff.
The Sound System is great for a standard supplied CD player and radio and the only slight criticism I find is that it doesn't have as good an aerial as my old mondeo did.
It has front and rear wash/wipe but the front windscreen is not heated (you have to use your blowers to defrost and it's bloomin noisy).
Overall, the interior trim is sturdy and practical and makes you feel very safe.
It has airbags coming out of its airbags, side front passenger etc. and has a good NCAP safety rating.
Insurance is group 5 I think and is very reasonable. Road tax is average. It's currently doing around 37 mpg which isn't too bad considering I only do a 10 mile return journey most days with the airconditioning on and a window open (I'm a smoker and my husband despairs!)
It has an immobiliser but not an inbuilt alarm
I have had several faults with this car, usually proudly announced by the on board computer - Engine Fault - it beeps away happily. Fiat have had a look with their clever diagnositcky machine and they say it's a wiring fault and have repaired it - only partly under the third year of the 3 year warranty.
You see, I didn't realise that the 3rd year was a dealer warranty only and how effectively useless that is! I took it in for a couple of trim problems and to have the aircon regassed when I first got it and the repairs came to nearly £200 - the only item they said was covered by the warranty was a dicky petrol cap!
Touching wood as I say this, it's a nice car, I'm not completely in love with it but it's reasonably pokey - doing 120 mph (cough, only a rumour of course) without any problems. I do find it a bit short and sudden in low gears, but wondeful from 3rd gear onwards.
The city steering button is a laugh, it's light on the steering anyway and you'd need to be half dead to need it, but still, sometimes after a hefty shopping day, it's nice to use it for car park negotiations.
I would cautiously recommend it, along with a comprehensive AA membership in case it decides to go all computerish on you - the fiat mechanic said that the technology was too far in advance of the build quality.
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Hatchback - Front (FWD) - 5 Speed Manual Gearbox - 1910 cc - Max Speed: 118, 119 mph - 115 bhp - Diesel - Available Trims: Dynamic, Active AirCon, Active
Nov 14th, 2006
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