1.9 JTD

Handy little workhorse

I bought my old beast as a temporary run-around until I repaired my previous car. I opted for a 5-door model with the JTD 8-valve diesel engine, for its assumed practicality.

The styling looks a bit like a cross between a "VW" and a Skoda Fabia at a glance but I didn't let the VAG looks put me off, even though it must be considered a little frumpy and anonymous compared to the 3-door Stilo. On the other hand, this makes the car rather an unknown quantity, nobody knows what it is or wants it, so I picked mine up for the price of a packet of crisps from a Scottish geezer in Camden.

The engine has 115bhp and goes well. It's reliable and pulls strongly. It can be frugal (56 mpg) if you use a light throttle and accept that it's not a hot-hatch or it can thrum along at 80mph plus, where the consumption dips into the high forties. The motore is a proper, hard-core diesel donkey. It'll just run and run without any issues whatsoever. 180,000 miles on my old beast now.

The interior in mine is the light grey (looks sand/beige) and it's a nicer place for it. The quality of the plastics is a bit 1990's, for a car made in 2004 so not "great" if you like spongey and soft but it suits the car's no nonsense persona. It marks and I can't call it "tough" but it cleans up nicely and lasts well.

The body is pretty tough, resists knocks and dents to an extent although mine is red and the paint has faded a little. The body is mostly galvanised and has no rust at all, even where the paint has been chipped and exposed the bare metal. No problems with how 'ard the old warhorse is.

The "but" only concerns the electrics. The Stilo was Fiat's first model to use a CANBUS electrical system and so there's a computer that controls most of the functions. It's not bad but I had a couple of (minor) faults that needed a specialist to solve. The PCB needed replacing since one of the circuits was imperfectly formed and eventually burnt out. I also had a problem with the instrument console, which was repaired by a tech' (stepper motors fail and again, the PCB isn't great).

On the whole though the beast has just needed replacement parts. At 15yo and 180k it's on its third set of discs (including the factory ones), third exhaust.. second clutch, radiatore, rear bushes, front dampers (a spring broke which pre-empted a replacement), driveshaft/CV bearings, rear brake calipers, handbrake cables and battery. The rest of it (tyres, pads, oil filters etc.) are just service parts.

Otherwise it keeps trundling along with just routine maintenance, costs little to insure (although road tax is half the car's value) and is completely dependable. I actually gave up fixing my previous car to keep the Stilo. Not a bad effort and a pity that they're not more loved.

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