Panda Cross 0.9 Twin air

Practical car and nice to drive but poor economy, build quality + reliability.

Very practical car for rural area with poor roads, narrow lanes, floods and snow and ice in winter.
Comfortable interior and nice to drive.

The real world economy is very poor compared to the official figures. Only 40 mpg on local journeys and 45 mpg on longer journeys.

We bought this car new intending to keep it for many years. Last year it needed a rear passenger door locking mechanism replaced under warranty. Now it's just had a 2nd year service at the supplying main dealer and both the front suspension arms and the rear shock units need replacing, this is being done under warranty but would otherwise be very costly. Also both the front and rear brake discs apparently need replacing (scoring to front discs and corrosion and delamination of the rear discs) and the dealer quote for this is over £600. It seems like Fiat have made some pretty poor design and component choices and that the brakes and suspension are not suitable for the vehicle.

We bought this to keep for for the long term but although it is practical and nice to drive with the poor economy and potentially expensive reliability issues like this arising after 2 years of light use (16 K miles and it has not been used off road) I couldn't recommend it. We also have a diesel Panda 4x4 in the family, this seems to be doing better so far.

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