New Panda diesel

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Thu 19 Oct 2006 17:06
New Panda diesel - J500ANT
(Sorry if this has been asked before, but I couldnt find anything thru search)

I'm kind of interested in the new Fiat Panda diesel, HJ rates it as do Autocar. Anyone here got one? Driven one?

TIA

Tony
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Thu 19 Oct 2006 22:26
New Panda diesel - PandaFan
Have a look on the Fiat forum:

www.fiatforum.com

Lots of comments and advice there!

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Fri 20 Oct 2006 11:24
New Panda diesel - paulb {P}
Mrs B has got one in Dynamic spec with the £500 air-con pack (delivered 1 August, and her second new-model Panda). Very pleased with it indeed. Engine was very tight and suffered from quite bad turbo lag for first 500 miles or so but has now loosened up considerably and the car now has very respectable performance. Brakes are very good, too - ventilated front discs, rear drums and standard ABS - and the car's handling feels a lot more stable than the old one, which I would imagine can be attributed to the heavier engine.

It is used mainly around town with occasional 60-odd mile round trips to my office (when I feel like giving the Mondeo a rest) and is averaging about 55 mpg, which means that for the quite low mileage it does, it only needs filling up once a month, compared with twice for its 1.2 petrol-engined predecessor. Hasn't used any oil, either.

Build quality etc all absolutely fine and no niggles at all so far. Spec is exactly what we wanted, including remote locking with a folding key. What particularly impressed was that despite being a factory order (there being no air-con-equipped Multijet models available when we ordered) the car was delivered in just under five weeks from placing the order. Our friendly neighbourhood dealer gave a us a very good deal which was made even better by the fact that the entire Panda range is being offered with 4 years' 0% finance.

All in all, woudl recommend.
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Fri 20 Oct 2006 14:44
New Panda diesel - Kingpin
They are a very good car. I have a 1.2 petrol verion and would have gone for the diesel ideally but they are more expensive. The 1.2 is adequate but struggles a bit on hills and motorways, the diesel has a bit more power and torque. Plus it's a chain cam engine so no worries about expensive belt changes or breaks. So long as you have it serviced it should last a long time.
I would make sure you get the 14 inch alloys with wider tyres as the standard wheels are too small and struggle for grip with the narrower tyres.
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