My sons wife has one, rather cute in grey metallic...the cars pretty decent too.
Peppy performer with enjoyable handling, reasonable on fuel for it's performance they say.
Good tyres are a must as it's prone to provoking wheelspin in the wet with him driving anyway (he must get it from his mother), other than they are both very pleased with it.
The ride is hard though, the lad reckons you feel every bump...his normal car is a Scooby too.
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Bought mine new in August 07, just clocked up 20000 miles.
Test drive first, suspension is the problem, not everybodys cup of tea, hard is not the word. It,s referred to as the Panda bounce in our family.
Fuel consumption, low 30,s around town, 44/45 ish on a run.
Build quality is generally good, no mechanical issues, apart from a hole that has just appeared in the drivers seat back, lack of of padding, design ? Claim has been rejected by Fiat under third year warranty.
Can be tiring on the motorway, i find a lot of vibration gets fed back through the steering wheel and it,s noisy. But will keep up with traffic, and cruise at 80 +
Front tyres can wear on the inner, tracking does seem to be an issue with some cars. Head over to the Fiat Forum Panda section, that will give you some good information.
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Don't rule out a diesel Panda.
The Multijet engine is a good 'un and has a fair bit of poke.
I've driven my brother's a few times and it's good fun.
Sounds like the diesel is a lot easier to live with than the 100bhp, which everyone says is harsh and noisy, yet on paper it's no rocket ship.
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We have 2 Pandas in the family now, a 1.1 and 1.2. Absolute hoot to drive, really good old fashioned back to basics fun! The 100 has stiffened suspension and anti roll bar, so should corner a lot flatter than ours. Even so, I have huge fun throwing ours through the twisties. Engines are fabulous rev-tastic Italian FIRE units, feels like you're in something with 5 times the power! Averaging 45 to 50 mpg in ours, no problems to report. Built in Poland these days. The Fiat forum is a good source of info and there aren't many problems emerging. I'm delighted with ours and wouldn't hesitate to recommend.
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Would you rate the 1.2 ahead of the 1.1 in every instance?
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Thanks very much for all the advice so far. A supplementary question if I may.
I noted that HJ mentions that if you need a bigger loadspace from time to time you can unbolt the back seat and remove it. We do occasionally need to shift large bulky stuff which the Mondeo estate has naturally been great for. Has anyone ever gone to the lengths of removing the back seat in a Panda? Its "square" shape would encourage me to think that it could, if required, double as an occasional small van?
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Mrs Felix got an ex-demo 07 reg in black about 2 years ago. We started out looking at an ordinary 1.2 but got seduced by the 100hp's charms. The 500 had just come out when we got it and we considered it, but though it's very pretty, I think the Panda beats it in many ways. We've covered about 30k in it, Mrs F uses it for her daily commute from Surrey into S London and sometimes I've driven it at weekends.
Good points:
- Lots of fun to drive. OK it's not a ball of fire but great on a winding road so long as it's not too bumpy (see bad points!) and the 6 speed gearbox is the best I've ever known, really quick and precise, and the engine has a pretty charismatic note.
- I still love the looks
- Very well equipped, electric windows, climate control, tripmeter, and a booming stereo
- 5 doors are often very handy, I think it's in a class of one as a 5 door warm hatch that's smaller than today's bloated superminis. Its miniscule proportions, small turning circle and boxy shape make it perfect in the urban jungle and a cinch to park.
- It's been flawlessly reliable, not missed a beat barring a slightly temperamental CD player and running costs have been modest, averages 40 mpg and now it's just outside warranty, servicing it outside the dealer network
Bad points:
- Yes the ride is bone hard and since Mrs F's commute involves a lot of speed cushions and sundry traffic calming, this is a big down side and makes us think that perhaps we should have let the head rule the heart and got a 1.2. This also disrupts the handling on rougher back roads where it gets rather nervous.
- Can get a little bit noisy on the motorway though the stereo's powerful enough to compensate.
Edited by rtj70 on 20/02/2010 at 21:39
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Would you rate the 1.2 ahead of the 1.1 in every instance?........................
No, in some ways the 1.1 unit is even more fun. Whereas the 1.2 is better in the mid-range, with slightly more pull , the 1.1 feels more willing to rev. Both are incredibly flexible for such small engines. The 1.2 is geared so an indicated 70mph is around 3000 rpm if I recall. It's pretty relaxed at motorway speeds.
Our 1.1 is an Active spec with no split-fold seats, no rev-counter but everything else the same. The Dynamic 1.2 has split fold and a better dash. It's also significantly quieter. The 1.1 is slightly more economical in the real world, easily achieving 50mpg plus, compared to about 48 mpg for the 1.2
I'm not sure which I prefer, I wouldn't rule out the 1.1, despite what road testers tell you, as in the real world there is little difference in performance and both are such fun to drive. For motorway work, the 1.2 has an edge. The ride on ours is set up to cope well with bumps and pot-holes around town, helped by cheap normal profile tyres. Driven hard, they understeer, and there is some roll, but they actually handle nicely, with good steering feedback and the understeer is easily controlled on the throttle. If you've ever driven an original Mini, you'll feel right at home in one. I'm tempted by the 100, to be honest!
Edited by rtj70 on 21/02/2010 at 10:45
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