Panda 12,000 miles review
Owned the car for 2 years and 9 months now. This morning it reached 12,000 miles and some how that feels like a milestone.
With car reviews it is easy to get carried away so I am just going to break down into sections.
The Car: Fiat Panda 1.18v Eco Active owned since new.
Driving:-
I really like driving this car and I will compare it to a 1.2 16v i10 which I occasionally also drive and cost exactly the same as my Panda (£6500).
The engine is quite is underpowered at 54bhp there is no denying that but for city driving it is fine, and I can make a quick exist at the lights if I need to. The main issue in town driving is the need for frequent gear changes but good observation can minimise this. The gear change itself is fairly slick and the clutch has a lovely feel to it. The gear change is not a patch on the Ford units used in Fiestas and Focuses etc. One issue I have is the clutch pedal can be quite high, with bigger shoes this can be a problem as I find myself accidentally riding the clutch but with smaller Converse style shoes I find it a lot easier.
The steering is light but has a bit of feel to it, but it still feels like it is connected to an electric motor (which it is) but has enough weight in it to make it feel like it is connected to the wheels. There is also the city button to make it even lighter, but it is pretty pointless.
The brakes are ok, I have had to do a couple of emergency stops since I got the car and both times the brakes impressed with their response. In normal driving they don't feel sharp like the Hyundai but that makes it easier to make comfortable stops and in an emergency I am sure they are fine.
Visibility is simply excellent, lots of glass and very big mirrors never driven a car so good in this regard. I like the high up driving position as well.
Out on the open road the engine copes well providing you use the gears well and don't expect to over taking Mondeos at 90mph. It is refined at higher speeds, at 70mph you can easily have a conversation in the car, not too much road or wind noise and the engine is fairly quite. It is quite a lot better than the Hyundai in this regard.
Living with it and comfort:-
Mine is a base model and I use the car essentially for transporting computers form customers houses to my workshop. Remote central locking would have been very useful but it is the base model and it only came with standard central locking. An electronic boot opening would have been nice too but I am nit picking.
The seats offer good support, I used to have quite a lot of back problems but since driving my Panda I don't get back problems as much as I used to, I can really feel the lumbar support on the back of the seat.
We have done a 10 hour journey (5 hours there and back) for a funeral in this car, with four people in the car and we are all impressed with hour comfortable it was. It is no Mondeo but for a city car it is impressive, it is easily as comfortable as a Fiesta.
Luggage space is a problem, I can't fit most desktops on its side in the boot, so I have to put them on the back seat, not ideal but its better than standing them up in the boot and risking them falling over.
Fuel consumption could be better, my dads I10 does about 5-6mpg better and has a lot more power, but his engine is far more modern and will cost a lot more to fix if it goes wrong. I get around 36-44mpg depending on traffic, time of year etc. On long trips it has approached 60mpg.
Reliability and build quality
For the price this is simply excellent. Obviously corners have been cut here and there but that is to be expected in a cheap city car. All the plastics look basic but feel good quality nothing feels like it will ever snap.
The paint work is not so good, the car does scratch easily but I am told a lot of modern paints are like this.
Reliability has been fine so far the required garage visits have been:-
800 miles – squeaking clutch pedal, relubicrated and assembled under warranty, this sorted the issue.
3500 miles – First service, I complained of a rough idle, dealers discovered faulty flexipipe from the outlet manifold to the exhaust. Replaced under warranty.
6500 miles – Got back to my car to discover a big dent in my wing, took to a body shop and paid £300 to fix it, not the cars fault but annoying even so.
7500 miles – somebody idiot went into the back of me on amber, needed new bumper the third party insurance paid for the damage.
8000 miles – Second service, no problems found.
11,400 miles – Went to my car to find front driver mirror hanging on its wires, needed an entire new mirror, no patter parts for my car, so I had to pay the dealer £98 for a new one, fitted it myself.
11,600 miles – Puncture caused by somebody slashing the side wall, cost me £45 for a new one.
But in terms of reliability touch wood it has been very good, it does uses about 1 litre of oil every 6000 miles but that is well within the specs so not worried about that.
Got the first MOT coming up in May, it will need a new front registration plate but other that I hope it will pass, the only problems might be suspension related due to the severe amount of pot holes on the roads near me.
Conclusion:-
I love the car, it is simple had a bit of bad luck with the bodywork but that is the nature of doing a lot of city driving every day. I have owned many cars, and until this car never owned a car for as long as a year, I was much like Stu. I have had the Panda getting onto three years now and I am not wanting to replace it for a long time yet.
Providing I don't have a major accident, I want to keep the car until it dies but if it has some reasonable value when it gets to six or seven years old I may trade it in.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Thu 14 Feb 13 at 16:45
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