Panda 2012+ Hello

[nimbus]

Hi there,
I thought I’d join the forum as I’m looking at buying a Fiat Panda, and I’m hoping to get some buying advice. We need a 2nd car for my wife to use for travelling to and from work, and as a general runaround for our 2 young sons. I hadn’t actually considered the Panda until looking at the HighPeakAutos YouTube channel where the bloke brought one and was really impressed by it,

Prices seem to vary a lot on Autotrader, but I’m thinking of getting either 1.2 petrol or 0.9 TwinAir, in either the Easy or Lounge spec.

I’ve found some local to me… a 2012 Easy 1.2 with low mileage, a 2013 0.9TA with about 60k. There’s also a 2017 diesel 4x4 with 107k miles, but I think the mileage on that maybe too high.

So if there is any links to buying advice, or if people can give me some advice on what to look for and ask an owner or trader I’d really appreciate it. Also things to avoid!

Am I correct in thinking both of the rear seats have ISOFIX for car seats, as that would definitely be a requirement.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[nimbus]

I've found another TwinAir for sale locally, but I'm not sure if the service history should be a concern. Registered 2013, then didn't get its 1st service until 2016 @ 19,000 miles. Then it went another 5 years and 30,000 miles before its 2nd service. Finally it was serviced 2 years later in October this year @ 70,000 miles, where a new clutch was also fitted.

 

[Marcus Daly]

I wouldn't be buying a Twinair with that history (or rather lack of it). They're great engines, and suit the character of the car, but they need servicing rigorously and by those who know what they're doing. Loads of threads on this.

PS: Welcome to the forum.

 

[nimbus]

I wouldn't be buying a Twinair with that history (or rather lack of it). They're great engines, and suit the character of the car, but they need servicing rigorously and by those who know what they're doing. Loads of threads on this.

PS: Welcome to the forum.

Many thanks for the reply, and your view confirms my worries about It. I did appreciate the complete honesty in the advert, as it saves me a wasted journey to view the car to find out it’s got a poor service history.

Are the 1.2 petrol and diesel engines pretty bulletproof? I’ve done a bit of reading through the forum and haven’t seen any horror stories. I did see some posts about the pre-2013 1.2 engines being more responsive. Did Fiat change something in relation to emissions?

The search continues…

 

[jrkitching]

Are the 1.2 petrol and diesel engines pretty bulletproof

The 1.2 petrol is bulletproof, the 1.3 diesel has emission control components which clog with soot unless the car is used for long runs, and a timing chain which is prone to breaking at higher mileages. The TA has a couple of potentially expensive higher mileage common failure items.

If your primary requirement is for a cheap-to-run, reliable car and you aren't comfortable living with a potential large repair bill, you only have one choice; the 1.2 petrol.

The 1.2 petrol Panda is one of the most affordable used cars you can run, period. It's also surprisingly practical and pleasant to drive, with no real vices.

 

[nimbus]

The 1.2 petrol Panda is one of the most affordable used cars you can run, period. It's also surprisingly practical and pleasant to drive, with no real vices.

Many thanks for this, it's really helpful, and helps me narrow down my search. It's now a case of finding one at a reasonable price that's not miles away. I don't know why I hadn't considered the Panda before, it's only looking at on-line reviews you see that they're very decent cars and are well reviewed.

I went to look at a 2015 1.2 Lounge model at the weekend. The dealer wanted £7,000 for it which seemed very high. When I got to the dealer they hadn't got the car out, and I couldn't see it on the forecourt or in the showroom. When I said to the salesman that I'd called earlier to see the Panda, he had to take me out the back of the showroom, into a private yard, and the Panda was in the far corner, boxed in by other cars and covered in rubbish where it had been outside. While it looked ok inside, the salesman offered no information about it, and said it wouldn't be possible to test drive it due to it being boxed in by other cars. So I walked away.

 

[boozyjay]

Many thanks for this, it's really helpful, and helps me narrow down my search. It's now a case of finding one at a reasonable price that's not miles away. I don't know why I hadn't considered the Panda before, it's only looking at on-line reviews you see that they're very decent cars and are well reviewed.

I went to look at a 2015 1.2 Lounge model at the weekend. The dealer wanted £7,000 for it which seemed very high. When I got to the dealer they hadn't got the car out, and I couldn't see it on the forecourt or in the showroom. When I said to the salesman that I'd called earlier to see the Panda, he had to take me out the back of the showroom, into a private yard, and the Panda was in the far corner, boxed in by other cars and covered in rubbish where it had been outside. While it looked ok inside, the salesman offered no information about it, and said it wouldn't be possible to test drive it due to it being boxed in by other cars. So I walked away.

I understand why you don't want to travel far, but don't rule it out if you see something nice. I've travelled a fair way to opposite sides of the country to buy cars and not regretted it as they were well looked after. You can always make it a day out anyway. Broaden your search area and you'll find a real nice Panda, trust me.

 

[jrkitching]

Living near London at the time, I was visiting Nottingham for a Saturday night event and happened to see an ad for what looked like a really nice Capri for sale - in Manchester. So full of expectation, I drove up on the Sunday morning, across the Peak District (which took ages). Within seconds of setting eyes on it, I realised it was a complete heap of junk.

It was an even longer and much more depressing drive back to London for work on Monday morning.

 

[boozyjay]

There's a few nice 1.2 Panda Lounge on eBay Nimbus. a few red and grey ones, from 2016 year, to 2018, low mileages too.

Worth a look.

 

[nimbus]

@boozyjay - I definitely haven't ruled out travelling for the right car, but as @jrkitching had commented I am worried about making a big journey and find the car is not as described. It's why I appreciated the honesty of the advert for the TwinAir that I'd seen on Autotrader, even though I ultimately ruled out going to see it.

@boozyjay - Thanks for the suggestion of eBay.... I'd completely forgotten about eBay classifieds, even though I had great success selling my MX-5 on there quite a few years ago, despite the person who ultimately brought it asking the initial question "Is the MR2 still for sale?"

So far I've solely looked at Autotrader. I'd seen quite a nice 1.2 Easy/Lounge on a 65 plate in Newmarket, so that could be an option to go and view.

The trouble is I've got two young sons, so taking them with me isn't easy, and as we're always busy at weekends it's difficult to get the time to travel too far away.

 

[boozyjay]

I'd definitely look at the ones on eBay. The red and grey ones were all the facelift models and look really good - trust me. They are both private and dealer. Ask plenty of questions and see what they say, then whittle it down. You have nothing to lose. The kids may enjoy the trip too!

 

[nimbus]

I'd definitely look at the ones on eBay. The red and grey ones were all the facelift models and look really good - trust me. They are both private and dealer. Ask plenty of questions and see what they say, then whittle it down. You have nothing to lose. The kids may enjoy the trip too!

We called into a Renault dealer a couple of weeks ago to look at a Clio and the Dacia Sandero.... my boys weren't interested in those. They were however interested in the £100k Alpine in the showroom. I was pretty worried, but in fairness to the staff they were very chilled out about them being in it.

 

[boozyjay]

Alpine it is then!

 

[Big gerry]

I understand why you don't want to travel far, but don't rule it out if you see something nice. I've travelled a fair way to opposite sides of the country to buy cars and not regretted it as they were well looked after. You can always make it a day out anyway. Broaden your search area and you'll find a real nice Panda, trust me.

I agree totally I live in Northern Ireland and bought mine in Blackpool drove it home 359 miles

 

[Twotone2]

I agree totally I live in Northern Ireland and bought mine in Blackpool drove it home 359 miles

Aye we traveled to Nottingham from Glasgow to buy our current car (Panda 4x4) after the dealer tried to charge us £820 to deliver it and pick up the trade in.

 

[Big gerry]

Aye we traveled to Nottingham from Glasgow to buy our current car (Panda 4x4) after the dealer tried to charge us £820 to deliver it and pick up the trade in.

I bet you it didn’t cost you that to go and collect it I great thing to ask for is a walk around video before you make your mind up to go and see it or not

 

[Twotone2]

I bet you it didn’t cost you that to go and collect it I great thing to ask for is a walk around video before you make your mind up to go and see it or not

Cost us about £150 including fuel and food, they did do a walk around video before we went though.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

I bet you it didn’t cost you that to go and collect it I great thing to ask for is a walk around video before you make your mind up to go and see it or not

I bought my short-lived grey Panda 4x4 (the one written off after just 8 weeks) from Arnold Clark in Aberdeen (might have been Inverness?). They delivered that to a depot in Milton Keynes for just £85 and I took my previous one there as trade in. Can’t believe over £800?!

By the way, out of curiosity I looked up the written-off 17 plate 4x4 (just 3500-ish miles old) and was slightly surprised to see it had been put back on the road and reached 35,000 miles (but with some fails on the way past). I k ow you can buy back the salvage but It was pretty well bashed at the back and I wouldn’t have wanted to drive it too far.

 

[Twotone2]

Arnold Clark charge £100 to move a car from one branch to the one that you’re buying the car from we bought at panda from them in June and they brought it from Newcastle to paisley for us, we paid £100 which was essentially the deposit to secure the car in the end however we cancelled the car and they gave us the £100 back.

The £820 delivery fee was £650 plus interest of 9.9% over five years I only spotted that charge on the credit agreement when they sent it to me to sign, the ‘salesman’ I dealt with on the phone told me the delivery charge was £100 and then he went on holiday to Greece apparently so when I phoned them up to query the actual delivery charge the guy on the phone just laughed when I said I was told the delivery charge was only £100 in fact I’d paid the £100 by bank transfer the previous week when I talked to the original salesman.

They tried to hide the delivery charge in the credit agreement under some other heading but it was a separate agreement from the car purchase and credit agreement so when I called them up to ask what the charge was for they said it was for paint and upholstery protection but the guy on the phone I’d talked to initially said he‘d ‘throw that in for free’ so I told them this and said I didn‘t want the protection so just cancel it and that’s when he said that it would be £650 to deliver the car and pick up the trade in at this point I actually cancelled the order then ‘the manager‘ came on the phone and we negotiated a new deal which resulted in us going to pick up the car and losing about £50 on the trade in.

The car was really cheap relatively speaking and they had priced it to sell so that’s the reason we stuck with the deal otherwise I would have walked away but the dealer was terrible especially compared to Arnold Clark who couldn’t have more honest.

 

[Marcus Daly]

Shysters!