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General New Addition to the Fleet

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General New Addition to the Fleet

Bob Gill said:
Tut and moreTuts -Juke versus Panda 4x4 - it's a matter of horses for courses.
We have both Nissan Juke Nismo and Panda 4x4 TA - both are different driving experiences. Love the Panda to bits, but for raw performance the Juke wins.


Bob
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I just cannot get on with how the Juke looks, to me it looks like a surprised Frog. Having said that I liked the Mk 1 Multipla and Alfa SZ so what do I know.
 
Goudrons said:
My lads been learning to drive in a old C2 and has been doing well (despite the C2).
He's nearly ready for his test, so we decided to try and motivate him for the final push that teenagers often need and decided to update the C2.

We went to a big car supermarket in North London as it's easier to look at different cars all in one place.

The short list was small as insurance is obvious a issue, group 1, 2 or 3 being the limit.
Looked at the VW Up! and it's clones, they look and feel rather nice but have no creature comforts (manual window winders these days, really?) the 3 pot engine sounds like a diesel and the gearboxes all have a common rattle/whine issue that sounds horrid.

We liked the Aygo and it's clones, particularly the C1.
Much better standard kit, but again a 3 pot engine "wobble", they all felt and looked very cheap and 2 an 3 year old cars are really starting to look a bit worn and tired.

There was a couple of Pandas there, a Pop (£4000 for 39K) and an Easy (£5000 for 15k) and after picking over and drove all of the above it's very clear how good a Panda is.
Sure there are one or two compromises, but the fit and finish is miles better than the rest, the engine's 4 pots sounds and feels just right and they ride the road better, not just a little, a LOT better.

We didn't/couldn't do a deal with the supermarket, both cars had no service history and weren't cheap enough and there's no haggling with them.
They charge you an admin fee of £99, so they actually charge you to pay them!
Worse is the "handling charge", if you want to pay with anything but a debit card, they charge you, so my pocket full of queens heads would have added another £50!

So choice made, now to find a Panda!
A trip across London and into Kent to a Fiat Dealer we've bought from in the past.

A very handsome and surprisingly generous "valued customer" discount was arranged (I was shocked at the amount to be honest) from the £4795 screen price and within minutes a deposit left on a 2012 Panda Pop with only 6500miles in white.
It's so clean and tidy, I can't find a mark on the inside or out and we're promised mats and half a tank of fuel as well.

So from Wednesday our Panda fleet will consist of
2012 Panda Pop 1.2 in White with 6500 miles
2014 Panda Lounge 1.2 in Cancan Red with 6700 miles
2014 Panda 4x4 Antarctica TA in White/Black/Orange with 10500 miles.

Just thinking should we buy the hamster an Easy to finish the collection?
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Good work!

The current Panda is a great little car. I am sad that we never took to ours, but it was always going to be hard coming from a 500 which we loved of course.

I would certainly agree about the way it drives. The Panda is unquestionably a more composed and refined ride than the 500 IMO, although perhaps the new facelifted 500 has been improved in that respect.
 
I hear no croaks........but there was a frog eye Sprite in days of old
nisside600.jpg
 
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Super Uwe said:
perhaps the new facelifted 500 has been improved in that respect.
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I'm afraid it hasn't.
My colleague has just bought one and it rides like all the others I've driven.
BTW, I like the new grill and headlights (it's doe eyed), but hate the new rear light clusters, they look like the factory forgot something.
 
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Goudrons said:
So from Wednesday our Panda fleet will consist of
2012 Panda Pop 1.2 in White with 6500 miles
2014 Panda Lounge 1.2 in Cancan Red with 6700 miles
2014 Panda 4x4 Antarctica TA in White/Black/Orange with 10500 miles.
Click to expand...

I've just been reminded of couple of others in the family.
Mother in Laws 2010 1.2 Eco Dynamic in Euro Clash Grey
And my sisters 2004 1.2 Dynamic with some sort of bird dropping coating.
 
Bob Gill said:
I hear no croaks........but there was a frog eye Sprite in days of old
nisside600.jpg
Click to expand...
I'm certain a sporty Nismo is a better proposition than a bog standard Juke. Just couldn't get to love my Tekna. It had a terrible ride, poor mpg and a very annoying habit of getting filthy along the rear of the front wheels and all along the doors in even the most ordinary wet day, even or perhaps because of the fitted mud guards

I spent too much time checking the mpg and washing the darned thing, traded it in for a Panda 4x4 and never regretted a second of that decision.

It's a nice looking car you have.
 
I never thought I'd hear the words raw performance and a Nissan Juke in the same sentence.... However, the public like them so they must be doing something right. Back in Pandaland when my wife bought hers she called daughter who was at the pug dealers and advised her to try the Panda, but to no avail. The fiat simply isn't cool enough and the 500 doesn't have 5 doors. However young un has driven ours since and admits its better than she thought it would be. And thats it really. Its a proper car.
 
Well we've been and picked it up.

First impressions of the Pop are:
I quite like the matt finish to the dash surround and radio/clock surround, then again, I like the shiny ones in the Lounge/4x4 (I'm easily pleased).

The seats feel a bit more comfortable than the other two, not sure why (may be the previous owner was slim), they look the same just with different coverings.

It drives and feels like new, I would say it feels better to drive than the Lounge as that is euro 6 and has that clutch/self rev thing going, it's a smoother take up when pulling away, the Lounge tends to get a bit viby in first if you hang on to the revs a bit too long, the Pop doesn't.

Ride has a slightly different feel to it than the Lounge, not in a bad way, it's hard to explain, it just feels a bit different over the road.
I'm guessing it's due to 14" rather than the 15" wheels.

The lad really likes it, he was a bit nervous a first but it took him minutes to adjust to it, he reckons it easier to drive than the C2 and the Mini of his instructor and feels like a pukka car where the Up and Aygo felt a bit toy like.
 
Something I've just remembered, and thought I'd share with you guys: last year, I went to a motorshow, and managed to wind up a VW dealer by telling him that I'd rather have a Fiat Panda when he was singing the praises of the Up! to me. He couldn't believe his ears, lol! :D
 
puntofan01 said:
Something I've just remembered, and thought I'd share with you guys: last year, I went to a motorshow, and managed to wind up a VW dealer by telling him that I'd rather have a Fiat Panda when he was singing the praises of the Up! to me. He couldn't believe his ears, lol! :D
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With all the cuts VW are going to make he might be looking for a job at his local Fiat showroom.
 
Goudrons said:
It might be good training for him if he fancied being a librarian.
As I bet it's feckin' quiet in their dealerships!
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When I told him that I'd much rather have a Panda than an Up! he claimed that the quality wasn't anywhere near as good on the Panda. As I believe your neighbours own an Up! would you agree, lol? ;)
 
Goudrons said:
It might be good training for him if he fancied being a librarian.
As I bet it's feckin' quiet in their dealerships!
Click to expand...
puntofan01 said:
When I told him that I'd much rather have a Panda than an Up! he claimed that the quality wasn't anywhere near as good on the Panda. As I believe your neighbours own an Up! would you agree, lol? ;)
Click to expand...

Sorry, I got you confused with ambient white, lol!
 
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