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- May 10, 2010
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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?
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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