Panda Pop 1.2 2015,
Before this had a Panda Pop 2014.
Likes:
*I personally find the seats really comfortable, while I know some do not.
*Reliability....despite being made by fiat so therefore costing about 37p to make neither gave me much troubles, the first panda had a whistling air intake and a rattle in the wing mirror which were both sorted fairly quickly, the latest one has had a duff battery and a bloody annoying squeak and fade on the front brakes, fixed with new disks and pads, fine ever since. My last one did nearly 90K in 3 years without a hint of the wheels falling off!
*Personality. The queen indoors has a Fiesta Titanium X, I have to admit it's comfortable, quiet, VERY fun in the corners, economical for its engine size, much better screwed together and a subjectivity at least a better overall motor...BUT it doesn't move me. It's a bit like a washing machine, very efficient but I just don't get excited getting behind the wheel. The Panda makes me smile, I often look back at it when I'm going in the house and I enjoy driving it. That counts for a lot.
*Spec. Since I drive the bottom of the range so to speak it may seem odd to be happy about the spec, but I am. I chose the Pop as it had what I wanted and nothing I didn't. I have a multimedia adaptor for my phone, parking sensors (They are official Fiat so I think the dealer ticked some boxes), electric windows and Factory option alloys which didn't cost me a penny. I'm happy with what I have, I think too much detracts from the nature of the Panda which is a fun, inexpensive car which just does what's on the tin, the Ronseal Fiat if you will [emoji106].
*Price. For what you get for your money it's a good deal. Yes the residual value may not be great but I'm planning to run it for at least 5-7 years so I'm not so bothered.
*Driving. I find the panda to be really quite fun. Nimble in town and can hooligan without it falling over. Kind of reminds me of my brothers KA, chuckable and pretty entertaining as long as you know where the limit is.
Dislikes:
*The cup holders. I want to meet the person who designed them and slap him with a can of redbull. Most cans won't stay upright, bottles are pretty much hopeless and I've lost count of the amount of times I've had a bottle of water jammed under my feet.
*Silly costcutting. Yes it's a cheap car, but some things have made me scratch my head. In the Pop you can only open the boot with the key. Come on, would a button under the rear grab handle of been that much of a problem? Being supplied from the factory with a very poor capacity battery is another. My battery recently died but even if it hadn't, I would consider a 300ah unit to be poor, after a few years of wear it wouldn't take much to strand someone on the side of the road with a capacity like that. The carpet quality is pretty crud too, I think without mats it wouldn't take long to knacker it.
*Fiat dealers. When I brought my car the handover was done by the service manager as the salesman who sold me the car and the Sales Manager were on lunch, more annoying when the salesman booked the appointment to see him and do the handover. Basically I did the paperwork and was told where my car was in the car park. Poor.
My experience with warranty work is a little meh too, I had to fight to get my brakes checked and even once they said they were not quite right they refused to do anything about it, when my battery died after 2 years they just said 'wear and tear' and left me stranded and good luck if your like me and keep a eye on the work log when it's been in, booked for a annual body inspection with its service as part of the anti perforation warranty and they didn't bother, said it wasn't needed. It wasn't until I chased them and gave them the email I had from Fiat asking about it that they did so, albeit begrudgingly.
*Tyres. Odd one I know but from the factory it came with some lovely Goodyear Efficientgrips. About as grippy as oil on a tiled floor. The OE Tyres from the factory have a E rating for wet grip and it shows! While you don't know what effect they are having until they are changed I didn't realise the difference until I had Conti Premium Contacts 5 all round and the difference in the wet and on greasy roads is night and day. It doesn't push wide in the corners anymore and fuel economy improved by about 10%. The more you know eh? Prob due to Fiats penny pinching again to be fair.
All in all I love my panda and the complaints are far outstripped by the things I love. Would I have another? Yes and no....simply because I plan to keep this one long term! Even the missus who HATES fiats with a passion enjoys driving it and has put a panda on her list of replacements for when the Fiesta goes this year. Life's too short not to [emoji6]
