ruinin
Established member
I love and hate the car at the same time. Handling, engine, comfort, looks,
style... all fantastic. Well, I could do without the body roll, but then it wouldn't be so much fun, wouldn't it. I actually bought the car almost a year ago as i read so many fantastic reviews, mainly of owners, I would not believe the magazines so much. And they were all right, I didn't understand how this car could be more fun than Audi A6 or other cars, but everyone seems to enjoy driving this car including Clarkson.
The big problem is that I live in Prague, that is almost all covered in cobblestones! And the parts that have tarmac roads have a lot of holes and bumps. So driving around Prague is like driving on a field almost. Sooner or later everything in the cabin starts to rattle and crack (noise) and pop.
THis is common for all Prague cars, except Mercedes, Rolls Royce, BMW (unless it is a very old one), Audi and such. Those cars resist the roads for quite long. My panda started to rattle at the sunroof a bit, then there were some popping abouve the windows , then passenger airbag started to silently rattle and everything rattles like hell when you hit the cobblestones. I was disappointed as my 3 month old Panda was as rattly as my previous 10 year old Escort. I went to the garage and told a mechanic. He just said: Hmmm, so what, what can I do about it?
I was a bit angry and later decided to talk to the biggest boss I found there. I told him how much I loved the car except the rattle and asked if I had a chance to get it repaired or not. He was very nice and said he would look after it just if I am patient as it could last quite a long to work out the problems and fix everything. THe car was at the garage for two months, the whole skydome was replaced, the whole cabin interior was dismounted, then fitted again, the front windshield removed and replaced... In the meantime I drove one panda for free and one doblo. Three days ago I got my panda all fixed. The mechanic gave me a ride to show the sounds disappeared. INdeed, everything was silent. For one afternoon. Then it all started again. Except the noisest pops from the roof. THe noisest pops were probably really fixed by replacing the whole skydome. Anyway, as they had to dismount the interior and fit everything back, new kinds of rattles appeared. There are about three new species now. I think I gave up. I think Prague is just a place where anything except the most expensive luxury cars will rattle sooner or later. I still don't understand why a stupid piece of cloth, plastic and rubber cannot be fitted together so that it is silent.
Anyway, when I play music really loud, then the Panda is pretty cool without any rattling heard. But the problem is the speakers are tiny and most music sounds awful. I guess instead of trying to fix the rattle, I will go for proper stereo.
Oh, and when I drove the rental 1.1 without ANY luxury items, it was sooo quiet! There is basically nothing that could rattle, no sunroof, no radio, no airbag... next time I choose the basic version. It is lighter and more solid.
style... all fantastic. Well, I could do without the body roll, but then it wouldn't be so much fun, wouldn't it. I actually bought the car almost a year ago as i read so many fantastic reviews, mainly of owners, I would not believe the magazines so much. And they were all right, I didn't understand how this car could be more fun than Audi A6 or other cars, but everyone seems to enjoy driving this car including Clarkson.
The big problem is that I live in Prague, that is almost all covered in cobblestones! And the parts that have tarmac roads have a lot of holes and bumps. So driving around Prague is like driving on a field almost. Sooner or later everything in the cabin starts to rattle and crack (noise) and pop.
THis is common for all Prague cars, except Mercedes, Rolls Royce, BMW (unless it is a very old one), Audi and such. Those cars resist the roads for quite long. My panda started to rattle at the sunroof a bit, then there were some popping abouve the windows , then passenger airbag started to silently rattle and everything rattles like hell when you hit the cobblestones. I was disappointed as my 3 month old Panda was as rattly as my previous 10 year old Escort. I went to the garage and told a mechanic. He just said: Hmmm, so what, what can I do about it?
I was a bit angry and later decided to talk to the biggest boss I found there. I told him how much I loved the car except the rattle and asked if I had a chance to get it repaired or not. He was very nice and said he would look after it just if I am patient as it could last quite a long to work out the problems and fix everything. THe car was at the garage for two months, the whole skydome was replaced, the whole cabin interior was dismounted, then fitted again, the front windshield removed and replaced... In the meantime I drove one panda for free and one doblo. Three days ago I got my panda all fixed. The mechanic gave me a ride to show the sounds disappeared. INdeed, everything was silent. For one afternoon. Then it all started again. Except the noisest pops from the roof. THe noisest pops were probably really fixed by replacing the whole skydome. Anyway, as they had to dismount the interior and fit everything back, new kinds of rattles appeared. There are about three new species now. I think I gave up. I think Prague is just a place where anything except the most expensive luxury cars will rattle sooner or later. I still don't understand why a stupid piece of cloth, plastic and rubber cannot be fitted together so that it is silent.
Anyway, when I play music really loud, then the Panda is pretty cool without any rattling heard. But the problem is the speakers are tiny and most music sounds awful. I guess instead of trying to fix the rattle, I will go for proper stereo.
Oh, and when I drove the rental 1.1 without ANY luxury items, it was sooo quiet! There is basically nothing that could rattle, no sunroof, no radio, no airbag... next time I choose the basic version. It is lighter and more solid.
