So had my panda a week. Was out with my driving tutor learning how to park again, when the power steering goes.

I consulted the "things to be aware of" thread which says:

16. Power steering stops working when doing a lot of reversing etc, (Driving Instructor) Fiat say its either a sensor on the top of steering assembly or the electric motor is on the blink nothing comes up on tester but car does this at the drop of a hat also, all steering assembly being replaced asap by Fiat Warranty.

Click to expand...

The car is 9 years old, clearly out of warranty. What do I do to fix this? How much does it cost to get fixed?

I'm presuming it came back again? I'd start with replacing the battery before anything else as the steering is electrically assisted. A lot of electrical gremlins can crop up when a battery starts to age. If you've no record of whether it's been changed previously, then best to get it changed. Get a decent brand such as Bosch. It could be a one-off occurrence.

the PAS i s power-hungry,
best to check voltages with a meter,
12 Volts as a minimum for the battery,
should rise to 14V with the engine running ( alternator)

the battery is cheap = BOSCH @£43 delivered to your door ; - )

worth checking / cleaning the main earth points around battery tray / wing / g-box too,

Charlie

As above, start with the battery

Had the same problem on my Punto, the fault lamp came on when manoeuvring at low speed. Like was said above, it was the ancient battery.