General Might be getting a Panda

[SB1500]

Hi, as someone who's hoping to pass my driving test this month, I was planning on buying a 2004 Fiat Panda from my sister when she gets a new car. She was given it as her previous Renault Megane's electrics failed last winter and she had to get rid of it.. The car has been in the family before that too. It is reliable.

I have driven it quite a bit under my provisional license for practice, and was quite pleased by how easy to drive it was. The pedals are light. Of all the cars I've driven, it's strange being in a car narrow enough to move left and right of a single lane on the road. But I am happy enough with what the car is like to drive.

The car will be pretty cheap for me, so it's an option of mine to buy it when it's no longer needed. The insurance will surely be cheap as the car has a 1.0 engine I think and it fairly small/light. The interior is pretty bland, but functional. The radio is Blaupunt or something and is actually very good to my surprise. The seats are blue and quite worn, but I can get covers or even new ones if they're cheap enough on eBay possibly.

My only reservations are the way the car looks. It's a bit awkward looking, and as there's other people my age with newer Corsas, new Focus's and Mini's etc I might be looked at a bit funny for having the Panda :/ Anyone else around my age had worries like this?

Does anyone else on here have a Panda as a young/new driver?
Anything i should know about getting a 2004 Panda?

Think it's a Dynamic model or something.

Thanks

 

[Wee Smurf]

Hi and welcome! :wave:

I'm not young by any means, but if the looks of the Panda are all that concern you, then I really wouldn't be concerned...

I think it's good to be that little bit different instead of following the choice of the crowd. The Panda is an excellent choice as a first car. It's a good size and you'll get a better view out of the windows than you would from the Mini or Astra. You'll also be getting a car that has been reliable and that you know the history of. That's much better than buying something you don't know the history of.

Whatever you decide, good luck with your driving test!

 

[scout]

The question you have to ask yourself is do you want to look 'cool' with a car everyone has (and crashes) so the insurance is high, or do you want to have a car that may be the ugly duckling but will not cost a fortune to insure?
My 17year old daughter drives a 28 year old Panda while she builds up some NCB.

 

[AB100]

Try and focus on the practicality and the running costs. The people on here are all ages and most of them own a panda despite the fact that they could probably choose to own pretty much any car.


Self-deprecation always works with the crowd. "Yeah - I know - a FIAT Panda. I hope one day I can reach your level of intellect and then I'll be able to own a MINI/Focus/Corsa/Fiesta. Until then, I'll simply have to remain unattractive, but slightly better off".

 

[Matt100HP]

Sod what other people think, I wouldn't be inclined to pay much attention to anyone who thought a Corsa was the best car they could buy...

Anyway, I'm 20 and I drive a Panda. Admittedly it's a 100HP, but I'd rather drive a 1.1 Panda than a 1.0/1.2 Corsa, irrespective of age.

Also, you'll never be age profiled by the Police when driving a Panda, which is more than can be said for something like a Corsa, which has to be the ultimate chav-mobile.

 

[homeward]

The question you have to ask yourself is do you want to look 'cool' with a car everyone has (and crashes) so the insurance is high, or do you want to have a car that may be the ugly duckling but will not cost a fortune to insure?
My 17year old daughter drives a 28 year old Panda while she builds up some NCB.

My 18 year-old (although not yet driving, for various reasons...) was delighted to receive a Mk2 Panda (the one in my signature, below) for her birthday (she's obviously been brought up right, like scout's daughter...) -- and she and her friends think it's way cooler than anything 'vanilla' and bland: especially as there are so few on the road.

Slightly off-topic, I know -- but her mum's Mk3 is also popular -- and I don't know about you, but having a small car with such great load-carrying capacity, great fuel economy, fantastic industrial design, cheap insurance, and generally fun to drive, was immensely important to me when I was young (deep in the mists of time...). And, don't forget, until very recently, James May had owned one for donkeys years...!

 

[highwayman71]

And let's not forget that the Fiat owners community, especially those on here, will be far more friendly than any VX/Ford fanbois

 

[daveofkent]

This reminds me of when I was 17 - I didnt care how practical any car was I wanted something that would impress my mates/ the girls.

Had an XR3i that had been cloned to look like an rs turbo as my first car, with hindsight it was the sort of car that any right minded person wouldnt touch with a bargepole had been driven like a rented mule its whole life by people exactly the same as me at that age who didnt have the aptitude or the inclination to maintain it properly, it was however in my eyes the coolest thing ever & when it died a short while later i got something only slightly less knackered.

When I was 17 I wouldnt have listened to anyone else but with hindsight, the panda is a Great car to start with. If you're anything like me i didnt factor in how much it costs to keep a car going! nobody does when they start out I think and there's nothing cheaper to keep going + its the most simplistic newish car there is, so you'll be able to try a load of stuff yourself on it.

 

[staffordmike]

Back when I was young (yes it was a long time ago) I had a knackered but sporty car which cost a fortune to run. I ended up changing it for a Mk1 Panda which wasn't cool but was way cheaper to run. My mates poo-pooed it until they went in it or were beaten by it in a race. I wouldn't advise driving like I used to but I would advise getting the Panda, it's nice to have a car and to be able to afford to run it!

 

[scout]

When I was starting out all my friends were in 3.0 Granada's and Capri's and I had linded up a Renault 30 as my first car which was old and would have probably been expensive to run especially as it only did 20 something to the gallon. My Father persuaded me to get a brand new Nova 1.2. After the initial excitement wore off from the new car I started to regret buying it, UNTIL I realised I could afford to drive anytime I wanted and go down the pub, unlike my mates and when they raced off in a cloud of rubber I tended to pass at least one of them as they sat on the hard shoulder waiting for a tow truck. I ended up keeping the Nova for 7 years, 96,000 miles and it never broke down and was still returning 45 to the gallon when I traded it in on another Nova (1.4SR) as a car for my wife.

My advice to you is - Buy what you can easily afford to run, don't worry about what is cool, nothing looks cool on the back of a recovery truck

 

[Matt100HP]

OP, just going by the examples of other cars your friends are buying:

The Corsa is terrible. It's hard to make a case for it over any of its rivals, IMO.

The Focus is a far bigger, more expensive to buy and run car. Why buy such a big car when you don't have a family to cart about?

The Mini is horrendously overpriced in all forms. Not to mention that a Fiesta is arguably better to drive, especially in ST vs Cooper S specs.

 

[Aston Martin]

"Everyone has Corsas, Focuseses and Minis"

Bloody sheep the lot of em, plus the Mini is stupid and a 1.6.


Awkward? Could a Corsa pull this off?

Or this?

I rest my case.

 

[Gavv8]

I have noticed that panda owners tend to be quite friendly types with nothing to prove, the panda tends to become part of the family rather than just transport.
Having driven both a newish corsa and quite a few mini's i think i'd still rather have a panda, the corsa is hard to see out of and feels a bit basic although the little ecotec motors do go well... mini's are fun to drive but quite expensive to run for what they are unless you buy brand new and get the servicing deals, tyres/insurance and tax can be pricey on mini's and the reliability is not as good as the panda.
Panda's are very cool just about everywhere in the world apart from the UK but then British people are very good at following fashion..... give it a try and you'll probably appreciate its low running costs and fun driving experience and if you don't you'll probably sell it for what you paid without any trouble.

 

[MKravis]

I am old enough that my daughter has a punto , (on my advice) and my all My sons mates have corsas , I am also old enough that my second car was a 131 super mirafiori and my 4th a fiat croma turbo, and I my ex wife got custody of the 24v coupe. I have had a panda for all of three days and I am in love. Don't go with the crowd, a Panda is cool, whatever yours mates may think. But don't tell my daughter with her punto that . Although any fiat is cooler than a corsa . GO FOR IT..

 

[SeanW]

The Panda isn't "awkward" looking, it's character

 

[Aston Martin]

my ex wife got custody of the 24v coupe.

She won.

 

[suedonym]

The Panda isn't "awkward" looking, it's character

Totally agree. I have a bright metallic orange Panda. It is "quirky" and "sparky." Moves brilliantly, is fun to drive and Italian design is second to none. In addition, the engines are pretty much "bomb proof," and are used in many other cars, not just the Panda. It will serve you proudly, well and relentlessly.


I have an Alfa Romeo 147 Selespeed that I am selling because my driving requirements have changed. Admittedly, there is a world of difference between these two cars, but I do not regret buying my Panda, one little bit! It is down to you to "sell" your friends on the cracking design and practicality of this lovely little Italian! Go for it!

 

[Gavv8]

The only thing that annoys me sometimes about the shape is that its very short so when you park it in a bay in a multistorey you can't see it when your walking back to it...

 

[Wee Smurf]

The only thing that annoys me sometimes about the shape is that its very short so when you park it in a bay in a multistorey you can't see it when your walking back to it...

I always reverse in and park at the front of the space.

 

[Matt100HP]

I always reverse in and park at the front of the space.

Exactly what I do, though mainly because reverse parking helps alleviate the problems the 100HP's awful turning circle causes haha .