TheHasslingingSlasher
New member
Hey Everyone, I'm entirely new to Fiats.
As an American, I've only known them for the modern 500 and 124. and for most of my life I had written them off as a stupid car, but recently, I visited my family in Ischia. And I saw the sheer amount of MKI and MKII Pandas and Seicentos on the road still, granted all beat to crap, but still running, and running surprisingly well for their age. And honestly I still think it's a cheap crap car, but I love that. I love the simplicity of it, how you get almost nothing, how thin the doors are, and how there's like no crap plastic trim covering up the metal on the interior, I love it all. And once I saw how cheap they are on the island and in Napoli, I decided that I wanted to import one back to the US. Lot cheaper than buying one that was previously imported by someone else, and a lot cheaper than a MKI or MKII Golf, since those things got so beaten by kids that there aren't any clean examples left in the US, and the ones that are there demand a premium.
But I have a few problems, one, it's a car that was never sold state-side, which means I imagine I would be importing all of my parts. Not such a big deal. But for american cars or german cars, I know exactly what websites I'd buy my parts from, but where would I buy parts for an old Panda? I'm working on the import process and my aunt is working on helping me find a decent panda ( a quest that she's on herself already, but for a much newer model).
Is there anything that these cars are known for that I should be aware of? any common faults or common catastrophic failures? Am I going to bring this car back and never see it drive down the road, or will it be a nicer ownership experience? I'm just trying to get an idea of what I'm in for.
Any advice is appreciated.
As an American, I've only known them for the modern 500 and 124. and for most of my life I had written them off as a stupid car, but recently, I visited my family in Ischia. And I saw the sheer amount of MKI and MKII Pandas and Seicentos on the road still, granted all beat to crap, but still running, and running surprisingly well for their age. And honestly I still think it's a cheap crap car, but I love that. I love the simplicity of it, how you get almost nothing, how thin the doors are, and how there's like no crap plastic trim covering up the metal on the interior, I love it all. And once I saw how cheap they are on the island and in Napoli, I decided that I wanted to import one back to the US. Lot cheaper than buying one that was previously imported by someone else, and a lot cheaper than a MKI or MKII Golf, since those things got so beaten by kids that there aren't any clean examples left in the US, and the ones that are there demand a premium.
But I have a few problems, one, it's a car that was never sold state-side, which means I imagine I would be importing all of my parts. Not such a big deal. But for american cars or german cars, I know exactly what websites I'd buy my parts from, but where would I buy parts for an old Panda? I'm working on the import process and my aunt is working on helping me find a decent panda ( a quest that she's on herself already, but for a much newer model).
Is there anything that these cars are known for that I should be aware of? any common faults or common catastrophic failures? Am I going to bring this car back and never see it drive down the road, or will it be a nicer ownership experience? I'm just trying to get an idea of what I'm in for.
Any advice is appreciated.