Hi
- Thread starter Heather86
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Hi
Hi and welcome 
Great little cars
And LOTS of great info on here
Charlie
Great little cars
And LOTS of great info on here
Charlie
Hi Heather and welcome.
We also have a 1.2 Panda Dynamic - ours is a 2010 Dynamic Eco. We've had Panda's in the family for at least the past 30 years - maybe longer? They have all proved to be reliable and cheap and easy to repair. This Panda is officially Mrs Jock's car but I just love driving it and would always take it for local journeys in preference to my much newer "posh" Seat Ibiza!
I'm retired from a life in and around garage workshops and do most of my own repairs and maintenance and I can thoroughly recommend these cars to you. If you keep on top of regular maintenance and servicing there only seems to be a couple of weak points to be aware of: There is a metal water pipe which runs along the front of the engine, underneath the exhaust manifold so it's a little difficult to check out. This pipe, when it ages, can rust through and start to leak. It also has a rubber seal where it locates into the back of the water pump casing and this can leak too when it gets hard with age. Please don't stress out about this. It usually initially manifests itself as a small drop in water level in the radiator tank which, if you do a regular (maybe weekly) levels check, you are going to pick up on. Of course you will top up but the next time you check the level will be down again. Of course there are many things which might cause this but if you can't see an obvious reason - maybe water leaking at a hose clip or damage to the radiator - then it's quite likely to be this pipe or it's seal. By the way, if it is a rust problem it can be a very localized problem. What I mean by this is that you'll often find the pipe looks to be in good order until you check it out very carefully when you may find just a wee, very localized, rust pit which is where the leak is. Don't ignore it if you find it's needing frequent topping up. These engines are very robust and can last for large mileages if you look after them but they really don't like to overheat so any loss of coolant needs to be checked up on and sorted immediately.
The other possible "trouble maker" concerns the rear axle beam. They are known to rust badly when they get older, usually the spring seats, and could potentially be an MOT failure on this. Our car - Becky - is just coming up for her 10th birthday and I know that her spring pans are looking a bit "crusty" so next summer, when the better weather comes, I'm going to pressure wash the axle and, on the advice of another Forum member, I'm going to try coating it with chain saw oil (he says is semi-drys to a "sticky" consistency which gives good protection) The good thing is that the axle is very easily examined and if the worst comes to the worst pattern made - so not actually made by Fiat - replacements are available at a fraction of the price of the genuine Fiat item. At least one forum member - Portland Bill if I remember? - has done this very successfully.
So welcome to our forum and I hope you enjoy your wee car. There is a wealth of information and very helpful and knowledgeable people on here to help if you ask. So do feel free to "speak" to us at any time and do let us know how you get on with the car. Are you going to give her/him/it a name?
Kindest regards
Jock
We also have a 1.2 Panda Dynamic - ours is a 2010 Dynamic Eco. We've had Panda's in the family for at least the past 30 years - maybe longer? They have all proved to be reliable and cheap and easy to repair. This Panda is officially Mrs Jock's car but I just love driving it and would always take it for local journeys in preference to my much newer "posh" Seat Ibiza!
I'm retired from a life in and around garage workshops and do most of my own repairs and maintenance and I can thoroughly recommend these cars to you. If you keep on top of regular maintenance and servicing there only seems to be a couple of weak points to be aware of: There is a metal water pipe which runs along the front of the engine, underneath the exhaust manifold so it's a little difficult to check out. This pipe, when it ages, can rust through and start to leak. It also has a rubber seal where it locates into the back of the water pump casing and this can leak too when it gets hard with age. Please don't stress out about this. It usually initially manifests itself as a small drop in water level in the radiator tank which, if you do a regular (maybe weekly) levels check, you are going to pick up on. Of course you will top up but the next time you check the level will be down again. Of course there are many things which might cause this but if you can't see an obvious reason - maybe water leaking at a hose clip or damage to the radiator - then it's quite likely to be this pipe or it's seal. By the way, if it is a rust problem it can be a very localized problem. What I mean by this is that you'll often find the pipe looks to be in good order until you check it out very carefully when you may find just a wee, very localized, rust pit which is where the leak is. Don't ignore it if you find it's needing frequent topping up. These engines are very robust and can last for large mileages if you look after them but they really don't like to overheat so any loss of coolant needs to be checked up on and sorted immediately.
The other possible "trouble maker" concerns the rear axle beam. They are known to rust badly when they get older, usually the spring seats, and could potentially be an MOT failure on this. Our car - Becky - is just coming up for her 10th birthday and I know that her spring pans are looking a bit "crusty" so next summer, when the better weather comes, I'm going to pressure wash the axle and, on the advice of another Forum member, I'm going to try coating it with chain saw oil (he says is semi-drys to a "sticky" consistency which gives good protection) The good thing is that the axle is very easily examined and if the worst comes to the worst pattern made - so not actually made by Fiat - replacements are available at a fraction of the price of the genuine Fiat item. At least one forum member - Portland Bill if I remember? - has done this very successfully.
So welcome to our forum and I hope you enjoy your wee car. There is a wealth of information and very helpful and knowledgeable people on here to help if you ask. So do feel free to "speak" to us at any time and do let us know how you get on with the car. Are you going to give her/him/it a name?
Kindest regards
Jock