Hello,
new to the fiat forum. I know it seems to be a common request & someone has prob answered this already. I am looking to buy my first car (to register and insure myself) so has to be cheap to insure and hopefully a bit of fun to drive too. I'm obviously looking at the Panda's (the classic styled ones as the new designs don't do much for me) and yes the 4wd models, not just for the sticker but cause I genuinly will be driving her up the Pyrenees mountains to teach skiing in the winter. Incidently the fiat Panda appears to be the only car that exists in Andorra so if parts are drying up here might be worth a look over the channel.
Can anyone give me pointers on which Panda would be the best to look out for, I keep hearing that the sicily is well regarded but which year? Also are there any other comparible vehicles, one of my mates was going on about a russian car that is similar but couldn't remember the name?
I don't know too much about cars and live in london in the summer with no garage or workshop, are there any good repair/restoration companies that specialise in the old fiats?
Also is there anywhere accept ebay & gumtree that I should be looking? Autotrader only seems to have new fiat pandas, post 2003.
Thanks in advance for any info and hope to join the gang soon.

What budget have you got? You won't get a Sisley for shy of almost £1k easily and you'll be looking at getting work done on any cheaper ones which doesn't come cheap.

Fuel economy is another thing to think of. I'd recommend a 2wd personally. With decent Tyres on thatll get you anywhere in the winter still.

Thanks for that, how much would a gd 2wd be? My mate got back to me but said the Russian car is a lada niva, would I get lynched if I said it looks like a panda, albeit a rip off of one? Anyone had any experience with them?

Oh & £1k would be around my budget if there wasn't to much work to be done initially

You'll get a excellent condition 2WD for £1k, you will probably get an ok 4x4 but you might find yourself having to do work on it fairly soon, main thing to look for is rust, if you buy a rotten one it could very expensive paying someone else to fix it for you.

a Lada Niva is nothing like a Panda, maybe slightly the same shape but other than that they are completely different.

Although Ladas of that era have FIAT running gear, including a 4x4 Niva. But that is clutching at straws...

panda1408 said:

a Lada Niva is nothing like a Panda, maybe slightly the same shape but other than that they are completely different.

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:yeahthat:

Lada Nivas are AWESOME! I was looking for a Panda 4x4 as my 1st car but a Niva came up first. Sadly sold it a few years back and I miss it

<----That's my old Niva in my profile pic.

Nivas either come as 1.6 carb, or 1.7 FI
The 1.6 are something like insurance group 6 and do about 25mpg
The 1.7s are a bit quicker, insurance group 7 and do about 30mpg

As comparison a 4x4 Panda will be cheaper to run at a shade over 30mpg and insurance group 2.

Like Pandas Niva prices are going up and prices will be similar to 4x4 Pandas.

Tbh, if insurance is ok, they are both so rare i would grab what ever comes along first.

Nivas have more in common with the older Fiats like the 128 than the panda but there are some similarities like brake cylinders and stuff. You only have to look at them to see the family resemblance

Fiat 128


Lada 1200


Lada Niva


Ok I'll stop now, just a little excited there!

Nice pics

In terms of driving, the Panda is better on road. Nivas actually handle pretty well (much better than a lard rover) all round coils with independent double wishbones at the front. Off road, they're very good, for the money and in stock form you can't get a better 4x4.

Ok, So I found an '89 Sicily to go look at on sun, 72000 miles on the clock. I asked for photos of the rust patches and got the following. What do you guys think of the condition, plus any pointers on what to look out for would be appreciated in terms of rust or general tell tale signs of condition.

photos

photot2

It's not the worst I've seen. what are they asking? Has it any tax and test??

It doesn't look too bad, but with the state of that arch I imagine the rear of the sills (a very common place) and the front of the arch under the plastic trim will be rotten, so make sure you have a proper look at those.

Check the rear crossmember under the bumper, the boot floor and the seams on either side of it. Also check the bottoms of the inner wings in the front wheelarch at the front by the suspension tie bar as these very often go also.

On the mechanical side check the 4WD works and the gearbox is ok, engines are pretty bulletproof but check for signs of headgasket failure.

Cheers for the info guys.
I think I might give this a skip as they are asking for 1k and I reckon it isn't worth the 100 mile journey to collect. Taking on board previous advice I think I'm going to hold out for a mint condition 2wd, lower insurance group, easier to replace parts, cheaper to run and I believe the tax is due to go up on all 4x4s so landrover owners don't feel discriminated against.
Will keep you posted, if anyone has a 2WD to sell feel free to get in touch. ideally in good condition and near to London (within 100 miles)

Thanks again.

£1k is a bit steep

Road tax on modern cars is done by emissions not number of driving wheels, so Pandas new or old won't be affected

£1k is far too much imo, you are definately better off waiting for a really good one to come along, I bet that one will end up costing alot once you start.

philos said:

Cheers for the info guys.
I think I might give this a skip as they are asking for 1k and I reckon it isn't worth the 100 mile journey to collect. Taking on board previous advice I think I'm going to hold out for a mint condition 2wd, lower insurance group, easier to replace parts, cheaper to run and I believe the tax is due to go up on all 4x4s so landrover owners don't feel discriminated against.
Will keep you posted, if anyone has a 2WD to sell feel free to get in touch. ideally in good condition and near to London (within 100 miles)

Thanks again.

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Keep watching, a good one will come up. The longer you wait, the more you will have to compare