I really need to get a second car as my sister will be passing her test soon and on her wage the only thing she could afford to insure and run is Speedy.

Now if I didn't find Speedy such a hoot and was a better older brother I'd give her Speedy, but I'm not, I'm too attached to him, so I'm kind of stuck with getting two cars.

Now if I was honest I don't want another Panda, keeping Speedy running will keep me busy enough so I'm looking at something a bit newer and so should cost a bit less to maintain and won't need as much attention.

I'm not a fan of most new cars though, as it feels like your just telling the car what your doing and it decides how to do it (learnt to drive in a new corsa and compared to speedy it was boring as hell!!!). So I'm looking for something that drives like a panda, feels like a panda and will make me grin like a panda, that isn't a panda, any ideas?

I would suggest a Seicento. Newer than the more fun to drive Cinquecento, bit more refined than a Panda and if it's a 1.1 Sporting quite sprightly. Abarths are the sex, too. And depriciation has made used prices great for buyers and terrible for sellers.

Edit: But what's your budget?

get a cinq, much cheaper that the sei, and the the refinement is easily solved with some dynamat

Import a panda cross will be my next car if they still refuse to bring it to the UK.

Or Join the Panda-Barchetta club so far only 2 members.

As others suggest it might be better to give us an idea on what her budget it.

Aslo if this isnt panda specific i would suggest you get the section mod to move this so more people across the forum see it so they can help you.

cinq or sei hands down

Well the budget can flex (especially if I get the pay rise their considering giving me) but I'm definately not going over £650. I might get a new car on a finance deal but only if it still keeps the fun factor of a Panda.

I stuck it here because I want something like a panda and the peeps probably know Panda's better then Fiat themselves so have a better idea then anybody of what other cars are like Panda's.

panda type thingy said:

... So I'm looking for something that drives like a panda, feels like a panda and will make me grin like a panda, that isn't a panda, any ideas?

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Isn't that a Marbella?

You know looking at Serin's siggy has got me thinking, and wondering and checking roadtests for the Panda 100. Fiat have some nice finance deals at the mo and are doing free insurance on the Panda 100...

Apparently it recaptures the feel of the old Fiat supermini's (aka Panda etc), although I'm not going to take to take a car roadtester on faith about that. I think probably the only roadtest reviewer to drive a Panda in the last ten years was Clarkson (and we all know why I'm not too interested in what he has to say about Panda's...), so when they compare things to an old Panda I take it with a pinch of salt...

So has anyone who owns a Panda driven a Panda 100?

I would advise to steer clear of finance. It's just not necessary to buy a brand new car in order to have reliable transport. If you have £650 to spend and want to stay with Fiats you have a few choices.

Someone above suggested a Cinq, but IMO that's to Pandalike. A Seicento is different enough from a Panda to excuse buying one as a second car. If you look carefully you could find a 99 or 00 Seicento 899cc with low miles for your £650. It'll be reliable, comfortable, cheap to tax/insure and it will do everything a new Panda will do.

I understand the attraction of a brand new car, I've been there and done that, but never again. Car finance over 3 or 4 years is a noose around your neck unless you can comfortably afford the repayments over that period of time. If you are in a situation where £200-£250 a month is a lot of money then avoid it. It'll come down to making the repayment or putting petrol in the tank and you won't enjoy the car at all.

agree with steve on that one... and the new Panda, wonderful car that it is aint no old Panda. I owned one for a year and loved it, but after that year became bored and hankered after something else. With my current real panda, I have owned it for nearer 18 months and am not bored yet! careful with cinq sportings, there are a lot of thrashed and abused cars out there and they can be a bit of a money pit... go for a nice seicento with low miles if you like them, personally I hate the 899cc Seicentos, make my 903cc Panda feel turbo like! Try a Mk2 Polo, especially the 1372cc, they are OK, but avoid the Mk3 facelift model, they rot faster than Mk2s.

punto! my sporting was £700 electric everything, 16v so blooming quick, sporty looking

I don't understand
You want something cheap yet reliable, practical but not boring....
So it sounds like a classic Panda

If you find the right Panda,low mileage, good chassis etc, what will that cost you?

My panda was £50, has never broken down, is on 64k.
I spent £12 on welding a small patch on the inside sill.
I have spent money on it - but not a necessity! - I could have just left it!!!

WE'll try and find you a nice Panda for your sister....

Malcolm Fancy has a very nice low mileage, tidy Panda selecta 1100 for sale - he hasn't advertised it yet I believe......... He's been driving it himself as his own car and he owns a specialist Fiat Lancia Garage so maybe that tells you something...........

he dont want a panda he wants something newer! she'd be alot more happy with a punto i reckon

panda type thingy said:

So has anyone who owns a Panda driven a Panda 100?

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I've driven the Panda 100 and I came back with a big smile on my face... Though I've never driven a classic Panda for comparison ...

Jim will have tried out the Panda 100 I think...

When at the Fiat garage last week with my mum test driving new Pandas I was offered a go in a 100. Should've said yes but we'd been there ages and already driven one car and it was getting dark... Maybe some other time!

£650 you say. You can get a medium-good condition Cinq Sporting for that, a medium 899 Sei or probably a belter of a cinq. Non-Fiat there is the Mini (at this price range though decent Minis are scarce) and you may be able to find a nice Honda CRX but it likely won't be in good condition for this money...

OR you could buy my mum's Micra (for a bit more than £650) and tweak the suspension!

At the risk of upsetting a few on here, I've driven them all and the one I would stay least go for is the Siecento. We bought 2 (one for me one for my wife, brand new and I thought they were dreadful cars. I had just upgraded from a Cinq Sporting. I kept both cars a LOONG year and promptly went back to the Cinq Sporting. Absolutely cracking little cars (I've had 3), so much fun to drive and feel more planted than the Sie. I have driven a few Sies since and just not the car the Cinq is. I come from a rally background so I want a car that's alive and chuckable. The Sie is more refined but but was just "dull" to me. At then end of the day though it's down to the individuals choice.

New Panda. I own a 4x4 Climbing which I love and find it a hoot in the same vane as the original Panda. I've driven the 100HP and found it the closest car in years comparable to the 205 GTi and even the original Mini Cooper. It is that much fun to drive.

But as the guys say if you are not prepared to spend any more than £650 a Panda would be a good buy. Cheap to buy, cheap to maintain, good car to learn mechanic'n on and it'll get right under your skin. Damm things.

I would disagree, I had a cinq sporting for just over 3 years and 55,000 miles then a seicento sporting for just over 2 years and 25000 miles. Both were really fun cars, both chuckable and no way was the Sei more refined, apart from less rattles etc! However, for some unexplained reason I preffered the Cinq and it was washed and polished a lot more too! However, as I have said the Sei 899cc is awful compared to the Cinq 899cc.

Sprox said:

Malcolm Fancy has a very nice low mileage, tidy Panda selecta 1100 for sale - he hasn't advertised it yet I believe......... He's been driving it himself as his own car and he owns a specialist Fiat Lancia Garage so maybe that tells you something...........

Click to expand...

Have you got the details? I don't really want another Panda but at least the 1.1 engine gets over my 'grunt' issues, don't know if I want an auto though, seems boring compared to a manual. I've been offered a 4x4 as well which I'm waiting for details on but as said before I'm trying to avoid another Panda if poss, seeing as I've found that one Panda is more then enough

Speedy can and has done motorway and can and has done loaded with passengers and stuff, he didn't do it very well so really want something with a few extra bhp. Therefore based on what you guys have been saying I've been doing my research on the cinq sporting and the sei sporting (mainly for the 1.1 engine). I've seen a lot of people say (just like Stuart) that the sei is dull and expensive compared to the cinq, but then again it should be more reliable and is more refined. I think I'll have to have a look see what is offered and go for a few test drives and see what I think, then maybe see if I can find some tidy cheap ones floating about (know of any around the Bromley, SE London, North Kent sort of area?) Still unsure about if I should consider the Panda 100. I may be getting a pay rise so it may depend on that.