Used it for work today up and down forestry roads. Stuck some new Goodyear Vector 4seasons tyres on it at the start of the week, coped really well on the muddy bits.

My Panda's MOT ran out exactly a month ago, so I haven't even started it for a whole month, but it's booked in for a test on Tuesday.
Tried the starter today and it started first time on its 9-year-old battery at a temperature not much above freezing.
Pre-MOT checks this afternoon. Need to use the brakes plenty on my way to the test, to clear any rust off.

Wondering why it really smells of petrol on start up when the weather is cold

chr1s said:

My Panda's MOT ran out exactly a month ago, so I haven't even started it for a whole month, but it's booked in for a test on Tuesday.
Tried the starter today and it started first time on its 9-year-old battery at a temperature not much above freezing.
Pre-MOT checks this afternoon. Need to use the brakes plenty on my way to the test, to clear any rust off.

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Funnily enough, mine hasn’t turned a wheel since Boxing Day and I was starting to get nervous about a flat battery so took it out for a run today. How long can we reasonably expect a Panda battery in good condition to stay charged? I felt I was pushing my luck at three weeks.

Re how long can I leave the car without charging the battery :

Don't push it! My car when new in 2019 would not start if I used the radio in it for 2 hours while working in my garage. I was more than a little shocked. They seem to have little reserve. Its now nearly 3 years old and nothing has changed the battery is fine for at least 3 weeks. This seems to be the same in the other two which are older but well maintained.

In theory if there is no load and the battery is fully charged it should be fine for several weeks but there are many variables involved. I now use one of the Lidl Aldi battery chargers that can be left attached on the cars when they are not in use to keep the battery up. Personally I make sure the cars are started and run up to temperature once each 10 days as a precaution. It circulates the oil as well and moves all the bits and pieces which should prevent any premature seizures I hope.

My advice is dont give the little bugger any excuse for playing at being Italian!

The Panda Mylife had all its paint chips done and the top and bonnet re treated with Diamondbrite today. Looks pretty good in its 11th year.
Panda lounge checked for the MOT tomorrow
Noop took a load of scap metal to the tip. No more Bravo bits left now!

The Panda has been a little neglected lately in terms of being kept clean as I have been doing quite a bit of overtime at work recently & this morning the car was really filthy so decided on my day off to give the car a wash,2 coats of Autoglym polish & 3 coats of Bilt Hamber Double Speed Wax & is now looking good after weeks of looking grubby & unloved.



I also purchased & fitted a new stereo for the car as the original had quite a few gremlins. It is a Pioneer DAB mechless unit which was a very reasonable £70 delivered new & sealed, with the canbus adapter, fascia, fm aeriel adapter & magnetic DAB aeriel it came to about £150 all in but worth every penny as it sounds a lot better than the factory radio.

Serviced the Panda for the first time since getting it. Previous owner assured me it had been serviced 500 miles before. It had a brand new air filter, the oil however was pure black, never seen anything as bad. The plugs were pretty old and the insulating material was discoloured.

On the run back from the workshop it felt smoother. Could just be bias from having done the work but really felt like it was running better.

Snow adventures on the way to work

Booked the Panda's MOT today for the 4th March, whilst everything seems in good order as all 4 tyres along with front discs & pads were replaced last year so no money to be spent the only part that wasn't looking so healthy which would have probably led to an advisory was the rather crusty looking sump which looked fine before winter but was now looking a bit nasty, so I spent this morning with a wire brush & a small scraper carefully getting all the crusty bits off the sump which thankfully was all solid underneath with very minor pitting . My dad cleaned it up a bit last year before the MOT but I decided to chance it & go a bit further with it than he did. This is the result after a little cleaning & some Vactan rust converter which although a tad on the expensive side is great stuff. The trick with Vactan is to apply it to the sump when its hot which is what I did after running the car to check the sump was not leaking after cleaning it, I think last time I might of applied it when the car was cold as it was peeling off in areas, silly me. The MOT man should be happy as it looks much better than last year & that should keep it good for another year.

Off to Wickes for a roll of roofing felt which fitted in the boot - just,
Thinking of cleaning the brakes as its approaching its 3rd birthday with the huge sum of 11500 miles on the clock.

Panda went for MOT today & came out with another clean pass with no advisorys

Nice job, mine's tomorrow at 11

FiatMatt94 said:

Panda went for MOT today & came out with another clean pass with no advisorys

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Good news. But you know, really, no car should ever fail an MOT. If its checked over frequently, the normal things that can lead to a fail, like tyres, bulbs, even suspension should be spotted during those weekly checks of a car. OK, more hidden things like excess emissions will not be so clear, but there, regular servicing and checks of stored diagnostic codes will flag them up too. Tempting fate here, but I've only once had a car fail an MOT (in over 40 years of driving), where a very hidden part of the steering gear was picked up.

Mine shot through, no advisories, only comment was a slit on one of the tyre walls.

I'll replace the whole set anyway as they're the originals at coming up to 9 years old

atronic said:

Snow adventures on the way to work
View attachment 401466

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Very Cool Picture.

Herts Hillhopper said:

Good news. But you know, really, no car should ever fail an MOT. If its checked over frequently, the normal things that can lead to a fail, like tyres, bulbs, even suspension should be spotted during those weekly checks of a car. OK, more hidden things like excess emissions will not be so clear, but there, regular servicing and checks of stored diagnostic codes will flag them up too. Tempting fate here, but I've only once had a car fail an MOT (in over 40 years of driving), where a very hidden part of the steering gear was picked up.

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I normally check the car over every week after it gets washed on such things as tyre pressures, bulbs, oil etc. I quite often get neighbours asking why I'm checking the bulbs as the cars tell you when a bulbs out. I always did regular checks on the other cars I owned in the past but I do it a bit more regular on the Panda as I bought it new & would like to keep it mechanically sound & the bodywork clean for as long as possible

lunchbeers said:

Mine shot through, no advisories, only comment was a slit on one of the tyre walls.

I'll replace the whole set anyway as they're the originals at coming up to 9 years old

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The tyres have done well to last that long, I replaced my original tyres last year for the 1st MOT just under 25k

FiatMatt94 said:

I quite often get neighbours asking why I'm checking the bulbs as the cars tell you when a bulbs out.

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Like with everything else, prevention is better than cure. Good to see. On the subject of checking the bulbs, not all cars check all of the bulbs. The Panda is no exception. It won't report a failed headlight or front fog light, reversing light and I suspect, brake light either. It does report side light/DRL, rear fog and and number plate lights, and of course the indicator is shown up (on any car) by flashing twice as fast if a bulb blows.

Today was my only day off for the week so gave dad's Punto a quick wash & then it was the Panda's turn for a quick clean, also I got a new genuine fiat tool bag off ebay in original fiat sealed packaging for £2 plus post, it's for a 500 but sits in the Panda boot well enough