Taking the new Panda up to Fiat before it goes out of warranty to get a few things addressed...


- Rubber seal around passenger door window falling down

This happened on a relatives 2015 new Panda Pop after a year. Told the dealer popping it into place isn't gonig to fix it as I've done it numerous times. Think they've ordered a new part for this, mines stretched from getting caught in the glass.


- HVAC blower on speed 2 makes a whine
Thought this was some kind of engine problem by how it sounded originally but can be eliminated with the blower turned off. Something must be caught / not right in there. Might as well have Fiat pull it apart and see what the issue is on a car this new. I certainly wouldn't want to remove any dash parts or trims. I'm a bit concerned though as other relatives / friends whove had various car makes fixed under warranty that involved refitting the dash board have had all sorts of damage / faults come of it..


- Stickers on underbody peeling
Some of you laughed at my post about this! Sounds funny, and from what I can gather not really going to be a big issue but they're going to apparently fix this too. They're coloured black like the body colour of the chassis, so arguably part of the bodywork from before it was painted so if they can put it right again why not have it done.


- Parcel shelf plastic bracket missing

This seemed to fall off in the first two years, and the shelf falls when the boot is open as a result. Glad to get it addressed too.



What else is likely to go wrong or I should have addressed at this point? Few months left of Fiat warranty. Any other bound-to-fail problems that longer term owners can warn me of?

Worth checking for any recalls

A battery : charging circuit check.. money you wont have to spend in 2020

Highly recommend getting your (first?) MOT done before the warranty expires. Altough the warranty won't cover wear and tear items like brake pads or tyres, it may cover some other things it could get picked up on.

I always get a third party garage to go over the car with a fine tooth comb for an hour before the warranty expires. Its always paid off. Get it all sorted as you dont get a second chance.

Herts Hillhopper said:

Highly recommend getting your (first?) MOT done before the warranty expires. Altough the warranty won't cover wear and tear items like brake pads or tyres, it may cover some other things it could get picked up on.

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In N. Ireland we have to MOT it for the first time at 4 years old instead of 3. Also, only government run dedicated MOT centres can do the test. I do wonder if I'll still need to MOT it at 3 years old with it being an England registered car..


The best I could do is take it to a local mechanic and get them to check it over but I'd rather drink my own p*** than take it to any of the local choices here! lol

Hadn’t spotted you were in NI... odd that MOT only after 4 years there?

Herts Hillhopper said:

Hadn’t spotted you were in NI... odd that MOT only after 4 years there?

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As far as I’m aware, yes! But also need clarification on whether it applies to me given my car is English-Italian lol

So I got the warranty work done, all good. New window seal, new parcel shelf.

They even washed the car free!


On a downer though, the sales department did NOT want to sell any Fiats that day. Did not want to encourage selling an Abarth... didn’t want to talk about a nice 500X on the lot... told me I haven’t had my Panda long enough to trade it in!!! Madness! I can see why we’ve went from 4 dealerships to 2 here in NI. All four by the same franchise.

But the service department was great! Went above and beyond, and faster than I expected.

Haven't had it long enough to trade it in?!!

I can see the argument that it might be financially disadvantageous to trade in a nearly-new car, given the very heavy initial depreciation, but that's your call, not theirs!

Maybe they thought you weren't serious about trading in, and were trying to fob you off as a time-waster?

But even if you weren't looking to swap now, you might well be in 6/9/12 months time, so they lost an opportunity to line up another sale at some future point. That's just bad business - short-sighted, and not likely to engender customer goodwill.

As a contrast, the Fiat salesman we used to buy from, 25 years ago, couldn't wait to toss me the keys of anything new that he had on the forecourt, with the invitation to go and enjoy myself for half an hour. We bought 5 cars from him over the years.

gar074 said:

Haven't had it long enough to trade it in?!!

I can see the argument that it might be financially disadvantageous to trade in a nearly-new car, given the very heavy initial depreciation, but that's your call, not theirs!

Maybe they thought you weren't serious about trading in, and were trying to fob you off as a time-waster?

But even if you weren't looking to swap now, you might well be in 6/9/12 months time, so they lost an opportunity to line up another sale at some future point. That's just bad business - short-sighted, and not likely to engender customer goodwill.

As a contrast, the Fiat salesman we used to buy from, 25 years ago, couldn't wait to toss me the keys of anything new that he had on the forecourt, with the invitation to go and enjoy myself for half an hour. We bought 5 cars from him over the years.

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That’s exactly what I would have thought, because in recent years, when I genuinely couldn’t have sensibly took out finance on a newer car, the dealers were still convinced that they could persuade me to do so and would essentially allow me to ‘waste their time’!

Now, that I could - though as you said, might look bad - trade it in, he’s not interested! Certainly mad to me.

Plus I got my Panda for around £5,500 from Motorpoint, 2 years old and 19,000 or so miles. Here in NI, that’s unheard of. We have silly overpriced used cars here. A local dealer had a red 2015 Panda Easy with 40,000 miles on it for £5,300. Told him at the time, if he’d put it down to £5,000 I’d accept it for the sheer convenience but he refused. It’s still for sale now (google Curtis Cars Coleraine) for well under £5,000 and nobody is interested. - I’d have thought they could happily have paid off mines, gave me a good deal on another Fiat on the yard and turn a tidy profit using NI used prices (plus their own warranty to entice buyers) on a decent enough, fresh Easy model with Bluetooth pack and 5% tinted windows!


I’m wondering in an unrelated sense... does warranty work get charged to Fiat or does the dealer pay for it? I suspected Fiat paid for it, but if not then that’d maybe explain their disapproval of me being there lol

SB1500 said:

That’s exactly what I would have thought, because in recent years, when I genuinely couldn’t have sensibly took out finance on a newer car, the dealers were still convinced that they could ..
Plus I got my Panda for around £5,500 from Motorpoint, 2 years old and 19,000 or so miles. Here in NI, that’s unheard of.

I’m wondering in an unrelated sense... does warranty work get charged to Fiat or does the dealer pay for it? I suspected Fiat paid for it, but if not then that’d maybe explain their disapproval of me being there lol

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Yep.. putting you behind the wheel of something nice is half the sale..

Warranty..

AFAIK..

Fiat UK supply the parts..
and the dealer claims the labour costs
(Thats why they dont mind doing the stuff..)

varesecrazy said:

Yep.. putting you behind the wheel of something nice is half the sale..



Warranty..



AFAIK..



Fiat UK supply the parts..

and the dealer claims the labour costs

(Thats why they dont mind doing the stuff..)

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Yes! They had a nice Fiat 500X in silver, 1.6L petrol was the only off putting factor! But it doesn’t seem to have glowing owner stories on here as the Panda mostly does. But I think it’s a beauty of a design personally!

But the dealer says it’s too soon! Lol

There’s a Panda Trussardi down there too but I think my current Panda is “bad enough” if you asked most people around me. Let alone one that’s nearly deliberately provocative with its design! Lol

You have pictures of the new stickers?

gr J

A3jeroen said:

You have pictures of the new stickers?



gr J

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I do not! Lol

A3jeroen said:

You have pictures of the new stickers?

gr J

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Now I remember exactly what you're talking about! The underside of the sills stickers that are peeling. I walked up to a brand new non registered Panda Easy (black too!) in the showroom and felt under it for these stickers. Sure enough, they're there.


It feels like from the factory they are applied, but half of the surface area of the sticker is 'floating' and not stuck to anything, the other outer half stuck to the sill. Touching it on the new car and it wobbles - like applying a sticker half off the edge of something.


Clearly what has happened on my car is from washing it or something, they've been tugged at and bent / pulled, leading the edges of the stuck on side to peel up. Underneath, is metalwork, which protrudes out from the sill.


It was my fear that this metalwork would then be exposed / cause issue but the people on here seem to think it's no cause for alarm.


The dealer said he couldn't picture what I was talking about but he'd get them to take a look. He then said 'we tried to remove them' for some reason, but I didn't question it at the time.



On another note, replacing the cabin filter yesterday got rid of that 'whine' noise on fan speed two. Another issue I asked to be solved that the dealer turned a blind eye to! But again, non-issues in all honesty. Just something worth asking them to sort rather than myself until I have to sort it myself.

SB1500 said:

Now I remember exactly what you're talking about! The underside of the sills stickers that are peeling. I walked up to a brand new non registered Panda Easy (black too!) in the showroom and felt under it for these stickers. Sure enough, they're there.


It feels like from the factory they are applied, but half of the surface area of the sticker is 'floating' and not stuck to anything, the other outer half stuck to the sill. Touching it on the new car and it wobbles - like applying a sticker half off the edge of something.


Clearly what has happened on my car is from washing it or something, they've been tugged at and bent / pulled, leading the edges of the stuck on side to peel up. Underneath, is metalwork, which protrudes out from the sill.


It was my fear that this metalwork would then be exposed / cause issue but the people on here seem to think it's no cause for alarm.


The dealer said he couldn't picture what I was talking about but he'd get them to take a look. He then said 'we tried to remove them' for some reason, but I didn't question it at the time.



On another note, replacing the cabin filter yesterday got rid of that 'whine' noise on fan speed two. Another issue I asked to be solved that the dealer turned a blind eye to! But again, non-issues in all honesty. Just something worth asking them to sort rather than myself until I have to sort it myself.

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The stickers won't be a issue the whole car has electrfertitc costing to stop rust the small sticker isn't going to add much additional protection

SB1500 said:

Now I remember exactly what you're talking about! The underside of the sills stickers that are peeling. I walked up to a brand new non registered Panda Easy (black too!) in the showroom and felt under it for these stickers. Sure enough, they're there.


It feels like from the factory they are applied, but half of the surface area of the sticker is 'floating' and not stuck to anything, the other outer half stuck to the sill. Touching it on the new car and it wobbles - like applying a sticker half off the edge of something.


Clearly what has happened on my car is from washing it or something, they've been tugged at and bent / pulled, leading the edges of the stuck on side to peel up. Underneath, is metalwork, which protrudes out from the sill.


It was my fear that this metalwork would then be exposed / cause issue but the people on here seem to think it's no cause for alarm.


The dealer said he couldn't picture what I was talking about but he'd get them to take a look. He then said 'we tried to remove them' for some reason, but I didn't question it at the time.



On another note, replacing the cabin filter yesterday got rid of that 'whine' noise on fan speed two. Another issue I asked to be solved that the dealer turned a blind eye to! But again, non-issues in all honesty. Just something worth asking them to sort rather than myself until I have to sort it myself.

Click to expand...

Mine has these too. Also falling off. Clearly masking that should have been removed at the factory as they serve no purpose. I just wax oiled the patches as they dont show.