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General Test driving / Buying 4x4

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General Test driving / Buying 4x4

stu0710

stu0710

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Hi All

I'm going to have a look at a 07 Panda 1.2 4x4 over the weekend and just wanted to ask for any tips on what to look for, in particular how do I check that the 4x4 system is working OK?

The car has done 80K and had a new cambelt etc so any helpful advice would be much appreciated!
 
To test the 4x4 system I would just take it on some gravel and put your foot down a bit and watch to see if the rear wheels get drive. That's what I did:)
 
stu0710 said:
I'm going to have a look at a 07 Panda 1.2 4x4 over the weekend and just wanted to ask for any tips on what to look for, in particular how do I check that the 4x4 system is working OK?

The car has done 80K and had a new cambelt etc so any helpful advice would be much appreciated!
Click to expand...

Be careful not to pay too much for it. With 80k on the clock, it's worth at most £3000 and it would have to be mint from a main dealer to justify that.

This may help you negotiate. Knock off £30 for each thousand miles over book.

The dealer/seller may try to tell you that 4WD Pandas sell for more than book because they're scarce &/or desirable. That argument is bo****ks - this is already reflected in the book value.
 
A quick look under the car will show you. Look at the photos below (of my 2005 4x4) -- the rear differential housing has a flat plate bolted on the rear of the casing, and where the propshaft connects to the front of the rear diff, the black unit between the bolts on the propshaft and the flat flange of the diff is the viscous coupling.

The later models (and all the Cross's) have a differential case which is in two halves with the bolted join running along the centre line of the car, and instead of the black viscous unit, the rear diff has a longer 'nose' that connects direct to the prop shaft

I believe the Cross (and maybe late model petrol 4x4s?) was subject to a recall to replace the electro-mechanical unit that engaged the rear drive.

By the way, the electronic system was still fully automatic - you couldn't 'turn on' 4x4. But, the Cross had an extra bit of cleverness -- you could turn on 'electronic diff lock' that would prevent a rear wheel spinning if it lost traction. The 2012 4x4s all have this as standard, which is why all the publicity shots show it with a rear wheel in the air. The old model would loose traction in that situation -- although pulling the handbrake on very gently can help achieve the same effect!
 

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Update - well I looked at the car and it drove OK, except for a metallic 'clang' when changing from 3rd to 4th gear? The bodywork was not as nice as it looked in the photos, both bumpers had some cracking and crazing due to parking prangs and one of the rubber door protection mouldings was hanging off - are these easily sourced items or as scarce as the cars?

Interestingly it had a sliding rear seat, is this common to all 4x4's or an option?
 
stu0710 said:
Update - well I looked at the car and it drove OK, except for a metallic 'clang' when changing from 3rd to 4th gear? The bodywork was not as nice as it looked in the photos, both bumpers had some cracking and crazing due to parking prangs and one of the rubber door protection mouldings was hanging off - are these easily sourced items or as scarce as the cars?

Interestingly it had a sliding rear seat, is this common to all 4x4's or an option?
Click to expand...

Sounds a bit of a heap, I'd walk away unless you are feeling lucky and can get a serious reduction in the price.
 
Herts Hillhopper said:
sliding seat was an expensive option
Clang - mine does this (in all gears, esp 4th to 5th) and have eventually traced to worn out rubber 'donut' holding the propshaft centre bearing. Will fix in time, buy for now, just ease the clutch up gently!
Click to expand...
Yeah, mine doesn't have the sliding seat option.

PM sent btw stu0710
 
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