I have a 2006 Panda Sporting with 91K miles on the clock. Last year it failed its MOT with corrosion on the rear beam axle. I decided, because I really liked the car, to have the axle replaced at considerable expense. I hoped it would prolong the life of the car for a few more years. However, whilst it passed its MOT this year, it did so with a list of advisories including bad corrosion to the shock absorbers, coil springs and exhaust plus the alternator is about to give up.

I am in a total dilemna as to what to do next. I have been offered my father's low mileage 2008 Suzuki Swift and as I see it my options are as follows;
1 - Keep the Panda and have the necessary work done but risk an ever increasing bill if something else goes wrong.
2 - Trade the Panda in against a new car in the diesel scrappage scheme.
3 - Scrap the Panda and go for the Suzuki.
As mentioned earlier I really like the Panda despite its foibles so this decision has become very difficult. Consequently any advice or thoughts you may have would be most welcome.

Everything mentioned with regard to corrosion is a bolt on part, and suspension components are likely to be the originals so the car will almost certainly ride the better for having new ones, the exhaust is a consumable also and no doubt none of the parts are expensive, the labour shouldn’t be huge either not being a panda guru, the principles of the parts needed are simple replacements. If the car itself is solid then I’d repair especially if you know someone who is handy with a spanner. Personally I’d always repair a known quantity, better the devil you know.

Definitely wouldn’t entertain the scrappage scheme, even at full retail repair prices for your pandas faults you will surely only end up with another departure from your bank every month for the next 5 years with the option to not have 7k laying around at the end and so you end up trapped and getting a new car every three years and paying till the year dot. There’s a lot to be said for owning your own car. Each to their own though just my thoughts.

I'd describe what needs done as general wear and tear. Also as far as the exhaust goes, unless it's actually holed it's fine. I have a 2005 Multijet with 132K miles on the original exhaust which I would describe as 'scabby as hell', rusty and flaky, but not holed, so until it's actually worn through, it's staying on. It's passed the pretty stringent Northern Ireland MoT several years like that without comment. Just knock the worst bits off and you'll be grand. There's a few layers to it.

91K miles is low miles. There's a few with over 200K on them. It's got a bit to go.

It's already been noted the parts that need replacing are usually considered wear and tear items, you'd expect cars of this age to require most of these parts.

But they can still come as a bit of a shock when you're faced with replacing them all at around the same time and if you aren't inclined to reach for the spanners yourself, they won't be cheap fix when you weight it up against the value of the car.

So unless you are going to replace the car with something considerably newer, the 2008 Swift, even though they are great cars, is probably going to give you the same sort of headaches sooner than you'd want.

So in my opinion, the Swift option isn't that tempting, you might as well fix what you have and know.

New car sales are down so it might be a good time to hunt around for a deal on a new car, you aren't desperate for one, which always makes the haggling fun!

There are some great offers around if you dig around, though these scrappage deals can be a bit misleading, they are just another name for a discount, like deposit contributions.

One of the better deals is the new Swift, it's on 0% finance at the moment, even I'm tempted by the version with the little 1.0 litre turbo with the mild Hybrid system, all the mpg of a diesel, but none of the hassle.