So far I’m still planning on getting a new Panda.

Took another drive in my granny’s 2015 Pop on Friday night. Much more refined, way more stable, a good bit quieter and very very easy to control (I’d imagine mines was before all the miles on the gearbox).

Hers is a Pop which is so basic. Though I saw an approved used Pop for about £3,800.

I’m tempted to even go as basic as a Pop to get a nearly new cheap car. Why? So I can start saving for a house deposit. And there’s also things like holidays, computers and clothes id like to start spending on.

I love my car but to me the appeal is ensuring I’m keeping it mechanically sound and clean as opposed to it being fast or loaded with gadgets. People don’t seem to get that!

Though I’ll see how it goes. Could do that in January but my car could go another year or two yet. Who knows.

Keep telling me your opinions and recommendations it’s all helpful!

SB1500 said:

Why? So I can start saving for a house deposit.

Keep telling me your opinions and recommendations it’s all helpful!

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That. Property is king.

I like the honesty of the Pop but our Lounge with all the kit is nice. Heated screen is the bets part though as I neither listen to the radio or use phones. Get one pre April 2017 so it's still £30 a year to tax.

Keep your eye on the obituary columns and phone up the relatives, offering your condolences and asking if the Panda is for sale.

AB100 said:

That. Property is king.

I like the honesty of the Pop but our Lounge with all the kit is nice. Heated screen is the bets part though as I neither listen to the radio or use phones. Get one pre April 2017 so it's still £30 a year to tax.

Keep your eye on the obituary columns and phone up the relatives, offering your condolences and asking if the Panda is for sale.

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Lol, well the funny thing is... my current Panda used to be her car for most of its life.

When I mention buying her Pop model, she says nothing really. Rest of my family wants me to buy a 'good car' more suited to a 22 year old. It's like they think believe they're doing me a favour by not letting me buy it!

Though when I drove it I could hear a constant whine off the gearbox, I believe? Think maybe it's an issue with her particular car though as my older model doesn't have it..

SB1500 said:

Lol, well the funny thing is... my current Panda used to be her car for most of its life.

When I mention buying her Pop model, she says nothing really. Rest of my family wants me to buy a 'good car' more suited to a 22 year old. It's like they think believe they're doing me a favour by not letting me buy it!

Though when I drove it I could hear a constant whine off the gearbox, I believe? Think maybe it's an issue with her particular car though as my older model doesn't have it..

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Winter's a good time to buy. Bad time to sell...

Here you go - reasonable money and a target if nothing else. The lush green leaves and 24.5C temperature tell you it's maybe been around for a while:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...-writeoff-categories=on&year-from=2016&page=1

SB1500: how about trying to find 1 of the last Puntos? You'll get an excellent deal, it should be a good, reliable car for you, and it'll be mechanically similar to a Panda, just slightly bigger. I've owned my 2008 Punto for over 4 and a half years now, and I'd buy another 1 tomorrow.

Because Fiat effectively stopped bothering with the Grande Punto at the evo anything with a decent spec/engine combo will be 5 or 6 years old minimum.

Everything at 3 year old or less has a 1.2 69bhp..which is slow in a panda nevermind a grande..some thing like this

The Grande I'd buy if someone had a gun to my head and for some bizarre reason was forcing me to choose between slightly long in the tooth and mediocre superminis would be the Corsa. As Vauxhall actually continued to develop it for many years so it is available in budget in a much wider range of trims with much more modern engines.

This one is pretty Jazzy in green with SRI spec but you can get pretty much any spec you could desire from 1.0 cars in white on wheel trims, to the full VXR.

I’d say it sounds like you’ve done a lot of thinking.

I wouldn’t say a panda wasn’t a decent car, but it is as you rightly pointed out dated.

I wouldn’t buy a 1 series, drove a couple didn’t like them. Definately wounds buy an A-Class having lived with one for nearly a month.

I really like Citroen’s for their weirdness and they are fun but they are built generally badly, cheaply and they don’t pretend to be anything more.

I’m pretty much on your side with the Yaris/Jazz I would find them a little small and they wouldn’t give them much credit for getting along at speed. So this is what I would probably do, I would look at the Auris, but then I would also look at the Kia Ceed as they have a silly long waranty and are well built.

So given everything you’ve looked and thought about I would buy non of them and look at a Kia.

StevenRB45 said:

Because Fiat effectively stopped bothering with the Grande Punto at the evo anything with a decent spec/engine combo will be 5 or 6 years old minimum.

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Its a shame Fiat dropped the Punto entirely, although with the 500/L/X basically being their best selling range and the Panda ticking the cheaper end of the lineup there wasn't much point. I had a Grande as my first car, it was nothing to write home about, the 1.4 8v was slow but not dreadful and it had that mid-range grunt that 8v's tend to. Lifeless steering and roly poly suspension let it down completely, nowhere near as good as a mk1 and perhaps worse than the mk2 too.
I was contemplating getting an Evo as I did like it as a facelift but I down right refuse the woeful 1.2 and it was by far the most common engine

There's always the Jeep Renegade that's actually 65% Fiat and built alongside the Fiat 500X.

TBH I really don't get why Fiat and BMW keep bashing the Mini/500 body shape for everything. OK, it's an attitude that's worked for Porsche, but the effect soon wears thin now everyone is doing it.

I'd go for the Jeep over the 500X every time. Dynamically they are much the same though some reviews say the Jeep has a less comfortable ride.

http://uk.businessinsider.com/jeep-renegade-all-american-suv-made-in-italy-2017-2

I think you've got to decide what you value in a car before you pick your next one.

The Japanese/Korean options may well be bullet proof for day in day out..or in my case year in year out motoring. But you need to choose carefully as they can be a bit white goods and lacking in fun or character.

That's not to say I wasn't happy my Suzuki Swift never broke down when had a moved out and I was literally down to my last 40 quid with a week of the month to go..but if you like your car to make you smile a Kia or Toyota may not be for you.

I have no idea what I'd replace the Panda with.

I paid £650 a year or so ago and have put 9000 miles on it since then, all it's asked for is basic wear and tear items.


What I love about it, being 6'4" is how roomy it is for a tiny car. So much head room!

That and it's great on petrol, easy to park, small a-pillars so visibility is great. It just works.

Yes, it's slow, but I don't care. It's a car to get me from A to B.

ratty said:

I have no idea what I'd replace the Panda with.

I paid £650 a year or so ago and have put 9000 miles on it since then, all it's asked for is basic wear and tear items.


What I love about it, being 6'4" is how roomy it is for a tiny car. So much head room!

That and it's great on petrol, easy to park, small a-pillars so visibility is great. It just works.

Yes, it's slow, but I don't care. It's a car to get me from A to B.

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169 Pandas will be around for a while yet. So just get another one.

DaveMcT said:

169 Pandas will be around for a while yet. So just get another one.

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Good point

I guess another good thing is if this one dies (it shouldn't) I know exactly what bits to look for before buying.


100hps are about as low as they're going to get, they looks like great fun.

I like my 100HP thought the hard suspension is not to my taste. Fiat 500 springs on the back help quite a bit - and give the correct ride height. 500 springs for the front will be a another mod to try.

A 500 rear axle has an integral anti roll bar (ARB) and softer springs. The axle improves the ride and handling of other (FWD) Panda 169s but wont easily work under the 100HP.

I had a Punto.

When my mum got ill I changed to an A-Class. It was much easier for her to get to and out off. My nephew who is also 6'8" fitted into the back


the Panda is very similar with better MPG

Very few small cars have rear head room. I have spent time looking at every car that I pass.

Modus / some of the Note range
some of the Fabia range
Splash / Agila B
Wagon R / Agila A
some of the Ignis

The Modus might escape the tedium trap, but most of them are transport appliances.

I used to have a Citroen BX 1.9GT - the very last model with satellite steering wheel controls. I sold it to get a (non Citroen) diesel because of the mileage I was doing.

I really missed the character of that BX and would have another if they were not virtually classics with reliability to match.