I recently test drove some used cars at a local dealership on a boring afternoon. The Honda Jazz and the Suzuki Celerio, two cars that have always caught my eyes as alternatives to the Panda.
The Jazz was the king of the small car really, but it’s in and around £10,000 for a decent used one. And as nice as it was it wasn’t very comfortable even compared to my Panda.
The Celerio I was really curious about. They’re so damn cheap second hand. You can take your pick of colour and still pay nothing for a nearly new <3 years one.
The one near me is an SZ3 for about £4,995 (though they go on autotrader for about £4,300). It had 36,000 for a 2015 car. The dealer said he could work on the price, and sure enough, I’m keeping the vaguest interest in it open to them to see what they can do...
The Celerio is an ugly duckling. It okay from the front but it’s a bit plain and ugly compared to a Panda. But it does remind me of my Panda because it’s so tall and narrow looking. I’m not a big fan of sharp look in a car anyway, an object to take a beating and extremes of weather and other people.
The car only comes with two speakers and the door panels are wafer thin. The dashboard plastic is cheaper than my current Panda but looks robust. Got a ‘wipe clean and carry on’ sort of feel to it which I can forgive the cheapness for.
The engine felt pretty quick to me. It was quicker than my Panda 1.2!!! The gears were surprisingly smooth and it had pull in 4th and 5th where my Panda would be catching itself up. Stark contrast to my mums 208 1.0 which is dead in every way possible!
I do like Japanese cars, though I know we often bash them on here for being dull and bland, like German cars. But if the one good thing about them is reliability and holding up a bit better over time, then I can appreciate that! I like Toyota and Honda but they’re quite expensive for what they are and a Jazz and Yaris are nice looking sculpted cars that I’d lose sleep over any dent etc.
The safety is another concern but a thread on here dispels the myths of the 0* Panda rating and though the Suzuki scraped 3 stars it would likely have missed two because of lack of equipment. Which, it lacks in a big way versus the Panda too.
Whilst it does lack fancy equipment, it’s only going to be around £4,000. It has Bluetooth radio, digital radio, alloy wheels, air conditioning and steering whee controls. That’s a slight upgrade for me, anyway. I’d be stripping the door cards and lifting out the glass to tint the windows in the back as well as fit a really good Sony speaker system to it and maybe some sound proofing. The car is just so basic like the Panda!
It will likely do me 5-6 years until it’s nearing old age and by then I hope to have a house under mortgage and be more advanced in my job. Maybe then it’ll be time to get a bigger car, or if the small ones appeal and do the job stick to it.
My Panda is holding up well, but in that time frame of 3-4 years I know I want to buy a house and by then, it’s highly likely something major will come up that perhaps Is the end.
I considered buying an Alto three years ago, as it seemed a bargain too. But that car was full of just downright cut corners and poor quality in ways a Panda isn’t. so I binned the notion after reading a former Panda owners bad experiences with an Alto online. I’m sure the Celerio is probably better.
One more small thing is Brexit. If the EU are going to be bullies and companies jump on the bandwagon increasing prices why not just cut them out completely and buy a Japanese car. I am usually loyal to Fiat but to be fair they aren’t seemingly doing much.
Am I overlooking anything here? I’m aware there’s compromises as with all small cars but the great price and ‘getting a new car out of the way’ for other things is tempting.
The Jazz was the king of the small car really, but it’s in and around £10,000 for a decent used one. And as nice as it was it wasn’t very comfortable even compared to my Panda.
The Celerio I was really curious about. They’re so damn cheap second hand. You can take your pick of colour and still pay nothing for a nearly new <3 years one.
The one near me is an SZ3 for about £4,995 (though they go on autotrader for about £4,300). It had 36,000 for a 2015 car. The dealer said he could work on the price, and sure enough, I’m keeping the vaguest interest in it open to them to see what they can do...
The Celerio is an ugly duckling. It okay from the front but it’s a bit plain and ugly compared to a Panda. But it does remind me of my Panda because it’s so tall and narrow looking. I’m not a big fan of sharp look in a car anyway, an object to take a beating and extremes of weather and other people.
The car only comes with two speakers and the door panels are wafer thin. The dashboard plastic is cheaper than my current Panda but looks robust. Got a ‘wipe clean and carry on’ sort of feel to it which I can forgive the cheapness for.
The engine felt pretty quick to me. It was quicker than my Panda 1.2!!! The gears were surprisingly smooth and it had pull in 4th and 5th where my Panda would be catching itself up. Stark contrast to my mums 208 1.0 which is dead in every way possible!
I do like Japanese cars, though I know we often bash them on here for being dull and bland, like German cars. But if the one good thing about them is reliability and holding up a bit better over time, then I can appreciate that! I like Toyota and Honda but they’re quite expensive for what they are and a Jazz and Yaris are nice looking sculpted cars that I’d lose sleep over any dent etc.
The safety is another concern but a thread on here dispels the myths of the 0* Panda rating and though the Suzuki scraped 3 stars it would likely have missed two because of lack of equipment. Which, it lacks in a big way versus the Panda too.
Whilst it does lack fancy equipment, it’s only going to be around £4,000. It has Bluetooth radio, digital radio, alloy wheels, air conditioning and steering whee controls. That’s a slight upgrade for me, anyway. I’d be stripping the door cards and lifting out the glass to tint the windows in the back as well as fit a really good Sony speaker system to it and maybe some sound proofing. The car is just so basic like the Panda!
It will likely do me 5-6 years until it’s nearing old age and by then I hope to have a house under mortgage and be more advanced in my job. Maybe then it’ll be time to get a bigger car, or if the small ones appeal and do the job stick to it.
My Panda is holding up well, but in that time frame of 3-4 years I know I want to buy a house and by then, it’s highly likely something major will come up that perhaps Is the end.
I considered buying an Alto three years ago, as it seemed a bargain too. But that car was full of just downright cut corners and poor quality in ways a Panda isn’t. so I binned the notion after reading a former Panda owners bad experiences with an Alto online. I’m sure the Celerio is probably better.
One more small thing is Brexit. If the EU are going to be bullies and companies jump on the bandwagon increasing prices why not just cut them out completely and buy a Japanese car. I am usually loyal to Fiat but to be fair they aren’t seemingly doing much.
Am I overlooking anything here? I’m aware there’s compromises as with all small cars but the great price and ‘getting a new car out of the way’ for other things is tempting.