Hello everyone, new member from North Yorkshire here having a rather extreme downsizing from a Vauxhall Frontera to a Fiat Panda 100hp.

i have had the panda going on 3 months now and this been my first fiat, i am fairly impressed with it. There are some things i like and some things i don't, and of course a little heap of problems and issues that i am slowly working through, but nothing i wouldn't expect of a 10 year old Italian built car, anyway here are a few pictures for you all.

[never mind i apparently need 5 posts first]

When selecting a car i usually go for Rover products, or more recently Vauxhall after they stopped trading but was put off a Meriva by a mechanic friend who recommended a Panda, i must say the difference through town is like night and day, the old Frontera would need a gap the size of a double decker bus to pull out whereas this little panda just zips around and parking is an absolute doddle, not to mention the much better fuel economy (Frontera was getting 11mpg) and surprisingly interior space is roughly the same, Fronteras are oddly small inside, most likely to accommodate all the bulky 4wd system whereas the panda looks tiny but is very tall.

Of course there are things i dislike about the panda but nothing that really surprises me as such, the road noise is very noticeable at speed and the car does not feel good in any sort of inclement weather, i have a feeling the ditchfinder tyres that are currently on there are making things worse and will report back when i get some better quality ones fitted. the fit and finish is probably on par with the Frontera, everything is plastic and feels flimsy, though for a cheap Italian built car i actually expected worse, the electric power steering is completely devoid of any sort of feel, even in "sport" mode, i am sure this little go-kart is plenty capable of zipping down back roads but i just don't have the confidence when i have almost no idea what the front wheels are doing.

Anyway, theirs a list of issues with the car that i am slowly making my way through:

Boot release is temperamental
Air conditioning doesn't work
Keyfob is very temperamental
previous small accident damage to front bumper, missing bumper trim
paint bubbling on rear N/S door
cup holder missing its little rubber mat
porous sump
cam belt needs changing
headlights are incredibly dim

As of this post i have already:
Replaced front N/S wing (previous accident damage)
replaced gear gaiter (was cracked and nasty)
Replaced the original battery! (was 10 years old and finally gave up on the M1)
replaced exhaust middle section and fitted an ulter back box
Replaced air filter with Repartocorse panel filter

Overall its a good little car, has its problems but none that i wouldn't expect after 10 years, hoping i can get a few tips and pointers from this site to help me keep it on the road for years to come.

Thanks all

Roo

Hi Rob and welcome

Hope the GUIDES were hepful for the gearchange items.

Heater.. could be 3 different issues..

Rust.. again more accident damage.

These Polish built cars dont tend to rust

My 1.1 had no body rust.. after 15 years out in the street

Charlie

Hi, and welcome Looking forward to seeing your 100HP once you're allowed to show it off!

It sounds like your 100HP isn't handling as it should. Fingers crossed it hasn't taken a knock in the accident damage that did for the front wing. I 'only' have a lowly 1.2 and even that is a lot of fun with predictable handling up to and beyond the grip limits. If everything is straight I'd guess either the crummy tyres or misaligned tracking are causing your problems. Failing that, maybe tired shocks, springs or bushes.

I had a couple of the issues you've listed, and managed to fix them thanks to help received on this forum:

Boot release is temperamental
There's a good guide to remove the handle and clean the microswitch, took me about 20min.

Air conditioning doesn't work
There's a known weakness in the design for the climate control system, and it's not an easy fix. There is a number of threads dealing with this, including this recent one with diy repairs.

Keyfob is very temperamental
Replacing the buttons with some 99p ebay specials worked for me, some other solutions might help you here.

Yes, you're right, the interior trim is heavy on the grey plastic, and there's quite a lot of road noise. But then it helps keep the car so light! And I completely agree it's bigger on the inside than out. It's a very thoughtfully designed little thing. Oh, and our cheap Italian built cars were built in Poland, so there's some extra good news for you!

I hope you get your handling woes fixed soon and get to enjoy your 100HP as it should be

Forgot to add, if you're not already aware then the best bit of future-proofing a Panda can get is rust prevention on the rear axle spring cups. The best way is to drop the rear axle by undoing the two lower shocker bolts, as in varesecrazy's excellent guide.

Many thanks rmjbn1 theres a lot of helpful links there!

I had a damn good look over the car once i noticed it had a bump, if its only panel damage then you can use it to lever a great deal of cash off the asking price, theres no damage behind the front wing at all and the bottom arm looks straight and original, i am looking into a full set of uniroyal rainsports though at current we are part way through purchasing a house, which as it turns out is very expensive so sadly panda maintenance is on hold.

Had a good look through that rear boot switch thread, I'm hoping its as easy as the guide makes it look lol

The air con i am hoping is just a case of no gas, when you push the little schrader valve the feintest breath of freon puffs out, the compressor does not even kick in though all the lights and such pop up on the climate control, I'm either suspecting it has never been refilled from new, or the shunt has cracked the air con rad, more investigation is required on this one.

As for the key, i am looking into getting the newer fob type that 500's have, the one where you can swap the cases, has anyone figured out if you can do this yet? i remember reading a thread on here that you could do it at a fiat dealer so long as you bring £300 with you, though can you just buy a key and get it programmed by one of those mobile key blokes nowadays?

I was very much surprised at how light the panda actually is, a friend of mine has purchased a VW fox which i assumed would be roughly the same sort of car, but i was wrong, the fox is considerably larger in size and noticeably heavier, the engine bay is huge! though even with that the inside is very plasticky and the little 3 cylinder petrol struggles to get 40mpg whilst just about doubling the 0-60 time of the panda

Thanks for the heads up on the rusty rear axle, seems like a simple enough job to do, i need to get that off anyways as i need to inspect the rear shocks which i know are a weak spot on these, i know one has been replaced but not the other

Again, many thanks for your replies, all the info is very useful!

Roo

I'm off to look at one on Saturday myself so I'll look out for the things you've listed too

I'm in the same sort of situation, downsizing from a Mk4 Golf that has recently been written off. I've spent years modifying it but never really get a chance to use its full potential

I am sorry to hear your golf got written off, i hope everyone involved was unhurt, cars after all can be replaced.

what engine was in the golf? the little 1.4 in the panda i would describe more as nippy rather than fast, i expected the 6th gear to be more a cruising gear for fuel economy when in actual fact its lower than the 5th gear on most other cars, at 30mph in 6th the engine is doing 1300rpm. This means that all the gear ratio's are very very close, this makes it feel nippy around town as you are always changing gears, but personally when i set off normally i just go from 1st, to 3rd, to 6th.

Not trying to put you off buying one, these where just my impressions after purchasing that i was not necesserily expecting.
modification wise i am not overly sure how easy they are, i have heard of people swapping the engine from a 500 abarth into them with good results but other than that i cant really say, i am not allowed to modify my panda as its strictly my daily so the project car gets all of my spare cash.

It was a 1.8 turbo with 225bhp so a bit of a difference!

Yes we were all fine cheers, it was only a light rear end shunt but cars being what they are nowadays it was written off as uneconomical to repair so I've bought it back and will be broken for parts to salvage some of the money back I've spent over the years.

I bought the Panda today and have just driven it 350 miles back home. It's a completely different breed to the Golf but overall I'm liking it. As a bonus it came with a full Bilstein/Eibach setup and Abarth 500 seats.

It needs a good machine polish when the weather is a bit better but it's a very good car for the money

Goodness i find the panda 100hp ride to be firm as it is! i cant even imagine what a lowered one would be like (or is that me just getting old?) i put bilstein B12's on the project car and the ride became substantially firmer, though i have heard that these little cars are susceptible to premature wear on the standard shocks, hopefully the bilsteins last a little longer for you!

the 500 abarth seats are also something i am looking into, are they full leather? i do mountain biking every now and again and often drive home absolutely filthy, im using disposable seat covers at the moment but would love a set of abarth leathers to wipe clean.

mine is in damn good need of a clean at the moment, i just purchased a full set of cleaning products from halfords called "car gods" never heard of it before but willing to give it a try.

After looking through various guides 99% were telling me the standard 100HP suspension was absolutely shocking so I was always budgeting this into the purchase price. Luckily this one popped up with the Bilstien B12 kit already being fitted and only 6 months old.

I have a 100HP. Its ok but I'm nor sure the increased power make up for the rock hard ride and costly parts. IMHO the 4x4 would have suited me but the "performance" would have been too much to cope with after selling the motorbike.

I had my back axle grit blasted and zinc metal sprayed. It meant some work to drop the axle off the car but gave me the excuse to fit braided brake hoses.

It's fussy on steering tracking. "correct" is zero degrees toe angle but I think it grips better with two (spanner) flats of toe-in on each side. Before doing that make sure the bottom arm bushes are 100%. The wide tyres give them some stick so be sure to get the correct Magneti Marelli parts. More costly of course.

100HP Front bumper is fragile and VERY expensive to replace. Take it off and store it carefully. Use an ordinary Panda bumper painted in 100HP style with the 100HP arch flares etc. Only FF members will spot what you've done.

Porous sump??? that's VERY odd on an engine with cast aluminium sump pan. You need to find out why it's leaking.

Wheels go 50p shape at the slightest excuse. Store the alloys and fit steels. Done right they'll look cool. 50 series tyres ride a lot better than the OEM 45s.

Back suspension has long bump stops and knock-your-fillings-out springs. But no worries the 500 springs softer are a straight swap and give the right stance for very little cost. Febi bump stops from the Fiat Coupe are just right.

Once actually moving at speed the suspension doesn't seem so bad, but when coming over speed bumps or through pot holes its the firmest thing i have ever driven, do the bilsteins actually improve the ride? Im not going to be using this as a track car so i am not over worried about increased cornering performance, just perhaps something that deals with potholes and speed bumps a little better.

DaveMcT the engine size was the only reason why i chose the 100hp over the 4x4, i was looking at both and went against the 1.2 as i firmly beleive these small engines wont last as long as the bigger, simpler ones, my first car was a 1.4 citroen which sadly rotted out at the ripe age of 34, the engine still as strong as day 1 wheras the little 1 litre clio's and polo's all died of engine troubles.

i am looking into some new wheels and tyres at some point, so will get everything tracked up properly and report back on the steering situation, im beginning to think perhaps its just my perception as this is the first car i have driven with electric power steering.

Sadly i am already finding the front bumpers are near impossible to find, the previous owner has fiberglassed the front bumper (badly) after the previously mentioned bump and so is pretty much gone, i am searching about for people breaking one at the moment, though i do have all but 1 piece of the plastic trim, so might end up biting the bullet and getting a brand spanker from Italy.

I thought it was an ally sump, a "mechanic" friend of mine told me it was a steel sump and it had gone porous, i have a new ally one sat in the garage to replace the "steel" one...... i feel pretty stupid now

Alas, this is my 5th post so i can update the 1st post with some pictures of the panda.

Never mind apparently i cant edit the first post, so i will just plonk the pictures here instead:

Very tidy car, and I like the tailpipe.

Lovely car mate, I have the same backbox

Boot liner looks good, might have to find one for mine.


I'm currently looking for genuine roof bars, quite expensive though

Looks good from all those angles! Good luck with the front bumper

As for the key, i am looking into getting the newer fob type that 500's have, the one where you can swap the cases, has anyone figured out if you can do this yet?

I've replaced key fob casings in the past, but only with like-for-like aftermarket versions. As long as you're careful with the transponder chip it's easy enough.

I'm not sure about changing to the newer style of fob, though, I imagine the circuit board is a different shape. Someone else might be able to advise about cloning or programming a new circuit board.

Once actually moving at speed the suspension doesn't seem so bad, but when coming over speed bumps or through pot holes its the firmest thing i have ever driven, do the bilsteins actually improve the ride?

I understand it's more the FIAT 500 springs and Coupe bump stops which help to soften the ride. If you do end up dropping the rear axle for rust-proofing then the springs can easily be lifted out.

Thanks for the kind words everyone

I am going to look into the rear axle as soon as i can, give the spring seats a good clean and paint and inspect the shocks and springs, this is the first car i have worked on that has a beam rear axle, everything else has either had independent rear or a solid axle 4x4, it sounds refreshingly easy but will have to see.

Driving to my mums place today i am sure that a rear wheel bearing is on its way out, does anyone know off the top of their heads if these are bolted or pressed in?

the latest project is going to be wood lining the rear, removing the rear seats and turning it into a little van so i can ferry things to and from the new house, also looking into getting a tow bar though they seem very hard to get for the 100hp models, i have seen that Westfalia do them, though they are'nt on their website anymore and there are none on ebay, anyone know of another brands that fits without having to chop most of the bumper up?

cheers again everyone

Roo

I have a vertical detachable Westfalia on my 100Hp, but still had to make a gap in the diffusor.
Rear bearings have a nut (about 300Nm torque required) and are easy to replace. Make sure to buy one with an ABS ring in it.

gr J

A3jeroen said:

I have a vertical detachable Westfalia on my 100Hp, but still had to make a gap in the diffusor.

Click to expand...

I thought double diffusers & blown diffusers were illegal now

I'd been thinking about a tow bar for a bike rack / small trailer. That looks like a good 'un

There's always room for interpretation of the rules in Formula 1. Especially for the Italian team. (mumbles softly Ferrari International Assistance)

Towbar was bought at Towequippe in the UK via EvilBay. Been in use since 2013 to tow my boat to Croatia every year. You can barely see that it's not original.

gr J