Hi folks! You've probably seen my recent list of questions...so here's an explanation. I'm a Canuck living in South Wales, UK. I presently have a 740 Volvo estate. Because I'm diabetic, and new to the UK, I get stiffed even more than you locals when it comes to insurance. £600+ this year. I hate filling the volvo with petrol, especially a UK prices, but even more so cause I'm tight by nature.

A friend who is a motoring journalist suggested a Panda would be an excellent car. Did some research, and liked what I saw: simple as an old Honda MC, Tesco insurance £149/year, lower road tax, and cheap parts. I found several Pandas on ebay: the one I won, for £21, and is now being worked on, has 49k original miles, the engine is clean and sounds sweet, the interior is clean, no rips or other damage, and it came with 5 new tires, brand new exhaust, alternator, battery. There is no rust on the car, except a little on the driver's door- plugged drain holes. It has all its paperwork, including a full service history from a Fiat garage, each service stamped, signed and miles recorded, every 6 months, since new. The volvo guzzeled £20 on the return trip, the Panda about £8 Oh, and it came with 4 months tax.

I took it for an mot and it failed on: no horn, bad earth to driver's side indicators, worn hand brake and the top of the front suspension on one side needs a bushing kit, £12, and £30 fitting.

Even at this rate I'm still several hundred pounds ahead of reinsuring the Volvo, and that doesn't take into account work it needs for the mot or the higher road tax. And any new-to-me (or you) car will require replacement of consumables sooner or later, if not immediately.

Justin

OK.

Belated welcome to the FIAT Forum

My apologies for my "English" humour - I wondered when I posted the quip about the cost of your Panda if I should have put it quite like that...

But there just seemed to be a rapidly increasing number of problems considering the description: "Very clean, well taken care of, full service history, 49K miles." and I posted my reaction.

Neglected Pandas seem to need quite a bit of work to get back into everyday use again, but once there are not too much effort or cost to keep going.
There are some exceptions though - my CLX has needed a lot of nursing, but it hasn't cost much. ( If you have the time, most of it can be found by searching here.)

There are in fact, few problems.
A set of shoes and a handbrake cable are consumables and need replacing sooner or later; either when you buy the car, after a yearor two, or to sell it. And with the Panda, it's cheap and easy, £25 and 3 hours total.
Electrics go wonky when kids hook up stereos- every car I've acquired has needed bulbs, earths cleaned etc. A few clips, electrical tape and bulbs amounts to a few £, and a few hours of head scratching.
One £12 suspension kit for one leg, and a fitting charge is no big deal- all vehicles will need it eventually- and it's far cheaper than most to fix.
The only real problem is the rust and split on the plate, and it wasn't a thing on the mot. Even if I have to spend a few days at it, it will still be worth it, I think- not in building value in acar to sell, but in creating a solid car good for another 5 years of motoring.

Justin

Agreed.

It's a relatively inexpensive car to maintain and run.

Good fun too, when going (and stopping) as intended.


BTW the doors do rust regardless of drain holes.
Another area of concern is under the "mat" in the area behind and under the rear seat: look for bubbles in the seam at the outer edges.

21 quid?

I must have blinked.

Anyway, welcome to the forum!

Steve the geriatric Panda and Beagle freak

G781 TUT: White Panda 1000CL - 31-08-1989 to 09-03-2004 (may she rest in pieces )
J154 FMX: Gorgeous little red Panda 750L in good condition - screaming for me to rescue her