Panda 2007 4x4 CROSS, buy it or not?

[Bdamit]

Hello all, I havent posted here in about 8 years, so I thought I'd re-introduce myself.

I had a little White Panda 1000, lovely wee thing that went on to another happy home, and since then been almost exclusively Subaru obsessed (4X4 and a growing family requirements).
Well, I now have my Outback 3.0R, which was a dream car for me, so that's not going away any time soon.

A friend of mine has offered me their 4x4 cross of 2007 vintage 132,000 kms or 80,000 miles.
You know, the green and cream one with the froggy headlamps and taillights.

Its got nine months of MoT (spanish version) but has a little oil in the coolant reservoir (no mayonnaise, and the oil doesn't appear to be contaminated - hopefully its the oil cooler).
The front brake caliper carrier and pads are missing(!) from the Fr left wheel, - that's a bit worrying - no idea how that might happen. Apart from that, the power steering has been known to 'stop working' whatever that means. Scuffs and dings, but all the lights and buttons work, interior good, drives great, on and off road.

They want 500 euros, I think its a steal. Hope to throw a few restoration posts in here, I'd really like to see this spanking new again!

 

[koalar]

Here in the UK 2007 will have a viscous couple, these don't age well and almost impossible to get replaced or repaired, there welded close

It is what it is, if you jack one of the rear wheels, and it turns smoothly with a long bar and not locked solid it may last years more, but it's a gamble

There are options to change to a mechanical lever controlled 3rd party system, not cheap

Rear subframe are known to corroded and almost impossible to replace here in the Uk, probably less of a problem in spain

Anything not 4x4 specific will be cheap to fix if your doing it yourself including brakes

 

[Bdamit]

Here in the UK 2007 will have a viscous couple, these don't age well and almost impossible to get replaced or repaired, there welded close

It is what it is, if you jack one of the rear wheels, and it turns smoothly with a long bar and not locked solid it may last years more, but it's a gamble

There are options to change to a mechanical lever controlled 3rd party system, not cheap

Rear subframe are known to corroded and almost impossible to replace here in the Uk, probably less of a problem in spain

Hi koalar, Thanks for that. I know the car from new, it's always been in our village. It had an elderly owner for the first 16 years, who sometimes towed a light trailer with firewood and hay to and from his farm to his house in the village. It spent its life in a closed garage too.
A year ago it passed to my friend, and I think it deteriorated mostly in this time! My friend put 4 new tires on it, however, which is reassuring:
My Subarus (now on no.6) need 4x same-brand and regularly rotated tires to preserve the viscous coupling, and I imagine that the Fiat has a similar requirement. This one has mostly seen daily short(ish) rural and loose surface journeys, and here on Mallorca there is no long distance motorway travel which will destroy a V.C. if the tyres are unmatched. I'll check the coupling as you mentioned, but I am quietly confident that it is OK. At least sharp turns don't cause a lurch in this one, unlike the shot Subaru coupling I once had.

Underneath it is really good; cars here in the mediterranean last forever if maintained. Original exhaust is solid, and zero rust. I cut my teeth on old minis in the UK, so modern galvanised Mediterranean-market cars are a joy to work on.

Attached is a picture of the underside of my 17 year old Outback H6, the Panda is similar but much dirtier.

 

[rmjbn1]

Power steering is electric, draws a lot of current and can shut down usually due to weak battery or poor earth.

 

[Bdamit]

Power steering is electric, draws a lot of current and can shut down usually due to weak battery or poor earth.

@rmjbn1 Excellent, thank you. I was wondering if it might be a connector somewhere.

Took it for a wash and got some photos of the tidy underside, and took it up our track into the forest to see whats what. Gets up there happily!

Typical mediterranean condition: