Panda 2012+ Another Yellow Panda Cross 4x4

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Panda 2012+ Another Yellow Panda Cross 4x4

Joined
Nov 17, 2014
Messages
50
Points
15
Location
Civitavecchia, near Rome
Ciao all you Fiat Fanatics!

I've been a member of the Forum for about 10 years, having joined when we retired from Italy back to NZ in 2011 and purchased my mum's ex-Japan market 2000 Punto ELX 1.2 16V 4-speed auto. Sold in 2015 when we moved back to Italy and purchased a 2010 Lancia Musa, for which I did find some useful info (for Idea) on the forum.

However, my Fiat-centric interests date back much earlier than that, as the first Fiat was a '80 X1/9 1.5, purchased in 1990. Shortly after that the ag equipment company I worked for became NZ distributor for Fiatagri (Fiat's ag equipment division, now CNH) and I was appointed NZ Brand Manager. The X1/9 was an effective "icebreaker" with all the skeptical Fiatagri dealers!.

When a new NZ Fiat Auto distributor was appointed in 1995 after a long hiatus I ordered a new 1996 Brava 1.8 ELX, not long after the NZ launch. Then in '97 I moved to Sydney with New Holland Oz (as Fiatagri had morphed into). No Fiat Auto distributor in Oz at that time, so it was back to driving Ford Falcons. In 2000 I transferred to New Holland in Modena, Italy as a Product Marketing Manager in their Africa, Middle East & Asia marketing group. A succession of company-facilitated new cars followed, including '00 Alfa 146 1.9TD blue, '01 Alfa 147 1.6 black, '02 Stilo 3-dr JTD blue, '04 Stilo 3-dr JTD red, '06 Panda Cross MJT orange (purchased after 12 months), '07 Lancia Musa MJT burgundy met., '08 Punto Grande 3-dr JTD red, '09 Alfa MiTo 1.4T red.

The plan was to take the Panda Cross with us to NZ after we retired (my wife also worked for New Holland/CNH in Modena, primary reason for my move there in 2000), but the NZ RTA changed the rules on LHD cars which made it illegal for importation (as an OE RHD version was available). In its place we purchased an '07 Jeep Cherokee CRD in red met. from Charles Hurst Belfast in 2010, had it delivered to a CNH colleague's home in Kent & drove it back to Italy (first Jeep on the CNH site after Fiat bought Chrysler Jeep in '09). Intended to ship the Jeep from Italy with our household goods but it was way cheaper to ship from UK, so another drive Italy-UK in November 2010!

We had been waiting for the new small Jeep which should be launched next year as the Renegade is a bit too big our needs these days but decided an interim Panda Cross would do nicely and give the Stellantis effect time to work through the system. It was going to be a hybrid, but when I realised how much less power/torque it has we went for the 4x4 TwinAir Turbo 64kW in Giallo Sole (as it's called for the Italian market).

Hopefully, we'll have it around the end of this month!

I'm not able to upload pics yet, so they will have to wait.

Cheers from sunny Italy :cool:
 
Pics for: Another Yellow Panda Cross 4x4

I forget to mention Patrizia's Cinquecento Young, she had also owned a 500L classic a few years prior to purchasing the Cinquecento new.

Here are the first 4, have to resize the Brava pic :cry:
 

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More pics: Another Yellow Panda Cross 4x4

And to conclude, here are the last of the Fiats down through the years.

We really enjoyed our first Panda Cross and found it handled the few Modena snowfalls with ease. Only issue we had with it during the 4 years of ownership was an electric window lift which was replaced under warranty. Loved the big sunroof, pity it's not available now.
 

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So, doesn't look like the new wheels will be here by month's end. Contacted dealer this morning and was advised "Unfortunately FCA logistics are rather slow at the moment" so we must be patient! The curse of Covid-19 strikes again!!

At least we have the complete VIN now; ZFABF6G85M3F75960.

Would be interested to know if anyone can provide a complete decode.
 
BN refers to the body type, 0.9T refers to engine, 'cross' is trim level, E6DF refers to Euro6, 4x4 is drivetrain,6M refers to 6 speed manual and I/CE is country code.

Probably not any thing you didn't already know
 
BN refers to the body type, 0.9T refers to engine, 'cross' is trim level, E6DF refers to Euro6, 4x4 is drivetrain,6M refers to 6 speed manual and I/CE is country code.

Probably not any thing you didn't already know

BN would then translate into Berlina.. Which I think is rather odd - it's not like it's got an extended boot like my 156..
 
It's possible, the body types available only show as 'BN w/ rear end door', 'view' or 'van'.

I don't know what 'view' refers to, never occured to me BN might translate to berlina, but the lines are a bit more blurred now as to body styles, I mean look at the BMW X6...
 
Hi there Richard.
Great pictures of you car past.

It's been a while since I was last on here, but I still read nearly every post.

This new yellow cross has just sparked me askin' myself, "Is it time to grab myself a shiny new Cross before production finally ends?".

We both want our Dec-14 red panda cross(90) to last forever but a new cross would add nearly 7 years to forever, if you get my meaning.

As Richard said, yellow and green have gone from the configurator, (Kinda always fancied a wee green panda),
but we like the newish Ceramic Blue, quite grown up looking.
Wow... its nearly £19K for the same £13.9K car, but no folding down passenger seat/table. (I use the table 5 days a week). What should i do? Torn.

Now to do some affinity/purchase scheme research!

GAR, are you not tempted to grab an in stock newer yellow beastie?

On Fiat.it, i was shocked for a few minutes when it only showed the hybrid "slow" cross at the very start of the configurator. (I really don't want a 12v hybrid).
Amazing that in italy you have the choice of methane and LPG.

BZ is for Benzina, italian for petrol.
BN might just stand for Build Number??

I look forward to admiring your Panda when you post its first photos.

Bundes
 
Hi Bundes! Hard to believe it's more than 6 years since we were comparing notes on our respective Panda Cross affinity/privilege deals. What was it? £3500 off, plus 0% interest? Cheap as chips!

Yes, I have been thinking about getting a new one before they disappear from the scene. There's still no real competition in that segment of the 4x4 market, and the Wee Yellow Beastie has served me very well as an all-weather run-around.

But any replacement would have to be yellow I'm afraid, so it looks like I'll be thrown back on the nearly-new sector. Somehow I doubt that I'll get a deal as good as the one I got back in 2015!
 
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Yes, I have been thinking about getting a new one before they disappear from the scene.
But any replacement would have to be yellow I'm afraid, so it looks like I'll be thrown back on the nearly-new sector. Somehow I doubt that I'll get a deal as good as the one I got back in 2015!

Hi gar
To get any affinity or PPS deal, the car must not be registered in the uk yet, but can be built and even sitting at bristol docks. You may find that some yellow stock ones are still to be built or arrive but no new ones can be ordered. Its the kind of info a good dealer can find out for you. Just think, in 7 years time, you'll have a 7 years panda cross and not a 14 year old, £30 tax, "made in fiat" seated & copper dashed classic 2nd gen Cross. (3rd gen if you count the very very rare monster panda. A panda I'd sell my loved ones for ;) )

The affinity deal is still very very good, 21 5% off £18125, so £14512.14 plus any extras, winter pack etc (21.5% off them also). But, i think with the affinity scheme you have to pay in full, but after selling your 2015 cross, it will be less damaging to the savings bank balance.
The privilege purchase scheme seems to lack info on each panda version but I'm still researching. Again, its all about the 500 in the uk, foollish dealers.

Sorry to takeover this thread with affinity/PPS chat.
I'll find my old thread if i find anything worth while.

Richard, what extras did you go for? Winter pack? I love my sunglasses holder, coz you will need those polarized lenses when driving ANY panda!
I see tints are standard now.

Enjoy the TwinAir engine richard, we love it.
In the uk, idiots get the panda rage due to the embarrassment they feel when they get left behind at the lights or simply being overtaken by a Panda. Just remember never to have the eco button on until its going for its annual test.

Still having fun, everyday!
Bundes
 
Still having fun, everyday!

What mileage have you done in yours? Mine's been stuck on 55k for months, as I'm no longer working (so no 30 mile commute) and I've been using my other toy to run around in locally.

One possibility is that I might pass my current Cross onto daughter No 1, who doesn't have her own car, and is (like me) a huge NCFC fan, so the colour is bang on for her. (y)
 
What mileage have you done in yours? Mine's been stuck on 55k for months. (y)

Only sitting at 37750, amazing for a 6.5 year old.
We did just under 12000 in its first year. Got as south as St Ives and as north west as Balnakeil Beach/Church in Durness (street view it). Did several fitbaw away days, including Dingwall (when it was minus serious), Inverness, Kilmarnock, Dundee and Aberdeen. But we started using the train for all Home & most away games, so the mileage has seriously slowed down for the last 4.5 years.
The 2 times the really bad snow came, it was the only car to make it out the area, mind you the street. I love my heated front screen. I dont even carry a scraper or de-icer anymore, just a snow brush. I just push the snow off and go. I have a nice set of MAM W3 alloys, with summers on. And the Cross wheels, with Nokian winters fitted after the good year vector4 did 32k.

So the big question is, do members of the FMC still get access to the Fiat Affinity Scheme? £14.5k is very tempting. TheMisses wants to keep "her wee red panda" so we might become a two panda family! Whats the annual tax on a new 21/71 Cross?

Richard, will your Cross see much snow action? As i write this, i cant see if you wrote where in Italy you are. I can picture the italian alps are just full of panda 4x4s, new and old.

Not long til the footie starts today. I think Gar knows that I'll be totally behind any team that plays auld England in any tournament or match, except those drug cheats Russia, who are meant to be banned from all major sporting events. Anyhoo...
I think the Italians will go far this year.
I have Portugal in the work sweep for £150.
I'm also going to watch Sweden vs Ukraine on Tuesday, as its being played 45 miles away and the Misses is from Ukie blood.

Stay mentally healthy, drive a TwinAir!
Bundes
 
More interesting feedback, I see - that's really appreciated!!

Incidentally, what I didn't mention is that we ordered our new beastie via an ad in AutoScout24.it (where we sold the Musa within a week of posting the details).

The dealer is NewCoCar in Turin, they're right next door to an FCA dealer and they must have a close relationship with one or more dealers as the discount off RRP was 27.8%. Definitely a larger discount than our '06 Cross (bought with the Fiat Group management discount).

We really intended to buy a hybrid, staying with an Italian-built model, but the Renegade 4xE is a bit too large & pricey for our tastes. A Panda Cross hybrid, as previously stated, doesn't meet my power & torque criteria so hence the TwinAir (which I'm looking forward to, based on all the comments I've seen).

In 3-4 years we'll see how the situation is re hybrid/electric/infrastructure.:wave:
 
We're in Civitavecchia, right above the old Roman Darsena/port, on the 3rd floor of an apartment building which doesn't have garages or off-street parking (it was my wife's parents apartment, fantastic view over the port out to the horizon). We had snow once in the 6 years we've been here, 15-20cm and gone within a couple of days. We're sheltered from the worst extremes of the "not climate change" weather Italy seems to regularly suffer these days.

Nothing like the regular snow we experienced in Modena (which was nothing like the Michigan winters during the 2 years I spent there in the early 70's), but we still have friends there and drive up at least a couple of times a year during normal times.

The new Cross will have the OE summer tyres swapped out for a good set of M&S as soon as we have it.
 
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