Yesterday my girlfriend's 1994 Metro decided that enough was enough and it was time for a new engine. I know this because 3 miles into our trip to Birmingham from Bedford the temp gadge went through the roof and a huge cloud of white smoke poored out of the back of the car. Monty, it appears, is not full of the Christmas chear.
Monty will therefor be off to our local metro specialist for a new engine, clutch, rad and a full service. On it's return it will become a second car with hopefully a new Panda 100HP Helen's main work car (I don't need a car most of the time as I work in the city and use the train)
I've come on here, mainly to find out a bit about the Panda, and where I should be going to get the best deal. Ideally we want to pay by finance on an interest free type of deal, though can raise the cash to buy out right if need be. So anyway, here are the few questions that I have:
Monty will therefor be off to our local metro specialist for a new engine, clutch, rad and a full service. On it's return it will become a second car with hopefully a new Panda 100HP Helen's main work car (I don't need a car most of the time as I work in the city and use the train)
I've come on here, mainly to find out a bit about the Panda, and where I should be going to get the best deal. Ideally we want to pay by finance on an interest free type of deal, though can raise the cash to buy out right if need be. So anyway, here are the few questions that I have:
How much should I be looking to pay for a standard, option free (they're loaded up as they come anyway!) 100HP, probably in white?
Are there any dealers that are worth going to for a good deal and friendly service, within a decent radius of Bedford?
Are there any options that I should be really looking at? Is the hi fi upgrade worth it (she's a keen musician and a music teacher)
Are any of the colours ones to avoid? I really want a white car, but is the solid paint finish any good?
Are they reliable? I've looked through and most seem to be fine, however I have had Fiats before and I know they could be a bit of a pain at times (My old W plate Brava stop gap which I bought at auction was a case in point. The inlet manifold started to take in water like the titanic for some unknown reason!)
Cheers in advance for all your help. Seems like a really friendly forum so far. Hopefully we can get one ordered fairly swiftly as it's one of the few cars we agree on and both like, the other being the Fabia VRs, which is a bit on the steep side at the moment and used only