General Daughter’s 2011 TwinAir Lounge..problems..problems..

[HomeyJay]

Hi all,
We bought our daughter a second hand TwinAir lounge 8 years ago as her first car and it’s been a great and reliable car for a long time. Recently though (in the last couple of years), the repair bills have been mounting with around £2k being spent since September 2023. New clutch, clutch slave cylinder, 2 x suspension arms, coolant tank (whatever that is). The passenger door handle has fallen off and needs replacing too.
Our local garage is telling us to just get rid of the car as it at that point in its life where the commercial value is equal to the money we’re spending on it but I don’t have enough knowledge about these cars to make this type of decision!
The car’s done 62k miles approx since new and around 40k of that since she had it 8 years ago.

What do you guys think I should do? Do these cars start falling to bits at around this age or is this normal expenditure for the age?
Would it be wise to get rid of it and buy a newer model?

Any help would be appreciated - we don’t know what to do!

 

[The Panda Nut]

All the things you have said are par for the course at this milage on a Panda. All regular things on the Panda. In my experience of Pandas the rear dampers will need doing soon, also battery and possibly exhaust. (c.£100) Its not a massive expense. Door handles are not so much a common issue but being plastic others may decide to go as well. I dont think its necessarily a definite need to change, but after 8 years it may be good to if you can afford it as you can get a warranty for sensible money and some peace of mind. If your daughter has given the little beast a bit of a thrashing (my youngest is a bit hard on hers) it may be worth changing but if the engine is smooth and doesn't use oil, I would think its better economically to keep the car as changing is very expensive. I've just changed our 2011 Panda for a 2016 which cost £6500 with a 3 year warranty. The PX was just £600 for a car in really excellent condition for age. Now is the time to change to a pre 1/4/2017 car as you can still get low milage ones at good money. In another year ot two these cheap £35 tax cars will all be aging. £5900 will buy a 2017 Jan to March Panda with air con and 29,000 miles. Im off to look at two in a few minutes one is a Panda Pop at £5400 at the main dealer with 18000 miles and a full FIat Service history The other is a little older and higher miles but with air con at £5991 and a 2 year warranty included. Im hoping to knock a little off the price. If in doubt about your £120 will buy an AA Inspection which would be money well spent if you are no mechanically savvy. It would identify all the issues and give you certainty in deciding to love it or list it. I have missed the other low milage car locally that was 2013, £5995 and 18K miles. It was as new and I should have snapped it up. Any deal must include a cambelt change with the water pump and tensioners. I would go for a 1.2 as mechanically easier and cheaper to repair if required.
I

 

[The Panda Nut]

Bilt Hamber ordered so the sump guard will get a coat on the hidden upper side. I have repainted the sumpgurad but will also hammerite it first. The wheels have a coat of zinc primer on the back and I will hammerite them in the next few weeks before tey go back for the winter. Its now certain that nursing the sump guard is good economic sense. Next job 3 or probably 4 Panda axles to treat with teh Bilt Hamber.

 

[John202020]

You've spent a good chunk, so the "new" owner would be happy, therefore don't sell it, can you do the fixes yourself this vastly deceases the cost, full new handle only £15 if you can replace it, really quite simple, even cheaper if the handle is still there but broken at the hinge ? Other age related issues will crop up

 

[vexorg]

Other than the clutch (which may be been abuse in the past) these are typical for a fiat 500.
Searching will find loads of door handle issues, and same with lower arms.

All basically poor design, the hinge part of the door handle gets abuse from the environment as it's exposed in the curved gap at the front, hinge seizes, and breaks. I coated the hinge and pin in silicon grease when replacing to hopefully help/

 

[Bonefish Blues]

There's a good deal of sense in running the car you know, rather than buying a car you don't, even if the latter is lower miles and newer. There are known issues with 500s and Pandas and you've found most of them and fixed them - for someone else's benefit if you sell. I'd stick, rather than twisting.

 

[steveras57]

Lots of folk have had bigger problems than yours at earlier mileage or time! you have already spent out to cover many of the inherent weaknesses and will have bigger costs if you want to trade to a newer car (which is also an unknown quantity).

I would ignore the residual value of what you have and keep it running for a few more years hopefully with minimal further expense ( things like door handles, shocks, etc are quite commonplace regardless of age!) say maybe up to 100k just keep up with servicing(oil and filter most important) then you will have had the full value of the car and the maintenance money you have spent out and will still get a token few quid for it when you HAVE to move on to something else! .
Only thing i would recommend would be a check of the hatch wirings condition to ensure ok and prevent future failures, and checking if your thermostat has and original PLASTIC pipe to the heater matrix- if so replace with and after market one with a METAL pipe! whilst your in there its the perfect time to check the main earth strap as well , all covered in my things to look out for guide!
best regards and good luck!.

 

[varesecrazy]

Lots of folk have had bigger problems than yours at earlier mileage or time! you have already spent out to cover many of the inherent weaknesses and will have bigger costs if you want to trade to a newer car (which is also an unknown quantity).

I would ignore the residual value of what you have and keep it running for a few more years hopefully with minimal further expense ( things like door handles, shocks, etc are quite commonplace regardless of age!) say maybe up to 100k just keep up with servicing(oil and filter most important) then you will have had the full value

and checking if your thermostat has and original PLASTIC pipe to the heater matrix- if so replace with and after market one with a METAL pipe! whilst your in there its the perfect time to check the main earth strap as well , all covered in my things to look out for guide!
best regards and good luck!.

It's a twinair

No dodgy plastic parts, just the standard flimsy trim of the 500

None of this really applies to the Panda that @panda_nut Seemed to be talking about

 

[John202020]

We bought our car at 6 years old, and I spent £1500 replacing parts that year. It's been all good from there. Other bits have failed, but it's cheap to fix  IF  you can fit the parts yourself it looks like you have to use a garage that's about 4 to 10 times the price of the parts?

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

coolant tank (whatever that is).

What do you guys think I should do? Do these cars start falling to bits at around this age or is this normal expenditure for the age?
Would it be wise to get rid of it and buy a newer model?

Any help would be appreciated - we don’t know what to do!

That's the plastic reservoir to the left of the engine bay with the blue cap and (hopefully) half-filled with pink coolant!

My opinion doesn't count for much - that coolant tank is the only part on your list that's been replaced on my car - but I'd concur with the general consensus. Better the devil you know...

 

[varesecrazy]

Indeed 2011 is an early Twinair,
and the Coolant Tank was a common failure then..
If it's lasted 12 years.. It's not a disaster

 

[John202020]

9,12 and 15 years old are often times when expensive bits need doing that's typically when you start asking is this worth it?

 

[steveras57]

9,12 and 15 years old are often times when expensive bits need doing that's typically when you start asking is this worth it?

I guess a lot of if you keep a car of this age depends if you can do a lot of the labour yourself and not have to pay a garage £100 per hour
if you cant its sure to be a worry and almost force you into replacement!.

 

[AnthonyH]

I'd reiterate what's already been said here. With just 62,000 on the clock and a new clutch I don't see any pressing reason to sell this car. You should sell when a big expense is in the offing, for example £500 worth.

What you're experiencing here is regular repairs on an older car. The alternative is as noted above £6,000+ and you may still be back at a garage.

 

[John202020]

In a nut shell keep it until scrap even if it costs £500+ a year its still cheap running averaged out, £10 a week?
Oh and use the CORRECT spec oil.

 

[HomeyJay]

Thanks guys, it was pretty much what we were thinking!

 

[vexorg]

I'd personally look to sell it and get a 1.2 if you want a fiat 500. The twinair doesn't have a good reputation on here as they get older.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

I'd personally look to sell it and get a 1.2 if you want a fiat 500. The twinair doesn't have a good reputation on here as they get older.

OP's daughter has been running it for many years*, and given those circumstances the TA will happily soldier on to big miles - it's the unknown ones that haven't been serviced properly that are the ticking timebombs IMHO.

*And I assume servicing it properly

 

[HomeyJay]

It’s been serviced properly for a couple of years but before that, she was at university and I doubt if it’s been serviced regularly during those years, despite me telling her that I’d pay for the servicing..
Is there something I could ask a garage to check to try and guage future problems?

 

[Twotone2]

Personally I'd sell it/trade it in.

With cars you never know what's round the corner, I've a Citreon Nemo van which is essentially a Fiat Fiorino, had it from new 2014 plate and 55k miles been serviced every year and passes it's MOT no problem but I only do about 3k miles a year and it costs me about £1000 a year to keep it on the road, £320 RT, £300 insurance and around £400 a year for repairs tyres etc but I'll keep it for now.

My son had a 2019 plate Ford Fiesta Zetec, 13,000 miles on the clock bought from new, last year the clutch went which seems to be known problem, cost to replace the clutch was £460 on an almost *kinda* brand new car which had hardly been driven because of the pandemic but was due for the PCP balloon payment to be paid last November so we traded it in. There was no guarantee that the clutch would last beyond another 13,000 miles and another who knows what cost to replace it in the future so we cut our losses.

I've been driving cars and vans since about 1981 and I can never remember having to replace a clutch in any vehicle we've ever owned and my son has been driving cars for at least 12 years so not 'driver error', the clutch was contaminated with oil apparently and it burnt out.

I'll never ever buy another Ford car or van, Ford were absolutely terrible to deal with although in saying that we still have a 2016 plate Fiesta 1.0 Zetec eco boost which has been a brilliant car to be honest, I've probably cursed it now ha ha

Basically you pay your money and take your chances with cars IMO.