Hi all! I've just passed my test a couple of weeks ago and my mum has found a decent vehicle from a reputable seller which is the Fiat Panda 2010. No scrapes, 60,000 miles on the clock, MOT'd up to this time next year. Cheap insurance and tax. All sounds great. But I looked up it's NCAP safety rating and it got 3/5 and doesn't have any headrests in the rear! I want the car but this has freaked me out. Can anyone offer me any advice on this at all?
General Fiat Panda 2010-yes or no please help!!
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General Fiat Panda 2010-yes or no please help!!
Hi and welcome to the forum.
No need to freak out. The reason the Panda only has a modest NCAP rating is because it doesn't have all the electronic stability systems you'd find on the latest generation of cars. It's still structurally safer than most small cars built at the turn of the century.
A 2010 Panda would make a great first car.
It's got front headrests, front airbags, collapsible steering column, crumple zones, laminated windscreen, antilock brakes... Car safety has come a long, long way since I started driving.
My first car had none of those. It didn't even have seatbelts!!
No need to freak out. The reason the Panda only has a modest NCAP rating is because it doesn't have all the electronic stability systems you'd find on the latest generation of cars. It's still structurally safer than most small cars built at the turn of the century.
A 2010 Panda would make a great first car.
It's got front headrests, front airbags, collapsible steering column, crumple zones, laminated windscreen, antilock brakes... Car safety has come a long, long way since I started driving.
My first car had none of those. It didn't even have seatbelts!!
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Thank you so much for your response! Hard buying your first car when you don't know what to look for so I appreciate your reply!
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3/5 is quite normal for its size and manufacture period at its price point when new. To get a 4/5 you would likely have to double or triple the cost. To get a 5/5 you would likely have to sign up for a 4 year lease and the panda purchase your heading towards wouldn't cover the down payment, and you would have to hand it back in 4 years.
If you have thoughts on safety then its a good sign that you care for yourself and the safety of your passangers/ pedestrians too.
Your concerns over rear headrests might be rested when you consider citroen C1/Toyota aygo passengers are much nearer the back of the car due to a much smaller boot, the same issue for the VW Up and skoda citygo.
Tim.
If you have thoughts on safety then its a good sign that you care for yourself and the safety of your passangers/ pedestrians too.
Your concerns over rear headrests might be rested when you consider citroen C1/Toyota aygo passengers are much nearer the back of the car due to a much smaller boot, the same issue for the VW Up and skoda citygo.
Tim.
This from euroncap.com: "3 star safety: At least average occupant protection but not always equipped with the latest crash avoidance features"
Which means it offers good protection in the event of a collision, it just doesn't have all the fancy toys like Lane Departure Warning or Adaptive Cruise Control to apply the brakes for you if it thinks you're getting too close to something.
It depends how you feel about these things. Personally, I'd rather not have them. I like the fact that my Panda doesn't give me annoying 'bongs' every time I open a door or undo a seatbelt.
And as Tim points out, these features are only available on the latest, largest, most expensive cars.
The top spec Eleganza Pandas have rear headrests if you really feel you need them. Plus, it's not a huge job to swap the seats so they can be added to lower spec cars later.
I'd have no hesitation in recommending the Panda as a safe car for a novice driver. Good visibility, safe predictable handling, easy to navigate narrow lanes and tight parking spots without worrying about hitting anything. We got ours for my other half to learn to drive, love it so much we have no intention of getting rid of it.
Which means it offers good protection in the event of a collision, it just doesn't have all the fancy toys like Lane Departure Warning or Adaptive Cruise Control to apply the brakes for you if it thinks you're getting too close to something.
It depends how you feel about these things. Personally, I'd rather not have them. I like the fact that my Panda doesn't give me annoying 'bongs' every time I open a door or undo a seatbelt.
And as Tim points out, these features are only available on the latest, largest, most expensive cars.
The top spec Eleganza Pandas have rear headrests if you really feel you need them. Plus, it's not a huge job to swap the seats so they can be added to lower spec cars later.
I'd have no hesitation in recommending the Panda as a safe car for a novice driver. Good visibility, safe predictable handling, easy to navigate narrow lanes and tight parking spots without worrying about hitting anything. We got ours for my other half to learn to drive, love it so much we have no intention of getting rid of it.
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The downside to the Eleganza in the UK is that it doesn't qualify for £30RFL.
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So put the rear seat from an elaganza in a 1.1l to get the headrests and still only 30 rfl.
Tim
Tim
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As already mentioned, NCAP now put a lot of their scores into mitigation these days.
All the modern tech that helps avoid accidents rather than protect from one, so for a car this age without them, 3/5 is a great score still.
The Panda is a great first car, it's cheap to run and insure, drives well and is generally free of problems, though there are areas to look at like any car.
The body is usually rust free but some of the parts bolted to it underneath aren't well protected.
Check around the rear suspension, particularly the rear beam that runs from one rear wheel to the other.
It's quite common for it to have some flaky paint or small "scabs" here and there but if it has big chunks of rust falling off, walk away.
The engines are pretty reliable but the sump pan is another rust spot.
Check under the front bumper, it it's leaking oil from the sump you can bet it's rusted out.
The rest is pretty much the same as any used car check and there's plenty of helpful advice dotted around the internet for that, but as a generally guide it should all ran and drive smooth.
Smooth steering, smooth suspension (no bangs or clonks) smooth engine, smooth clutch, smooth gear change, smooth brakes.
Anything that isn't and perhaps notchy, stiff, rattly, clonky or vibrates there's usually a reason for it!
All the modern tech that helps avoid accidents rather than protect from one, so for a car this age without them, 3/5 is a great score still.
The Panda is a great first car, it's cheap to run and insure, drives well and is generally free of problems, though there are areas to look at like any car.
The body is usually rust free but some of the parts bolted to it underneath aren't well protected.
Check around the rear suspension, particularly the rear beam that runs from one rear wheel to the other.
It's quite common for it to have some flaky paint or small "scabs" here and there but if it has big chunks of rust falling off, walk away.
The engines are pretty reliable but the sump pan is another rust spot.
Check under the front bumper, it it's leaking oil from the sump you can bet it's rusted out.
The rest is pretty much the same as any used car check and there's plenty of helpful advice dotted around the internet for that, but as a generally guide it should all ran and drive smooth.
Smooth steering, smooth suspension (no bangs or clonks) smooth engine, smooth clutch, smooth gear change, smooth brakes.
Anything that isn't and perhaps notchy, stiff, rattly, clonky or vibrates there's usually a reason for it!
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The gearbox end cover is another potential area for rust. I've just been chipping away at mine. It's not "terrible" but pinholes never look bad - until they leak.
I thought the NCAP rating was zero when it was retested to current standards
I could be wrong
I could be wrong
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
New cars are best...new VWs have the lowest emissions and cleanest engines.... and pigs will fly.
Dont you start..... hmph grmp! Yes you are right. Panda Cross 2015 was3 stars? or 4 and 5 with CBC fitted. As you say standards change and while tests are a good idea they dont make a car as safe as a competant person behind the wheel. They take no account of active safety either. A Panda is nimble and stable and most have ABS as standard. They are good in all conditions and excell in bad conditions, so its all a balance. It hacks me off that my2019 Panda with the CBC is 0 stars. Particularly when I dont want all this extra stuff to go wrong and would delete a load of it on sight for preference.
I think if buying new a big difference in ratings would possibly sway me from one car to another, but few cars are unsafe these days.
As to EU standards I cannot print my feelings or I would be arrested. Bent, warped, corrupt, biased pro German all apply. Emissions standards, pl;ease dont get me started. Does the EU not understand teh basic physics of combustion? CLearly they make up things quicker than fairies.
Its great to see a new driver considering safety and I applaud this. A greta place to start from. Get a sensible car, maintain it well, buy the best brakes and tyres you can afford, get trained and then take it steady, speed is the enemy of the inexperienced. Built up skills and try never to stop learning. Develop your confidence and dont be influenced or presured by other people or drivers to break your own rules. Understand how cars work, and the characterists you can expect from you own car. Hows that for fatherly advice from one who like many others made a lot of mistakes when starting out.
These cars are tough enough but any car is a potential death trap uless treated with respect! These two demonstrate you can have a reasonable level of confidence if things go wrong
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I would be over worried
It’s not comparing apples with apples
Testing a 2003 ish designed car to 2018 ish standards
The good thing is it shows thing have moved forward in 15 years
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Yep agree. Best car gor safety one of those 12 tonne Russian amphibious things that look like an armoured car. But not much good around the lanes or Britain.
PS I bought Pandas for my daughters and not without considering if they were reasonably safe and looking at the NCAP results in detail.
