General First Service

[Rally Panda]

Just had my 100hp sports first service 7044 on the clock. I complained of a lot of road noise, and on straight roads found it difficult to keep the car in a straight line. They found that I need two front struts replaced, as they are loose. Booked in next Friday, will be done under warranty.

 

[PNL]

Sounds like a bad case of shabby PDI check..and I wonder how many dealers actually do a full check before sending a car out with a new customer..

 

[HP]

Can I ask what is loose?

 

[100hpJames]

surely if the struts are loose its a case of tightening/replacing nuts/bolts and re aligning the wheels? unless they're trying to say the shocks are knackered?

 

[Scrogg]

Sounds like a bad case of shabby PDI check..

That's right, they must have been loose when the PDI was done. There's no way the problem could have developed during 7,044 miles of driving!

:tosser:

 

[HP]

As James asks, do they mean loose as in worn out and leaking?

 

[Panda57]

I'm sure they meant 'loose' in the manner of not damping enough - i.e. gone soft. This is what happened on mine (and quite a few other people's) - the car starts to feel unstable at speed and 'wanders'. I don't think they would be literally 'loose' in terms of their fixings. If that were the case the garage would just tighten the fasteners rather than replace the shocks.
Panda shocks are a bit of weak point. When mine were done last year the replacement parts were on 4 weeks back order - always a sign that all is not well...

 

[HP]

Hmmmm, mine do feel a bit softer of late.... same mileage too.....

 

[Lisa-Adam]

On which road you driving?

 

[Rally Panda]

Just replying to you all. Your right James and Panda 57 the shocks are knackered. When I said loose i was refering to the chrome rods actually loose in the pistons. The next stage would be fluid leaking out but hopefully they will be replaced before that happens. So if there are others out there owning 100 HP's and are finding it difficult to find the centre of the steering wheel ie the car is wandering when trying to drive it in a straight line and you've got excessive road noise then my advice is get your shocks checked.

 

[100hpJames]

I suppose fiat have never had a case of faulty panda shocks on their system

I've heard quite a lot of pandas having shocks replaced quite early in their life, hope they sort it out soon enough

 

[T14086]

News to me...........anyone else had faulty (leaking?) shocks?

 

[Panda57]

Its not just the 100HP models - mines a MJ and they failed. The shocks are only small though, they don't look very robust.

I also have the 'knocking' from the back that no-one seems to be able to track down. Its done it from brand new. Nothing's loose. If it were a different car I would say it was a worn swaybar droplink, but this doesn't apply on the Panda. Same sort of noise though.

I also had a sort out a few other little things on my Panda when it was new. In particular the air intake pipe (from front grille to air filter body) was not fitted properly at EITHER end. I managed to push the front end into place, but the cut-outs in the pipe which locate it at the back end were not properly formed at the factory and I had to trim them out with a craft knife to get the pipe to clip into place. Shows the rather sloppy assembly standards - and I doubt the dealer even lifted the bonnet at PDI.

 

[100hpJames]

News to me...........anyone else had faulty (leaking?) shocks?

my dad also had them on his 1.2 dynamic but fortunately the car was handed back before they were changed