General Happy with my 2013 Panda Pop

[series2a]

I have had my Panda 1.2 Pop now for two and a half years and it now has 95,000kms on the clock. I must say I am pretty happy with the car although I miss my 1.4 Grande Punto for the extra power it had.

I have used it for the full time for learner driver training so the car does take some strain. The dealership I have dealt with has also given my great service.

Things that have gone wrong and replaced under the maintenance plan / warranty have been:

Stabliser arm bushes at about 70k kms.
Pressure plate and clutch at 89K kms.
Fuel injector at about 70k kms.
Obviously normal service items like brakes etc.
It does (like the Punto) use oil at a rate I don't care for but which Fiat have covered by a ridiculous disclaimer about oil consumption.

The only thing I don't like about the Panda is that at this altitude where I live (nearly 7000 feet above sea level) the car battles to maintain speed on long up hill gradients. It is estimated that at this altitude the average normally aspirated car loses about 17% of its power so one can't really complain too much. (That is why I miss the Punto.)

What I do like is the space, fuel economy, free revving engine and ease of driving.

It is a great car for teaching learner drivers though.

 

[SB1500]

I have had my Panda 1.2 Pop now for two and a half years and it now has 95,000kms on the clock. I must say I am pretty happy with the car although I miss my 1.4 Grande Punto for the extra power it had.

I have used it for the full time for learner driver training so the car does take some strain. The dealership I have dealt with has also given my great service.

Things that have gone wrong and replaced under the maintenance plan / warranty have been:

Stabliser arm bushes at about 70k kms.
Pressure plate and clutch at 89K kms.
Fuel injector at about 70k kms.
Obviously normal service items like brakes etc.
It does (like the Punto) use oil at a rate I don't care for but which Fiat have covered by a ridiculous disclaimer about oil consumption.

The only thing I don't like about the Panda is that at this altitude where I live (nearly 7000 feet above sea level) the car battles to maintain speed on long up hill gradients. It is estimated that at this altitude the average normally aspirated car loses about 17% of its power so one can't really complain too much. (That is why I miss the Punto.)

What I do like is the space, fuel economy, free revving engine and ease of driving.

It is a great car for teaching learner drivers though.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, very helpful to future Fiat owners considering a Panda, and particularly the Pop.

How come it uses a lot of oil? Surely a new (<6 year old car) shouldn't eat any of it? My 10 year old Mk3 Panda still doesn't eat oil up and it's the older 1.2 Petrol engine.

 

[series2a]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, very helpful to future Fiat owners considering a Panda, and particularly the Pop.

How come it uses a lot of oil? Surely a new (<6 year old car) shouldn't eat any of it? My 10 year old Mk3 Panda still doesn't eat oil up and it's the older 1.2 Petrol engine.

I agree, but Fiat like so many other manufacturers have this ridiculous proviso in the manual that says the engine can use up to 400g of oil per 1000kms!!!!!

I too feel that it should not be using any oil. My Punto 1.4 used a similar amount of oil to the Panda but our current 500 1.4 Sport doesn't use any oil at all.