Hello.. New Panda owner imminent

[Olly232]

Hello everyone. I'm off to look at a 2012 1.2L Panda Lounge tomorrow. Any tips for what to look out for are most welcome. My last Fiat was a rear engined 850 about 50 years ago! There's a scuff on the nearside rear bumper and the interior needs a major clean. Asking for £1,500. Approximately 68k miles

 

[PuntoHowTo]

£1500 seems very cheap, be asking yourself why.

Sometimes especially if it’s a private sale they just want rid, but other times there can be a very good reason they want rid.

You can go on the DVLA website and check the MOT history of the car, it can give you some idea of how well a car has been looked after.

Stick your head under the car, look for rust, it’s a 12 year old car now and they are known to rust especially around the rear axle, the “pans” that support the bottoms of the rear springs rust and eventually collapse leaving the car sat on the floor, so it’s quite a serious issue.

Assuming it’s the 1.2 petrol they are pretty strong little engines but just check the service history, no matter how strong an engine is they still need regular servicing.

What colour is the coolant, anything other than a nice clear pink or blue can indicate someone has been mixing the coolant or they’ve not had the coolant changed when they should, there is a pipe on the front of the engine that can corrode and eventually leak.

any mistreatment of the coolant system can lead to problems eventually resulting in head gasket issues.

Good check round the body work l, make sure all the panel gaps look even.

It’s worth doing an HPI check on the car for about £20 just to make sure that there is nothing else to worry about such as past accidents or outstanding finance.
£20 is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

 

[Olly232]

Thank you for your speedy reply. It's cheap because it is effectively a trade sale as my friend took it in as a part ex but doesn't usually sell vehicles of that age and is about to move it on if I don't take it. The MOT history looks very clean. Most recent one with an advisory on a rear tyre and a coil spring a few years ago. Apparently there is a slight oil leak which may be a cross-threaded sump plug. I can use my friend's lift and have a good look underneath. I expect to have one or two things to fix e.g. the sump plug or maybe a new sump and a new tyre for starters.

 

[icheatatscrabble]

Thank you for your speedy reply. It's cheap because it is effectively a trade sale as my friend took it in as a part ex but doesn't usually sell vehicles of that age and is about to move it on if I don't take it. The MOT history looks very clean. Most recent one with an advisory on a rear tyre and a coil spring a few years ago. Apparently there is a slight oil leak which may be a cross-threaded sump plug. I can use my friend's lift and have a good look underneath. I expect to have one or two things to fix e.g. the sump plug or maybe a new sump and a new tyre for starters.

If you trust your friend - then I'd say it's a steal and you should buy it. But definitely take a look at the rear beam using your friend's lift.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

If you trust your friend - then I'd say it's a steal and you should buy it. But definitely take a look at the rear beam using your friend's lift.

I agree. Check the sump while you're under it, they can, and do, corrode seriously even getting so thin they can leak like a pepper pot! Sumps are available but buy from a reputable source - S4p perhaps? - as there are some poorly fitting pattern made one's around - I was caught out this way and it was almost impossible to get a seal as the gaps between sump and block varied so much.

Edit - I'd also strongly recommend a test drive of town and country roads checking in particular for steering pulling to one side and what it's like pulling away from a stand still and/or climbing a steepish hill - the earlier VVT 1.2 engine, and 2012 would make your's one of these, as the change came in mid 2011 - was known for having hesitation and lacking power when doing this. I'm not sure whether an effective "fix" was ever developed for this? anyone? I believe from around 2016 on this problem was largely resolved @The Panda Nut was it you posted recently about this?