Panda Hi All

[supernova83]

Good evening/morning/afternoon all :wave:
Came across your wealth of information after buying (stealing at that price) my first car, known as Percy panda

Percy is a 2006 panda 169 4x4, almost 120k miles and actually doing really well for it, few little niggles but I'm sure at some point ill be searching through said info to figure them out.

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi. And welcome to FF.

the panda is pretty well built.
So . one that is still running well at 120k has probably not been too badly abused.

It is the 4x4 drivetrain that could prove the biggest headache over time.

Charlie

 

[DaveMcT]

Save up for a replacement prop-shaft and all will be fine.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Welcome to the exciting world of Panda ownership. So glad to see you've given him a name! Ours is a 1.2 dynamic eco which Mrs Jock decided was definitely female and she named her Becky - loosely suggested by the number plate letters - but you're probably right that a "rough tough" 4 wheel drive is male!

Anyway, enough of that nonsense! Becky is the fourth Panda in the family with two of my children having learned to drive in Pandas. The last one (Felicity, a '92 Panda Parade) we had for 19 years! In fact she was the only one which ever had to visit a garage when she needed a particularly difficult bit of welding done, all the other servicing and repairs I managed to do myself. So, if you are inclined to get your hands dirty, a Panda is probably one of the best to learn on.

Again, welcome and I hope you enjoy your time with Percy. I've had a "secret" longing for a 4×4 Panda for many years but just never saw the right one at the right time.
Kind regards
Jock

 

[DaveMcT]

Save up for a replacement prop-shaft and all will be fine.

Drive shafts really don't like running light. The joints get rattled & soon enough literally. To see the idea watch a shaft driven motorbike running in gear on it's main stand. The clatter from transmission backlash is horrible. Any sensible owner only ever does it once!

The Panda 4x4 feeds drive to its rear axle when the fronts are losing grip, but 99% of the time, the rear transmission is idling and subject to the load reversals that made the bike gears so noisy. Fiat are not daft; they will have designed it to cope but ANY wear in UJs and support bearings will quickly develop into noise and vibration.

The parts are not silly money even if you need a rebuilt shaft, but non-the-less it's a cost that lesser Pandas don't need to worry about.

When can I put a 4x4 back end under my 100HP?