General Is a classic Fiat panda good for a first car?

[Welshman17]

I'm currently looking at a 1990 Fiat Panda, it's 1.0L (1000cc) and 112,000miles (180,000Km)

It's good some minor body damage, just a few dings and a small~medium ISH size dent of the front left fender, other than that seems okay.

I really like the look and insurance won't be too bad with the small engine, do you guys recommend it is a first car or is this just a dream?
Be brutally honest I need a wake up call if it's a stupid decision

 

[the green vanper]

Hello,

It's a 35 years old car. It was engineered like 10 years earlier. Finding parts can be very problematic, same for a workshop willing to deal with such a car. Breakers don't have many of them 'on stock'.

Rust can be another serious problem. It's a FIAT...

(all of the above mean extra $$$ to spend).

And I'm pretty sure it doesn't have 112000 miles on it. It would mean only 3200 miles every year for all the 35 years.


This does not mean it won't be a great car and you won't have fun with it. I've driven a car of the same age like 10 years ago. Then another one a little bit younger but even rarer. Now my daily is also a rare car, it will be 22 years old this year. My motorbike is 26 years old. My GF's daily is only 19 years old, but they produced only 44 tousands of them (all versions included). My only FIAT is 14 years old. But it's also a rare version. Even the FIAT dealership know nothing about it And I'm thinking about buying a car of which only 8800 were produced... Where I live only the motorbike is welcome in the workshops, they turn their heads away when I'm trying to bring the other ones

So if you're ready to spend hours searching for spares online and then trying to install them on you own... Good luck

 

[Johnbee]

I have a 93 Panda Selecta (Automatic) currently on 110,000 genuine miles which I have owned twice. I bought her back off the lady I sold her to in 2004 and she only covered a few hundred miles each year in her guardianship hence the low mileage. She wasn’t driven during the Covid years at all as Carol (the previous owner) was in her 80’s and isolated due to health issues and so Manda was resting in a railway storage arch during that time.

I have a local garage who are happy to work on her. They did all the rust repairs for me when Manda underwent her rustoration a year or so back. If you search my previous threads on Manda you will see the work involved. My insurance is just over £100 a year including break down cover (which I’ve never needed) and an agreed value of £3,500 too.

Parts can be an issue but I have managed to get all the parts I’ve needed (shocks, exhaust, cv joints, dashboard etc). Her outer sills came from Ricambio and various other parts from eBay and from a member on here too. Some of my parts have come from a Lithuanian ebayer aswell. I’m able to get service items from my local motor factor, usually straight off the shelf. The only part I can’t source is a rear back box exhaust, but I’m having one made in stainless steel locally next month.

If you can find a garage willing to work on your Panda and don’t mind trawling the internet for parts, and getting your hands dirty, personally I’d say go for it. Manda is a hoot to drive and is certainly not the usual econo-box yawn mobile I get about 50 miles per gallon running on posh petrol. She keeps up with traffic on motorways quite happily, although loudly She is used daily which also helps preserve her.

I appreciate my experience may differ to others but I won’t be selling her again.

If you do go ahead and purchase a Panda Classic, good luck.

The pictures below were taken last week for the insurance company to ‘agree’ her value.

Let us know how you get on

 

[Dragon Man]

its a first car that you possibly would never sell.. just kinda run it alongside some other more modern car. my panda was my 2nd car (i really wanted it to be my first but could not find a 4x4 panda anywhere at the time) my first car was a Cinquecento.. a great car for a learner too.
put it this way, i have had cars, vans, and lorries come and go. my panda, Talon is the car i always grab the keys for first. i am at the point where i "can" get it insured for £92 a year.. the fuel usage is.. damn good (the 2wd is even more fuel efficient!). the only thing i have a bit of a gripe about is the road tax going up £20 each year :/

visibility wise the things like driving a convertible.. seriously id go more far and say it has better visibility than a convertible as you can see all the corners of the panda.
performance wise its... "naturally" restricted. keeps up with modern day traffic well enough but you wont be winning any quarter miles any time soon. again i find this ideal for a new driver. keep the weight out of it and it will be much faster off the mark. dont be like me carrying all kinds of useless crap that i may need one day to help other road users in destress.

for me, if you can get one.. go for one. Fiats always get a bad name for some reason yet i cant fault mine. easy to fix yourself, and if not a mechanic is often delighted to work on something so easy to work on compared to the hell modern vehicles are now days. no specialist tools, no degree in computer science needed!