Off Topic New Car ideas

[Lorna87]

At some point I will be having to change Poppy the Panda (I really don’t want to as she is the perfect car for me, and I’m quite attached to her), but, when/if I change her, I will want another Fiat.

What are your suggestions? I do fairly local driving and go down to the south coast quite a lot as well. I don’t want anything too small, likewise nothing too big.

Just interested in peoples opinions about what they would/wouldn’t go for, and why.

PS: apologies if this is in the wrong thread.

 

[DaveMcT]

The 500 is basically a dressed up Panda.

 

[jrkitching]

What's your budget?

 

[koalar]

size wise for local journeys the Panda hit a sweet spot

small and light enough to be economical

the square back gives Good boot space for its size

the little square rear window makes City parking easier and large rear hatch makes judging the rear distance parking easier

some of these advantages are lost in the 500

in my opinion the older 8v 1.2 engines are nicer to drive with plenty of low down grunt meaning your not constantly changing gear than most of the more modern 16V


size wise with the same versatility there is little else about fiat or otherwise

Suzuki Splash/Agila B, mercedes a class are about the only ones I can think of.

 

[Lorna87]

What's your budget?

I would assume I’d finance most of it, but I have about a £2,000 deposit.

 

[SPORTPACK50]

Mazda 2 mk2 is worth a look.

 

[DaveMcT]

I rather like the Sedici / SX4 a joint effort between Fiat and Suzuki but they are now as old as a 169 Panda. Not much help am I

 

[AndyRKett]

I would assume I’d finance most of it, but I have about a £2,000 deposit.

And what’s your monthly budget going to be for repayments.

 

[Lorna87]

And what’s your monthly budget going to be for repayments.

Hopefully around the £200 mark.

 

[Johnbee]

How about a Fiat 500X, if a 500 is too small? Bigger than a Panda and retains the 5 door practicality[emoji780]

For me, I find the mix of a Panda 169 and a 500S perfect.
The Panda is great for lugging stuff about and day to day driving/shopping

If I want to go somewhere a bit quicker, or when me and the dog aint covered in mud, I take the 500.

 

[jrkitching]

I would assume I’d finance most of it, but I have about a £2,000 deposit.

And what’s your monthly budget going to be for repayments.

Hopefully around the £200 mark.

With that budget, you don't want any nasty surprises down the line, so I'd avoid anything secondhand.

Assuming your credit rating is good, those numbers will just about get you into an entry level new car on a pcp. Ideally you don't want to enter into any agreement that lasts longer than the manufacturers warranty on the car.

What's your annual mileage?

 

[koalar]

of cause you could always go for a newer model panda



is there any area of your old panda you would like to improve ?



my main reason for updating the panda for a newer version Panda was the £30 Road tax

I have recently been driving

piccanto
i10
swift
a class
alto


The Swift, A Class feel very similar to the panda to drive the swift is harder to reverse and park.


A Class in more refined and handles better. Expensive to have a garage repair as the engine is nearly under your feet and battery is under the drivers side carpet.. All of which give more room for rear passengers

 

[Lorna87]

I wouldn’t want PCP as I would want to know the car is mine etc. I won’t be buying brand new, but will be going through a dealer so that there is a warranty in place etc. I do quite like the look of the newer Pandas, but a lot of them don’t appear to have Bluetooth etc

 

[Lorna87]

How about a Fiat 500X, if a 500 is too small? Bigger than a Panda and retains the 5 door practicality[emoji780]

For me, I find the mix of a Panda 169 and a 500S perfect.
The Panda is great for lugging stuff about and day to day driving/shopping

If I want to go somewhere a bit quicker, or when me and the dog aint covered in mud, I take the 500.

My mum has the 500X, and it’s a great car, but just not very easy to park I find and just a tad too big.

 

[Johnbee]

My mum has the 500X, and it’s a great car, but just not very easy to park I find and just a tad too big.

Maybe a new(er) Panda would suit

 

[varesecrazy]

How many miles in how many years have YOU done in Poppy?

Pandas are very good value for a reliable basic car.. but you dont tend to find ones with all the 'toys'

If somebody wants a new car to order.. the person who wants 'cost effective' buys a panda
The person who wants MORE.. spends more and buys something else

However.. the expensive 'options' add very little to a cars resale value..

So holding out for certain features could take more time than money

 

[AndyRKett]

My mum has the 500X, and it’s a great car, but just not very easy to park I find and just a tad too big.

The 500x is quite a small car, based on the same platform as the 500l and Punto if that’s too big for you then the only real option would be a panda or 500 alternatively you’ll have to look away from Fiat.

A £2k deposit and £200 a month bearing in mind you don’t want a PCP deal is going to limit you to maybe a £8k - £10k car over maybe 4 years, it’s also very dependent on your credit history which can limit the amount you can borrow and the duration you have to pay it back. If you have a poor credit rating then a big chunk of your £200 would go to just paying off interest.

 

[Lorna87]

I have an excellent credit score. And I wouldn’t pay more than 8.000 on a car to be honest.

 

[varesecrazy]

Until recently you could buy a NEW panda for that..

We paid £5.5k for a panda with 10k on the clock..

So you have every chance of finding what you want
Charlie

 

[AndyRKett]

I have an excellent credit score. And I wouldn’t pay more than 8.000 on a car to be honest.

Brilliant so you want a car bigger than a panda, smaller than a 500x costing no more than £8k and less than £200 a month

Put all that info into auto trader and see what cars you actually like the look of.

More often than not you can recommend the perfect car for someone then they go out and buy something completely different because looks kick in or the opinions of others or you just find a car you really like and suddenly everything else goes out the window.