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General Panda Active Eco 1.1

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General Panda Active Eco 1.1

Hellcat

Hellcat

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How does it compare to its rivals such as the Citroen C1, Toyota Aygo, Pugeout 107, Matiz and other ugly small cars?

My parents may need a replacement for their rapidly rusting Ka, and the Active Eco 1.1 seems to be about the cheapest brand new Fiat you can get.
 
Hellcat said:
How does it compare to its rivals such as the Citroen C1, Toyota Aygo, Pugeout 107, Matiz and other ugly small cars?

My parents may need a replacement for their rapidly rusting Ka, and the Active Eco 1.1 seems to be about the cheapest brand new Fiat you can get.
Click to expand...

Actually with the discounts usually available it's pretty much the cheapest new car you can get, period. Better spec than the base C1 too.

The 1.1 has been superseded by the 1.2, which is IMO a significantly better engine (I've driven both back-to-back).

Just looked on Perrys website & they appear to be taking orders for the new 1.2 Active @ £5995. Check this link:

http://www.perrys.co.uk/fiat-panda-1.2-%5B69%5D-active-5-door/new-and-delivery-mileage/offer-184251
 
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I can't understand why people bother with the C1,Aygo, etc when you can get a Panda that cheap.
 
I had an Aygo loaner for a while and the Panda is a way better prospect.

It has four doors without paying extra.
If your parents are older the high seating position is much easier to get in and out.
It has a boot you can actually fit things in.


Some people go on about the Active being low spec but apart from alloys and alcantara trim the 'Platinum' Aygo I had was no better.

The Panda isn't flash but it's just incredibly handy. We bought ours as a second car and it ended up being the first car from day one...
 
My brother in law bought a brand new pug107 and within two years it had two exhausts three sets of tyres and numerous problems tappets etc and everytime it went in for a service there was problems .And it would not pull skin off a rice pudding. the interior was terrible and the door posts was obstructing the view from the drivers seat ,a terrible car the same goes for the small toyota and ive got a mate with the new nissan micra and he recons its terrible on gas.........
 
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jrkitching said:
Actually with the discounts usually available it's pretty much the cheapest new car you can get, period. Better spec than the base C1 too.

The 1.1 has been superseded by the 1.2, which is IMO a significantly better engine (I've driven both back-to-back).

Just looked on Perrys website & they appear to be taking orders for the new 1.2 Active @ £5995. Check this link:

http://www.perrys.co.uk/fiat-panda-1.2-%5B69%5D-active-5-door/new-and-delivery-mileage/offer-184251
Click to expand...

Will this 1.2 be Group 1 insurance and £30 per year road tax also? Insurance cost and mpg is their biggest concerns given my 19yr old brother would be insuring it and the cost of fuel is one of the biggest running costs on a car.
 
Fiat show group 1 for the 1.1, they don't show a group for the 1.2 although the dynamic eco is group 3

As regards MPG the 1.2 is better than the 1.1 by a couple of miles


Trev
 
The 1.2 is a bit more to insure but that was the dynamic. I am a bit annoyed the 1.2 is now the same price as the 1.1 though :(

I really do like my Active though, its a fine car and it feels like a proper car unlike the C1 which feels a lot like the Ka did, a cut price budget car. The Panda some how feels like a slightly dated proper car if that makes sense?

I've had my Active 8 months now, the only problem I had with is when I didn't drive it for two weeks and the water from the thaw of the 8 inches of snow which was on my bonnet some how managed to get into the engine bay. It just meant the car was a little tricky to start until the water everoparated.

It is by far the best car I've ever had though, but then it is the only new car I've ever had.

The main issue with the 1.1 is you have to rev the pants off it to get up hill etc. I get 41mpg out of mine and that is all city driving (e.g stop start) but it just get thrashed. I often reach 30mph when I am still in 2nd :p.

If I was a lot lighter on the throttle I reckon I could get 45-50 out of it.
 
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My biggest gripe with the changes to the Panda range is that you can't get aircon as an option on the 1.2 active, and the move up to the dynamic now means having to pay for a whole load of other options I wouldn't want, like alloy wheels.

I can accept there are sound technical reasons for not offering A/C with the old 1.1 engine, but not to offer it on the 1.2 is just a marketing decision to promote the sales of the dynamic.
 
It could also be to simplify the production lines as well.
 
There's three Pandas in our family and we argue which is best.
54 plate 1.2 dymanic
57 plate 1.1 active
10 plate 1.2 dymanic Eco.

I've driven all three and there's next to nothing in it power wise, two of us say the 1.1 is more fun as it feels zippier maybe cos you have to rev it a little more, we'd had four in it and it cruised at 80 ok, the other likes the older 1.2 dymanic, I think 'cos the engines loosened up a bit more than the others and feels a little more torquey.

The active has the black bumpers as the others have picked up Sainsbury scrapes and we all like the no frills approach, less to go wrong, cheaper to fix.

We all like the tax of £30 of the Eco, but think the Air cons a bit of a waste, why buy a Eco car to waste fuel on running the Air con? Open the window and get a Solero!

We also all like the lighter coloured car, as the other two are darker and show the white primer when scratched or nicked.

No one likes the older cars light blue seats, the actives black seats get the thumbs up all round.

None of us smoke, so there's no use of a cigar lighter and if we don't know where it is, we don't want to go there, so no need to plug a satnav in!

We've all had the MJ on loan, and we'd all have one, but wouldn't pay more for one.

Funny thing is, we all prefer each others!

I guess you make your choice and live with it, we all like them which ever it is!
 
You know it is a good car when you people have more than one of them in the same house!. That said me and my mate both have one, his is an 09 Active Eco mine is a 10 Active Eco. The only difference between the two cars is mine has the 12v plug and bigger mirrors.

It will be hard to replace it in four years time, as this model of Panda won't be made any more and I think I would want a brand new one. So I hope the new shape Panda is just as good value and just as good otherwise I might end up with a Hyundai.

If they sell of this existing shape cheap enough before it runs out I may think about replacing it early to get one of the last ever made but the it will have to be better spec than my Active and very cheap to make it worth while.

Or I might just keep this car for ten years and currently I am thinking of never replacing it, just replace it when I crash it or the MOTs start to get too expensive.
 
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With just about all new models on hold you might be waiting a bit longer for a replacement for the Panda.

I secretly hope the Ka's rust is worse than it looks (which already is pretty bad) just so there is a chance to drive a Panda ocasionally. I doubt I could replace the Bravo with one but it would be fun to drive from what it felt in the showroom. I will be wanting a test drive if they go ahead with looking for a replacement.
 
I think the thing it has going for it is the fact it's Built in Poland, compered to the other Fiats and Alfas I've had, it pretty well screwed together, even if the bits are cheap.
Nothing's come off in my hand yet, unlike the loaner Punto Evo I had, I ended up posting it back bit by bit! I had it 4 mins and the switches to the right of the steering wheel fell out, followed by the panel it's self and then the wheel for the seat fell off, all this before I left the dealer car park!

Shame, as I hear Fiat want to move the new Pandas production back to Italy.
 
Bought a Panda 1.1 Active eco in September and very pleased with it. two members of our family already have Pandas and raved about them, so when we went looking for a small replacement car, it was on the short list. We also looked at Citroen C1 and other Far Eastern offers. We were impressed with the Panda most as it felt the most solidly built, drives very well, great gear change, comfy ride, well equipped for price and we felt looks the best, (being an Italian car also helps over the others in terms of style)
Since buying it we really feel we made the right decision and both my wife and I fight to use it over our main larger car!
 
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