General Rust

[doctorchris]

I'm perfectly prepared to believe that there will be rogue cars when it comes to corrosion and you seem to have one. There may have been a batch of substandard steel or a fault in preparing the bodyshell for galvanising or painting. What I don't understand is the attitude of the dealership. There's no need for them to be rude or obstructive. They should be prepared to stand up for you, their customer, against Fiat. If Fiat are to survive in a competitve market, they need to be prepared to recognise manufacturing faults and put matters right for the customer.
Sadly, if you do have a rogue car then it will never be free of corrosion now. The best result would be a good respray after which you dispose of the car.

 

[davidof]

I'm perfectly prepared to believe that there will be rogue cars when it comes to corrosion and you seem to have one. There may have been a batch of substandard steel or a fault in preparing the bodyshell for galvanising or painting. What I don't understand is the attitude of the dealership. There's no need for them to be rude or obstructive. They should be prepared to stand up for you, their customer, against Fiat. If Fiat are to survive in a competitve market, they need to be prepared to recognise manufacturing faults and put matters right for the customer.
Sadly, if you do have a rogue car then it will never be free of corrosion now. The best result would be a good respray after which you dispose of the car.

Here is a photo of the brown spots over the bodywork of the Panda. These cover the doors and boot and some are present on the center pillar which is shielded from the elements to a certain extent. If you look under a magnifying glass they seem to be bodywork corrosion.

I didn't follow this up after my first post because my wife was involved in an accident - she was hit from behind - and the car was being repaired for 2 months. I was hoping they would right it off but the insurers preferred to spend more than the 2nd hand price of the car.

I too was shocked that the dealer, while maybe not admitting a problem, they could have taken a closer look rather than mocking my wife. This is our third Panda - I had one of the 2nd series which was well over a dozen years old when I gave it to a friend and it had no visible corrosion problems.

I agree this is probably a rogue model. I thought the steel was galvanized so we shouldn't see this kind of thing.

 

[Venters]

Paint should bubble before the rust comes through shouldn't it?
That photo makes the rust colour looklike it is sitting on top of the paint.

 

[davidof]

Paint should bubble before the rust comes through shouldn't it?
That photo makes the rust colour looklike it is sitting on top of the paint.

Maybe, although it is not a 3D photo. The paint looks pockmarked like a teenager's skin. Maybe the Panda is going through adolescence?

 

[Whippet]

Thanks for the link to strip down attachments. The report is encouraging.

I know it's a little off topic, but in terms of reliability, the only major concern I have with respect to the 100 HP is whether or not the gearbox is up to scratch. There do seem to be a number of posts related to premature synchro failure. Does anyone have any idea why the gearbox seems problematic?