General Sell or scrap?

[ForkieX30]

2009 Dynamic Eco just failed the MOT. Do you think anyone would give me over £200 for it or should I just send it to the breaker? Shame really, as the mechanic said it's a tidy car apart from the fails, the welding underneath is apparently fairly minor.

 

[Twotone2]

There's someone on the thread below looking for one of those mate, that exact model and year.

Pre-purchase advice for 169 Panda. (petrol vs diesel) | FIAT Panda (Mk3)

Greetings all, I'm considering the purchase of my first Fiat, specifically a 169 shape Panda. I like the design and simplicity and look like they would be practical with the seats folded down for occasional load carrying. Been reading a few threads here and elsewhere and would welcome any input...

www.fiatforum.com

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Knackered suspension, over heating engine, body rust and a host of other issues, it’s probably only fit for scrap. You could always try and sell it on Facebook or eBay as an MOT fail, someone might want bits off it, or you could break it yourself, but honestly £200 is probably pushing it.

 

[ForkieX30]

^^^Yeah, I thought as much. Breaker should hopefully offer in the region of £170, that's about what I got for 2 similar cars last year, and I won't have the faff of advertising and whatnot.

Although according to the mechanic it's not as bad as it sounds, suspension is just the bracket holding the spring up, minor welding, minor brake fix (had same last year), fan doesn't work properly, common problem according to this forum. Does seem a shame but the sums just don't add up. I'll contact the breaker next week if I can remember their name.

 

[koalar]

welding underneath is apparently fairly minor.

Did they give you a quote for this work ?

 

[ForkieX30]

Did they give you a quote for this work ?

Not until tomorrow. Manager unofficially suggested it wouldn't be worth it though. Hopefully be able to buy something else tomorrow. That's the downside of working nights, by the time I've got out of bed everywhere is closed!

 

[koalar]

Not until tomorrow. Manager unofficially suggested it wouldn't be worth it though. Hopefully be able to buy something else tomorrow. That's the downside of working nights, by the time I've got out of bed everywhere is closed!

Unfortunately once one side has gone the other will only be a year or so behind

It depends on your ability and circumstances

If you patch it up.you probably only get another year or two out of it


Or you can put the money into a new car

There is a place near me Crewe not that far from you were you can get something pretty decent for a couple of grand


Last time I looked they had a fully loaded ka2 with loads of money spent on it, new tyres, new axle, Aircon, decent radio with steering wheel controls two sets of keys, full service history £1600 the only problem was it was lime green, it's hit and miss as it has as a fast turnaround

A quick look found this

FIAT PANDA 1.1 ACTIVE ECO 59 REG WHITE 5 DOOR MOT OCTOBER 29TH 2026 TAX £35 SERVICE HISTORY 50+MPG | in Shavington, Cheshire | Gumtree

FIAT PANDA 1.1 ACTIVE ECO PETROL 59 REG WHITE 5 DOOR HATCHBACK, POWER STEERING, RADIO CD PLAYER, ELECTRIC WINDOWS, 2 KEYS, SERVICE HISTORY, TIMING BELT REPLACED, NEW CLUTCH @107K MILES, MOT OCTOBER 29TH 2026 NO ADVISORIES ON LAST MOT, ROAD TAX £35 FOR 12 MONTHS, LOW INSURANC

www.gumtree.com

Look at thier other cars

There nearly always something wrong with them

Sometimes fairly simple, or a minor bump you could live with, silly colours, laqure peel and so 9n

 

[ForkieX30]

Is that Budget Cars next to Baird Foods? I got this one from there, and 2 relatives did the same. I won't be going back.

I've been to see an Astra today, if that's not a goer there's also a Nissan, possibly Qashqai, although didn't look closely at it at the time but I'm starting to like the idea.

I won't be having another Panda, it's not for me. I've had this one 18 months and sadly haven't enjoyed a single day of it. It's a real shame because I was hoping it would be a good replacement for my old Wagon R but we just didn't become friends. Time to move on.

 

[koalar]

Is that Budget Cars next to Baird Foods? I got this one from there, and 2 relatives did the same. I won't be going back.

I've been to see an Astra today, if that's not a goer there's also a Nissan, possibly Qashqai, although didn't look closely at it at the time but I'm starting to like the idea.

I won't be having another Panda, it's not for me. I've had this one 18 months and sadly haven't enjoyed a single day of it. It's a real shame because I was hoping it would be a good replacement for my old Wagon R but we just didn't become friends. Time to move on.

Yes

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Although according to the mechanic it's not as bad as it sounds, suspension is just the bracket holding the spring up, minor welding, minor brake fix (had same last year), fan doesn't work properly, common problem according to this forum. Does seem a shame but the sums just don't add up. I'll contact the breaker next week if I can remember their name.

The usual thing with rust like this, is once something has rusted and needs welding, you'll spend the rest of your life chasing the rust from one bit to the next.

Also these rear beams on the Panda can get really bad and the repair is only as good as the metal you are welding it to. You could weld it up and the next bit of metal along gives way.

With over heating, its fine and easily explainable that the fan isn't working so it over heats but these little engines don't like over heating and what was caused by a faulty fan can quickly turn to a blown head gasket and warped cylinder head. So again fixable but who know what other damage has been done. Might be none, might be terminal.

 

[koalar]

Is that Budget Cars next to Baird Foods? I got this one from there, and 2 relatives did the same. I won't be going back.

I've been to see an Astra today, if that's not a goer there's also a Nissan, possibly Qashqai, although didn't look closely at it at the time but I'm starting to like the idea.

I won't be having another Panda, it's not for me. I've had this one 18 months and sadly haven't enjoyed a single day of it. It's a real shame because I was hoping it would be a good replacement for my old Wagon R but we just didn't become friends. Time to move on.

Your panda pretty old at 16

It's best to stick to less than 10 years and had some love given to it, if you want to keep it awhile

 

[jrkitching]

Some good advice in this thread.

Once the rear beam has corroded to the point of being a dangerous MOT defect, it can't be repaired by welding. Complete replacement beams can be had for reasonable cost, but unless you can do the work yourself, the labour element would likely put fixing just this one thing alone beyond the value of the car. Throw in all the other failure items, and letting this one go becomes a total no-brainer.

My own advice is not to run a car that's more than eight years old unless you are capable of doing most maintenance and repair jobs yourself. It's getting harder to find a decent, reputable garage that's prepared to work on older cars, and labour and parts prices are both multiples of what they were five years ago. It's not hard to end up spending £2k a year and once you reach that point, the monthly payment on a brand new car starts to look good value.

 

[jrkitching]

I won't be having another Panda, it's not for me. I've had this one 18 months and sadly haven't enjoyed a single day of it.

I totally get this. I've the same car as this, bought new in summer 2010. It's been the best car I've ever owned, no question about it, but if my only experience of it had been my last 18 months of ownership, I'd be saying something else entirely.

Whoever had owned yours previously likely saw the writing on the wall and chose a good moment to get rid of it.

There's someone on the thread below looking for one of those mate, that exact model and year.

And this thread illustrates the problem; they were indeed excellent cars in their younger days, but by now most are just plain worn out or corroded out. Finding one that's actually worth buying will be a challenge.

 

[koalar]

And this thread illustrates the problem; they were indeed excellent cars in their younger days, but by now most are just plain worn out or corroded out. Finding one that's actually worth buying will be a challenge.

Which brings us back to

Koalar random thoughts | FIAT Panda (Mk3)

Thought I post on here as the information on sealing rings is hard to come by Oil filters 1.2 There's two types notice the engine number of the swap over The early ones are longer, A it the diameter H is the length C is the outer diameter of the sealing ring Also notice the bypass...

www.fiatforum.com

At 16 years there getting towards end of life, which people get upset about,

Let put it another way. An average car. that been sat outside. On average will cost more over a couple of years than the purchase price of the car, unless you can do your own fabrication and repairs

There will be exeptions

Here's the figures go or the 1.2 dynamic. We are loosing roughly 1K per year and accelerating