General Thinking of getting a Panda on Scrappage

[gareth111278]

Hello All.

I'm thinking of getting a new Panda 'Active Eco' by putting my Cincecento in for Scrappage.
Lookers are offering me £2100 trade in [Scrappage + £100] then pay £68 per month.
Does this sound like a good deal?

I'd be VERY interested to hear from anyone who has done a scrappage deal about your experience.

Are the new Pandas as good as the sales pitch makes out? Any pit falls to look out for? What can I expect to pay for services? {I've NEVER had a car serviced at a garage!, I'm a mechanic.}

Cheers Gareth

 

[udtrev]

Hi Gareth,

Jim is currently well and truly testing his Panda - a fortnight to drive to the Sahara and back !!!

He left Madrid a day ago to return, he's now at London if not heading north to catch the ferry back to Ulster.

Here's a note from his journey down :

Wow, you've been busy! God, french autoroutes are so boring but we're down to about the last 200 miles before we stop. That's 1050ish miles today in the Panda

Now there's not many cars have done that kind of trek, and that speaks volumes for the Panda


Trev

 

[doctorchris]

My daughter went from a Cinque (800cc) to a Panda Active 3 years ago and the difference in build quality between the cars was immense.
The Panda, obviously, is much better built and, even in the Active version, offers so many more useful facilities, eg electric windows, central locking etc.
Performance and handling was also much better, though you may be moving from a Cinque Sporting in which case I cannot comment.
Servicing costs are so variable throughout the UK. It's best to get a quote before you book the car in and haggle if you think the cost is excessive.
Don't be afraid to do some work yourself if you think the dealer is ripping you off. My own, last Panda needed front discs and pads at 24,000 miles and I did the work myself using Fiat parts. It did not cause any warranty issues later on.

 

[Schwenck]

On the face of it it sounds like a good deal, but then again I wouldn't know about buying a new car!

I guess the low £68/m means there's an optional bubble payment in three year's time? May be worth doing your numbers and seeing if this is the basis of a better deal:

http://www.fiatsupasaver.com/selectacar.aspx?vid=3

They are taking trade-ins now, but again, I've no personal experience of them.

Decisions decisions, eh?

 

[gareth111278]

Thanks for that guys.
My Fiat is a 900cc so I think i'll notice the difference in performance!
{having said that my wife has just text me that she's just done a journey on welsh A roads in the Cinque in the same time as she does it in our 3.3L Voyager!}

I'll have a lok at that other offer , yes its a Optional final payment agreement. [£1700ish] the key word is OPTIONAL, what if i just opt not to pay it??

I'll ask the dealer what evidence of servicing they need to keep the warrenty valid, I can do everything my-self [But not Cam-Belts!]

Cheers Gareth

 

[bedbug]

Thanks for that guys.
My Fiat is a 900cc so I think i'll notice the difference in performance!
{having said that my wife has just text me that she's just done a journey on welsh A roads in the Cinque in the same time as she does it in our 3.3L Voyager!}

I'll have a lok at that other offer , yes its a Optional final payment agreement. [£1700ish] the key word is OPTIONAL, what if i just opt not to pay it??

I'll ask the dealer what evidence of servicing they need to keep the warrenty valid, I can do everything my-self [But not Cam-Belts!]

Cheers Gareth

I've ordered two new Pandas on scrappage and I NEVER buy new!, seem like great cars for the money. Check whether you are getting a series one or series two version.

Try to get in before the end of the year as VAT is going back up from 15% to 17.5%...although i'm not sure if FIAT passed this on or absorbed it in their revised pricing earlier in the year...

Have a look at the figures for a 1.2 also, you might appreciate the extra grunt and equal mpg...

 

[Scrogg]

Try to get in before the end of the year as VAT is going back up from 15% to 17.5%...

Won't be a problem. New model Panda is currently late November/early December delivery.

...although i'm not sure if FIAT passed this on or absorbed it in their revised pricing earlier in the year...

They haven't announced anything yet, but some other manufacturers are already promising to cover the VAT increase on any cars ordered before the end of the year that are not available for registration before the end of the year.

 

[doctorchris]

Thanks for that guys.
My Fiat is a 900cc so I think i'll notice the difference in performance!

Silly me, my daughter's Cinque was the 899cc, same as yours. A lot of fun but motorway journeys were hard work.
With the "optional final payment" you can just hand the car back to the dealer and not pay but that would be silly, since you would have a 3 year old car that, with your experience, would last at least another 7 years and would only cost you a further £1700.
Don't see why, as a mechanic, you couldn't tackle a cambelt on a Fiat 1.1 engine.

 

[Schwenck]

the key word is OPTIONAL, what if i just opt not to pay it??

I'd suggest you return it or flit the country with it!

I can do everything my-self [But not Cam-Belts!]

What about the steering column...

 

[gareth111278]

Thanks for all the answers guys!

On balance I think i'll make that final payment...

I'll have a look at the 1.2 but after a 899cc I'm sure I'll be happy with a 1.1L. Anyway if I want grunt I've got 3.3L of Chrysler's finest to play wih!:devil:

OK i'll revise the cam-belts thing.....No cam-belts or steering colums!
I did the belt on my Rover 420TDi, I was a gibbering wreck, I finshed the job, cleaned up & everything. I just couldn't bring my self to turn the key!
Luckily my now boss fired it up whilst i wasn't looking!:worship:

Thanks to you all, I'll keep you posted

 

[fordliu]

My daughter went from a Cinque (800cc) to a Panda Active 3 years ago and the difference in build quality between the cars was immense.
The Panda, obviously, is much better built and, even in the Active version, offers so many more useful facilities, eg electric windows, central locking etc.
Performance and handling was also much better, though you may be moving from a Cinque Sporting in which case I cannot comment.
Servicing costs are so variable throughout the UK. It's best to get a quote before you book the car in and haggle if you think the cost is excessive.
Don't be afraid to do some work yourself if you think the dealer is ripping you off. My own, last Panda needed front discs and pads at 24,000 miles and I did the work myself using Fiat parts. It did not cause any warranty issues later on.

I think this is a good story. Thanks for sharing.

 

[306maxi]

Thanks for all the answers guys!

On balance I think i'll make that final payment...

I'll have a look at the 1.2 but after a 899cc I'm sure I'll be happy with a 1.1L. Anyway if I want grunt I've got 3.3L of Chrysler's finest to play wih!:devil:

OK i'll revise the cam-belts thing.....No cam-belts or steering colums!
I did the belt on my Rover 420TDi, I was a gibbering wreck, I finshed the job, cleaned up & everything. I just couldn't bring my self to turn the key!
Luckily my now boss fired it up whilst i wasn't looking!:worship:

Thanks to you all, I'll keep you posted

Gareth, I'd reccomend the 1.2 Sure it's more expensive BUT you won't need to rev it as much which means in the long run the fuel economy will probably be better plus whilst the 1.2 isn't going to be a motorway rocket it sure will be better than a 1.1 on the occasional trip on a motorway or A road.

Also I noticed you're in NW Wales and aren't going to Slaters in Abergele? Any particular reason why as they seem a whole lot closer to you and I've found them to be excellent at least in the sales side of things as I haven't had to take my 500 in for a service yet.

The Panda's are really good cars. There are some things which people have had problems with in the long term like steering columns and shock absorbers but they're either things that are fairly cheap to fix or things that don't seem to happen to many people. The engines which Fiat have put in the Panda are engines which they've been making in one shape or form for 15 years or so, so no worries there.

With regards to servicing the work will have to be done by a VAT registered garage to keep the warranty intact as well as using genuine parts. So self servicing is out unless of course you work for a VAT registered garage (sounds like you might do )

 

[gareth111278]

Hi 306Maxi,
I'm after the cheepest car we can get, But i'll look at weather the 1.2 gives better MPG as you say it might be cheeper in the long run.

The reason I'm looking at this deal from Lookers is that I found it on the net, If Slaters can match it I'll go with them, I'll contact them before I commit to anything.

It looks like I'll have to put it onto slaters for service anyway as I work for Arriva Buses Wales we don't invoice work to costomers like a car Garage.
If its just a VAT registered garage that I need I could use it as an excuse to visit my mate & his garage in Rugby
How much is a basic service at a dealers? i've NEVER had a car serviced before!

I'm still in the VERY early stages of this so its all fluid at the moment.

Cheers Gareth

 

[doctorchris]

The engines which Fiat have put in the Panda are engines which they've been making in one shape or form for 15 years or so, so no worries there.

The Fiat FIRE engine has actually been in production since 1985, that's 24 years. Amazingly, this relatively simple design remains reliable and economical and keeps the cost of the Panda down as development costs have long since been recovered.

 

[306maxi]

The Fiat FIRE engine has actually been in production since 1985, that's 24 years. Amazingly, this relatively simple design remains reliable and economical and keeps the cost of the Panda down as development costs have long since been recovered.

What I meant was that Fiat have been making these exactly engines in terms of valves and displacement for 15 years or so. The engine family as you said though stretches even further back

 

[306maxi]

Hi 306Maxi,
I'm after the cheepest car we can get, But i'll look at weather the 1.2 gives better MPG as you say it might be cheeper in the long run.

The reason I'm looking at this deal from Lookers is that I found it on the net, If Slaters can match it I'll go with them, I'll contact them before I commit to anything.

It looks like I'll have to put it onto slaters for service anyway as I work for Arriva Buses Wales we don't invoice work to costomers like a car Garage.
If its just a VAT registered garage that I need I could use it as an excuse to visit my mate & his garage in Rugby
How much is a basic service at a dealers? i've NEVER had a car serviced before!

I'm still in the VERY early stages of this so its all fluid at the moment.

Cheers Gareth

Have a chat to Mark @ Slaters He was really good and he seems to know the cars fairly well compared to most salespeople I've seen around. If Lookers will give you that deal then I'm sure Mark could try and beat it, match it or at least get near to it. Plus they're a darn sight closer to you! A slight word of warning though, you might struggle to get a testdrive in a Panda at slaters at least. I drove past last night and unless I was a bit blind they didn't seem to have any Panda's to testdrive, they did have a lot of stock waiting to go out so perhaps some of that stock could be testdriven, I don't know. They have some 500's to testdrive which are the same basic car with a different body which would give you a good idea of what you're buying if you haven't already testdriven a Panda

As for servicing costs you're best off talking to the dealers but you could get a local independant to do it and just supply them with genuine parts and pay them for labour only

 

[ginoespo]

Hi,

I also decided to make full use of the scrappage scheme, trading in my 14 year old nissan sunny for a series 2 1.1 active eco. I'll never get £2k for it at any other time. Just over £5k for a new car ! Fantastic value. My local dealer didn't even want to talk about any possible discounts but I did manage to get some extras out of him. Threw in 12v socket, rear 3rd belt and free fitting of some aftermarket mudflaps and some italian stripes I intend to add to it. Couldn't test drive one though as they're not available yet. Patiently waiting for the telephone call as should arrive just before Xmas, I hope.

 

[gareth111278]

I didn't know it was the FIRE engine in Pandas!

I remember them being mentioned when I was working as a breakdown controller back in 1996. i've never worked on one though, are they simple?

 

[doctorchris]

If you ignore all the crap that legislation forces the engine maker to add to the outside of engines, FIRE engines on the Panda are nearly as simple as Morris Minor engines! Except, they have (non-interferential) cambelts rather than the lovely pushrods that you are used to on your Cinque!

 

[gareth111278]

That's it, the FIRE engine doesn't bend its valves, I remember now!

Is the 1.2L the same?

306 Maxi, I'll give Mark a bell tomorrow, what's your name if you don't mind sharing it, so I can say who advised me to call.

ginoespo, i was thinking of asking for the 3rd rear belt to clinch the deal.

Am I right in thinking that the 1.1 doesn't have Air-Con but the 1.2 does