Whippetmaddad
New member
I sold a M140i and brought my Panda.
General What car did you drive before
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General What car did you drive before
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
big improvement there...
Ive had a total of around 95 cars. Before the first Panda I had a Smart for two cabrio.
Before that a VW Golf 2.O GT TDI DSG.
These days costs are so high the Panda makes a lot of sense. Its fast enough to keep up with traffic avoids excessspeed being used and is economical. As long as you dont need more carrying capacity it is the ideal car for doing whaterver you want.
I have to admit being tempted to get a big Jag or an Alfa Giulietta but comon sense is winning. I just dont need the things they offer over and above the Pandas skill set. And I dont want to loose my license through inadvertent speeding. Depreciateion on my Panda over 6 years runs to around £1500 On a Jag it would have been over £15000 and thats more than the Panda cost new with a pile of extras The car makers have done a good job at getting us men to spend spend and spend again on cars just for the sake of appearances. In older age I now see just how evil this marketing hype is and how daft I was getting sucked in. I did drive a vast annual milage and a small car would not have been ideal. The car I regret selling most is my Fiat Bravo which was totally reliable for 100,000 miles and still looking new as well. The most reliable, comforatble and economical car I ever had. It overlapped Pandas which started a second cars.
Ive had a total of around 95 cars. Before the first Panda I had a Smart for two cabrio.
Before that a VW Golf 2.O GT TDI DSG.
These days costs are so high the Panda makes a lot of sense. Its fast enough to keep up with traffic avoids excessspeed being used and is economical. As long as you dont need more carrying capacity it is the ideal car for doing whaterver you want.
I have to admit being tempted to get a big Jag or an Alfa Giulietta but comon sense is winning. I just dont need the things they offer over and above the Pandas skill set. And I dont want to loose my license through inadvertent speeding. Depreciateion on my Panda over 6 years runs to around £1500 On a Jag it would have been over £15000 and thats more than the Panda cost new with a pile of extras The car makers have done a good job at getting us men to spend spend and spend again on cars just for the sake of appearances. In older age I now see just how evil this marketing hype is and how daft I was getting sucked in. I did drive a vast annual milage and a small car would not have been ideal. The car I regret selling most is my Fiat Bravo which was totally reliable for 100,000 miles and still looking new as well. The most reliable, comforatble and economical car I ever had. It overlapped Pandas which started a second cars.
Alfa Giulia Quadrfoglio - Panda Cross Twin Air. Easy choice, ha!
sandeel999
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Panda 14 plate before that a panda 11 plate b4 that a panda 55 plate b4 that a panda f reg and b4 that a panda D reg.
And lots of others 2 mx5, 2 audi cab, 1 bmw cab, 3 mr2 cab, 9 or 10 capris, sd1 rover, triumph dolly, marina super, 2 almeras, prob something I've missed.
But always had a panda since 1986
And lots of others 2 mx5, 2 audi cab, 1 bmw cab, 3 mr2 cab, 9 or 10 capris, sd1 rover, triumph dolly, marina super, 2 almeras, prob something I've missed.
But always had a panda since 1986
Just bought a 7 year old City Cross. This is only the second green car we've owned. The previous was a 7 year old Alfasud 38 years ago.
Both also built in the same Naples factory, though the condition (and cost) of the Alfa and Panda are poles apart.
I swapped this....
For this .....
For lots of reasons. But mainly because the Mazda was getting a little crusty around the rear wheel arches so it needed to go - and I wanted something I could put a tow bar on to easily transport my eMTB and put the dog in the back. It's a third car for us so only gets used occasionally, fun so far though!
For this .....
For lots of reasons. But mainly because the Mazda was getting a little crusty around the rear wheel arches so it needed to go - and I wanted something I could put a tow bar on to easily transport my eMTB and put the dog in the back. It's a third car for us so only gets used occasionally, fun so far though!
Exactly what happened to my MX-5 and that was the reason I got rid of it. I did a very bad cover up job on both arches but the garage I part exed it to never noticed - or cared.
Nice topic! I got the Panda almost for free. Last 10 years I did not own a car due to the high costs I have maintaining the house after divorce and all other cost which comes when having children together. The cars I owned during and before marriage are in no particular order:
Seat Ibiza diesel,
Skoda Octavia 1.9TDI
Opel Vectra GTS
Toyota Yaris 1.0 VVTi
Alfa Romeo 145 1.4 TS Junior
Alfa Romeo 145 2.0 QV
Fiat Punto 1.2 S typo 176 (my first car)
Fiat Punto 1.2 Sound typo 188 (post-facelift).
Kind regards,
Seat Ibiza diesel,
Skoda Octavia 1.9TDI
Opel Vectra GTS
Toyota Yaris 1.0 VVTi
Alfa Romeo 145 1.4 TS Junior
Alfa Romeo 145 2.0 QV
Fiat Punto 1.2 S typo 176 (my first car)
Fiat Punto 1.2 Sound typo 188 (post-facelift).
Kind regards,
Lanoguard would have saved the Mazda, and will add years to the Panda...!!
Attachments
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Yep, good guidance. Keep the money and the sensible car. Oh and the driving license. I would use the exra (unnecessry) power! I do like them though should be badged Panda Gti
Actually very like a high class Bravo 198 inside.
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The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Good choices. Clearly the thinking cars drivrer. After a while you look at how much more a different car would have cost and a fewmore lights turn on, then you start to question the need for more annd more lights turn on then you sttsrt thinking about life values and then you are hooked. Not needing size following retirement makes it an easy choice. The grand Panda is however a step too far. Just too big to be in the mix. There are beetter things of that size I feel.
Mine was an addition rather than a replacement as I wanted something small and capable for bombing round locally, especially in the winter.
Wasted Spark
Member
Exactly the same for me. It's a spare car, bought primarily for winter but somehow gets used more than any other...
I had a freelander 2 for 11 years and a selection of defenders before that. Primarily wanted a small car we could tow behind the motorhome and this popped up at the right time. 2014 Trekking twin air. Had it a month so far and enjoying buzzing round town!
So I passed my test in December 2011 age 17, here is my previous & current car list is
1) 1997 Peugeot 106 1.1 which was a freebie from my sister as she got a new car sometime early 2011 but the insurance was ridiculously expensive so that one didn't stick around long & didn't see the road with me
2) 1998 Cinquecento SX which I got after I passed my test, was advertised in the local Friday ad as red but was in fact bright pink was up for £450 but got it for £250, I drove it around for just under a year when it was written off & got nearly 4 times what I originally paid for the car
3) 2000 Fiat Bravo 1.2 80 SX I bought for around £900, it was a step up from the Cinq in terms of comfort & strangely much cheaper insurance but it was soo boring & dull to drive & the car didn't exactly have much get up & go either. I remember this one well as I kept getting pulled over by the police for around a month after buying it, it turned out there was a drugs marker on the car from the previous owner but once I proved when I purchased the car as I always get a written receipt no matter what car I buy the marker was removed, I kept it for around 18 months with no issues & gave it to my dad when his Panda got written off. Gearbox went bang just before the MOT 6 months later & was scrapped in January 2015 due to the gearbox issue & MOT requirements including welding
4) 1988 Austin Mini 1000, my first classic Mini as I'm a huge Mini enthusiast came on 15th September 2014 when my dad bought me a Mini. We picked it up from a classic car dealer near Brighton & it was the first car I'd owned that I did any modifications too, below is a photo of me & the Mini just before my 21st birthday at British Mini day 2015 Himley Hall, still pretty much as we got it
Then a little while later I made it into my own little rally replica but for the road, put a stage 1 kit on it, Momo leather steering wheel, converted the front brakes from the 8.4 setup to 7.5 Cooper S brakes & a set of 6 x 10 Wolfrace Slotmags with 165/70/10 tyres. The way I drove it I used to go through 2/3 sets of tyres per year at around £400 a set
Around mid 2017 the Mini started showing it's true colours as panels started blowing out rapidly due to filler etc so in July 2018 the decision was made to take the Mini off the road due to the escalating bodywork issues & the gearbox was also on it's way out at 115k, although when we stripped it down for the intended rebuild all the horrors were revealed, many previous botches, structural panels such as the A pillar being held on with bathroom sealer, rear subframe only held in with 3 bolts the list of horrors went on in the end it was that badly bodged & rotten that the shell was unsalvageable so it was stripped of all the good bits & disposed off.
5) The Panda Pop I owned when I first joined the forum, me at 24 years old the day I picked up my nice shiny new Panda
My first & only new car which replaced the Mini as I was starting work at 3am 5 days a week & was at the stage in life where I was a little more grown up & I wanted something sensible, basic & easy to live with. I bought it pre reg from Thames Fiat in June 2018 for £7,995 this was supposed be the forever car & I purchased nearly all of the genuine accessories you could buy for the Panda. Here was my first forum event at Auto Italia Brooklands 2023
After 5 years ownership the issues started coming including multiple issues with Airbag module & body control module, they both went at the same time & being main dealer only parts Fiat quoted me £2k just for the modules without reprogramming them & other problems were becoming apparent so I decided that after the car recently spending more time on the drive than the road & I wasn't spending £2k on modules it had to go so I sold it to we buy any car for just short of £4k which wasn't too bad after 5 years as I only paid just under £8k new.
6) Another Mini
after a few years out of Mini ownership I found myself wanting another one but as a show car alongside the daily Panda, I had learnt a lot from the first one so I looked around for a while for good one & I also wanted the oldest Mini I could afford MOT & tax exempt etc, eventually I found it in January 2023, a 1980 Austin Morris Mini 1000 with just 28k on the clock from new with the same owners since 1983 so I made the 6 hour round trip to the Mini dealer in the New Forest & was impressed so after a test drive did some haggling as he wanted £9k, I got it for £8,250 with a new MOT & delivery to my door, my most expensive car to date still in my possession & going nowhere currently in my dad's garage on sorn
7) The current daily driver & money pit my faithful old Seicento which I picked up from a barn last year with just 22k on the clock as I was looking for a car to replace the troublesome Panda, I was originally looking for a Cinquecento as I wanted to sort of relive my youth but they aren't so easy to find nowadays so picked this little nugget up instead with decent MOT history, low mileage & it had a long term owner for over 20 years with all Fiat main dealer service history
I've already decided this one is a keeper as I've done so much with it in 16 months ownership such as modifying it, fixing it up after it's stint in the barn, moving home from the South up to the North. It really got me into the car scene as before I used to go to the odd show but with the Seicento I go everywhere such as regular events at Caffeine & Machine, North West Italian car club meets, Italian car events & Forum events etc I've met so many interesting people & fellow owners since owning the Seicento I've lost count how many events & meets I've been to this year alone
there will be much more to come with this little one as I've got more plans with it & it's going nowhere as I've become very fond of it
1) 1997 Peugeot 106 1.1 which was a freebie from my sister as she got a new car sometime early 2011 but the insurance was ridiculously expensive so that one didn't stick around long & didn't see the road with me
2) 1998 Cinquecento SX which I got after I passed my test, was advertised in the local Friday ad as red but was in fact bright pink
was up for £450 but got it for £250, I drove it around for just under a year when it was written off & got nearly 4 times what I originally paid for the car3) 2000 Fiat Bravo 1.2 80 SX I bought for around £900, it was a step up from the Cinq in terms of comfort & strangely much cheaper insurance but it was soo boring & dull to drive
& the car didn't exactly have much get up & go either. I remember this one well as I kept getting pulled over by the police for around a month after buying it, it turned out there was a drugs marker on the car from the previous owner but once I proved when I purchased the car as I always get a written receipt no matter what car I buy the marker was removed, I kept it for around 18 months with no issues & gave it to my dad when his Panda got written off. Gearbox went bang just before the MOT 6 months later & was scrapped in January 2015 due to the gearbox issue & MOT requirements including welding4) 1988 Austin Mini 1000, my first classic Mini as I'm a huge Mini enthusiast came on 15th September 2014 when my dad bought me a Mini. We picked it up from a classic car dealer near Brighton & it was the first car I'd owned that I did any modifications too, below is a photo of me & the Mini just before my 21st birthday at British Mini day 2015 Himley Hall, still pretty much as we got it
Then a little while later I made it into my own little rally replica but for the road, put a stage 1 kit on it, Momo leather steering wheel, converted the front brakes from the 8.4 setup to 7.5 Cooper S brakes & a set of 6 x 10 Wolfrace Slotmags with 165/70/10 tyres. The way I drove it I used to go through 2/3 sets of tyres per year at around £400 a set
Around mid 2017 the Mini started showing it's true colours as panels started blowing out rapidly due to filler etc so in July 2018 the decision was made to take the Mini off the road due to the escalating bodywork issues & the gearbox was also on it's way out at 115k, although when we stripped it down for the intended rebuild all the horrors were revealed, many previous botches, structural panels such as the A pillar being held on with bathroom sealer, rear subframe only held in with 3 bolts the list of horrors went on
in the end it was that badly bodged & rotten that the shell was unsalvageable so it was stripped of all the good bits & disposed off.5) The Panda Pop I owned when I first joined the forum, me at 24 years old the day I picked up my nice shiny new Panda
My first & only new car which replaced the Mini as I was starting work at 3am 5 days a week & was at the stage in life where I was a little more grown up
& I wanted something sensible, basic & easy to live with. I bought it pre reg from Thames Fiat in June 2018 for £7,995 this was supposed be the forever car & I purchased nearly all of the genuine accessories you could buy for the Panda. Here was my first forum event at Auto Italia Brooklands 2023After 5 years ownership the issues started coming including multiple issues with Airbag module & body control module, they both went at the same time & being main dealer only parts Fiat quoted me £2k just for the modules without reprogramming them & other problems were becoming apparent so I decided that after the car recently spending more time on the drive than the road & I wasn't spending £2k on modules it had to go so I sold it to we buy any car for just short of £4k which wasn't too bad after 5 years as I only paid just under £8k new.
6) Another Mini
after a few years out of Mini ownership I found myself wanting another one but as a show car alongside the daily Panda, I had learnt a lot from the first one so I looked around for a while for good one & I also wanted the oldest Mini I could afford MOT & tax exempt etc, eventually I found it in January 2023, a 1980 Austin Morris Mini 1000 with just 28k on the clock from new with the same owners since 1983 so I made the 6 hour round trip to the Mini dealer in the New Forest & was impressed so after a test drive did some haggling as he wanted £9k, I got it for £8,250 with a new MOT & delivery to my door, my most expensive car to date still in my possession & going nowhere currently in my dad's garage on sorn7) The current daily driver & money pit
my faithful old Seicento which I picked up from a barn last year with just 22k on the clock as I was looking for a car to replace the troublesome Panda, I was originally looking for a Cinquecento as I wanted to sort of relive my youth but they aren't so easy to find nowadays so picked this little nugget up instead with decent MOT history, low mileage & it had a long term owner for over 20 years with all Fiat main dealer service historyI've already decided this one is a keeper as I've done so much with it in 16 months ownership such as modifying it, fixing it up after it's stint in the barn, moving home from the South up to the North. It really got me into the car scene as before I used to go to the odd show but with the Seicento I go everywhere such as regular events at Caffeine & Machine, North West Italian car club meets, Italian car events & Forum events etc I've met so many interesting people & fellow owners since owning the Seicento I've lost count how many events & meets I've been to this year alone
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