General What did you do with your Panda today?

[gar074]

Chuffed to report that the Wee Yellow Beastie maintained its 100% record of passing the MOT first time.

I was expecting it to fail on the rear brake discs, which I haven't yet got around to, but it got by with an advisory. I can now do that job anytime, rather than having to get it done in the next two weeks. Front pads are passable but 70% worn, which I knew about.

Also had an advisory for worn front suspension arm bushes, which I guess isn't surprising considering that it spends a lot of time hammering up and down our muddy, pot-holed farm track. Our Mk 1 Pandas used to chew through their front bushes in no time, so it's reassuring that this one's only showing some wear after 6.5 years / 56k miles.

When it was in for a service a couple of months ago, the stealers assured me that the front & rear brakes (discs and pads) would be an MOT fail. Ya boo sucks to them.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

I took my 4x4 MJ to The Fiat Workshop, Royston for its 36,000 miles service today (https://www.fiatworkshop.co.uk) - also known as The Alfa Workshop. Oil and filter, diesel filter and general check over - for a very reasonable £168. At 33,500 miles, front and rear brakes reported as 50% worn (and marked 'Not urgent - budget for future replacement). Everything else OK. Very impressed by their workshop (and what was in it - some very fine Alfas), and the whole non-contact handover arrangements (including pay by PayPal before collecting). A good example of 'how it should be'. I'll go there again!

 

[gar074]

That's a very good price! Royston's only a half-hour drive from Cambridge, where I spend part of my time, so I may well give them a try next time my Panda needs some attention.

I wonder if they have experience of working on Barchettas - I daren't entrust mine to the Fiat dealers in Norfolk/Suffolk...

Edit: just seen from their website that they only charge £166 for new rear discs and pads on a 4x4. Given what a pig of a job everyone on here says it is, that's a very tempting price.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

That's a very good price! Royston's only a half-hour drive from Cambridge, where I spend part of my time, so I may well give them a try next time my Panda needs some attention.

I wonder if they have experience of working on Barchettas - I daren't entrust mine to the Fiat dealers in Norfolk/Suffolk...

Edit: just seen from their website that they only charge £166 for new rear discs and pads on a 4x4. Given what a pig of a job everyone on here says it is, that's a very tempting price.

Yes - I saw that too (in fact they charge less for the rears than the fronts). They also quote 1 hour to do it! Highly recommend them. They do the cars in the order they arrive at the workshop in the morning, so if you can get there for 8am, they can do it while you go off for a wander (I walked from their workshop to Therfield Heath this morning - about half a mile away - from where there are stunning views, as far as Ely Cathedral on the far horizon)

 

[FiatMatt94]

Took the Panda for a little drive to Euro Car Parts after work to get some Turtle Wax Colour Magic Black as I have heard good things about it & was cheaper from them than Ebay, then to Sainsburys for a little shopping. Got home & applied a Panda Logo sticker I brought for my Heko grill cover, am quite pleased with it as the colour matches the squircle decals, even the dog approved

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Took the Panda for a little drive to Euro Car Parts after work to get some Turtle Wax Colour Magic Black as I have heard good things about it & was cheaper from them than Ebay, then to Sainsburys for a little shopping. Got home & applied a Panda Logo sticker I brought for my Heko grill cover, am quite pleased with it as the colour matches the squircle decals, even the dog approved
View attachment 220857 View attachment 220859

isn’t it still too warm for any form of radiator blocking? In fact, I can’t recall a winter in the past ten years in my area where it might, perhaps, have been needed for more than a day or two? The covers are made in Poland, where winter temperatures can drop to minus 20. Used here, isn’t there more danger from overheating, rather than risk of over-cooling? Or am I missing something?

 

[macp]

I did this. Tis but a small thing but pleased mine eyes

 

[Marcus Daly]

I had my Panda in for its first service this week.

Booked it back on Monday via MyFiat, got an immediate email saying the local dealer would follow-up to confirm. Days later they hadn’t. So I called them. Calls to my local dealership’s service number are diverted to a call-centre.

They claimed they hadn’t had anything through from MyFiat. But what became obvious very quickly is that they play a game of ignoring this, instead requiring you to call them. So rather than simply booking you in for the manufacturer’s recommended fixed price service per your request, they want to get you on the phone to spend what seemed like HOURS reading out multiple lengthy upsell scripts for engine flushing, anti-covid disinfection (!) etc etc etc and, for just £25, an insurance product that pays out £500 toward any MOT failure repairs they might decide you’ll need two years from now. Oh, and would you like an extra years breakdown cover (that you already have)?

I waited for the call centre agent to draw a breath after each one and calmly replied, no thanks, just the manufacturer’s recommended service please. Again, and again, and again…

TLDR: you’re wasting your time booking a service through MyFiat, and main dealers are a bunch of shysters.

 

[gar074]

TLDR: you’re wasting your time booking a service through MyFiat, and main dealers are a bunch of shysters.

Haven't tried to book via MyFiat, but I can't disagree with your second point.

Online booking with Fiat dealers seems to be something of a lottery. I made what I thought was a firm online booking for a service via my local dealer's website, only to discover, when they deigned to email me more than 2 weeks later, that online bookings are only "provisional", and my booking hadn't been confirmed. So I had to start the booking process from the beginning, which delayed matters by 2+ weeks. Muppets.

 

[FiatMatt94]

isn’t it still too warm for any form of radiator blocking? In fact, I can’t recall a winter in the past ten years in my area where it might, perhaps, have been needed for more than a day or two? The covers are made in Poland, where winter temperatures can drop to minus 20. Used here, isn’t there more danger from overheating, rather than risk of over-cooling? Or am I missing something?

I live by Gatwick Airport in the countryside & the temperature tends to start dropping around about mid October as I am starting to notice when I cycle to work at 5am, in regards to it overheating the cover has never affected it as the temperature gauge stays the same at half way all year round, the first winter I had the Panda I didn't have the grill cover & going to work at 3.30am it took a while to warm up so my dad gave me this as a christmas present as he has one for his Punto & when I first attached it it did make a difference, warmed up a lot quicker, drove a bit better, a little better on fuel & the heater was a lot warmer although it was good already. We normally start to see frost here around this time of year so the cover normally gets put on around mid October & stays on until the end of winter. When my dad was running the old Panda's with the 1000 FIRE engines they always suffered from carb ice from around end of october & throughout the winter, he found the solution in the end was to put the really thick heavy duty black bags over the grille, problem solved & they ran sweet as a nut all through winter.

 

[FiatMatt94]

I did this. Tis but a small thing but pleased mine eyes

View attachment 220862

View attachment 220863

These are quite a nice little touch to any small Fiat, I was thinking of getting a pair of genuine Fiat ones for my front wings

 

[macp]

These are quite a nice little touch to any small Fiat, I was thinking of getting a pair of genuine Fiat ones for my front wings

I thought so too didnt think to look at genuine Fiat items though.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Subtle and very classy. Our Becky is white and I think they look very good with the white background. Where did you find them?

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I live by Gatwick Airport in the countryside & the temperature tends to start dropping around about mid October as I am starting to notice when I cycle to work at 5am, in regards to it overheating the cover has never affected it as the temperature gauge stays the same at half way all year round, the first winter I had the Panda I didn't have the grill cover & going to work at 3.30am it took a while to warm up so my dad gave me this as a christmas present as he has one for his Punto & when I first attached it it did make a difference, warmed up a lot quicker, drove a bit better, a little better on fuel & the heater was a lot warmer although it was good already. We normally start to see frost here around this time of year so the cover normally gets put on around mid October & stays on until the end of winter. When my dad was running the old Panda's with the 1000 FIRE engines they always suffered from carb ice from around end of october & throughout the winter, he found the solution in the end was to put the really thick heavy duty black bags over the grille, problem solved & they ran sweet as a nut all through winter.

We had our first seriously frosty morning day before yesterday. We're only about a mile from the sea front and docks down at Leith so it has to be pretty cold before it affects us. The cars were all white and you couldn't see out the windscreen. It quickly melted when the sun appeared though.

I've always been very nervous about blanking radiator airflow on modern vehicles. Back in the days of convection driven cooling systems - so no thermostat or water pump, Both my first cars, 1930 Morris Minor and 1936 Morris 8, were like this - you could make a substantial difference by doing this. On modern vehicles with a water pump to circulate the coolant and a thermostat stopping circulation through the radiator unless needed it should make little difference if you blank the rad? I'm also worried because cooling systems generally contain much less actual coolant than the old cars - which is good because it aids more rapid warm up but this also means that temperature can escalate uncontrollably much more quickly. I think it's a bad idea, considering our moderate, "temperate" climate, especially when you take into consideration that our wee Fire engines don't like getting too hot? - I'm thinking possible blown head gaskets?

So now I'm wondering if many of us do this? Or am I in the minority?

 

[Marcus Daly]

Some second/third generation Prius drivers used to do this, claiming it made a decent difference in cold weather. I guess it must have done, as Toyota engineered the fourth generation with an automatic shutter to achieve the same result.

 

[varesecrazy]

Busy day for our panda today..

Social trip out.. 16 miles each way.. then a trip back to the Welsh Valleys..110 miles of 70mph

The 'naughty car' acted.up again

Its back to its stuttery running after several hours at 70 ..easing off due to driving conditions.. means a 'misfire'
feeling

E10 hasnt cured it..

But turning on and off does

 

[macp]

Subtle and very classy. Our Becky is white and I think they look very good with the white background. Where did you find them?

Apologies if you dont mean me. But if you did I really appreciate it. I found them on ebay. I wanted the wing badges to be small & subtle and the one on the rear had the right angle to match the Panda lettering.

 

[macp]

Busy day for our panda today..

Social trip out.. 16 miles each way.. then a trip back to the Welsh Valleys..110 miles of 70mph

The 'naughty car' acted.up again

Its back to its stuttery running after several hours at 70 ..easing off due to driving conditions.. means a 'misfire'
feeling

E10 hasnt cured it..

But turning on and off does

As I found out on my first proper run with swmbo in the car. Its quite happy at 70mph. Its a lovely smooth flexible engine I find.

Sorry to read of your issues.

 

[Jiffycom]

With interest rates and inflation being what they are, I decided to purchase new suspension parts for the Panda now. Autodoc's prices were better than other places and I bought enough stuff to get free postage from Germany. I have a 2016 1.2 Panda and these were the part numbers I bought:
Bilstein B4 22-260930 front left shock absorber - £48.08
Bilstein B4 22-260406 front right shock absorber - £46.10
Bilstein B4 19-260419 rear shock absorbers - 2 x £31.02 = £62.04
Lesjofors 4226166 rear springs - 2 x £32.57 = £65.14

I should get some cashback (maybe as much as 10%) as well but it's not come through yet.

Autodoc phoned me to tell me I had ordered the wrong rear springs for my chassis and recommended some KYB ones instead. Knowing, I had carefully double checked the part numbers, I looked up the KYB part number they gave me and it was for a 4x4 Panda so, unless there's an invisible propshaft and rear differential fitted to my car, I declined the recommended adjustment to my order and insisted on my original request! If you're wondering where the front springs are, I've ordered them separately and they should be on their way soon.

I ordered the parts a week ago on Monday evening and they arrived today, Monday afternoon, so I'm pleased with speed of delivery. I probably won't fit them until next year as I've got a load of other jobs to do and projects to work on beforehand. The next job on the Panda is timing belt!

 

[The Panda Nut]

With interest rates and inflation being what they are, I decided to purchase new suspension parts for the Panda now. Autodoc's prices were better than other places and I bought enough stuff to get free postage from Germany. I have a 2016 1.2 Panda and these were the part numbers I bought:
Bilstein B4 22-260930 front left shock absorber - £48.08
Bilstein B4 22-260406 front right shock absorber - £46.10
Bilstein B4 19-260419 rear shock absorbers - 2 x £31.02 = £62.04
Lesjofors 4226166 rear springs - 2 x £32.57 = £65.14

I should get some cashback (maybe as much as 10%) as well but it's not come through yet.

Autodoc phoned me to tell me I had ordered the wrong rear springs for my chassis and recommended some KYB ones instead. Knowing, I had carefully double checked the part numbers, I looked up the KYB part number they gave me and it was for a 4x4 Panda so, unless there's an invisible propshaft and rear differential fitted to my car, I declined the recommended adjustment to my order and insisted on my original request! If you're wondering where the front springs are, I've ordered them separately and they should be on their way soon.

I ordered the parts a week ago on Monday evening and they arrived today, Monday afternoon, so I'm pleased with speed of delivery. I probably won't fit them until next year as I've got a load of other jobs to do and projects to work on beforehand. The next job on the Panda is timing belt!

German efficiency for you....