c) Your old man is looking back at you.
What's made you not grumpy but not smile either today?
- Thread starter dave
- Start date
Currently reading:
What's made you not grumpy but not smile either today?
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
With tears in his eye s LOL
I’ve got this for a day or two…. You know, it’s not so bad. I was quite impressed initially. I tried to floor it out of a dual carriageway roundabout (nobody was around) as I do in the Lexus and it felt like it was going to tip over! In that moment I could imagine very skinny wheels and not so great tyres sideways jumping to stay vertical…. That was a no go! It’s got quite the kick to it though but it’s relatively noisy and I can feel the shudder from the eCVT. All the obligatory safety tech. No heated seats.. but one giant touch screen that’s right in your face! I remembered how much I dislike touch screens in cars with how quickly my arm got tired having to interact with it. It also feels like I’m using a tablet or something in traffic which feels… wrong? Like using a phone behind the wheel. I felt too ashamed to do so in stationary traffic.
This Yaris doesn’t look bad at all. But then, it doesn’t look spectacular. I like the lights. It’s alright inside too. Again, nothing special but not bad. It’s so inoffensive that it’s… not stirring up anything in me? Not even with the stick on GR bits. I’d still choose it every day if the week over the Grandland though - feels like a well built tank in comparison.
The CT is having a rear speed sensor wire replaced… well, they’d done that today and it didnt fix the issue. So now they have the wiring diagrams out and I do NOT envy them. Warranty work so they may do anything they want, in as much time as they want. It’s been three weeks of driving it without brake assist, regen braking and cruise control and other things.. Well, I posted an update on here ‘one year in’ and nearly complained about how boring it was and fate gave me something ‘interesting’ to worry about
My review of the Yaris, “it’s no Panda”.
This Yaris doesn’t look bad at all. But then, it doesn’t look spectacular. I like the lights. It’s alright inside too. Again, nothing special but not bad. It’s so inoffensive that it’s… not stirring up anything in me? Not even with the stick on GR bits. I’d still choose it every day if the week over the Grandland though - feels like a well built tank in comparison.
The CT is having a rear speed sensor wire replaced… well, they’d done that today and it didnt fix the issue. So now they have the wiring diagrams out and I do NOT envy them. Warranty work so they may do anything they want, in as much time as they want. It’s been three weeks of driving it without brake assist, regen braking and cruise control and other things.. Well, I posted an update on here ‘one year in’ and nearly complained about how boring it was and fate gave me something ‘interesting’ to worry about
My review of the Yaris, “it’s no Panda”.
Attachments
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Oh deers. I think its SERIOUSLY ugly. I suppose transport is changing and we will have to adapt to the improvements.....I’ve got this for a day or two…. You know, it’s not so bad. I was quite impressed initially. I tried to floor it out of a dual carriageway roundabout (nobody was around) as I do in the Lexus and it felt like it was going to tip over! In that moment I could imagine very skinny wheels and not so great tyres sideways jumping to stay vertical…. That was a no go! It’s got quite the kick to it though but it’s relatively noisy and I can feel the shudder from the eCVT. All the obligatory safety tech. No heated seats.. but one giant touch screen that’s right in your face! I remembered how much I dislike touch screens in cars with how quickly my arm got tired having to interact with it. It also feels like I’m using a tablet or something in traffic which feels… wrong? Like using a phone behind the wheel. I felt too ashamed to do so in stationary traffic.
This Yaris doesn’t look bad at all. But then, it doesn’t look spectacular. I like the lights. It’s alright inside too. Again, nothing special but not bad. It’s so inoffensive that it’s… not stirring up anything in me? Not even with the stick on GR bits. I’d still choose it every day if the week over the Grandland though - feels like a well built tank in comparison.
The CT is having a rear speed sensor wire replaced… well, they’d done that today and it didnt fix the issue. So now they have the wiring diagrams out and I do NOT envy them. Warranty work so they may do anything they want, in as much time as they want. It’s been three weeks of driving it without brake assist, regen braking and cruise control and other things.. Well, I posted an update on here ‘one year in’ and nearly complained about how boring it was and fate gave me something ‘interesting’ to worry about
My review of the Yaris, “it’s no Panda”.
Some may remember I found my dad a nice old one last year...
Not a hybrid just a 1.5 litre 6 speed Manuel...I should say he's not stopped whinging about it. But...what is notable is it's the same age as the C3 it's the same age as SB1500s Lexus..and in the last 12 months absolutely nothing has gone wrong with it and it does 48 to the Gallon.
On the opposite end of the scale moved the car seat to the Green goblin as need to get the sports exhaust sorted and only day I can do it is tomorrow. He's furious because he's not been in the C3 since October...and prefers the Toyota.
Which is literally the opposite response to any other children to the C3 very odd indeed... probably because he's never known anything else but when I left it on my bosses drive for 2 days while we were away their kids kept asking to go to school in it...my sister's kids always make bee line for it as well. Cos you know small and brightly coloured...my son nah mate black estate car!
Not a hybrid just a 1.5 litre 6 speed Manuel...I should say he's not stopped whinging about it. But...what is notable is it's the same age as the C3 it's the same age as SB1500s Lexus..and in the last 12 months absolutely nothing has gone wrong with it and it does 48 to the Gallon.
On the opposite end of the scale moved the car seat to the Green goblin as need to get the sports exhaust sorted and only day I can do it is tomorrow. He's furious because he's not been in the C3 since October...and prefers the Toyota.
Which is literally the opposite response to any other children to the C3 very odd indeed... probably because he's never known anything else but when I left it on my bosses drive for 2 days while we were away their kids kept asking to go to school in it...my sister's kids always make bee line for it as well. Cos you know small and brightly coloured...my son nah mate black estate car!
Probably as you say he’s never known anything else and the C3 is not interesting or new, where as the Toyota is “different” and new, soon he won’t give a toss about either of them lol
He was telling me how big car have 3 windows the other day....
To which I thought "eh?"
But he explained to me on the way to school...
Big cars have this window....I'm reliably informed.
But I don't think he's going to lose interest...he's just decided it's a nicer car. To be fair to him on all measurable metrics it probably is..
To which I thought "eh?"
But he explained to me on the way to school...
Big cars have this window....I'm reliably informed.
But I don't think he's going to lose interest...he's just decided it's a nicer car. To be fair to him on all measurable metrics it probably is..
Absolute gem of a car. Will run forever. Great on paper. But like the 2024 one I’m driving currently as a courtesy car… despite the fact I can’t objectively fault it, it’s definitely lacking something which I felt the Panda(s) and DS3, and hell, even the CLA with its sculpted bonnet and forward leaning grille had. “Character”.
Speaking of that Lexus … second grump of the day for me. What was a simple speed sensor fault … turned into a suspected bad wire…. Turned into a brake booster replacement. Lexus only dealer part. Thankfully it’s covered by the used car warranty… What reliability?! I could overlook the bearing, the TPMS being broken… but it’s been just over a year and had it not been for warranty… I’d have spent nearly as much on this car as I spent on my infamous 2005 Panda over three years on a long list of repair jobs.
Arguably…. The other issues were past owner caused. Not so sure about the brake booster replacement. seems to be something pretty major that I haven’t really heard going wrong on any other cars but a quick Google reveals this is definitely a CT issue and there were recalls in previous years in some markets…
I don’t feel like sticking up for them anymore. After July…. A fault like this is very much a me problem
Criticism where criticism is due! I don’t think there’s a single part, dealer only parts and all, on a Panda that would come close to a normal list price if £6,000… tut tut tut Toyota.
Attachments
My long dead accountant had a good looking Lexus Saurer 400 grey import around the late 80s, it went well and apart from air suspension issue was generally reliable.
He did have one error come up on the dashboard in Japanese which seemed a concern, until he paid a Japanese student to translate, the washer bottle was empty!
He did have one error come up on the dashboard in Japanese which seemed a concern, until he paid a Japanese student to translate, the washer bottle was empty!
Yaris will be fine it's got Toyota Warranty until November 2027, the Auris will only be November 2026.
However both have 3 pedals and weird little stick in the middle of the car which makes the drivetrain a bit less likely to result in a claim for bankruptcy.
However both have 3 pedals and weird little stick in the middle of the car which makes the drivetrain a bit less likely to result in a claim for bankruptcy.
Lexus still doing this? By which I mean incorporating the brake master cylinder into the ABS "block". I have to say I've never worked on a Lexus but I well remember the one which came into us when I worked in the wee country garage many years ago. It was in the bay next to mine and the foreman was working on it. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it but the problem involved that unit and, in the end, the whole unit had to be replaced at an eye watering cost. Must have been thought up by the same idiot who thought concentric clutch release bearings were a good idea!Absolute gem of a car. Will run forever. Great on paper. But like the 2024 one I’m driving currently as a courtesy car… despite the fact I can’t objectively fault it, it’s definitely lacking something which I felt the Panda(s) and DS3, and hell, even the CLA with its sculpted bonnet and forward leaning grille had. “Character”.
Speaking of that Lexus … second grump of the day for me. What was a simple speed sensor fault … turned into a suspected bad wire…. Turned into a brake booster replacement. Lexus only dealer part. Thankfully it’s covered by the used car warranty… What reliability?! I could overlook the bearing, the TPMS being broken… but it’s been just over a year and had it not been for warranty… I’d have spent nearly as much on this car as I spent on my infamous 2005 Panda over three years on a long list of repair jobs.
Arguably…. The other issues were past owner caused. Not so sure about the brake booster replacement. seems to be something pretty major that I haven’t really heard going wrong on any other cars but a quick Google reveals this is definitely a CT issue and there were recalls in previous years in some markets…
I don’t feel like sticking up for them anymore. After July…. A fault like this is very much a me problem
Criticism where criticism is due! I don’t think there’s a single part, dealer only parts and all, on a Panda that would come close to a normal list price if £6,000… tut tut tut Toyota.
yeah, seems to be some sort of mechanism to boost the brakes when the engine is off and has no vacuum. Seems to come up every so often on the relevant forums. Quite disappointed in reliability terms.Lexus still doing this? By which I mean incorporating the brake master cylinder into the ABS "block". I have to say I've never worked on a Lexus but I well remember the one which came into us when I worked in the wee country garage many years ago. It was in the bay next to mine and the foreman was working on it. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it but the problem involved that unit and, in the end, the whole unit had to be replaced at an eye watering cost. Must have been thought up by the same idiot who thought concentric clutch release bearings were a good idea!
I’ve noticed something about cars. Steven’s family Toyotas, the Auris and Yaris - probably go forever, had my Avensis not had a BMW engine, same with it. Any Panda I’ve had and I hear of on here tends to go with minimal hassle and only when they’re older, need some of the common usually minor little jobs done. And I’d say the same with the VAG cars @portland_bill’s Fabia being on the more simple side will probably also go on forever while maintenance and little hassle, from his posts on it. Seems to be regardless of brand, the more complex and expensive and complicated the cars get the less reliable they get. Disappointingly, I’m finding that even with Toyota/Lexus and mine is far from an ‘advanced luxury’ car!
Perhaps down the line instead of going for a ‘reliable brand’ I’ll go for as simple a car that does the job.
Meanwhile, my grandmothers Panda Pop turns 10 and is on all of its original braking system….wheel bearings and whatnot! Makes you reconsider what ‘reliable’ car means
The simpler the design, the less chance of breakdowns. Sometimes it seems that engineers deliberately complicate modern cars so that we go to the service station more often
I tried to apply this principle when we decided the time had come to part company with the Ibiza. I fancied something simpler and tracked down a late model petrol Jazz. My younger boy's wife had been running around in a Mk1 for many years which I'd been looking after and it had made a favourable impression on me, a well engineered wee car. The selling garage were very obliging and let me take it for a good drive and I really quite liked it in the town but the severe lack of power on country roads was very frustrating. You had to really rev the nuts off it to get anywhere. I almost tried a Mazda 3 but got diverted into trying the Scala and liked it enough I just settled for that. I think, once you've got used to the torque of a turboed engine a normally aspirated unit becomes a bit of a disappointment?
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Pandas on the top. I am however in fearr of the concentric slave cylinder, the DMF, the prop hsaft bearing and the Uni air unit to the extent that we may part company before I really want to. Yesterday however I drove into a gravel drain on the road edge. I needed to stop to look at my phone. The car was definitely stopped dead by it. When I drove out I did select off road mode and it drove out without a hint of any issue. May be in this case the complexity is justified.Absolute gem of a car. Will run forever. Great on paper. But like the 2024 one I’m driving currently as a courtesy car… despite the fact I can’t objectively fault it, it’s definitely lacking something which I felt the Panda(s) and DS3, and hell, even the CLA with its sculpted bonnet and forward leaning grille had. “Character”.
Speaking of that Lexus … second grump of the day for me. What was a simple speed sensor fault … turned into a suspected bad wire…. Turned into a brake booster replacement. Lexus only dealer part. Thankfully it’s covered by the used car warranty… What reliability?! I could overlook the bearing, the TPMS being broken… but it’s been just over a year and had it not been for warranty… I’d have spent nearly as much on this car as I spent on my infamous 2005 Panda over three years on a long list of repair jobs.
Arguably…. The other issues were past owner caused. Not so sure about the brake booster replacement. seems to be something pretty major that I haven’t really heard going wrong on any other cars but a quick Google reveals this is definitely a CT issue and there were recalls in previous years in some markets…
I don’t feel like sticking up for them anymore. After July…. A fault like this is very much a me problem
Criticism where criticism is due! I don’t think there’s a single part, dealer only parts and all, on a Panda that would come close to a normal list price if £6,000… tut tut tut Toyota.
One of the things with the incredibly boring T badged vehicles is they are 4 cylinder and not diesel. As a result they have a solid flywheel because the engine is inherently balanced and doesn't vibrate like an old van by default.
Of course the only reason I actually need to consider these things really is the Green meanie which loves to empty my bank account regularly.
So today it's been...and they've come back with it needs a new exhaust pretty much Cat back which I kinda expected given it's been welded twice and the centre section looks like it's been in the sea. Being one of the older new shape C3s on the road (i.e. not many have needed an exhaust yet) and one with a rare engine the part is special order so none available.
Two choices so far, one from who looked at it...650 quid, one from elsewhere 420 quid.
Think the choice I'm hoping to go with...is a custom stainless cat back with a lifetime warranty... because suspect that will be cheaper than at least one of those numbers and I also bet that if I go with the 420 option I'll be looking at another before 3 years are out.
We'll see what the quote comes back at...
Last edited:
Do you find stainless steel exhausts tend to sound harsh as the mild steel versions absorb the sound better.
Also they crack due to the cooking grade stainless used which is more brittle, then you have a problem trying to keep it's integrity by getting it stainless welded.
I think the thing is if it's warrantied and it cracks it's going back.
Otherwise I don't think the sound is gonna be a huge problem even now with about 50% of the exhaust bypassed it's not that loud because the turbo really keeps the sound level down.
It's only really low speed over run when it's not on boost that it sounds properly rowdy with pops etc. At 70 you barely notice the difference..
Otherwise I don't think the sound is gonna be a huge problem even now with about 50% of the exhaust bypassed it's not that loud because the turbo really keeps the sound level down.
It's only really low speed over run when it's not on boost that it sounds properly rowdy with pops etc. At 70 you barely notice the difference..
The 1.2 Fabia is turboed, but has a bit of lag. Whilst significantly more powerful than either the 60hp Panda, or the 1.4 95hp petrol Doblo, I prefer both of those. The NA engines are more responsive to the throttle. The response is less, of course, especially with the Panda that gives enthusiastic noises but achieves little, but the response is immediate and appropriate to the amount of throttle used. The turbo initially lags, then pushes strongly, but then requires a reduction of throttle to avoid going faster than desired. It is better on longer runs, but harder work.
I had a stainless system put on the Panda, a long time ago now. Came with a 'lifetime' warranty, for as long as I own the car. I suppose that means they would be using better quality stainless.
It is a little harsher in note, but acceptable. It has toned down a little over time, but definitely not as soft as a mild steel system
