General Why should I choose the Panda over the i10?

[hmallett]

Like others said, test drive them both properly and see which you prefer.
Just because one ticks more boxes on a spec sheet doesn't make it better.... otherwise every car would be like the one Homer Simpson designed....

 

[306maxi]

Like others said, test drive them both properly and see which you prefer.
Just because one ticks more boxes on a spec sheet doesn't make it better.... otherwise every car would be like the one Homer Simpson designed....

Yeah but it'd score well with What?!?!?!?! Car? and Which washing machine though

 

[306maxi]

IMHO you can't go wrong with either. The Panda is reliable and well proven since the design is nearly 7 years old and the engines have been in production even longer. The Hyundai has a long warranty and tbh they've never been hugely unreliable cars even if the build quality in terms of trim etc etc isn't going to be that great.

 

[bedbug]

dont forget the panda is about to be updated...you might be disappointed driving an old model relatively soon..i10 is younger design as above...

 

[306maxi]

dont forget the panda is about to be updated...you might be disappointed driving an old model relatively soon..i10 is younger design as above...

The Panda is at least a year or two off being updated IMHO.

 

[Iorek]

This issue is really bugging me, on paper the I10 beats the basic Pandas in quite a few ways, it has a higher NCAP score too so ignoring the paper why is the Panda a better buy?

I still prefer the Panda purely because I love the idea of a basic honest car but also I would rather have the FIAT badge, but I am being snobby.

The Hyundai also comes with a five year warranty.

So convince me why the Panda is a better buy

The cool factor is winning the Panda for me, but it seems like a silly reason to spend £5k

I was in that situation a 2 years ago, a brand new i10 or a used Panda.

In regard to the EuroNCAP score, though the Panda did not achieve as many stars, a closer look at the results would yield a different picture. Also remember the Panda was tested in 2004 and with only 1 airbag. Despite this fact, there are almost no areas that the Panda came out as "weak" i the frontal test. Personally in the real world I do not believe the i10 would do any better in a crash than a Panda would. Interestingly, the same Kia Picanto built on the same platform scores very poorly on the crash test, but th Fiat 500 and Ford KA both performs very well despite being on the same platform.

Next issue, unless you are posting from an Asian country, then maintenance of the Fiat is going to be much cheaper than the Hyundai, especially once it goes out of warranty. For the Fiat all you got to do is search this forum and you can find numerous places where you can get cheaper parts to maintain it. Hyundai parts aren't exactly the cheapest and aren't exactly the most robust out there. However if you are in Asia then by all means the Hyundai will be much cheaper to maintain as Fiat parts do cost a fair bit out of Europe.

I will give the i10 one plus point, if I am after an automatic car then between the Panda and the i10, I will take the i10 because I have not really had good experience with the dualogic gearbox in the Panda and it is costing me a fair bit to maintain.

Fuel economy, Korean cars are never known for it's fuel economy, I used to drive Hyundai Matrix, and for a 1.6l car it guzzled as much as a driven hard Alfa Romeo 2.0.

Interior wise, the Panda will run circles ahead of the i10, the boring grey and drab cockpit would immediately remind you of the sucker you were to buy the i10 Also, why no tachometer??? Gosh I hate cars which does not come with a tachometer.

Residual values, being the typical Asian I am, the first thing I see when it comes to car ownership is its residual value or its perceived resale value after 3-5 years. Go pick up a motor-trader and look for a Hyundai that is a few years old, or better yet go to an auction and just see how much a Hyundai would have lost. If you can swallow that kind of depreciation, then more power to you. The Fiat surprisingly has fairly good residuals (perhaps it is also helped that the 500 is all the buzz right now) and personally I do not see this trend going away as smaller Fiats traditionally have always done well in the UK and the Panda is a very well liked and sought after car.

Finally, I was quite doubtful over a car made in India not that a car screwed together by Poles would be that much better *racist jibes intended*

 

[English Gent]

I didn't bother looking around at all the various options of small cars. I however had seen cars on the road and I liked the shape and style of the Panda. It's a small box, not trying to be anything other than a small box.

It's considered a European car so attracts lesser insurance rates than anything from Asia. Allegedly this is to do with repair costs for transport of parts?

As to what condition your car must be in, mine wasn't even running and had to pushed/towed onto the scrap truck from my drive

 

[JD82]

My head gasket has gone further now The exhaust pipe is now a water pipe

The reason I was asking about that is that Hyundai have offered me £2k for my car not via the government scheme

That said my mind is made up for a youngish 27 year old badge does come into a bit and I rather like the FIAT badge despite its reputation :worship:

 

[306maxi]

My head gasket has gone further now The exhaust pipe is now a water pipe

The reason I was asking about that is that Hyundai have offered me £2k for my car not via the government scheme

That said my mind is made up for a youngish 27 year old badge does come into a bit and I rather like the FIAT badge despite its reputation :worship:

My 406's exhaust pipe was more of a steam pipe when I got rid of it

 

[trackdayqueen]

Interior wise, the Panda will run circles ahead of the i10, the boring grey and drab cockpit would immediately remind you of the sucker you were to buy the i10 Also, why no tachometer??? Gosh I hate cars which does not come with a tachometer.

Residual values, being the typical Asian I am, the first thing I see when it comes to car ownership is its residual value or its perceived resale value after 3-5 years. Go pick up a motor-trader and look for a Hyundai that is a few years old, or better yet go to an auction and just see how much a Hyundai would have lost. If you can swallow that kind of depreciation, then more power to you. The Fiat surprisingly has fairly good residuals (perhaps it is also helped that the 500 is all the buzz right now) and personally I do not see this trend going away as smaller Fiats traditionally have always done well in the UK and the Panda is a very well liked and sought after car.

Finally, I was quite doubtful over a car made in India not that a car screwed together by Poles would be that much better *racist jibes intended*

Actually the i10 has a tachometer as standard. It also has aircon as standard which panda active doesn't. Does the panda have rev counter? Was that sorted in the update?

I'm not convinced there is much in it interiorwise, both are fairly similar and use cheap hard plastics.

My friend just bought an i10 btw so I've had a good look at it and a ride in it.

I have yet to be convinced that the residuals of the panda have any strength at all. My 9 month old MJ lost half it's value when I chopped it in! That's 50% in under a year!

I think if you buy a cheap basic car you have to think that it's not going to be worth a lot when you come to chop it in or sell it in 3 years time.

 

[Trefor]

Regarding the Panda's safety, I looked carefully at the NCAP results and as a previoud poster has mentioned, things have moved on and manufacturers know what they need to do to get a higher grade, but this does not necessarily mean a safer car.

I opted for the side & window airbags and ESP options on my Panda. You may not want to pay for ESP, but the 'bags are not expensive (I guess this would mean a factory order/delay on delivery though). I bet if a fully bagged up and ESPed Panda were given the NCAP test it would come out with a much better score (esp. obviously in the side impact tests).

 

[JD82]

Odd that you have all the bags and ESP etc in the Panda but you don't even have an airbag in your TV! I guess you just use your Panda a lot more.

I am only doing city driving so it may not be an major issue, if I was doing lots of higher speed driving then safety would be my main concern.

 

[babbo umbro]

.....
I have yet to be convinced that the residuals of the panda have any strength at all. My 9 month old MJ lost half it's value when I chopped it in! That's 50% in under a year!...

I think you may have been unlucky with your timing of both buying and selling - a Panda bought about 12-16 months ago seems to be worth much closer to what it was bought for, whereas one bought now could lose a fair amount in its first year.

 

[Geddes]

You may not want to pay for ESP, but the 'bags are not expensive (I guess this would mean a factory order/delay on delivery though).

Depends what you mean by expensive. The i10 gets side bags as standard on the base model. They aren't even an option on the Panda Active so you need to pay ~£600/£900 extra to get the Dynamic in order to to spend another ~£200 to get the bags.

 

[JD82]

The trick with Panda is to make sure you get a big discount before you buy. The RRP price of £7700 for the Active is beyond a joke. £6700 seems to be a more realistic price but I saw one for £6300 on one of the brookers.

I intend to keep my car for a few years anyway as I have sick to back death of cars.

 

[Geddes]

Prices now are scary. I was narked when I bought mine a year ago that the price had jumped to £5500 from £5100...

 

[Advanced Driver]

If I had to get a new car then I would definately take the i10 for a test drive. You should definately test drive both cars, it may make your decision easy. The i10 may be a really dull car, but I thought the 1.2 Panda was a dull car (I've got a 100HP). On the other hand it could be very nice to drive.

For me the basic i10 looks very good on paper, it even has air-con, and I wouldn't go for stupid extras like alloys and front fog lights (I have had my 100HP for almost a year and never used my front fog lights).

To be honest, if I did need another car I would probably spend no more than £1000 on a fairly old car, and then wait for the car prices to come down. The price of metals (eg. copper and aluminium) are going up though, so it may be a while until car prices come down.

 

[JD82]

If I can get the Panda on the scrappage then its just £4995 so its not a bad deal. Now the government is only giving them £1k towards it so surely once the scrappage ends you would be able to pick up a Panda easily for £5995?

I won't know if I qualify because it depends when the money runs out

Hyundai do their own scheme seperate from the governments scheme which was the big plus point in favour of Hyundai.

 

[Advanced Driver]

If I can get the Panda on the scrappage then its just £4995 so its not a bad deal. Now the government is only giving them £1k towards it so surely once the scrappage ends you would be able to pick up a Panda easily for £5995?

Yeah, that's probably how it will work. Also, unless your car really is scrap then you will also still get some money for it. So for the majority, scrappage is only really saving people a few hundred pound (£1000 minus the value of your car). About 12 months ago you could get a 1.1 Active for £5000 (before the scrappage scheme).

 

[JD82]

I suspect what is happening at least with FIAT, I have checked and the base spec Pandas now have a huge waiting list every where its 8-10 weeks mininum I suspect 30-50% of these are being ordered on the scrappage.

There is so much demand FIAT can set a very high RRP but when scrappage ends that demand will fall massively so the RRP price will have to fall.

Cars have gone up a lot lately to due material and exchange rate increases but surely they cannot have risen that much? I am pretty convinced the scrappage is the reason RRP prices have gone up to such the extent they have. If it was say £6500 now with the scrappage they would have to sell it for £4500 so obviously they have to increase the costs to avoid a loss, but what they have done priced it in such a clever way they can gain an extra £1k on each car sold.