Getting quite excited now should arrive in mid May but it still seems like a very long wait.
I just keep looking at Panda's all the time and wonder what mine will be like. Slightly nervious about the lack of a rev counter and sort of wish I had ordered the next model up but then it would have cost £15 a month more to insure and the entire point of me ordering this car is I want cheap motoring.
Just looking forward to it a lot as I am sick of driving the old Fiesta and it somestimes gets to be a problem when me and my dad need the car at the same time but have been using my bike and buse a lot.
In my mind I still have some doubts though:-
1) The house behind me has just got a brand new FIAT 500, I sort of wish I had one as they look lovely but I need a 5 door car.
2) Will lack of aircon be a problem?
3) Are FIAT dealers as bad as they say?
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I just keep looking at Panda's all the time and wonder what mine will be like
I think you will find it won't be that too dissimilar to the ones you are looking at !! :)
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They keep changing the specs so nobody is exactly certain what mine will come with. I am just praying it comes with a 12v output though. Some ten reg ones do some don't but as mine is factory fresh it should come with it since it has been standard since jan.
Meanwhile I have the evening off and shall start fitting the speedo to my bike to try and pass the time.
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Send BBD over to the factory to kick bottoms!!
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>> Meanwhile I have the evening off and shall start fitting the speedo to my bike
>> to try and pass the time.
>>
My cycling enjoyment trebled when I took off the speedo and binned it.
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>> 1) The house behind me has just got a brand new FIAT 500 I sort
>> of wish I had one as they look lovely but I need a 5 door
>> car.
should have got the 500, its really stylish and it comes with plenty of 12v outputs.
>> 2) Will lack of aircon be a problem?
yes - Hotest summer of the century is due this year
>> 3) Are FIAT dealers as bad as they say?
worse than you can imagine.
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Made in Poland, eh, Rats......Fiat ?
Polski-Fiat springs to mind !
Ted
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Its not the FSO factory I think that now makes Daweoo's/GM/Chevy's or what ever.
I would have got the 500 if it had five doors but I didn't see the point on spending money on something less practical.
Its the aircon I am slightly worried about but then all my five previous cars didn't have it and I am still alive. It makes me sneaze anyway.
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Tychy also make the Ford KA as well as the Panda and 500.
As long as you address any issues with the car it should provide you with a long service life.
If you're only doing short city running it might be worth doing a 6 month oil and filter change.
The dealers I have found are a mixed bunch, as with any brand try to find a small family run business, they tend to look after you better.
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Yeah I may get the oil change done every six months. Not sure how long I will keeping the car yet but it will probably be in the family for a long time one way or another unless its involved in accident.
If I still continue to do 4k a year by ten years old it will only have 40k on the clock!
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>> by ten years old it will only have 40k on the clock
Perfect candidate for trading in under the 2020 scrappage scheme then...
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I think by 2010 petrol/diesel cars will be out dated anyway.
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Poland has ground to a halt while they all try and out-grieve each other for a president that they couldn't stand. I just got back from taking my little girl to a birthday party in the centre so I thought I'd kill a couple of hours strolling around the old town and wandered past the presidential palace. Something struck me as really odd about the pavement as I walked along and I bent down to have a closer look - I was standing on layer of candle wax about a cm thick.
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>> I think by 2010 petrol/diesel cars will be out dated anyway.
No wonder you want them to hurry up and make it. :-)
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I meant 2020 :). Blimey we are in 2010 already.
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My own brief relationship with a Fiat dealer will be my last. I have toyed with an Alfa, but my better half said there was no way I was putting a penny into Fiat groups pockets.......
Wont bother you with the details, but needless to say they were less than hounarable.
A colleagues brother used to work for the Fiat distributor many moons ago. Said they were always getting stock in with the wrong spec like things missing where they had run out in production so just assembled the car and sent it on. Tells me they used to add nice mats, a few graphics and off load them as special editions!
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Forgot to add - they also used to find some models rusting before they even managed to ship them on to the dealer, but this was a good few years back
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I remember fitting a radio in a work colleagues brand new 127.
We put the aerial in the rear 'c' panel (3 door) and as we routed the cable under the floor we found a hole you could poke your hand through. It looked like the floor panel had been punctured during the bare metal phase, but then gone through all the primer, paint and underseal phases. Main dealer refused to take it back as 'it could have been done after you bought it'.
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Hopefully things have improved a lot since then! There are still a lot of MK1 Puntos around with no rust on them at all.
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There are no mark 1 puntos around, they all went to the breakers yard with ABS, head gasket failure or lost keys.
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Still see a lot here in Manchester but then they were always very common. I see far more MK1 Puntos than Pandas anyway!
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Zero is on the money at 17:51
then he went and ruined it all by saying mk1 puntos had abs--- well i will eat hj "s hat if he can show me one because ive never seen one
:-)
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all the ones you saw were disconected.
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hats or abs?
coz they all disconnected these days ;-)
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Wonder not about the 500 Rattie, cramped version of the Panda in a cross dressers frock.
During the summer you could do worse than paint the brake calipers and drums/backplates with hammerite and any other suspension parts that look a bit thinly coated whilst down there, and any exhaust system seams that look as if they might rust.
Then a good grease/waxoyl up of the brake pipes and other exposed parts...bit mucky but a days work well worth doing if it's to be a long term motor.
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>> 2) Will lack of aircon be a problem?
The rumour is that we have global warming!
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>Meanwhile I have the evening off and shall start fitting the speedo to my bike to try and pass the time. <
So you already know what the Panda will feel like? ;-)
Seriously though, Rattle, it's one of the very, very few modern cars that I have even fleetingly considered buying...
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I've often read that the quality control in the Polish factory is better than that in Turin. So you've good reason to be hopeful, Rattle. Enjoy it when it comes and I'm sure you'll give us your first impressions.
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I think the reason for that is simple, the Polish tend to be a greatful bunch who work hard, where as the Italians are very much like the British and spend all their time looking for excuses to strike.
My dads Punto was built in Turin and it seemed well made compared to the previous Lada's but it wasn't until we bought the Merseyside made Ford Escort we realised how badly the built the Punto was in some silly areas. Mainly bits of trim which didn't fit.
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>> 2) Will lack of aircon be a problem?
It depends on when you commute. Early morning or late evening will be fine. But mid day will be unbearable without AC.
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This is what I don't get. I have owned five cars and never once realy thought about aircon. What is wrong with pressing a button and winding windows down?
I've been in tiny clubs with 1500 people in without aircon and didn't moan.
I've been on beaches in Spain and didn't moan that they did not have aircon.
I just cannot help feeling its a bit wimps thing. My dad got through 1976 in a Morris Minor and I don't think he was too bothered about the aircon!
Now 2010 will be a tiny patch on 76 unless a new band like the sex pistols emerge so I think I can do without.
The electric windows and blowers have done me sterling service so far.
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Air-con on a 1.1 Panda will sap what little power you have; you are better off without!
My 2006 Panda was absolutely faultless when it turned up from the Polish factory, so no worries about build quality. And with a bit of luck it'll only see a dealer once a year for the first 3 years, for a 100 quid service. Enjoy!
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>> This is what I don't get. I have owned five cars and never once realy
>> thought about aircon. What is wrong with pressing a button and winding windows down?
if you have never had it, you wont miss it!
its one of those things you can live without, until you have had it.....
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>> ............ British ............
>> spend all their time looking for excuses to strike.
Times have changed. Engineering unions no longer have the same whip hand that they had 30 to 40 years ago.
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Driving with windows down increases fuel consumption and is also uncomfortable at speed.
The biggest bonus of aircon (especially in damp/cold weather) is that it acts as a dehumidifier and stops your windscreen from misting up. Wouldn't have a car without it now.
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How's that swoopy coupe MLC ?
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Humph..I'll reply on the other thread so I don't hijack Rattle's!
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>> The biggest bonus of aircon (especially in damp/cold weather) is that it acts as a
>> dehumidifier and stops your windscreen from misting up.
I agree, but have you noticed how cars with air con seem to need the air-con to be on to avoid misting up in damp/cold weather? I've had loads of non air-con equipped cars, and apart from being slow to demist initially, none seemed to have a problem staying demisted. Air con equipped cars do, unless the air-con is left permanently on.
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Yes, have noticed that, my Octavia is very prone to it. Do you know, I'm not convinced about this driving with the windows open versus using air con argument? Using the air con knocks about 3mpg off the octavia, and you can feel it slow slightly as the compressor kicks in. By the way Rattle, both our Pandas going well, the 1.1 is now 3 years old and not a thing(touchwood) gone wrong yet, averaging 49mpg at the moment brim to brim. The 1.2 slightly less, about 47mpg, but it does get driven quite hard and sits on 75 to 80 a lot of the time.
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Aircon i can live without in a car, unless i drive regularly (or heaven forbid lived) in inner city areas where personal safety/security become issues.
Truckers sightseeing has deteriorated since aircon in cars became the norm.;)
And DP is quite right about airconned vehicles misting up, seems to be the case with climate controlled vehicles more so including trucks of which Volvo's are a pita, those with a simple on/off aircon don't usually suffer so.
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Misting is not a big problem in non-AC car.
My car doesn't have AC and the worst situation is driving it long journey in mid day when Sun is on full swing. In a motorway journey, you can't really open windows. The inside of the car becomes green house and after 1-2 hours, I feel very sick. Just can't change car now due to lack of money.
As I said before, unless you do that sort of journey, not having AC is not a big deal.
BUT, if you do long journeys at mid day, you'll soon regret it not having AC.
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Ialways find that the people who say they dont want or need air conditioning are the same type of people who also say they dont want an automatic gearbox
Give me the child that wants to be a man and they will all want air conned auto cars especially on our congested roads after a week
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>> Ialways find that the people who say they dont want or need air conditioning are
>> the same type of people who also say they dont want an automatic gearbox
The former i can live without, the second is a must have...unless it's one of the more recent gearboxes from hell.
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back in October I had to choose 1 from 2 cars in a dealers stock, to buy on the scrappage. He had one in the colour I wanted and with alloys and fog lights which weren't eseential to me. I fiinished up buy the one with a/c despite it being silver with stell wheels and very tatty wheel trims. For me a/c was the essential
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I'm with GB. I don't have AC on the Vit but SWMBO does on the Note. TC gearboxes on both...a must.
I do have draught deflectors on the Vit and if it gets too hot I just put the rear windows down an inch....the beauty of leccie windows !
Ted
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The Passat has AC but I only turn it on when going downhill to save fuel.
I realise how penny-pinching that sounds.
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I live in Scotland, nnn ah wid trade the auld AC button for an extra set o' braw windae wipers in a meen-ute :-P
It's just an extra thing to sap fuel economy, need maintaining and weigh you down. We don't have regular 30 mins+ traffic jams never mind hot days.
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Swiss Tony -HJ used to say that the aerodynamic drag cause by driving with windows and/or sun roof open was worse for fuel consumption than running the a/c. I don't have a view on it
I have to heat my house, I like to cool my car and they both cost money which I find the cost well spent
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"HJ used to say that the aerodynamic drag cause by driving with windows and/or sun roof open was worse for fuel consumption than running the a/c"
I think that's complete nonsense. I can see how my a/c affects fuel consumption straight away on the trip computer 1-2 mpg when cruising at a constant speed. Winding a window down doesn't seem to affect it at all.
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Well, it is quite true to an extent.
When you are driving at motorway speeds [60 MPH+], the open windows create an air vortex which creates extra drag. At this speed, air resistance is more prevalent than frictional resistance (due to tyre and road).
Also, at high speed, if you open windows, you will hear continuous thud sound which make many people mad (at least it makes me mad).
The reason why fuel consumption display can't show this is because this displays are not that reliable. It calculates figures based on engine RPM, speed etc. If you want that to take care of aerodynamic drag, the car electronics will cost as much as fighter plane :)
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It depends, most my driving will be stop start with an average speed of about 17mph so opening the windows will be more efficient than using aircon. However if I did a lot of motoway driving there is no doubt I would have made sure the car had aircon.
The other issue is because most my journeys are so short there isn't really enough time to get uncomfortable due to lack of aircon.
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drive the wrong car at speed with both front windows wound down and watch the vortex take the rear screen out
i saw it happen on a volvo many years ago
i stopped to help the poor guy,thought he had been shot didnt he
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I can just picture that. My Octavia estate was particularly bad for it with all 4 windows down - to the point of it hurting. Glad I shut the windows at that point now!
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Phoned the dealer and they reckon there is a chance it might be ready by Friday but probably early next week :)
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I love that "can't wait" feeling - nothing like it
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Enjoy the car , Pandas are great but I would have gone for the 1.2 aircon myself: too pampered now! Let's hope FIAT have improved their customer care as when I owned one, it was truly shocking :(
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As said I above it wasn't just the higher purchase cost of the 1.2 but also the fact insurance was more. I shall make sure what ever my next car is has all the gadgets though. I am sure I can sacrifice some buttons for that brand new smell and the knowledge it has been serviced correctly.
Looking forward to it a lot, but I know I will be nervous driving a brand new car for a while.
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Slightly nervious about the lack of a rev counter and sort of wish I
>> had ordered the next model up >>
>>
>>
>> 2) Will lack of aircon be a problem?
>>
Rattle, old son, in another thread you claimed that the Panda's spec was superior to the Hyundai's.
Rev counter, aircon (basic but effective) and a 12V socket, complete with a fag lighter if you want it, are standard on the i10! ;-)
And, as you will find, it goes up hills better.
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I never claimed that. I originally thought the basic I10 had wind up windows if you're refering to that post? That was on HJ too not here.
The i10 is much better equiped than the Panda but the running costs are cheaper on the Panda, its cheaper ot insure by £200 a year and the base Panda is cheaper than the base I10 but you do get less equipment.
I just prefered the Panda as I love the sound of the FIRE engine and the way it revs. The first car I ever driven was a 1.1 FIRE the day I turned 17.
The 12v socket is now standard on all Pandas :). Fog lights I will never need, its only really the rev counter and aircon I would miss. But then I could have got that with the Panda for the same price as the i10 but then again insurance would be more expensive.
I do like the i10 but as mentioned on the other friend I have a passion for FIAT and FIAT just happen to make a car which fits more needs perfectly. I would never have bought a Cinquocento because they were death traps.
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I would never have bought a Cinquocento because they were death traps.
>>
Liked the concept but it was too much like the "old" FIAT for my liking; horrible pedals and a strong tendency towards death by tinworm.
F-I-L bought a second-hand Seicento, couple of years ago. Most cars would content themselves with dumping oil on the drive but that thing dumped its whole engine!
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I have a friend who had a Cinq (it was given to him) he stupidly drove it all the way to Silo to see his family and the gearbox fell out as he got to Ireland. The worrying thing is my Panda is made int he same factory but I think quality has been designed into the Panda where the as you say the Cinq was pure old FIAT.
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I borrowed a Cinquocento quite a few years ago to go to Cornwall in. I can remember the whole thing rattled and buzzed, and the front of the dash panel came apart - presumably due to the vibrations - and dropped onto my knees halfway down the A30. The engine was great though - screaming down the M5 and A30 at around 80 (speedo was vibrating so much it was impossible to read it) for 150 miles without missing a beat.
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Hurry up Poland and make my car! - BobbyG
