Mrs Bol is after a new car and this looks like it might fit the bill – small, cheapish to buy/run, four seats/doors and fun. I know it isn’t an ideal bike car, but it won’t often have to carry one. Anyone got any experience of owning or driving one? Anything else that fits the bill around the £5k mark that we should consider?

We bought a Panda 4×4 for under £5K about a week or so ago. Not as nippy as the 100HP but nowhere near as slow as some of the reviews would have you believe. They’re grand little cars – enough room in the back for 2 adults, the dash / controls are well laid out and dirt cheap to insure (the 4×4 is group 2!) and run. We can get a full week’s worth of food shopping in the boot too and with the seats down there’s plenty of room. The 4×4 isn’t as economical as a standard Panda but it’ll still do 45mpg on a standard week of school runs etc.

We really need the 4×4 for where we live, especially if we’re going to get another winter like the last so limited in our choices. If the only criteria was small and under £5K there’s a whole lot of choice – the 100HP would have been among them but we’d also have looked at the japanese minis like the Jazz as our Honda CRV has been faultless…

We have a 500 with the same engine and six speed box. Makes smile every time I drive it, quick and nimble.

HP Source, of this parish is your man for comment – he had one, IIRC…..
also IIRC – think he liked it

The 100hp gets great reviews and is pretty cheap to run. If I was looking for a car of a similar budget it would definitely be top of my list.

I have one and am impressed with it. Very nippy along country lanes and holds it own surprisingly well on longer journeys. Ride can be on the firm side but corners well.

Doesn’t feel cramped in the back seats and with the seats down you can fit a surprising amount in.

If you’ve any specific questions I’ll see if I can answer them.

We have a 1.1 ‘Active’ Panda and absolutly love it!!

Not the same as the 100 in terms of performance but my 1.1 will do 70 on the duel carridge ways (takes a while to get there) and is great around town and on minor roads.

It was great in the snow too, we got up a hill by our house that the radio moments after doing so claimed it was ‘unpassable’ and the guys digging snow at the very top did stop and look in amazement as the little blue toy car drove happpily up the hill!!

We have recently gone down to 1 car and the Panda is our only car (wife and 1 child) and we get by. Some careful packing and it’s surprising what you can get in there.

For a 1.1 we did think it would be better on fuel than what is is, about 250 out of a tank for £37 quid.

We paid £2500 for a 55 plate with 50k on the clock in good condition.

We have a 2008 fiesta 1.4 zetec you can have….

A Fiat Panda with 100hp 😯 I had no idea they would have that much power!

Anyone wanting performance in the snow should fit winter tyres FIRST then start thinking about 4×4. You won’t, cos winter tyres are the bomb.

Well, I’m not normally that decisive. Went to look at the one I’d seen advertised, it looked very cute – black with red Abarth badging. Drove it, bought it. Picking it up Thursday. I’ve a feeling Mrs Bol might be driving the prius quite a bit.

Anyone wanting performance in the snow should fit winter tyres FIRST then start thinking about 4×4. You won’t, cos winter tyres are the bomb.

Or, like us, you can buy the 4×4 with a set of summer tyres on steel wheels and a set of winter tyres on the alloys 🙂 – when we come to fit the winter tyres we’ll swop them over. The previous owner had plenty of money – the winter tyres are Pirelli and cost a fortune.

We’ve already had a couple of locals asking where we got it. There’s a few around and abouts – very popular with farmers as they’ll go anywhere…

Indeed.

2wd < 4wd < 2wd + winter tyres < 4wd + winter tyres 🙂

In a normal car with winter tyres you run into problems with ground/arch clearance in deep snow before you run out of traction.

Fitting winter tyres to a normal 2wd car is probably cheaper than buying a 4wd I’d say.

Coming back to the UK for easter weekend, going to get the winter tyres taken off. Only got one set of wheels currently.

Fitting winter tyres to a normal 2wd car is probably cheaper than buying a 4wd I’d say.

Yup – the Panda 4×4 is rare as hen’s teeth, the ‘Cross’ 1.3 diesel version even more so (I think they sold about 100 a year before stopping them). Hence used prices tend to be silly – ie. 11K for a 2 year old car that cost about 13K new.

Our’s was a bargain so we bought it (comparably we could have bought a 06 1.1 bog standard Panda with 50K on the clock for the same money). I had to schlep down to Cornwall and back from Sussex to do so but worth it I think.

If I didn’t really like it I could sell it tomorrow locally for a fair bit more than we paid, even more so when the autumn comes around.

I did not realise that about Panda 4x4s, I thought it was a popular small 4×4 option… What mpg does that diesel get tho? A modern small SUV like a Tiguan gets mid 40s.

Odd isn’t it. I know the previous box shaped Panda 4×4 is still popular if you can find one that’s not rusted through. I know of two that are still going, admittedly one has had the interior ripped out and a dirty great hole cut in the roof – it’s used for night-time lamping.

We spoke to the local Fiat dealer and he said he gets between 40 and 60 enquiries a month about them, more so in the winter. Yet the stated sales was apparently 100-200 a year for the Cross in the UK. Supposedly the diesel is meant to be nippier and hence more desirable but it had odd headlights and plastic body panel additions which I dont like.

I’m not sure why they stopped production. I think there’s an update due to the Panda this year so they think there’ll be a new 4×4 version around the start of 2012.

We’ve the 1.2 petrol. The stated mpg is (I think) somewhere around 45-48. We’ve seen about that thus far though if I rag it it’ll drop to 40 for a week’s worth of short trips. The previous (retired) owner had religously logged it at an average for them of 42.

The diesel I think is slightly better but this is offset by the price at the pump.

I think unless you’re buying new (and we couldn’t afford to) it’s about the most economical small 4×4 petrol about. Especially with group 2 insurance and cheap VED…

( we also looked at the Terios and the Jiminy in comparison but their consumption was on a par with our 2002 Honda CR-V, ie. on the expensive side, especially as we were looking at 08-onwards cars).

Seems like there is definitely a market for small 4x4s, but it’s small!

it is small but more room inside than either the Terios or the Jiminy. We all get in it no problems (2 adults and a 4 and 6 year old). With a roof box we’re fine for holiday packing too…

I had one as a courtesy car once. Mad. On-off switch instead of an accelerator with the driving position of a bread van. Wicked, would love one as a second car.

If you can handle the tough suspension then you will really enjoy it.

just enough space for a bike inside but get the roof bars fitted for occassional carrying duties.

Dredging up this thread (sorry) but…

just enough space for a bike inside

Anybody with experience of how much kit can you get in a Panda? We’ve got a chance to borrow one at the weekend and am hoping to get it up north with 2 bikes, climbing gear and a set of skis in. That’s with a driver and a passenger. Will we have to unbolt the seats? Have had similar amounts of kit and more in other small cars, but the Panda always looks skinny and tall. No roof bars on this one either.

Hi, I asked this question and nearly brought one. The thread is on here if you can work out the search thingy. I was put off by the safety rating on them, the guy at the fiat garage says they don’t make them new anymore (I don’t know If he was spinning me a line) however I know they were selling off new ones for £8k (there’s a link in the other thread if anyone can find it) don’t know much about cars and haven’t driven many but I loved the 100hps I tested as they were really rigid and fun. The interiors seemed to show thier age compared to simular milage/age vehicles, also despite my lack of driving skills I found them to really push you to break speed limits, I looked down to see I was doing 20mph more than I should have been. I tested a high milage one and it didn’t feel half as fresh as the younger ones, everything was a bit creaky and wobbly.

^i Was told they stopped making them as the engine was rated 3 stars not 5 in some safety test…

Just picked ours up. Yep, it certainly brings out the lunatic. The most fun I’ve had in a car since I sold my Cooper S. Mrs Bol is certainly going to have to fight me for it. I love cars that make you want to go round roundabouts twice.

I love cars that make you want to go round roundabouts twice.

Nice one! Enjoy your new car. I think they look great. There’s a black one round my way that always gets me looking over.

As for twice round roundabouts – my old Fiesta Si used to get me doing that. Much to my other half’s annoyance!

ooops, missed this one…. as MM said I had one, excellent fun, cracking to drive but not as good being a passenger though, the suspension is a little ‘unforgiving’ shall we say.

Sold mine about 8months ago, miss the cheeky thing a little!

Here it is in bikey and non-bikey form for old times sake….

I’ve had a 100hp for just over two years. Brilliant little car, huge fun +1 for the Cooper S comparison. Only downside is that the ride is a little on the bouncy side on uneven roads.

They perhaps aren’t quite as well put together as some others as I was a bit surprised that there were a few things on mine picked up at the first MOT that i wasn’t expecting, bearing in mind that it has only done 20k miles. The top bearings in the from struts were partially seized and one of them had a very slight oil leak. All replaced under warranty a few days before it expired so no real drama. Would still recommend it without hesitation for the fun factor and value for money.