Just bought a New panda 4×4 for the wife to use , sicilian orange ,dark grey wheels , diesel 1.3 turbo , swopped my 2007 Swift sport prepped by SUMO POWER in RYE , i have had it since new and loved it every drive .We got our first child on the way and i’m gonna keep the Grand Vitara for work/family days out and the wife will use the Panda as Vitara too big , Im excited as the Panda is a lot of fun, but the swift was a hoot to drive ,Oh well got to get my head in the family man mindset ??

Don’t worry. In two years time you’ll realise that the kids and family only ever go anywhere in the big car and that a small sporty model can fit quite happily into a 2 car household. Voice of experience.

Voice of experience +1

Buying a motorbike next weekend, and I’ve just sourced the box section steel needed for the chassis of the kit car I’m about to build.

The boy is 2 in November, and travels everywhere in the “big” car.

So you replaced one small car with other, slower, small car? At least tell us that the wife made you do it

Yep chosen by wife even the colour and how i paid for it , no trousers worn by me today, on a plus side i got to choose the number plate. i will be sad to see “Devon” (my swifts name ) go in px we had 7 glorious years and 94,000 miles together . Can anybody guess why i named her Devon ? does anybody care ?

“Devon” (my swifts name )

Your car has a name???? Do you ever actually wear the trousers?

😉

Well i reckon you have all been guessing all night – The Swift sport is called “Devon” after Suki in fast and the furious real name Devon. you can all go work happy

If it’s any consolation, 2wd Pandas with that engine are hilarious. 🙂

Had two as service courtesy cars and really enjoy thrashing the arse off them their cheek.
You can rev it like a petrol or just waft along on the torque – great fun.

You really do need to give it a motorway run once a week to keep the DPF as clear as possible.
Currently have the same engine in a Doblo and it takes 8-10 miles on the motorway before the regen kicks in – you can feel a slight loss of power to let you know it’s started.

If you don’t, they can really suffer with rough running, contaminated oil and choked DPF.
It ruins them.

Ours prefers the posh Shell fuel, but the consumption goes down noticeably and it’s much nicer to drive.

You think selling a Suzuki Swift is owning up to family life?

I had to sell a twin turbo RX7, A 3 litre golf cabrio and a 7 litre V8 pick up truck.

Even swapped my beloved 320d for a godawful Octavia.

I’d suggest you never really had any trousers on…

I’m sorry but you’re all discussing the pro’s/cons of replacing a Suzuki Swift with a Fiat Panda. You should all have your man cards revoked!!!!

😉

Apart from pictonroad that is.

Sometimes I feel like a different species from posters on here.

Well i reckon you have all been guessing all night – The Swift sport is called “Devon” after Suki in fast and the furious real name Devon. you can all go work happy

Damn I wish I had checked this before I went to bed last night. Couldn’t sleep a wink tryng to figure it out 😉

trevron73 – Member
Well i reckon you have all been guessing all night – The Swift sport is called “Devon” after Suki in fast and the furious real name Devon. you can all go work happy

I thought it was something to do with Knight Rider’s boss bloke….

I thought I was going to be sad to see the back of my old car, until I got about 200 yards down the road in my new one!

I’ve been trying to convince my wife to have my car (525d estate) so I can get a hot hatch. She’s having none of it, she likes a small or family sized hatchback

My speed fix comes from the Fireblade in my garage, few cars will touch it and I get to use the speed proportionally more often than in any fast car

Still want a fast car but fast petrol estates are hard to justify at the mo

Sometimes I feel like a different species from posters on here.

Me too. FFS its a car all it does is sit in traffic jams going at different speeds.

If you really want a family car get a cheap Ford Focus estate to carry all the kid c##p in and without any emotional involvement you won’t mind when it gets covered in crisps and puke.

Then buy a motorbike.

I personnally think you’ve bought a better car. The swift steers nicely but the Pandas also cheeky.

PMSL my manhood has taking a beat down ! 😆

carry all the kid c##p in and without any emotional involvement you won’t mind when it gets covered in crisps and puke

Actually this is a very good point, not the car recommendation, but the overall comment. If you have a car you LOVE, then when it gets covered in rubbish you’ll be sad. I like my car, I don’t love it, but then I don’t mind when its covered in rubbish (and the dog gets in the boot and covers it in hair)

+1 – I had a large estate well before I had kids in order to get me and my stuff to places to have fun. I note the OP doesn’t mention which car he uses for carting muddy MTBs around.

OP, you are just a mere pup!

My “passion” wagon is a 7 seater S-Max…..and not even a half decent turbo diesel but a gutless 2.0 petrol engine….

…..with that said, I don’t give a crap about kids dropping food in it, standing on the seats when they get in and out or even the wife when she scratches it yet again in a tight parking space (thankfully walls/posts rather than other peoples cars)….

Just waiting for the herberts to get a bit older (and less feral) and I’ll look at a 5 series estate………hold on, that’s not very exciting either is it….oh that’s right, I’m an old fart now.

Happy driving BTW.

I’d love a new Panda 4×4. If anyone sees any offers etc- I’m all ears. I think they look ace. Cheeky, slightly quirky and still fun.

Holy shit,those Pandas aren’t cheap are they? 16k???

You had a Suzuki Swift and called it a name. And you managed to reproduce? For that I must applaud you…

Holy shit,those Pandas aren’t cheap are they? 16k???

Hora approved vehicles command a premium though so its actually a bargain.

16k!!?! That isn’t cheap.

You can get a new 4×4 twin for 12.5k and a diesel for 13.5k so unless its loaded with extras? Why would it be 16k?

I’d rather spend £4k on a Panda 100HP.

You’ll actually love the panda. A proper grown-up little car.

I thought I’d have to sell our abarth 500 once small_fiat came along, but all that happened is that the yeti gets astronomical mileage put on it by the wife and the abarth sits at the back of the garage. A couple of months ago I had to plug it in to the KTM’s trickle charger as it hadn’t moved for so long.

You have no idea how much stuff you’ll end up carrying around – particularly at the start when you won’t have a clue what you really need. The buggy / carrycot / baby seat /change bag malarky will fill the panda’s boot. Before we got the Yeti I did loads of research into which buggy would fit in the abarth. We ended up with a recaro babyzen, which managed to somehow go in and still leave room for its cot bit & the inexplicably bulging change bag.

Have fun being a dad. It’s properly awesome.

You can get a new 4×4 twin for 12.5k and a diesel for 13.5k so unless its loaded with extras? Why would it be 16k?

just from the fiat website. searched for 4×4 panda, and that’s the first page it took me too. 16k for the model on their website.