Fiat Panda 1.2 Eleganza

Advantages: Very small & manouverable, specious, superb visability, cheap to run
Disadvantages: Small boot

...earth, to a car that I could actually afford to buy and more importantly run. If there is a motoring equivalent of the sublime and the ridiculous, then the two massive VW's and the baby Fiat are it! And do you know which of these three cars was most fun to drive? Yes the Fiat Panda, 2004 Car of the Year - costing less than one sixth of the price The Volkswagens are big and impart a tremendous feeling of safety certainly. My everyday car, the Honda accord diesel in which we had travelled up from the south coast too has a genuinely reassuring feel of integrity about the way it drives, it too feels like a very safe car. Again however it is no lightweight, around 1500kg, when it comes to perceived safety there is no substitute for weight, or is there? My wife has a particular aversion to very small cars. Coming from Poland, where...

RICHADA 25.04.2005 · Read review
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Review of Fiat Panda 2003

Pleasantly surprising Fiat Panda

Advantages: Cheap, reliable, easy to drive
Disadvantages: image

...I must admit I wasn't exactly overwhelmed with excitement as my Mum came to collect me from university in her new Fiat Panda. Looking in my opinion a like a car cut in half, i was immediately thinking that as we shared a car at the time I was going to look a little silly driving this vehicle. Now, 3 years later, and having driven the panda on regular occasions, i still feel the same, it does look a little odd, is unusually high with a strangely placed gearstick, but it is undoubtably a nice car to drive. Now I am 22, try to keep up with fashion, enjoy sports, and would not ideally drive such a small car, but I have learnt to look past the exterior and appreciate the smooth running, the reliability and general high quality of the Fiat. My friends have ironically (and affectionately) labelled it the 'Beast', and where this may not be...

Foxy1212 19.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of Fiat Panda 2003

CAR: The Fiat Panda You Have To Experience It

Advantages: It has character, cheap to run and tidy
Disadvantages: Very Small, Little Boot Space, Slow and Uncool

...This is more of a story I would like to share with everyone about my first car. In September 2003 I passed my driving test and was extremely anxious to get a car of my own however my funds were low and insurance is a killer for teenagers. It was looking rather glum and I thought I was doomed to travel on public transport. However things kind of picked up when I was offered an M reg 1995 black fiat panda 1000cc engine. A panda was the last thing I ever saw myself driving a 17 year old teenager with a Panda? Come on people would be sure to laugh. Anyway I took up the offer of receiving the panda as I was desperate to drive. It had no tax or mot but it didn't cost me a penny. So the car arrived one evening after I came home from college and my god it was worse than I imagined. It looked like an old mans car, horrible interior...

joeyjonesyuk 01.03.2006 (10.04.2006) · Read review
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Review of Fiat Panda 1000

fiat panda eleganza

Advantages: personality,reliabilty,quality,space,interior,fun factor
Disadvantages: 1.2 engine not in £35.00 tax bracket,poor seat material

...there too. storage is good and there are three cupholders(one rear and two front) ours is a 1.2 petrol engine which has a typical italian rortiness about it if not a lot of go(60hp).its a smooth engine though and will sit quite happily at 80 mph on a motorway in relative quiet. in fact thats one of the great things about this little car...it feels like a bigger one to own and drive and can suit a small family needs for most of the time.we find we rarely have to resort to using our bigger 4 wd car,the panda is more than capable of carrying out our daily tasks. if we could ask for anything else it would be for better seat fabrics on this model as the attract dirt and dust.the 100hp's look a lot better quality. one other issue tho is car tax in the uk.the fiat pandas 1.2 engine is in a tax band above the new 500's seemingly identical...

ten-david 06.05.2008 (07.05.2008) · Read review
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Review of Fiat Panda 1.2 8v

Panda's dont breed.

Advantages: Cheap
Disadvantages: Noisy, attracts tin worm. leaks oil

...If ever there was a car that resembles a chicken coup on wheels then monster has to be it. I never actually owned this car, it was a company car, don?t ask just don?t ask but she was an experience to drive. At the heart of the Panda beats a 1000cc OHC Fiat fire engine, (not the red type with blue lights) a capable little engine it was and when coupled to a five-speed gearbox and 4-wheel drive it gave an adequate, off motorway performance. The downside was the noise it produced, it was a high revving engine and it soon gained the nickname Pandermonium. Even the radio couldn?t drown the appalling racket at anything over 50 miles an hour. Mind you at that sort of speed it was all you could do to keep the thing on the road as it bounced around on suspension reminiscent of an up turned pram. An experience not to be missed, believe me...

Bigbaz 01.02.2002 · Read review
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Review of Fiat Panda 1000

Great first car, FIAT shoots and scores!

Advantages: Cheap, sturdy, good value, cute, good interior
Disadvantages: Appearance not to everyone's taste

...After almost 7 months of consideration, ordering car brochures and reading endless reviews of superminis, I finally decided on a shortlist of either a Citroen C3, a Smart ForFour or a Fiat Panda for my first car! After passing my test and testdriving the Panda, I fell instantly in love with it! I bought a Dynamic 1.2 litre eng with Steel Grey paint and bright blue bubbly interior. Although some readers may feel a 17 year old first time car buyer is not the best informed person to be reviewing a car, I feel that I am very well informed, as I saved every penny for this car myself and thus carried out endless research in order to make a good decision! I have previous experience driving a Mazda and a Mini One whilst learning to drive, and I must say that the Panda feels much much lighter on the road, and responds more readily to both...

skye_hoppus 18.08.2006 · Read review
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Review of Fiat Panda 1.2 8v

The Fiat Punto - An ideal First car!

Advantages: Cheap to run and Fun to Drive, Excellent Value for Money
Disadvantages: Safety, Style

...I began driving this time last year and my first car was and still is a Fiat Punto 1.2 S, T-reg 1999, 3 doors. For a student such as myself, I would say that it is an ideal first car to have and I have thoroughly enjoyed driving it. It is not lightning quick and insurance is cheap! Obviously because of the age of my car, it is not going to set the world on fire, but I have been very pleased with it so far. I paid £750 for it from an auction and two years previously it had been bought for £4,200! Luckily for me, it has so far been very reliable and I hope that it will last me until next year when I will sell it before I go to University. Ride Quality Obviously, the car's ride quality is not awesome compared to most modern cars around today. But if you can't afford to spend loads on a set of wheels, the Punto offers a very good...

sbutler1 02.11.2006 · Read review
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Review of Fiat Punto 1.2 

Fiat Panda Dynamic auto

Advantages: Funky looks, great quality, well equipped
Disadvantages: Hesitant auto gearbox, light coloured trim

...I would never have normally considered a Fiat before due to their appalling reputation for reliability, rusting, poor dealer service and interior quality, but when my wifes Skoda Fabia needed replacing, we checked the Panda out and I was amazed! The interior quality is nearly as high as in the Skoda (which was terrific), the steering is light and fairly responsive (especially when using the 'City' funtion which lightens it for parking, etc.), the kit is generous but most of all the price was fabulous - we actually bought it through JamJar (although now wished we hadn't due to the huge delays...) so it was especially cheap, but even from a dealer I think the price is fantastic value. The biggest downside to this particular model is the auto gearbox - it behaves in a similar manner to a manual gearbox in that there is a slight hesitation...

charlie1049 24.10.2005 · Read review
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Review of Fiat Panda 2003

Fiat Panda- The boy's dream.

Advantages: Light, Easy to drive, Cost effective, gear box and engine will last a lifetime.
Disadvantages: Bodywork liable to go before anything else.

...Oh yes, I own a Panda, and I am proud to say it! Not many would, but I will. I could babble on about what features the car has (not many) or the vital statistics of the engine, but I'm not going to. Not my style. You see in my opinion the experince I have had with my Panda speaks for itself. When I bought my Panda it had 47k on the clock. It's ten 12 years old now and I got it two years ago. It's now done 64k. I think thats average for any car, but I am a student and I think that is incredibly good for such a small car, it will go forever on a tank of fuel and is dead cheap to run, cheap tax, cheap insurance and a bag of fun. The Panda has cult status around where I live and all my friends know and love it. It's great to cruise around in the summer with the windows down and the sun shining. Fantastic. The engine is ok, for me it does...

glidercwh 07.03.2003 · Read review
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Review of Fiat Panda 1000

This car does not cause Pandymonium

Advantages: basic, economical, reasonab;y nippy around town
Disadvantages: not a long distance cruiser, a bit cramped

...the local small ads and came across a 1992 Fiat Panda 900 Dance- all in beautiful white (I would call it gleaming white if I were the type of soul who could be bothered to clean cars!). It was group 1 insurance, has the kind of street image that would render it left alone by even the most desperate of thieves, and was a snip at £225. Teacghing my wife to drive in 'Pandy', as the car became affectionately known, was not an onerous task. It was nippy, could hold its own at 60mph on an A road, and didn't roll about too much whilst cornering. The ride is okay, but a bit basic. When you are used to Scandinavian luxury, bare metal doors and a tiny gear lever are a bit disconcerting to say the least. And now I am the main driver. Why? I hear you ask. Well, the problem is that she didn't pass the test, and we are seeking to cut down on motoring...

Nolly 09.09.2002 · Read review
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Review of Fiat Panda 900