Lounge 1.2 8v 69 5dr Hatchback

A characterful little town car

I bought this car new for my wife in October 2013 and it has proved itself to be a thoroughly excellent little runaround that is perfectly capable of handling occasional motorway trips with sufficient refinement such that you don't wish for a larger car. It's also very practical, having five doors and whilst the boot is not huge it's adequate for a family of four's weekly shopping especially with the back seats down and is fantastically easy to manoeuvre and park around town.

Enjoyable to drive too. Not exactly brimming with power, it is nevertheless great fun to drive in a rather 'Italianate' style, i.e. with plenty of revs and without lifting for bends :-) and yet still manages to return in excess of 40mpg.

Build quality is acceptable, with no dramas in the first year/5k miles, although I have noticed what appears to be an exhaust rattle in recent weeks. The interior trim does seem to get grubby quickly though - particularly the material on the inside of the doors.

I'd be VERY careful about buying a 3/4 year old example second-hand with 30-40k miles on it however, for the simple reason that the service intervals are every 2 years or 18k miles. Utterly stupid and completely inadequate, especially given the fact that the engine oil capacity is only 2.8 litres. It's such a totally false economy, this kind of ridiculous service interval on a car like this. How on earth the engine is expected to get to 70k miles having potentially had only 3 oil changes is beyond my understanding/mechanical sympathy, perhaps FIAT expect them to be thrown away at this point and replaced with a new car. As with all my cars, I renew the engine oil and filter every 6k as a minimum (I also replaced the oil and filter at 1k on this car once it was 'run-in' to get rid of any residual r****** from the manufacturing process) with a manufacturer's filter and the correct specification oil. It's an absolute doddle to do on the Panda and gives me peace of mind.

There is a classless quality about this little car that I really appreciate, and it has impressed everyone who has been in it as a passenger. My 14 year old son is already pestering his mother about taking it over when he gets his licence in 3 years or so.....

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