The Panda has always been a very popular car, but as soon as the Škoda Citigo came on the market, Czech frugal people logically went to Škodovka for a small car. Dacia also took a piece of the cake from Logan and Sander. And that is bad news for those interested in a used small car with a budget of around CZK 150,000. Not that the Citigo or Sandero are bad cars, but the Panda is more interesting after all.
Considering its exterior dimensions, this Italian car is surprisingly roomy and makes very good use of the small footprint it’s built on. It will take four people (there was an extra charge for the five-seater version) and stuff, and it won’t make too much of a dent in your wallet.
And before you start writing something about the fact that this car is a moving coffin, we would just like to remind you that according to Euro NCAP standards in 2011 Panda received four stars for crew protection. It only gets the zero stars from 2020 because it doesn’t hit the driver, doesn’t pull the steering wheel, and doesn’t make annoying beeping noises all the time. This is a normal safe modern car.
It holds its price very well
For the test, we borrowed a third-generation Fiat Panda with an atmospheric four-cylinder 1.2 liter engine with a power of 51 kW and a five-speed manual transmission. The car from 2014 had driven 144,000 km at the time of the test, and the seller wanted CZK 140,000 for it.
Photo: Dalibor Žák
There aren’t many Fiat Pandas of the third generation in bazaars, and it’s definitely a shame, because this is one of the most versatile small cars. Contrary to the superstitions of Italian cars, it is very reliable.
The third-generation Pandas are definitely not overly cheap, and while it was once a car for less than 250,000 CZK, it’s rare these days to find one selling for less than 120,000 CZK. The regular offer starts at 160,000 CZK, so the tested car for 140,000 is one of the most affordable in our country, especially in the network of large bazaars.
Advertisements are not exactly overflowing with pandas. First, people keep them because no one wants to sell this great car. And secondly, there are simply fewer of them. Of the roughly four dozen cars for sale, there are only a few four-wheelers (a less used one will cost around 230,000), this car is not equipped with an automatic transmission. The twelve hundred are the most common, but for nicely equipped cars with a lower mileage, prepare at least two hundred thousand crowns.
And how does Panda fare in bazaars? Filip Kučera from Auto ESA answers. “The Fiat Panda is a great city car that will be appreciated by both young drivers and families, for example as a second car. Thanks to its size, it is ideal for city traffic, it is easy to control and parking is not a problem with it. In terms of competition, customers often compare the Panda with cars such as the Škoda Citigo, Volkswagen Up! or the Hyundai i10. These cars offer similar advantages such as compact size, good handling and attractive price. However, the Fiat Panda boasts a fresh design. As the only one of the listed models, it is also produced with all-wheel drive. However, there aren’t many 4×4 versions on the market and that means they tend to be more expensive than two-wheel drive cars. I recommend carefully choosing and inspecting a used Panda with all-wheel drive, because the price of repairing a 4×4 drive can be higher relative to the price of the car.”
It fits everywhere and does not take up space
You know I love these little cars. They are absolutely great for commuting to the city, they fit everywhere and you can park anywhere near the garbage cans or among the trees, in short, in places where no one dares with a modern SUV with a width of 2.2 meters including mirrors. Thanks to the elevated position behind the wheel, you can see clearly from the Panda and you have an overview of what is happening.
Photo: Dalibor Žák
With a length of 3.7 meters and a width of 1.6 meters, the Panda is a small car, so it will fit everywhere and you will not have a problem with parking. You can also navigate narrow roads with ease.
You will appreciate its small dimensions (only 1,640 mm wide) when a mother in a huge SUV drives towards you in the middle of a third-class road and is afraid to drive the gigantic mastodon a short distance (a meter and a half) to the shoulder. You wouldn’t drive a Superb, but you throw this Panda on the grass with one wheel, grip the steering wheel tightly, hum something under your breath and drive on.
I’m starting to have an aversion to these non-drivers in two-ton huge barns. But people are not to blame. The mass media has brainwashed them by saying that small cars are dangerous and ubiquitous advertisements have poured into their heads that they need a huge SUV to drive their children 5 km to school (ideally if they could drive the car all the way to the classroom to get by chance, their spoiled caparti, unable to walk to the bus in the morning, did not wear shoes).
Photo: Dalibor Žák
Even though the Panda is a small car, it is surprisingly spacious inside. And even with comfort it’s not so terrible. You really don’t need a gigantic six-meter SUV to transport the kids around town. This car is enough for you.
And at the same time, a Fiat Panda would be great for this activity. The twelve-cylinder engine is not as weak as the table parameters would suggest. The car has a good transmission and, above all, the small engine does not pull a ton and a half of iron, but only about 950 kg. Thanks to the rather lower characteristics of the four-cylinder with eight valves, it is not a problem to drive everywhere on four and five, the engine gathers even from low revs. And when you find out that even in suburban traffic, this Panda takes only about 5 liters per 100 km (outside the city and the highway you can drive with 4.5 liters), you have a clear favorite for daily service and short routes around the city.
Even if you notice the cheap concept of some details in places, the quality is not as bad as it is said about Italian cars. Sometimes something rattles here and there, and it is a tradition of Italian cars that there is always a loose screw rattling in the fifth door. But the electrics are working, the air conditioning is conditioning, the lights are on and the wipers are wiping. It goes forward, it reverses. Do you really need something more for those few kilometers in the morning and afternoon?
Photo: Dalibor Žák
Adults can also sit in the back and won’t suffer as much here. Just expect that a car fully loaded with four well-fed guys will have a bit of a problem with the hills. By the way, Panda is only four-digit by default.
I know that this is not much for family trips and highway stages, but as a second car for the family, the Fiat Panda will serve perfectly. I really wonder why these absolutely great cars aren’t in every family.
In short, the Fiat Panda is just the kind of four-wheeled scooter on which you won’t get wet and whose front wheel won’t slip on the tram tracks. Just nothing that you take a picture of “instantly”. I’m just sad that Panda III wasn’t made with an automatic. A CVT could easily survive here. Then she would be truly unrivaled in the city. Even the small Fiat 500 was sold with at least a robotic gearbox.
But you certainly know that the Panda is a great car. Now you are only interested in how it is with reliability, what you have to pay attention to and how you should take care of it. So let’s take a look at it.
Four cylinder no failure, but change the oil soon
The four-cylinder eight-valve 1200 from Fiat is a small miracle. Even though this engine is structurally dated to the eighties, it even managed to pass the Euro 6d-TEMP emission standard and lasted in the Panda until October 2020. Despite the modest parameters of 51 kW and 102 Nm, it is a surprisingly lively engine even in emission-restricted versions. The Euro 6 version, produced until June 2018, drives better and also has a slightly lower consumption.
Photo: Dalibor Žák
This is one of the best and most importantly the most reliable used engines available today. But like any Italian engine, it needs a careful oil service, watch the timing belt and change the spark plugs and other things in time. However, you can also handle routine maintenance yourself.
It is a virtually indestructible engine and it is a shame that Fiat allowed up to two-year and thirty thousand oil intervals. The small filling with a capacity of only 2.8 liters literally cries out to be changed every 10,000 km or at most after a year if you drive little. For vehicles with a VIN number up to 3C64826, a 5W-40 oil meeting the Fiat 9.55535-S2 or API/ACEA SM/C3 standard is allowed. Vehicles with VIN 3C64827 and later should already use 0W-20 oil complying with the Fiat 9.55535-DM1 or ACEA C5 standard.
Spark plugs (regular 120 CZK per piece, LPG cars 430 CZK per piece) are changed after two years or 30,000 km. For the timing belt (set with water pump 1,200 to 3,400 CZK and three hours of work) and accessory drive belt (set 800 to 1,800 CZK including pulley) the replacement interval is 120,000 km or five years. Some say 105,000 km, but our Autodata shows an interval of 120,000 km. However, not many people will drive such a portion with Panda in five years anyway.
Photo: Dalibor Žák
Rodents and other vermin like to enjoy the thermal insulation, which they make a home around a warm engine. Pay attention to the condition of the cables. The fact that the Panda’s instrument panel starts playing with all the colors may not be a characteristic of an Italian car, but it’s just a bitten cable.
Valve clearances should be checked every 60,000 km or four years, but this is usually monitored only by listening and only needs to be addressed in cars running on LPG. In any case, with runs of over 100,000 km, you’d better have it remeasured. The intake valve should have a cold clearance of 0.25 to 0.35 mm, the exhaust 0.35 to 0.45 mm. The clearance is limited only by the washers.
Is something wrong with this engine? If he is not bothered by ignoring the oil service, then sometimes the ignition just gets angry, but often only because of the spark plugs that have not been changed. A coil ignition unit for a four-cylinder costs approximately CZK 2,600. Sometimes it is also necessary to replace the camshaft position sensor (about 1000 CZK). Watch out for oil leaks from various seals and especially coolant around the thermostat (430-750 CZK) or a cracked radiator (1000 to 4600 CZK). Cracked exhaust pipes are not a great rarity either, here together with the catalytic converter. The whole “bandaska” costs 7,400 to 9,800 CZK, and its defect can usually be recognized by the stench of badly burned gasoline and at the same time the characteristic hum of the engine.
It just needs routine maintenance and attention to detail
With more used pieces, the gear sometimes rubs, it will help to change the oil in the gearbox. There is only 1.65 l of oil in it, 75W lubricant is used, meeting the Fiat 9.55550-MX3 standard. Pandas also tend to have a tired small clutch from city traffic, a clutch set costs 1,500 to 2,800 CZK. The clutch suffers more in ATVs and cars with heavy tows.
Photo: Dalibor Žák
Consider a preventive oil change in the transmission, monitor the condition of the brakes and chassis, and put quality tires on the car. Then the Panda will ride well and safely. Well-maintained cars don’t even tend to rust.
Panda chassis are quite robust, but over time the bearings (rear 1000 CZK) wear out. Inspect the front axle well and watch out for excessive corrosion of the suspension parts. A smaller surface may not be a problem, but some cars are already in a very bad shape. It simply depends on where the car was driven, where it was parked, etc. There are cars that look bad from the bottom after 50,000 km, and others have a clean underside after 150,000 km. Some owners also complain about the service life of the front brakes (disc 600 to 1,200 CZK, set of pads up to 1,200 CZK).
The Panda’s electronic equipment is not very problematic and actually the only known problem is loose battery cables or their corrosion. Vehicles with VINs up to 3507759 tend to have an error in the control unit where the remote unlocking of the fifth door does not work. Rattles and knocks from the instrument panel are solved by filling the area of the instrument panel guide pins with additional insulation, and it is also a good idea to wrap the airbag harness connector with a felt strip to prevent it from rattling there.
Photo: Dalibor Žák
If the Panda is wet in the back or in the trunk (used cars often smell of mold from moisture), it may be due to a broken rear washer hose. There is a repair kit for this (part number 51922436). Cars with air conditioning may have a cracked air conditioner radiator, while cars without air conditioning used to have a poorly tensioned alternator belt.
Overall rating: Used Fiat Panda III 1.2 8V
The third generation Fiat Panda is a seriously great little car. Although it can fully suit modest motorists as the only means of transportation in the household, it will find wide application as a second car in the family for short distances and in the city. If the capacity of the stylish and technically simple and reliable Fiat 500 is not enough, you will find a more practical alternative in this Panda.
The naturally aspirated 1200 is a reliable and economical engine that only needs regular service and timely new oil. Actually, we can be quite sad that such simple, cheap and small cars are disappearing from the market due to pressures on table emissions. It is a great pity that the third-generation Panda is not so widely represented on the used market, which reduces the choice and increases the prices. But if you already have it and take care of it, you will sell it well one day.
2023-09-21 03:02:17
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