Fiat Panda Owners? Don't read this....you gon die.

Mark1989 · 6 Dec 2018 at 19:10

lordrobs said:
This is simply down to it being an older model without the new technology on it. The Punto that was mentioned in the press recently was one of the safest cars in its class at launch and scored either a 4 or 5 star rating, it too now scores a zero. It isn't any less safe than when it was released, the competition has simply moved on. It would be interesting to see what lane assist, auto braking and all the other non structural additions would have made to the score.

NCAP is second only to Thatcham for its box ticking score system anyway

Bet you still wouldn't buy a fiat though would you

lordrobs · 6 Dec 2018 at 19:37

Mark1989 said:
Bet you still wouldn't buy a fiat though would you

Well... we own a Punto so... yes

I'd happily have a Panda too if I was in the market for that type of car.

Mark1989 · 6 Dec 2018 at 20:14

lordrobs said:
Well... we own a Punto so... yes

I'd happily have a Panda too if I was in the market for that type of car.

Well... I'm assuming you bought it to keep other half happy or you were drunk

Jokes aside if you like em fair enough

tom_nieto · 6 Dec 2018 at 20:28

It's a bit silly to expect a car which was originally designed to meet an older standard to suddenly have got better in crash ratings.

The 500 will suddenly be a death trap now too...

sandys · 6 Dec 2018 at 20:36

lordrobs said:
This is simply down to it being an older model without the new technology on it. The Punto that was mentioned in the press recently was one of the safest cars in its class at launch and scored either a 4 or 5 star rating, it too now scores a zero. It isn't any less safe than when it was released, the competition has simply moved on. It would be interesting to see what lane assist, auto braking and all the other non structural additions would have made to the score.

NCAP is second only to Thatcham for its box ticking score system anyway

Exactly this, the Punto was the safest car in class, 5 stars, it went to zero, the car has not changed significantly in years, the test has, the car is no less safe, just doesn't have modern safety assist which the new tests are biased to, same for the Panda, though not sure it was ever as safe as the Punto, it is by no means crap.

https://www.fleeteurope.com/en/features/fiat-punto-5-0-euroncap-stars-12-years

Passenger safety is not necessarily better in a new 5 star car but the assist help to mitigate some of the causes of an incident.

Malevolence · 6 Dec 2018 at 21:07

A mate of mine has one of those 4x4 Panda Cross jobbies, and a quick check shows that they're only 3-star.

200sols · 6 Dec 2018 at 21:11

Are these safety additions standard on many cars? They all seem to be options that cost a hefty sum.

Diddums · 6 Dec 2018 at 21:38

The only way these pose a risk to the occupants is from other road users tbh. Don't think I've ever seen a Panda go faster than 30mph.

Ryan-3 · 6 Dec 2018 at 21:41

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Say no more.

Nasher · 6 Dec 2018 at 21:49

I think Fiat are trying to fill the niche Rover left behind tbh.

lordrobs · 7 Dec 2018 at 09:36

Mark1989 said:
Well... I'm assuming you bought it to keep other half happy or you were drunk

Jokes aside if you like em fair enough

It wouldn't have been my choice but my wife liked it. Ours is about as good as you are going to get with a standard Punto. 1.4 16v Eleganza with every option ticked apart from the sub woofer as far as we can tell. <£6k at 22 months old when we bought it, list price with the options was something crazy like £13k

Jamauk · 7 Dec 2018 at 10:58

Howard said:
Surprise surprise, the equally diabolical Punto doesn't fare much better

I think there is a pattern here, the Jeep Wrangler from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles only got one star.

Akagi · 7 Dec 2018 at 10:59

It's cos they're made of pasta.

Jamauk · 7 Dec 2018 at 11:34

Acme said:
It's cos they're made of pasta.

I wonder how your 325 compares (not the pasta part).

Akagi · 7 Dec 2018 at 11:54

Jamauk said:
I wonder how your 325 compares (not the pasta part).

Poorly.

At 35MPH it gets obliterated and the roof even buckles. Potentially resulting in crushed legs, broken ribs, internal injuries, a head injury from the steering wheel, or any combination thereof... If you're lucky enough to survive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7UihAyjJj4 - To add insult to injury, the ABS is currently broken on mine... Though only the 6 cylinder model (with the possible exception of early ones) and very late model 4 cylinders came with ABS from factory anyway.

Up it to 50MPH and you'll be a pancake.

That said, for its day it was actually quite good. Which is slightly worrying in itself.

Housey · 7 Dec 2018 at 12:08

Rroff said:
My first driving instructor had a Polo - I hated it

You are dead to me, dead I tell you!

Jamauk · 7 Dec 2018 at 13:42

Acme said:
Poorly.

At 35MPH it gets obliterated and the roof even buckles. Potentially resulting in crushed legs, broken ribs, internal injuries, a head injury from the steering wheel, or any combination thereof... If you're lucky enough to survive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7UihAyjJj4 - To add insult to injury, the ABS is currently broken on mine... Though only the 6 cylinder model (with the possible exception of early ones) and very late model 4 cylinders came with ABS from factory anyway.

Up it to 50MPH and you'll be a pancake.

That said, for its day it was actually quite good. Which is slightly worrying in itself.

Ouch, looks bad but when new it was probably safer than a lot of the stuff Leyland were churning out!

lordrobs · 7 Dec 2018 at 13:58

As we're all so concerned about NCAP stars all of a sudden I'm sure we'll all be trading in for the wonderful Tata Nexon https://www-autocarindia-com.cdn.am...star-rating-in-global-ncap-crash-tests-410716

It's safe because it has a camera that slams the brakes on at 80mph because it sees a plastic bag blowing across the motorway...

Frozennova · 7 Dec 2018 at 17:07

lordrobs said:
As we're all so concerned about NCAP stars all of a sudden I'm sure we'll all be trading in for the wonderful Tata Nexon https://www-autocarindia-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.autocarindia.com/car-news-amp/tata-nexon-secures-five-star-rating-in-global-ncap-crash-tests-410716?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https://www.google.com&amp_tf=From %1$s&ampshare=https://www.autocarindia.com/car-news/tata-nexon-secures-five-star-rating-in-global-ncap-crash-tests-410716

It's safe because it has a camera that slams the brakes on at 80mph because it sees a plastic bag blowing across the motorway...

So would I, those plastic bags are scary

Nasher · 7 Dec 2018 at 17:44

lordrobs said:
As we're all so concerned about NCAP stars all of a sudden I'm sure we'll all be trading in for the wonderful Tata Nexon https://www-autocarindia-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.autocarindia.com/car-news-amp/tata-nexon-secures-five-star-rating-in-global-ncap-crash-tests-410716?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https://www.google.com&amp_tf=From %1$s&ampshare=https://www.autocarindia.com/car-news/tata-nexon-secures-five-star-rating-in-global-ncap-crash-tests-410716

It's safe because it has a camera that slams the brakes on at 80mph because it sees a plastic bag blowing across the motorway...

Or most SUVs and pickup trucks which roll over quite easily in a collision