Panda 100HP - Am I nuts?

Scottland · 15 Mar 2012 at 21:50

Cheers for that, I'm looking between 5-6k for one, I did really want an 02 onwards but some of the older ones actually sound better examples as they've been better looked after. But the amount of times I've asked a private owner if the Geo has been checked to a blank expression...

Those expenses don't seem too far beyond what I'd thought, not into messing around with cars so it would be bought and kept completely standard.

Conanius · 15 Mar 2012 at 21:52

Buy a car from S2KI UK Owners.

The reality is you stand a chance of getting a car that has no geo issues if they dont know, but equally a chance of one thats got a close to £2k bill if its all horribly wrong

Scottland · 15 Mar 2012 at 21:53

Conanius said:
Buy a car from S2KI UK Owners.

The reality is you stand a chance of getting a car that has no geo issues if they dont know, but equally a chance of one thats got a close to £2k bill if its all horribly wrong

To be honest I'd kind of been budgeting a grand to have it done anyway regardless, unless it had already been done.

jamoor · 16 Mar 2012 at 01:44

Yes, get the swift sport.

Malc · 16 Mar 2012 at 10:39

Conanius said:
It saddens me seeing adverts for cars at the 4-5k mark. I've seen some of these examples and they are TOTAL rotters. Unfortunately people buy them and go OMG ITS GASH. Really. You don't say. I'd say 6k is the minimum you can pay for a goodun unless you drop on. DRZ recently had a load of info off me on buying one before he got the MX5 he's done work to. He's an unbiased guy and agreed with me that you just can't get one worth having for cheap.

That's interesting to know. I'm seriously considering getting one at the end of the summer (September time) as an upgrade from my Mk2 MR2.

I'm looking at the an 04-55 plate GT, mainly as I prefer the looks of the facelift, they should have better residuals than the pre-facelift and unless a I drop onto a bargain of a newer one, I don't fancy paying £460 road tax unless it makes sense at the time. I want the GT as it'll be my main car and it'll make winter months more bearable. I don't have a mileage requirement. Lower is better but condition is more important.

What price would you say is the minimum for that? £7-8K for an 04?

PiKe · 16 Mar 2012 at 10:47

Should get an 05 for around that.

Don't get hung up on geo, drive it and if it feels ok, then there's no need.

Apparently factory fresh MX5 geo is all over the place unless you have the option to have it on bilstein suspension.

bloodiedathame · 16 Mar 2012 at 10:47

I rock around in my gfs Panda, it's my only access to a car and I think it's a great little thing. The MOT and service the last two years have come to around £700 (admittedly that was including a new alloy last year and doing the timing belt this year), it's an 05 Eleganza model with 60,000 miles.

4T5 · 16 Mar 2012 at 10:48

[TW]Fox;21480874 said:
You look worse walking to the bus stop than he would driving a Panda, therefore lay off the Panda hate

I laughed.

rodenal · 16 Mar 2012 at 10:50

bloodiedathame said:
I rock around in my gfs Panda, it's my only access to a car and I think it's a great little thing. The MOT and service the last two years have come to around £700 (admittedly that was including a new alloy last year and doing the timing belt this year), it's an 05 Eleganza model with 60,000 miles.

Even at that, lets say a continued £60 a month general maintenance inc buying tyres instead of alloys / cambelts isn't bad at all!

bloodiedathame · 16 Mar 2012 at 11:04

rodenal said:
Even at that, lets say a continued £60 a month general maintenance inc buying tyres instead of alloys / cambelts isn't bad at all!

Aye when you look at it like that it's not that bad, we're doing about 7000 miles a year.

Scottland · 16 Mar 2012 at 12:26

bloodiedathame said:
I rock around in my gfs Panda, it's my only access to a car and I think it's a great little thing. The MOT and service the last two years have come to around £700 (admittedly that was including a new alloy last year and doing the timing belt this year), it's an 05 Eleganza model with 60,000 miles.

The bonus of the Panda is that it should be silly cheap to run apart from repair bills. Tax is £130 a year or thereabouts, and insurance is about £200!

PiKe said:
Should get an 05 for around that.

Don't get hung up on geo, drive it and if it feels ok, then there's no need.

Apparently factory fresh MX5 geo is all over the place unless you have the option to have it on bilstein suspension.

Problem with the Geo is that the bushes seize on the S2000's which is a huge repair bill if it's not right. And from what I can gather, in the wet a good geo is hugely beneficial!

matthab · 16 Mar 2012 at 13:21

If its anything like my Seat Ibiza 100bhp sport then Id say go and give it a test drive.

PiKe · 16 Mar 2012 at 14:08

Scottland said:
The bonus of the Panda is that it should be silly cheap to run apart from repair bills. Tax is £130 a year or thereabouts, and insurance is about £200!

Problem with the Geo is that the bushes seize on the S2000's which is a huge repair bill if it's not right. And from what I can gather, in the wet a good geo is hugely beneficial!

But until you drive the thing, you can't make a judgement on whether the geo needs doing or not, if it handles fine, then what's the point? Other than for peace of mind of course. And if it's seized, it's not going to go any more out is it

MeAnBoY · 16 Mar 2012 at 15:52

I've driven the 100HP Panda quite a few times and it's great to chuck around.

What I liked most about it was the pull of the engine, it feels like it has a fair bit more grunt than it's 1.6ltr 100hp specs would suggest.

Someone has already posted about a Swift sport which imo looks better and is equally nice to drive. The gear changes feel really slick in them but need more revs to get going than the panda.