it has driven us happily up moutains, over to prague, down to southern spain, never the slightest gripe.
Not at all. Never had so much as a sqeak on our newly bought Clio in three years, and the service from the renault garage at badenerstrasse has been nothing short of phenomenal.... in fact probably the best service i have ever consistently received basically anywhere.
Might I recommend a Toyota Yaris, fresh from an American show room two weeks ago?
No, but honestly, I think Italian cars look gorgeous, but I wouldn't recommend buying one with durability/reliability in mind.
I take a fancy to a VW Golf m'self, and Jeremy Clarkson seems to have plenty positive to says about Skoda's these days.
The Panda is a fantastic little car, i had mine since end 2004, (one of the first new style) never seen inside of a garage, apart from servicing occasionaly when i think about it. I prefer this car to a large mercedes i have, it's easy to park. easy to drive, not too important if somebody dings the door in the supermarket parking.
Best thing of all uses no fuel, just bung a handful of bamboo shoots in the garage from time to time !
Very unlikely you need a 4WD model unless you live very high up, i live a 1000m above sea and go to the mountains regularly with absolutely no problems on a set of 4 snow tyres.
Get the diesel model if possible, this will be an absolute must for an auto version or a 4WD version or otherwise aou will find it under-powered a little, even with the 1.2l engine.
Don't bother with the 100hp version, it fully defeats the object of the car which is a small economical run around, if you want something with a bit more power, get something properly adapted such as a Polo as the Panda 100hp is a real bone shaker and quite noisy.
FIAT ...? = F ix i t a gain, T ony!
Really FIAT ...? = F ehler i n a llen T eilen
Or: F renzied I talian A t T raffic-lights
And a last one: F erarri I n A ffordable T rim
I've done about 78k km in mine, the break pads needed changing at 65k km, cost for parts, Sfr 38.-- plus 1 hour of my time (i stopped for coffee between wheels) i washed the car sometime last spring and otherwise it's been nothing but a joy to drive.
I bought a 1.2L petrol Panda 4x4 new in 2006 (well nearly new, it was pre-registered by the dealer which got me £1500 off the list price!)
Owned it for 2 years and put around 35000 miles on it. Pros:
* cheap to run and maintain
* fun to drive
* capable in snow and wet, drove it up through the Scottish highlands in winter with no problems. granted not the same as Swiss mountains...
Cons:
* horrible ride stiffness, although I believe they fixed this in a revamp in 2008 or 2009
* tiny fuel tank, felt like I was constantly having to stop and fill it up. Almost fan out a few times.
* crap on the highway, feels like you are really pushing it doing 120kph and won't do much more than 130.
I was happy enough with it while I had it, but I wouldn't buy one again.
Look at the diamond-like solidity of that Smart!
They are both made by Mercedes, bit like Fiat & Ferrari really
Buy Smart and get some unexpected free flying lessons - one time only!
Dread to think which one is the Ferrari here
Why walk away from an accident, when you can fly away?
I think this was the video
granted the merc is older then the 2009 model in the other vid.
5th gear also crashed a smart head on at 60mph iirc into a concrete barrier, they did the same to a fiesta iirc. the smarts doors still opened and driver compartment was in tact, the ford was total destroyed.
Both drivers would have died due to the forces of the massive deceleration, but that's besides the point, the smarts are very very tough little cars.
also bare in mind the engine is at the back of smarts, so a lot of the debris you see in these videos is just the headlights and plastic front panel, and also that the smarts have a built in roll cage / safety cell.
anyway if you google for smart crash test you'll find loads of videos showing just how tough they are.
Question for the OP - how do you get the 3 dogs into a Smart? I love my little one, but am puzzled how you can get anything bigger than 3 hamsters into it?
You don't.
I could fit:
- 1 rough collie in the passenger seat, and 1 (humongous) sheltie in the back, or:
- 1 small sheltie (who gets car sick if riding in back) in the passenger seat, and 1 regular or large sized sheltie in the back, or in an absolute emergency:
- 1 rough collie / large sheltie in the passenger seat, and two small shelties - but only if they are very very good friends - in the back.
But if I have to take two collies or most combinations of three or more, I have to borrow my husband's car.
I had a crate custom-made so that the whole back bit is essentially a travel box. Also had a barrier made for the passenger seat and filled in the footwell so the dog can lie down, and the mutt in front wears a seat belt harness.
I'm down to only three dogs now; I'd like us all to be able to travel together in my next car... and it would be nice to be able to shoehorn in a fourth. Just in case...
granted the merc is older then the 2009 model in the other vid.
also bare in mind the engine is at the back of smarts, so a lot of the debris you see in these videos is just the headlights and plastic front panel, and also that the smarts have a built in roll cage / safety cell."
Since when is the engine in the back? I thought it was up front with a special firewal to make it slip underneath the car in case off collision.
I would be caught dead in a smart. nice little car if it suits you and it might be very solid but the bouncing afterwards will do more harm than no bouncing in the heavier car. imagine having groceries (cans and such ) in the back......
But to get back on your panda question ,
Ive heard only good things about it so far but again it is a fiat and I feel with a car you really get what you pay for....
Id look into audis as they loose their value very quickly so you can prob find a fairly young on for a decent price
since they desgined it and started building it we have had 2 smarts and unless I was pouring oil into the boot the engine is def in the back
I keep seeing this "Fat Panda - Experience?" post, hoping to see some photos of a "Fat Panda" doing what a "Fat Panda" does best - which is what?
But no such luck, yet again my life hopes are dashd.
there you go
MMMM guess I learn something new every day. I wonder which car it is with then?
EDIT: Might be thinking bout the A class of mercedes