Had one, a 2010 1.1 active eco for 6 years. Super little thing. It's cost next to nothing in servicing and never needed a 'repair'. Cheap tyres, insurance, tax and drinks fuel like its a small motorbike. Light to drive and easy to park with four doors and a hatch what more do you need...
Absolutely love this video - I have a 2009 1.1 Activ Eco called 'Duncan Winston' (DW) and honestly, as a 6ft 4 man never thought I'd fall in love with a wee car like this. Moved house with it as our main 'van' - travelled Europe in it..done thousands of miles and keep passing broken down new cars on the motorway! Would love some advice on installing your Ali express media centre and also a little advice on avoiding electrical issues! P.s beware those scuttle drain duckbills folks! Clean/remove them
Glad you enjoyed! Great to hear yours has treated you so well, they really are great little cars! We did do a quick video on installing the Ali Express radio - it's not the best, but should cover the basics for you and there are other guides which are good too! Luckily I've already fingered the duckbills - common practice for us, I worked at a dealer for 6 years so many 500s and Pandas have been drained by yours truly! Enjoy Panda life!
10:37 I saw this very car with my parents on the way home from Novigrad on the last day of our holiday. Unfortunate that it's rare, but a *very* beautiful edition. It reminds me of the 2CV Dolly.
They're such a joy, as you say one of only few modern cars it seems to have character still! We are sharing this one as our daily now and it's doing great!
Hi! What a great review of the Panda! They are wonderful little cars! I have owned my 2003 Active for 8 years and 75000 miles (total is around 140k), and it's been cheap and fun to run. I love them! ❤️
Thank you! That’s great, I hope to have many happy years and miles with mine! Although not a 169, I’m coming on to 6 years with my ‘92 Panda which I have done 30k in!
These are simply brilliant little cars! Bought a 2007 low mileage 1.2 Dynamic as a winter hack/general runaround because my other vehicles just aren't really suitable for short journeys, school runs and general daily use. I have to say that I've really fallen for it (and I'm a dyed in the wool petrol head!). Absolute hoot to drive, cheap as chips to run, classless, robust and just really bloody useful! So simple and a joy to work on too. As long as you get a good, honest example that's not too battered, had poor bodywork repairs and hasn't been parked in the sea, these are super solid little cars. The only real issues will be with the bits bolted to the shell and not the shell itself. Rear beams do like to rot and they do tend to get through front suspension bushes/track rod ends (no doubt due to the UK's world class roads!). All easy driveway fixes if you're that way inclined and not horrendously expensive if you can't do it yourself. Mine's definitely a keeper for when my daughter learns to drive in a couple of years. There's something very endearing about cars that competently do exactly what they were designed to do and Fiat nailed it with the Panda 169.
I absolutely agree! Of course am also a proper car nut and love it when my 300zx is working and taking that for a blast, regardless I still really enjoy driving the Panda - as you say its enduring, cheap to run and maintain and just an all round great little car!
This is a good review of a cracking car. I have a 2011 1.2 Active, 68bhp, had it 4 years and love it, passed it's MOT today for £45 with 2 advisories. It is well looked after and sitting on 126k and will be with me until it dies, I too get 47mpg+ from mine. Back axles can be an issue, mine has one hole in but am protecting it and its solid so will be fine. Another issue I've heard is the steering column but I think this is caused by people using the CITY steering above 15mph which it's not designed to do and that could be the issue, I don't use mine and its all fine. Also for anyone out there getting a knock from the back when carrying passengers but at no other time, its the axle bushes, about a £150 job.....that took some figuring out but I've seen it mentioned on the forums with people pulling their hair out 😂
Thank you! Yes, the steering column problem does come up if used over that speed as you say! It works on mine but i’ve only used it once to see if it worked when I picked it up 😅
@@OGCars You and me both, city steering.....what's that about?....I don't need that then 😂. I'll be replacing my 169 with the 312 version if memory serves me well or about a 2016 if I'm wrong, only an i10 would tempt me out of a Panda.
Nice tidy Panda 👍. The tweeter covers were just blanks in my Panda. I’ve since swapped to Alpine speakers. In the front I’ve installed 1750 speakers which have a separate tweeter. You can swap the tweeter covers to ones with holes in them. In the back I’ve got the 1725 speakers which just have a tweeter in the middle of the speaker. I’ve gone one step further and fitted an under seat sub woofer under the drivers seat 😂
Excellent video! I agree with most of what you say and that the Panda 169 is a stylish reliable car and glad you have positive feelings about your fiat cars. I had a Panda 141 1000 Fire as a student bought in 1988 and put on 150000 troble free miles on it in london and the engine was still sound when it was exchanged because of the rust on the roof and chassis in 2010. I then got a Panda 100hp new in 2010 and have only put 7000 on it so far and despite being left on the drive has no rust on the wheelarches or sills although it is not driven in winter.
@@OGCars Thank you! I guess there are lower mileage ones, but I am disgusted by market values for the cars for insurance purposes in case of incident for the Panda cars which is why I eventually got an agreed value on a classic car policy for the car.
My other half’s had two 169’s the first a 1.2 dynamic the second a 1.3 sporting diesel. She absolutely loved both of them. Traded the sporting for a 500 1.4 sport. Regretted it afterwards as the panda is a much more practical car for day to day life
@@OGCars in comparison the 500 seemed a much less practical car over the years she owned it, also not as reliable bizarrely. When we first met she had a 1987 panda, also a good car
Attractive and cute car , I suppose it's a joy to drive and to park this little Panda . Hope you will buy and review a japanese car someday . I had a Mazda 2 and it was the car I loved most ,no mechanical issues all the years I owned it. Japanese cars are very reliable.
It does drive and park very well and with ease! We've only had a few Japanese cars, we've just got the Nissan 300ZX left now, we'll have to do another video on that at some point when it's working again! Unfortunately I don't think they are as reliable as some other Japanese cars are, but they are old now!
My 2006 1.1 Panda Active I got this year is pretty mint. The body has literally no rust and the interior was basically like new, only 40k odd miles as well. It does have some rust on the rear suspension, and some surface rust on the front but it's very clean other than that. Unfortunately for some reason the plastics have become brittle in mine, particularly a couple of the vents and the handle on the glove box, they just broke apart with little force and I've been struggling to find replacement for the vents.
Yes mine has some surface rust to the rear beam but nothing I wouldn’t expect for a 14 year old car! Oh no, may be worth finding ones that are breaking as parts tend to be cheaper? 🙂
There is a channel called The Bearded Wonder from Wales on RUclips doing all sorts of work on his panda and worth a look..... he's a bit mad but nothing wrong with that 😂👍🇮🇪
I've bought 2 pandas, one needed both cills welded and the other is perfect, i did the welding and the steel in them is usually rustier on the inside than you'd like, meaning you have to cut bigger bits out to repair it. Im only an amateur with a flux core welder but it can be done. Both cars are loved by their owners who have them as their first cars, you won't find cheaper/better than a panda. I know a yaris is a good car But feels like a washing machine, no character and over priced because of it's badge,the panda is the perfect car to learn driving and car maintenance as bits are reasonably priced and it's a no frills car. No 12v socket is annoying and there's very little on yt about upgrading the radio to Android.
Yes absolutely- if you can see it on the outside, it’s normally on the inside too! Yes it’s just worth noting if you go for the base model as my old active did not have the 12v. The radio we fitted is also andorid as well - just depends what phone you connect 🙂
The 1.1, 1.2 and 1.4 petrol were all fire series in the 169 - the 1.3 diesel is the only one that isn't fire series! So you can tell by fuel type, or if you're picky you can tell from the airbox which one is which as well! The 312 introduced the TwinAir petrol model (0.9)
Do you guys have any thoughts on the auto boxes on the Panda and Qubo? Everyone seems to baulk at the mention of them. I pretty much need an automatic because of spinal pain and do love the Panda in particular.
Hey David! I worked for a dealer for some time which included working on various auto box cars - the 1.2 from Fiat used a manual gearbox with an automatic hydraulic ‘robot’ that changed the gears. This made it perform fairly slowly as it had a single clutch and seems to take its time on gear changes. We only ever had a few go wrong but when they did they were very expensive to repair as they are fiddly to work on and replacements are big bucks. If someone was getting an auto, I’ll be honest, I probably wouldn’t recommend it unless they were getting a low mileage but well cared for example and don’t mind the slow drive!
@@OGCars Thx. Kinda confirmed what I was thinking. It's the after purchase costs could make it expensive 😕 I honestly look at Pandas on road and look at it as others would look at Ferrari. It would make great daily as would Qubo, Bipper etc (uglier but bit more room) but not really practical. Looking elsewhere.👀 Thanks again.
Always had a soft spot for the Panda. What are the main mechanical weaknesses of them. I understand that the steering column/power steering is a weak spot on them and an expensive fix - heard figures of £1100 to replace the column, what are your thoughts on this. Is anything else expensive and a regular failure?🤔 TIA.👍
The column while mentioned was never a common fault for us in the garage, a few over my 6 year dealer workings maybe, most were cured with battery replacements or charges as it’s the first point to show up when batteries are getting bad! That said I have seen a couple go and they were one of the more expensive repairs. As for expensive repairs make sure you get one with a good rear axle (cheap if you do it yourself mind) and good solid underbody. Auto ones can occasionally have hydraulic robot failure which can be expensive too. Anything else tends to be cheap and menial, as long as they are serviced well these engines are some of the most reliable in the business I’ve found!
FIAT'S are great cars - I have had 3 Uno's, a Punto mk2 2 Panda's and a SEAT Marbella ( basically a Panda MK1 ) - tough as old boots and all those Ford afficionado's have no idea what they are on about
Hi , i have a couple of issues with my 4x4 Trekking, may you kindly supply me with a email address of the Expert mechanic, I'd like to get professional assistance, I am in South Africa Regards Des
We've just had one of these as a hire car In Kefalonia, what an absolute blast on the mountain roads, it performed well
They’re great little cars!
Had one, a 2010 1.1 active eco for 6 years. Super little thing. It's cost next to nothing in servicing and never needed a 'repair'. Cheap tyres, insurance, tax and drinks fuel like its a small motorbike. Light to drive and easy to park with four doors and a hatch what more do you need...
Absolutely love this video - I have a 2009 1.1 Activ Eco called 'Duncan Winston' (DW) and honestly, as a 6ft 4 man never thought I'd fall in love with a wee car like this. Moved house with it as our main 'van' - travelled Europe in it..done thousands of miles and keep passing broken down new cars on the motorway! Would love some advice on installing your Ali express media centre and also a little advice on avoiding electrical issues! P.s beware those scuttle drain duckbills folks! Clean/remove them
Glad you enjoyed! Great to hear yours has treated you so well, they really are great little cars! We did do a quick video on installing the Ali Express radio - it's not the best, but should cover the basics for you and there are other guides which are good too! Luckily I've already fingered the duckbills - common practice for us, I worked at a dealer for 6 years so many 500s and Pandas have been drained by yours truly! Enjoy Panda life!
10:37 I saw this very car with my parents on the way home from Novigrad on the last day of our holiday. Unfortunate that it's rare, but a *very* beautiful edition. It reminds me of the 2CV Dolly.
Oh wow its rare to see them around now!
I still miss my 1.2 Dynamic. One of my favourite cars, the Panda has real character. If you ever do decide to sell this one I'd be very interested!
They're such a joy, as you say one of only few modern cars it seems to have character still! We are sharing this one as our daily now and it's doing great!
Hi! What a great review of the Panda! They are wonderful little cars!
I have owned my 2003 Active for 8 years and 75000 miles (total is around 140k), and it's been cheap and fun to run. I love them! ❤️
Thank you! That’s great, I hope to have many happy years and miles with mine! Although not a 169, I’m coming on to 6 years with my ‘92 Panda which I have done 30k in!
These are simply brilliant little cars!
Bought a 2007 low mileage 1.2 Dynamic as a winter hack/general runaround because my other vehicles just aren't really suitable for short journeys, school runs and general daily use.
I have to say that I've really fallen for it (and I'm a dyed in the wool petrol head!).
Absolute hoot to drive, cheap as chips to run, classless, robust and just really bloody useful! So simple and a joy to work on too.
As long as you get a good, honest example that's not too battered, had poor bodywork repairs and hasn't been parked in the sea, these are super solid little cars.
The only real issues will be with the bits bolted to the shell and not the shell itself.
Rear beams do like to rot and they do tend to get through front suspension bushes/track rod ends (no doubt due to the UK's world class roads!). All easy driveway fixes if you're that way inclined and not horrendously expensive if you can't do it yourself.
Mine's definitely a keeper for when my daughter learns to drive in a couple of years.
There's something very endearing about cars that competently do exactly what they were designed to do and Fiat nailed it with the Panda 169.
I absolutely agree! Of course am also a proper car nut and love it when my 300zx is working and taking that for a blast, regardless I still really enjoy driving the Panda - as you say its enduring, cheap to run and maintain and just an all round great little car!
Great review ! Had one for a bit, surprising good little car
Thank you 🙂
This is a good review of a cracking car. I have a 2011 1.2 Active, 68bhp, had it 4 years and love it, passed it's MOT today for £45 with 2 advisories. It is well looked after and sitting on 126k and will be with me until it dies, I too get 47mpg+ from mine. Back axles can be an issue, mine has one hole in but am protecting it and its solid so will be fine. Another issue I've heard is the steering column but I think this is caused by people using the CITY steering above 15mph which it's not designed to do and that could be the issue, I don't use mine and its all fine. Also for anyone out there getting a knock from the back when carrying passengers but at no other time, its the axle bushes, about a £150 job.....that took some figuring out but I've seen it mentioned on the forums with people pulling their hair out 😂
Thank you! Yes, the steering column problem does come up if used over that speed as you say! It works on mine but i’ve only used it once to see if it worked when I picked it up 😅
@@OGCars You and me both, city steering.....what's that about?....I don't need that then 😂. I'll be replacing my 169 with the 312 version if memory serves me well or about a 2016 if I'm wrong, only an i10 would tempt me out of a Panda.
Nice tidy Panda 👍. The tweeter covers were just blanks in my Panda. I’ve since swapped to Alpine speakers. In the front I’ve installed 1750 speakers which have a separate tweeter. You can swap the tweeter covers to ones with holes in them. In the back I’ve got the 1725 speakers which just have a tweeter in the middle of the speaker. I’ve gone one step further and fitted an under seat sub woofer under the drivers seat 😂
That’s good to know - if it stays I’ll look to upgrade the speakers as I do love my music on my commute and longer drives
Excellent video! I agree with most of what you say and that the Panda 169 is a stylish reliable car and glad you have positive feelings about your fiat cars. I had a Panda 141 1000 Fire as a student bought in 1988 and put on 150000 troble free miles on it in london and the engine was still sound when it was exchanged because of the rust on the roof and chassis in 2010. I then got a Panda 100hp new in 2010 and have only put 7000 on it so far and despite being left on the drive has no rust on the wheelarches or sills although it is not driven in winter.
Thank you! And wow your 100hp sounds incredible - must be one of the lowest mileage in the UK!
@@OGCars Thank you! I guess there are lower mileage ones, but I am disgusted by market values for the cars for insurance purposes in case of incident for the Panda cars which is why I eventually got an agreed value on a classic car policy for the car.
My other half’s had two 169’s the first a 1.2 dynamic the second a 1.3 sporting diesel. She absolutely loved both of them. Traded the sporting for a 500 1.4 sport. Regretted it afterwards as the panda is a much more practical car for day to day life
This is my 4th 169 now and I considered the 500 when I was looking but decided for the Panda as its the bit more practical as you say!
@@OGCars in comparison the 500 seemed a much less practical car over the years she owned it, also not as reliable bizarrely.
When we first met she had a 1987 panda, also a good car
I have a 2020 City Cross and your infotainment thingy is way better than the analogue type in mine!
Yes! My mum has a 13 plate lounge and is now asking us to help her upgrade the radio as she said the same!
Attractive and cute car , I suppose it's a joy to drive and to park this little Panda . Hope you will buy and review a japanese car someday . I had a Mazda 2 and it was the car I loved most ,no mechanical issues all the years I owned it. Japanese cars are very reliable.
It does drive and park very well and with ease! We've only had a few Japanese cars, we've just got the Nissan 300ZX left now, we'll have to do another video on that at some point when it's working again! Unfortunately I don't think they are as reliable as some other Japanese cars are, but they are old now!
How I wish more of us drove such simple, modest, small, economical cars.
Very true!
My 2006 1.1 Panda Active I got this year is pretty mint. The body has literally no rust and the interior was basically like new, only 40k odd miles as well. It does have some rust on the rear suspension, and some surface rust on the front but it's very clean other than that.
Unfortunately for some reason the plastics have become brittle in mine, particularly a couple of the vents and the handle on the glove box, they just broke apart with little force and I've been struggling to find replacement for the vents.
Yes mine has some surface rust to the rear beam but nothing I wouldn’t expect for a 14 year old car! Oh no, may be worth finding ones that are breaking as parts tend to be cheaper? 🙂
There is a channel called The Bearded Wonder from Wales on RUclips doing all sorts of work on his panda and worth a look..... he's a bit mad but nothing wrong with that 😂👍🇮🇪
Thanks for the recommendation - we’ll take a look!
I bought a 1.1 new in 2009 for £5,495. Great except I didn't know the 12v socket only came with the optional smoker's pack...
Yes, or the higher models! I remember when I got the active as my first car and being surprised it had no 12v!
I've bought 2 pandas, one needed both cills welded and the other is perfect, i did the welding and the steel in them is usually rustier on the inside than you'd like, meaning you have to cut bigger bits out to repair it. Im only an amateur with a flux core welder but it can be done. Both cars are loved by their owners who have them as their first cars, you won't find cheaper/better than a panda. I know a yaris is a good car But feels like a washing machine, no character and over priced because of it's badge,the panda is the perfect car to learn driving and car maintenance as bits are reasonably priced and it's a no frills car. No 12v socket is annoying and there's very little on yt about upgrading the radio to Android.
Yes absolutely- if you can see it on the outside, it’s normally on the inside too!
Yes it’s just worth noting if you go for the base model as my old active did not have the 12v.
The radio we fitted is also andorid as well - just depends what phone you connect 🙂
These are nice cars…. Yours looks smart…if I was looking at a 1.2 Panda, how would I identify the “Fire” engine..?
Thanks in advance…
The 1.1, 1.2 and 1.4 petrol were all fire series in the 169 - the 1.3 diesel is the only one that isn't fire series! So you can tell by fuel type, or if you're picky you can tell from the airbox which one is which as well! The 312 introduced the TwinAir petrol model (0.9)
Do you guys have any thoughts on the auto boxes on the Panda and Qubo? Everyone seems to baulk at the mention of them.
I pretty much need an automatic because of spinal pain and do love the Panda in particular.
Hey David! I worked for a dealer for some time which included working on various auto box cars - the 1.2 from Fiat used a manual gearbox with an automatic hydraulic ‘robot’ that changed the gears. This made it perform fairly slowly as it had a single clutch and seems to take its time on gear changes. We only ever had a few go wrong but when they did they were very expensive to repair as they are fiddly to work on and replacements are big bucks. If someone was getting an auto, I’ll be honest, I probably wouldn’t recommend it unless they were getting a low mileage but well cared for example and don’t mind the slow drive!
@@OGCars Thx. Kinda confirmed what I was thinking. It's the after purchase costs could make it expensive 😕
I honestly look at Pandas on road and look at it as others would look at Ferrari. It would make great daily as would Qubo, Bipper etc (uglier but bit more room) but not really practical.
Looking elsewhere.👀
Thanks again.
Always had a soft spot for the Panda. What are the main mechanical weaknesses of them. I understand that the steering column/power steering is a weak spot on them and an expensive fix - heard figures of £1100 to replace the column, what are your thoughts on this. Is anything else expensive and a regular failure?🤔 TIA.👍
The column while mentioned was never a common fault for us in the garage, a few over my 6 year dealer workings maybe, most were cured with battery replacements or charges as it’s the first point to show up when batteries are getting bad!
That said I have seen a couple go and they were one of the more expensive repairs. As for expensive repairs make sure you get one with a good rear axle (cheap if you do it yourself mind) and good solid underbody. Auto ones can occasionally have hydraulic robot failure which can be expensive too. Anything else tends to be cheap and menial, as long as they are serviced well these engines are some of the most reliable in the business I’ve found!
@@OGCars Thanks for getting back to me, most appreciated.🙂👍
FIAT'S are great cars - I have had 3 Uno's, a Punto mk2 2 Panda's and a SEAT Marbella ( basically a Panda MK1 ) - tough as old boots and all those Ford afficionado's have no idea what they are on about
Absolutely - I’ve always had a Fiat and honestly they’ve never given me any major problems aside normal wear and tear 🙂
where can i buy a radio like yours for my panda can i order it from amazon?
They’re available on amazon, ebay etc! The pne I fitted was from ali express 😀
Hello Friends , I think you should keep this one , £35.00 road tax you would be mad to sell it .
Absolutely - the road tax is a great bonus!
❤️🐼❤️🐼❤️🐼❤️🐼❤️👊🔥
save Penny!!!
We agree! 😃
a pretty penny
: D
Thanks! 😃
Hi , i have a couple of issues with my 4x4 Trekking, may you kindly supply me with a email address of the Expert mechanic, I'd like to get professional assistance, I am in South Africa
Regards
Des
Hello - if you message us through our facebook page we can see if we can help you out! 😀