Our cars: Fiat Panda - May

Fiat Panda 1.2 Pop

Week ending May 10
Mileage 7825
Driven this week 62 miles

Fiat Panda review

We haven't had the Panda back to the dealers for its fixes just yet, but I took it for my usual commute between office and home, squealing alternator belt, broken door handle and all. I like the Panda's unpretentious cheerfulness, but unfortunately it's also one of those cars that you get tired of pretty quickly.

My daily journey covers mostly motorway and a bit of snarled-up urban stuff, and it's great at the latter but tiring on main artery routes; a bit buzzy and hard work to keep up with faster traffic. I know, it's a city car, so what do I expect? The VW Up and its Seat and Skoda relations prove that you can have 'city cars' that aren't such a strain over longer miles and yet don't sacrifice the urban convenience aspect. The Panda's abilities feel a bit limited by comparison.

Vicky.Parrott@whatcar.com

Week ending May 3
Mileage 7763
Driven this week 12 miles

It’s been a week since the Panda went in for diagnosis, and as yet the problems (a slipping alternator belt and a faulty door handle) still haven’t been fixed.

The reason? Some of the required parts were on back order, so took a few days longer than expected to arrive.

The good news is that, as of yesterday, the parts are waiting at the dealer (Wilsons of Epsom). I’m hoping the Panda will be as good as new by this time next week.

By Will Nightingale
will.nightingale@haymarket.com