What’s it like?
The Fiat Panda is an evergreen car, having been around in one boxy form or another ever since 1980. However, a big change for the Mk2 in 2003 brought in a more modern chassis to underpin things, while the Mk3 we’re looking at here – introduced in 2011 and in service for 14 years – offered more advanced engines and a range of model choices to bolster its appeal. A charismatic yet pragmatic budget supermini related to the Fiat 500, the Panda is the choice for those who think something like a Skoda Fabia is a bit too pricey – and boring.
Which model to go for?
All versions of the third-generation Fiat Panda were sold with the same five-door, five-seat body, complete with a vertical tailgate and a tall, upright stance. And they all came with rather low-powered engines, too – not a single powertrain in this generation of Panda could achieve even 100hp, so no model even gets close to cracking the ten-second barrier for 0-100km/h.
Your main choices are petrol or diesel, with a mild-hybrid petrol option joining the ranks later in the Panda’s life. The petrol options included a plain 1.2-litre four-cylinder unit with 69hp, which is pretty standard small-car fare. However, the other option was an intriguing 0.9-litre two-cylinder turbocharged engine called the TwinAir. With 85hp, this is the fastest Panda of the lot with an 11.2-second 0-100km/h run, but it’s also one of the fastest to empty its fuel tank – as hugely characterful as the TwinAir engine is, it uses a lot of fuel if it is being even only moderately exerted.
The diesel alternative was a turbocharged 1.3-litre four-cylinder unit making 75hp, but these are very rare on the used market here – so economy focused buyers will more likely be looking at the Panda Hybrid, sold from 2020 onwards. This teamed a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine with a very modest hybrid-assistance system, but it is about the most economical real-world Panda to drive.
Almost all Mk3 Pandas were front-wheel drive, with a choice of five-speed manual or automatic transmissions, although the later Hybrid gained a six-speed gearbox. Both the Panda 4x4 and the Cross, as the former’s name hints, were all-wheel-drive models – and they’re surprisingly capable away from the tarmac, if you need a tiny off-roader that can scamper through fairly challenging scenery.
Does anything go wrong?
Using simple mechanicals and never equipped with lots of cutting-edge tech, there’s little to go wrong on the Fiat Panda Mk3 and so owners report it a generally reliable machine. Watch on the 4x4 models for oil weeping from the rear differential, but otherwise – as these were city cars first and foremost – you want to be looking at the exterior condition of the car, for scrapes and scuffs on the bumpers, kerbed wheels and so on.
There have been five recalls in total for the third-generation Fiat Panda, which related to a fault in the airbag propellant system; an incorrect mixture ration in airbag-ignition chemicals; a potential defect in the steering-column height-adjustment mechanism; an incorrectly attached Fiat logo on the steering-wheel cover, which could be propelled into the driver at high speed in the event of airbag deployment; and a fault with the side-airbag sensors, causing failure to deploy.