Kia Picanto vs Fiat Panda? (concluded - see last page)

Kilty_2 · 13 February 2011 at 8:59AM

Thinking about downsizing my car - fed up with 32MPG, £235 tax, expensive insurance, repairs, etc.

Can buy a 2011 '60' delivery mileage Fiat Panda 1.1 Active Eco for £5995 (possibly a brand new '11' for the same price) or a 2011 '60' Kia Picanto 1.0 1 for £6495 (again, unsure of the deals available on a spanking new one)

Obviously the Kia has a much longer warranty but running costs apart from that are largely identical.

So - opinions on both? Preferably from people that own / have driven one or both. :cool:

NeverAgain_2 · 13 February 2011 at 9:14AM

I did a couple of thousand miles in a Panda diesel a while back and thought it was a tremendous little car.

Roomy, good handling, and enough poke to do the occasional overtake.

I test drove a Picanto - may have been the previous model - and thought it was a shopping trolley in comparison.

A few miles around the block is not really far enough to make a judgment, you should have a go in both.

I don't think there's much between Fiat and Kia as manufacturers, so I would buy the car I liked best.

Kilty_2 · 13 February 2011 at 9:18AM

Reviews suggest the Panda feels quite large inside for a small car which might be more suitable given I'd be going from a rep-tank Laguna :rotfl:

tonerlab · 13 February 2011 at 9:39AM

Hi!
I have driven both panda and picanto, but bought the picanto. It won the most reliable car in britain award last year (98.1%), google it! and is loved by evryone who owns one. I have had mine for six weeks now. Its exceptionally roomy inside as its wider than the average eco town car, mpg is always over 50 evn in town, road tax £35 after ist year, low insurance, amazing stereo which can play mp3s and wma compute files, have the equivalent of 15 albums on one cd in my car.

Not so good points, boot is small, ok for usual shopping but family shop fills boot and goes on back seat, visibility through rear window not great, and no central locking on car doors, all are manual opening\locking.

Now the good bit, when i bought mine it cost me £4995, Furrows telford are not doing this deal now, but have acquired some more at £5200-£5300. They are normally around the £7200 mark. If you google furows telford, you will come up with their contact details. My salesman was named david holt. I also blagged the original car mat set from them by haggling, they are worth it if you could get them as they locate on lugs on the floor and dont slip around. If you pm me, i also have a £50 voucher you can use which will get you a few more goodies, I have to mention that I will benefit from this also, but as you will be £50 up hope you dont mind, i can send this to u or if you live locally to telford, you could pick it up. I hope this post doesnt offend others, i dont work for kia and have genuinely just bought a picanto.

To balance the post, at full price for both cars, i feel that I would have been tempted by the panda as it looks a bit more modern, and there is a major facelift in the pipeline for the picanto coming later this year

lol x

Kilty_2 · 13 February 2011 at 9:49AM

tonerlab wrote: »

Now the good bit, when i bought mine it cost me £4995, Furrows telford are not doing this deal now, but have acquired some more at £5200-£5300.

Are they used or with some kind of special trade in allowance? Seems too cheap.

Local dealer only has them for that amount with the "7 year switch" offer where you must trade in a car 7-10 years old....

tonerlab · 13 February 2011 at 10:00AM

Hi they are brand new, they are selling them off as new facelift car coming later in year, as usual with trade ins, they wont give you a great one, private sell if you can. but if you do part ex, then no hassle advertising, no costs e.t.c.

if you can buy in full great, finance deal not so good, but as £2000 less on full price still cheaper than full car price on normal finance

Kilty_2 · 13 February 2011 at 10:02AM

Damn. Far cheaper than dealers up here (I'm in Central Scotland

)

Arnold Clark have them on their website for £5995 however they also have them on their website for £6495 :rotfl:(both listed as a brand new 1.0 1)

A smaller (Kia main) dealer locally has a 2011 '60' pre-reg priced at £6495 - might be room to wriggle since 11 plate is coming and as you say a facelift

Hintza · 13 February 2011 at 10:36AM

Kilty you still not dealt yet!

You know my views so I won't repeat them.

One other thing to mention though s the ground clearance if it is important I suspect th Panda will be higher. It is one of the first things I check with a farm track and the dreadful condition of the roads around here just now.

Which car will age better look wise?

Kilty_2 · 13 February 2011 at 10:39AM

Ground clearance isn't an issue - vast vast majority of my driving is on A roads and motorways.

Can't find anyone with a bad word to say about the Panda however the long warranty on the Picanto is appealing, making pre-registered models more viable (I'd probably be financing the cost to change over 3 years - lots of dealers have 6-8 month old pre-reg Pandas knocking about that'd not be the best buy if they're out of warranty before it's paid for)