Lot 77 - 06 Fiat Panda 1.1 (another pile of crap? stop it!)

Lot 77 - 06 Fiat Panda 1.1 (another pile of crap? stop it!)

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Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,615 posts

157 months

Saturday 6th February 2016
quotequote all
What you're about to read isn't just another readers cars thread, it's a life lesson.

Picture the scene - bored on a Monday evening, browsing the catalogue of the car auction house I have an account at. This little beauty catches my eye



Tidy, clean looking Fiat Panda 1.1 on an 06/06. It's done some miles at 180k but it looks great. Probably worth a look.

Log in to the live bidding portal and watch the sale progress. Usual stuff selling above CAP clean and leaving you wonder where the profit can possibly be.

Here it comes. Lot 77. This little Panda. I stick a low bid in assuming I won't be successful. SOLD - you placed the winning bid

fk. What's wrong with it? Why did nobody else touch it? Oh well, it's not a lot of money.

Couple of days later I find myself at the auction house, trade plates in hand, paying my dues. V5, service book and (single) key in hand, I start the walk of shame to the very back of the compound where it sits in all its glory.

It's a bit dirty outside but nothing a quick bucket of water won't sort. Inside is a different story, looks like it's been used to haul bales of hay / bags of manure around. My heart sinks.

What have I done? Who the fk buys a car without even seeing it based on a couple of shiny photos obviously taken months ago?

Moment of truth - I turn the key. Engine splutters for a bit and then eventually roars into life....... then keeps roaring. Every few seconds at idle it revs itself to 2000+ rpm and then dies down again, making it sound like im just woefully impatient as I wait for the barrier to go up at the auction compound.

Drives OK once it's moving I suppose but it's running on fumes and looks like it's getting a bit hot. Better stop for fuel, cigarettes and some Evian.

Refuelled and it starts with a splutter again, moved it to the car park to let it cool a bit so I can top up the water. Topped it up spilling about a litre for every 500ml I managed to pour into the radiator because I don't have a funnel

Time to chance the 58 mile journey home...... Or not. It won't start. Turns over and over. Splutters a bit like before. No start.

Couple of helpful blokes help me push it - and still nothing. Time for recovery. Thank God for Autoaid.

So that's Lot 77.

That life lesson? DONT BUY UNSEEN CARS AT AUCTION! Bet the bidders in the room thought I was a fking mug.

More to come once I'm able to face it again

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Saturday 6th February 2016
quotequote all
Toaster Pilot said:
What you're about to read isn't just another readers cars thread, it's a life lesson.

More to come once I'm able to face it again
<chuckle>
Go on, how much...?

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,615 posts

157 months

Saturday 6th February 2016
quotequote all
Hammer went down at £150 so it owes me just over £200.

Not the biggest error anyone's ever made but it's the first time I've been left stranded so quickly!!

Golgarth

380 posts

197 months

Saturday 6th February 2016
quotequote all
sorry, 180k in a Panda!?!?! That should be the new sentence for murder!

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,615 posts

157 months

Saturday 6th February 2016
quotequote all
Golgarth said:
sorry, 180k in a Panda!?!?! That should be the new sentence for murder!
hehe

One owner from new too

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Saturday 6th February 2016
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...and an MOT history that just screams of love and affection...

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,615 posts

157 months

Saturday 6th February 2016
quotequote all
TooMany2cvs said:
...and an MOT history that just screams of love and affection...
hehe yeah.

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 6th February 2016
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TooMany2cvs said:
...and an MOT history that just screams of love and affection...
Wow, that's about the worst I've ever seen!
"Oil filter badly corroded and leaking" is... Um..... Different? wink

I salute you OP, if you're going to share a cautionary tale then do it properly. And you did, oh yes. biggrin

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,615 posts

157 months

Saturday 6th February 2016
quotequote all
The sudden increase in annual mileage must be the main reason for it being neglected - I'm assuming the owner changed job and couldn't afford an appropriate car

As long as it's not too terminally fked I'm planning on sorting it out properly and keeping it

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Sunday 7th February 2016
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charltjr said:
Wow, that's about the worst I've ever seen!
"Oil filter badly corroded and leaking" is... Um..... Different? wink
The one that made me chuckle was the broken bonnet release. Then, a year and 20k later, missing bonnet release.

Buff Mchugelarge

3,316 posts

149 months

Sunday 7th February 2016
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Nicely done OP laugh

A service and a valet should see it good, it's hardly an overly advanced engine?!

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,615 posts

157 months

Sunday 7th February 2016
quotequote all
TooMany2cvs said:
The one that made me chuckle was the broken bonnet release. Then, a year and 20k later, missing bonnet release.
It's still broken too - the plastic handle at the end of the cable is what it refers to, cable/mechanism works fine

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,615 posts

157 months

Sunday 7th February 2016
quotequote all
Buff Mchugelarge said:
Nicely done OP laugh

A service and a valet should see it good, it's hardly an overly advanced engine?!
Not sure a service will sort the starting / running problems but I like your optimism biggrin


Hub

6,413 posts

197 months

Sunday 7th February 2016
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Pics of the interior?

Not an enormous loss I suppose if it is only good for scrap!

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Sunday 7th February 2016
quotequote all
Toaster Pilot said:
TooMany2cvs said:
The one that made me chuckle was the broken bonnet release. Then, a year and 20k later, missing bonnet release.
It's still broken too - the plastic handle at the end of the cable is what it refers to, cable/mechanism works fine
3.5 yrs and 55k miles later...

eltax91

9,842 posts

205 months

Sunday 7th February 2016
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You don't half love a shed toastie! This one going back through the auction soon?

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,615 posts

157 months

Sunday 7th February 2016
quotequote all
eltax91 said:
You don't half love a shed toastie! This one going back through the auction soon?
If the breakdown guy had managed to get it started I think it'd have gone straight into that night's sale laugh

I'm going to try and put it right and use it - not sure how that's going to turn out

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Sunday 7th February 2016
quotequote all
Toaster Pilot said:
If the breakdown guy had managed to get it started I think it'd have gone straight into that night's sale laugh

I'm going to try and put it right and use it - not sure how that's going to turn out
It's too broken to sell, so you'll use it.

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,615 posts

157 months

Sunday 7th February 2016
quotequote all
Had a dig around this today. Turns out it must've been sold in an earlier auction and put straight back in - the V5 is filled out with a new keeper's details hehe

Still no start and it won't bump start either - rolled it down a steep hill to get it into my workshop and nothing.

Here's the interior in it's minging glory:



Don't think it's seen a service for a long time



First steps are to clean up all of the chassis grounds, change the HT leads and plugs (the leads disintegrated when pulling the plugs) and change that gopping air filter.

poing

8,743 posts

199 months

Sunday 7th February 2016
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That interior is scary! Has it mostly lived under the sea or to transport dead farm animals? I'd be hitting that with lots of chemicals, lots of steam and maybe fire.

You could make money on this for charity, challenge people to a sponsored sit in the car. Similar to sponsored silence but with the added bonus of inventing a new disease that medical science hasn't yet discovered.