Pashley26

The blocks are so that you can make a quick exit from the timing gate by not having to hold the car on the clutch/handbrake.

Don't worry, they've fired him. You'll notice they've also stopped sponsoring Football and are reducing 5 year 0% offers to stop attracting scumbags. His words not mine...

Because they don't make any of the car's you just mentioned any more in the same way they did when they started. They're all massive now. The Panda is the same weight, the same size and almost the same price. Jimny isn't made any more for the UK market and can't be sold here because it doesn't have ESP and tire pressure monitoring. Vitara is the size of a house and 10K more and only 2WD. Rav 4 is massive and 10K more. £26,000 for a base spec Rav 4 AWD http://www.toyota.co.uk/new-cars/rav4-specs-prices New Mini is £20,000 base price and is the same size as a 500L. By the time you add climate, bluetooth, all the things the £16,000 Panda has as standard it's 25K+. http://www.mini.co.uk/model-range/countryman/mini-cooper-all4/ Mokka is as big as a Discovery used to be, because to get it 4WD you need an Antara rather than a Mokka at 23.5K+. http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vehicles/vauxhall-range/cars/antara/overview.html?ppc=uk_Vauxhall+Range_Mid+Funnel_PPC_AWA_2012_08_Vauxhall_GB_4x4+%5BB%5D_4x4_Broad The SX4 is a Fiat Sedici 4x4 underneath It's £16,000 and built on a 12 year old car. They're absolute shit. Go drive one, try not to hang yourself to save you from it mid-testdrive. The Yeti is much larger and more expensive than the Panda and it's the only real rival. Almost certain it isn't available as a 4x4 anymore. http://www.skoda.co.uk/models/yeti-outdoor/overview/Pages/default.aspx?gclid=CKS-hY2GmcICFbMatAod40YAOw Don't forget if you didn't want the all out off road Panda like the Cross with the adaptive suspension, steel skid plates, hill decent, raised intakes et etc etc you could have a normal 4x4 for £14,000...

I always like the Panda 100hp and the older Fiat's of the 70's and early 80's. But I never really cared about the newer cars. Started working for Fiat, and immediately I just seemed to fit in. My obsessive nature had me learning absolutely everything about the options, the codes, the engine spec's etc of the ranges, and the individuality of the cars that you can create really sits well with my personality. As a brand they're really looking after me, I've been to Sweden on holiday all expenses paid for a week, I've been to Munich on an all inclusive holiday for a week, I've been to Italy twice for about three days for launches and training, I'm going to Amalfi in Feb' as another incentive reward. And my company have kind of just gone 'umm, just let him do his thing because I don't think we can get anybody to do it better.' so I've become totally self managed, in charge of the entire brand, the stock ordering etc etc and now I've got a guy working for me to help hit the number, which isn't blowing my own trumpet at all, because I'm not a good car salesman/manager who could just walk into any dealership and set the place alight. But for what's happening right now, and pushing forward a brand that's shaking off a decade long stigma it's all fallen into place. I also enjoy that they're a happy brand. Nobody buys most of the Fiat range because it's cheap (because they aren't!), they buy one because they want one. So as long as you do your job properly and look after the customer everybody is really excited about the product, and they're quite an aspirational brand so people generally want to own them. - Ref PCP and being charged at the end, that's because of one of two things. They've either been mis-sold by a bad salesman and have gone way over their mileage. Or they've been negligent and damaged the car. One of the clauses of a PCP agreement is something called GMFV, which means Guaranteed Minimum Future Value. That is an agreement between the finance company, and the purchaser which says that at the end of the agreement the minimum value that the finance company will give for the car is that final payment. Giving you the option to give the car back at no cost to you. Assuming; the car is in a state of fair wear and tear. Assuming; the car is within the agreed pro-rata mileage limitations which the customer would have set out. I know a lot about this, because Fiat have the highest customer retention and finance renewal rate of any manufacturer in the world. (53% renewal in 3 years). They also have a product range which devalues equally to a bucket of warm shit. So where we have things like recently the Bravo being discontinued, it means that the trade in values of Bravo's are waaaaaay below the GMFV because of the crash in the market because you can't buy them any more. So I've currently got about 10 customers on the go who owe £4500 on cars that are worth £2500. But the finance company have guaranteed to give them £4500 at the end of the agreement, so they have been protected from a financial loss. So it works both ways, it's a protection as well as a possibility to cost you more. You have to ask yourself, how much less would your friends cars be worth if they were trying to sell them privately with scuffs on the bumpers, dents in the door, incomplete service history or 10,000 miles more than they actually had? Or if you just mean that they've had to put in loads of money to get the same monthly payment, that's their own fault and partially the fault of the salesman. Every customer that I do a PCP quote for I beg them to take it with a higher monthly payment and a 10% deposit if they want to put in something mad like a 40% deposit. If you put in a £4000 deposit a the start, you've got to get £4000 of equity at the end to keep the same payment. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that a £12,000 car won't be worth £8500 in three years time.

You're mistaking 'my car' to mean 'a normal non stripped out ear explodingly loud car' for 99% of that. Apart from a drive up to Wales and being able to piss myself whilst I'm in it and then just anti-bac the seats clean it really isn't any better than a 5 door Ford Fiesta. Unless you buy into the styling and 'what it is', which I do. But I'm a Fiat Salesboss, I'm going to like it. That's why I work for Fiat, because I like them.

Does this work? Ultimate Gym Remix

All the video's I posted are on the standard tires, which are Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons. Which are a hugely popular tire and very well reviewed. Maybe we don't 'get it' because we're British, but if you've ever been to the Alps, or any continental mountainous range for that matter you'll know that 4x4 Panda's are all the rage and are by far and away the most popular mode of four wheel transport. If we're going to have a discussion about the Panda Cross it's very difficult for me to argue it, because I read the things you say and they just annoy me because you guys can't see from my point of view. I know why you can't see what I see in it, because it isn't fast, it doesn't go round corners very well, it's looks are ugly if a bit charming, it isn't a big manly 4x4, it costs £17,000 if you actually want to buy one, it doesn't really do anything that anybody on here would appreciate. So have a read of some reviews, and see what you think. If anybody is generally interested. http://www.greenmotor.co.uk/2014/10/fiat-panda-cross-twinair-review.html The above website is known nationally for giving tremendously bad reviews and upsetting manufacturers. And the previous Panda cross has an incredibly well established fan base and is a firm favourite for people who want a refined, cheap car which is capable off road and don't want a tractor like and antiquated Suzuki or Landrover. I didn't expect the TF crowd to really get the Cross, and I was totally expecting some stick for the way it looks. But I was hoping at least a couple of people would look at it and realise it really is a car in a class of it's own, that it created on it's own. So to put yourselves in my scenario... I've got an S3, which is stripped out with buckets in it, has cruise control, returns a half decent MPG on a run but is a pain in the arse around town, I'm frightened to take it down country lanes, my family refuse to go out in it, and I've really focused it for something I'm going to do 4/5 times a year. Track days. Because it has cruise it is absolutely perfect when I think, f**k it I'm going to see my mates in Plymouth and blat down the '303 for the weekend, it's really good to drive on the road. But expensive. 25mpg is a reasonable average, which compared to a 110bhp MX5 is pretty good for what you get My girlfriend is a multimillionaire who's parents hate me and detest my chav-tastic car and laddish lifestyle, I'm incredibly keen for things to go well with her because she's been on the radar for a long time. So having a two seater 120Db track car as my only form of transport is going to put a large restraint on our lifestyle and make them think that I'm irresponsible and uninterested in family matters. And I can't expect to use her car for everything. She also wants to move down to the sea but know's that I won't leave my job because I earn a f**k load of money with very little effort. She drives a new convertible Beetle, which also isn't very practical. So 90% of the things she hates about my car, are equal in impracticality and gayness for her car. It does have SEX in the number plate though. Her parents own a house in incredibly north Wales, which has a 1 mile stone and mud private road going to it, Panda Cross will be perfect for that and will make cheap weekends away possible. While the door is open, we haven't been there because none of our cars will make the 1 mile driveway and we don't want to be walking that every day and parking our car on the public road a mile away. We both like to cycle and walk a lot. Panda Cross will take all of our bikes and equipment, apparel for walking etc etc etc and has incredibly tough mud and waterproof seat covers so we don't need to worry about trashing it. I run a lot. And on my morning run I drive out 3 miles into the country and do a nice loop through the forest and fields. Waking my neighbour up at 6AM every morning starting up 'rolling thunder' as he calls it is less than ideal. Panda Cross is unnoticeable and will allow me to quite happily park it in a muddy grass field and not worry about getting stuck. I finish work at 9PM+ a few days a week, not having a noisy, flame spitting car pulling onto the drive every other night will make the neighbour happy. The same when I go to and from the gym on the other nights I'm not working late... Panda Cross is a 1.3 diesel, it does 55MPG+ easily. Compared to the 25MPG I would get from the S3 driving it approx 80 miles a day to work and back if we move to the sea. (I've already done that for 4 months in the S3, it was financially crippling.) Double the MPG means half the costs, and it means that we can move to where we really want to. The S3 being driven daily causes extra wear and tear on the car, because the brakes are always in an abrasive state, the clutch is getting used lots in stop start traffic etc etc. The Panda Cross doesn't need any maintenance, ever. Because I'll put it on my used car forecourt in 6 months and buy another one for me to run as a company car. Panda Cross has 4 doors and IsoFix seat points. So I can take my niece out again and get my family in the back. Great. My dad lives in the middle of nowhere. Panda Cross will be fantastic this winter when it floods (it always does) and I can still get to see him. And it costs me £38 a month. Thirty. Eight. Pounds. A month. Why wouldn't I drive that incredibly lifestyle friendly and practical car instead of my S3? It'll save me hundreds a month. And on top of that, I really do buy into the lifestyle and go anywhere ability of it. Hell, I'd actually buy one if I didn't have the S3. I think it's great. Hopefully that explains why I'm excited about the Panda Cross, because it's going to enhance my lifestyle massively and take every single piece of annoyance that owning the S3 causes to my life and turn it round the other way. And I know that those lifestyle enhancements that I'm going to get from having an impractical car that I make the most of will also appeal to other customers and people who are interested in the car. And I like the quirky looks.

Yeah you would want to add fuel into those costs too. But off the bat it's clear to see that it is cheaper to buy three cars in 9 years than it is tk buy one car and keep it for 9 years. It doesn't have to be the prices I'm branding about, I can sell a Fiat 500 for £109 a month with a £500 deposit. Over 36 months that's only £4424, for a brand new car, no maintenance, nothing other than fuel, insurance and a £200 service in two years. Compare that to the cost of your MX5 Mike; the money you spend on maintaining it, the higher insurance and the fuel saving from a new car. It would be cheaper for you to buy and run a brand new car than it would be to buy and run your £1000 MX5. I know you don't "want" a brand new Fiat 500, but it's easy to see why people would do it. If you aren't into cars and have an older car it's a no brainer.

The main thing with financing a car is that it makes sense as an alternative to buying a car and keeping it for 10 years. Lots of cash customers will come in, buy a £15,000 car and keep it for 6/7 years until it is worth £1500 and then they sell it on and buy another. So that's £13,500 spent in 6/7 years. Add an average car has a running cost of 21.14 pence per mile. If you change cars every two or three years you always have a car in warranty and it never needs maintenance because it's all so new it doesn't have excessive wear. After year 3 you then have £2100 a year as an average "running cost" of a £13-18,000 car. (Those statistics are from the AA Motoring Running Costs survey 2013/2014). With that in mind you could have three new cars over 9 years at a cost of £21,600. Or you could have one £15,000 car for 9 years and pay £27,600 (ish, according to the AA results at 10,000 miles per annum after the three year warranty expires). Obviously there are variables there, and the figures are vague. But does that make a bit of sense from why you would buy one of these deals?

No it isn't. And petrol heads and people who are into cars cannot comprehend it. I didn't, for years. But you have to put yourself into a customers shoes, and you have to put yourself into a consumers position where you WANT a new car. Which isn't easy to do. I'll explain it all later when I have a keyboard, I cba to write it up on my iPhone.

That would be on a 48 month deal, with 10,000 miles per annum. Tax is free, servicing on Fiat's is every 2 years or 21,000 miles so there's no point doing a servicing plan because it's just not cost effective. A diesel Panda Trekking is only £155 a month on the same deal with no deposit. Panda's are so cheap to buy and run, they make a great run around/second car.

Try and find another new 4x4 for that money though. And it is £200 a month, because at the end of the agreement we give you £7000 for the car you owe £6000 on and then you start again.

No, not 'like', they're the same company. http://www.fiat.com/500lbeatsedition Was hoping for a more fitting reply, but yeah I'll be fine.

I really like the Cactus, I think it's quirky. I drove one the other week, and it's typically French barge to drive. But it's kind of cool. Panda Cross is my company car, £38 a month and that's at 40% tax too! I would honestly buy one though, they're under £200 a month with no deposit for the same spec I've got. And there aren't any other 4WD cars with a little Diesel engine, and all the spec this has got for within £100 a month of that. Before the Cross I had a 500L Beats in satin silver. I just like odd cars, I think it's why I had SAAB's for so long.

No you nobber. I was suggesting that it probably isn't worth getting involved in an argument between Rich and I because you probably don't want to also be in the firing line. I said people in glass houses because I am more than aware of the irony. But I know you can't resist a subtle dig

Prawn and I are fans of the spirit level app on an iPhone for suspension setup, seems to work pretty well.

And I specifically remember only a few days ago you saying a similar comment to Rich because he was being a bummer about your car too. As he always does. I said your car looked shit because it was lowered at the front and not at the back, and you'd rushed it. And you knew that you'd rushed it because you were excited to get the front suspension sorted knowing full well that you needed to do the back. In that situation it's a generally well received criticism because you KNOW that we've got a point and you've already anticipated that we're going to question why you've done half a job. Because arguably you've done half a job. What Rich is doing here is being an arsehole literally for the sake of it. And most importantly he's being an arsehole to me, and we all know that's not going to go down well. Maybe you're more tolerant? Maybe I'm too highly strung? But he knows that he's getting on my tits, and that's why he's doing it. I don't mind, I'm sat at work having a coffee and kicking back. I'm not running up and down the walls seething with rage about it. But I'm going to snap back. Because I don't really like him.

Glass houses Muel. I'd stay out of the firing line if I were you.

If we all took cars on face value we would probably make lots of assumptions about your POS as well, but as I know you have never driven one, probably even seen one and haven't got a clue about so much as what shape the steering wheel is in my new run about I'll disregard your standard asswipe opinion that you're so vocal about. How can the person who drove around in a f**king Mondeo because they didn't have a pot to piss in be such a twat? How can the person who spent thousands of man hours putting two engines into a Golf which turned out to be absolute shit and fit for the scrapper be so vocal about their opinion? How can the person who has narrow mindedly been unable to accept anything (apart from a Ford Mondeo) which a normal person would seem nice, (which isn't a Mk2 Golf) as actually being a mode of transport that you could enjoy be such an opinionated tosser to so many people about so many things. Keep your opinions to yourself if you're going to be horrible, because you're hardly a professional motoring journalist. In fact, you're a rather clueless angry person who enjoys winding people up. I don't think I have ever seen you say anything positive to anybody, in the entire history of time. So I won't take huge offence to you saying that your uneducated opinion is more important and thus better than my own opinion. And if you could special order a personality change to suit your move to Australia it would be much appreciated. Ref the sticker if you peel the one off the back of your chariot and send it in the post to me it would be much appreciated. That's assuming it isn't one of the structurally important stickers holding everything together like the bodykit on your silver Mk2.

That's a nice bridge.

Oh you lads, you're so funny.

Don't be a fanny, I'm really excited! It's called Rosso because it's red... I bought a little italian keyring for it and a set of special 'Cross' mats.

I promise you it isn't. I've nearly shit myself trying not to tell everyone about it, I've been that excited.

Absolutely. Cross's come with three electrically operated mechanical diff's (centre front and rear obvs), independent braking on all four wheels which is controlled by the ECM for the traction control and ABS sensors, hill decent control and electronic adjustable damping. Go to 2 mins.