Fiat Panda Hatchback: Cheap and fun to drive

Price: £8,945 - £12,645

Pros: Fun to drive, well designed interior and cheap to buy

Cons: Interior feels basic on entry level models, limited rear legroom, and engines lack power on motorways

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4/5 Carbuyer "The Fiat Panda is good fun to drive thanks to steering that has been sharpened up and suspension that does a good job of resisting body lean in the corners. The Fiat is priced competitively but there should still be room to negotiate a discount with a dealer. Panda's hold their value quite well and, in a recent survey, Fiat was found to have stronger second-hand values than manufacturers such as Jaguar and Volvo.”

3/5 What Car? “The Fiat Panda is an endearing and funky-looking little car that won’t cost you much to run. Ultimately, its small size counts against it, because it’s short of rear legroom. It’s also pricey to buy and basic versions don’t have much equipment.”

4/5 Parkers "As a city car, the compact Panda is fairly good to drive thanks to its light steering and controls. However, the Ford Ka and Volkswagen up! are both more entertaining and handle corners with greater agility and enthusiasm than the Fiat, though the Panda exhibits very little body roll in bends.”

4/5 AutoExpress “Despite being the oldest car here, the distinctive Panda still stands out from the crowd. With its upright stance, bold details and eye-catching mix of straight lines and curves, it attracts more attention than its conservatively styled rivals. The Fiat Panda only scored four out of a possible five stars in the Euro NCAP crash test rating – that’s simply not good enough in a class where most newcomers are achieving the full five-star rating.”