Another Saturday morning bid – not far off one year since I bought that red 2016 Panda Pop. Surprisingly, my bid on this 2015 Panda was less than its sibling although incredibly, the total cost was more because of Synetiq’s ever increasing charging policy. They only give three days free storage now with fifteen pounds charged daily thereafter.
Delivery cost has increased as well so here it came but it would crank with no start. Fearing the worst, I thought I’d bought a lemon but if you buy one you need to make lemonade, a phrase from Rob at Auto Salvage UK. Immobiliser issue, then ? – “definitely an immobiliser issue!”, as my neighbour exclaimed. I was distracted by an exposed fuse box with missing 30A relay but the crux of the problem was that there was no ignition barrel, the keyfob could be recognised by pressing against the transponder ring that usually surrounds the barrel. Ours dangled redundantly by its wire – took me one week to figure that out courtesy of one YouTube clip.
I spent £110 on a replacement quarter glass, ignition barrel, sunvisor, fuse box cover and 30A relay. I have to contact someone to program the ignition key to synch with the immobiliser. I need to source daytime running lights and a parcel shelf as well but IT STARTS !
Words and last five photos are copyright of Sotiris Vassiliou
Remaining photos have been cropped but are copyright of Synetiq Ltd.
September 2024
