I'm going to do some driving from Milazzo and I see these cars are my options for the 3 of us. Do you have any experience on this models? I've driving the marks at some point in my life, never these models. I see that I also have the Peugeot 308 as option. Thoughts?

There is no guarantee that you will get the model of car you reserve - if you look at the web sites they all say "or similar". So you could get anything in those size ranges.

IMHO both are two small for 3 people and luggage - we always rent a mid size peppy automatic for 2 people - but we are both tall with long legs - and like driving fast cars fast. Not having to put the peddle to the floor to get up a hill.

Very small unless you are tiny people with tiny bags.

And be careful - often the least expensive rates are for manual transmission so if that is an issue, be aware! They are usually the biggest quantity of vehicles as well.

I have a Fiat Panda 4-wheel drive vehicle. It seats five, but one of them should be very small. There wouldn't be room for large suitcases (well, maybe one). We use my Panda when we go to our summer house in the mountains, because it's great on unpaved mountain roads. I like the car quite a lot, but I have to admit it's a bit on the small side.

I've rented Ford Fiestas on other vacations, and, if I remember correctly, they're a good deal larger, and certainly less utilitarian.

Thanks, my son is 5'11, daughter and I 5'3

You don't get to choose. You select a categorie of car, based on size, and get whatever's on the lot that day.

I don't think the Peugeot 308 is in the same category as the Panda. Nor is the Fiesta. Peugeot and Fiesta 4 doors are usually in the Economy category (sometimes Compact) whereas the Panda is in the Mini category.
Panda is definitely too small for 3 people with luggage.

My Panda has four doors, and seats five, although the middle seat in the back would be a bit cozy for an adult. It would easily seat three, and, as for the luggage, that depends.

I just looked up the dimensions of all three; these are length, width, height (cm); trunk volume (litres).

Panda: 365x164x155 222
Fiesta: 397x171x150 290
308: 425x180x146 420

There wouldn't really be a noticeable difference in the interior dimensions between the Panda and the Fiesta, but the Peugeot 308 is in a different class, as the OP said.

The Panda is a small utility vehicle; as you can see, it's the tallest of the three. Mine is a 4x4. It's my second Panda.

@bvlenci
Your 4 door Panda is not what is offered at car rental companies in Italy. It's the Mini category with the 2 door version, see image.
http://www.globalmediaserver.com/ima...IT&sipp=MCMRFF

MyriamC - you are incorrect. Some offer the 2 door version and some offer the 4 door version.

pookymini - the Panda is perfect for three unless you are huge and have an excessive amount of luggage.

I am 6'4 and have both driven my daughter's Panda and sat in the back quite comfortably.

I've had four people ride quite comfortably in my Panda. There's plenty of headroom. However, if each of the three people has a large suitcase, it might be a problem. Two medium suitcases will go in the back, as well as a few small bags, and you could put one suitcase on the extra seat in the back. However, I once picked up someone at the airport who had such a big suitcase that I had to remove the "hat holder(?)" that covers the space in the back.

I had one Panda for several years. Quite ok, but as siad luggage + people is not possible. I drove a Fiesta from time to time and didn't like it at all, I would choose a 306.

In the Panda you can fold down half or both back seats thereby increasing luggage space.

Folding down half should provide you with more than sufficient unless you have excessive luggage. But I presume you would not be travelling every day with luggage in the car.

Also the smaller the car the better it is to manoeuvre in many of the small towns you may be visiting.

it really depends on the type of driving you are going to do, the smaller the better in many towns, for the motorways you want more space. In Italy I tend to go smaller and take less luggage.

marks...marques perhaps?

>>Folding down half should provide you with more than sufficient unless you have excessive luggage.<<

But that would mean all the luggage would be visible from outside -- not a good idea,

janisj - this is true wherever you are.

You move from hotel to hotel, deposit your bags and then visit the sites.

Is this so complicated?

Folding down the back seats in the Panda would leave you room for only two people. In some cars, you can fold down one back seat only, but for both of the Pandas I've owned, the two back seats were attached and couldn't be folded singly. Maybe there are other models where the seats can be folded singly.

bvlenci - look at the second image http://www.fiat.it/panda/gallery