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General Fiat 500 Tailgate (rear door) not closing properly.

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General Fiat 500 Tailgate (rear door) not closing properly.

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DougLyon

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Jun 28, 2011
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Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has had a problem with the rear door of their Fiat 500 Lounge Twin Air?

We have had the car since March and done less than 2000 miles. We've noticed on a number of occasions that the rear door does not close properly. You close it, then get in and drive off and then a light on the dashboard indicates that a door is open. You stop, get out and close it, quite inconvenient.

Unfortunately for us, this happened again last week, where the rear door did not lock properly and we drove over a speed bump and under a height restrictor. You can guess what happened next!

The door sprung open and smashed into the height restrictor, smashing the glass and damaging the rear windscreen wiper - Approx £440 of damage.

Initially The Fiat dealer service department said they would fix it under a warranty claim but now Fiat have said no, they 'don't believe it happened that way' insinuating we are lying and that we must have reversed into something!

Has anyone else had a problem the rear door not closing properly?

Thanks

Doug
 
DougLyon said:
Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has had a problem with the rear door of their Fiat 500 Lounge Twin Air?

We have had the car since March and done less than 2000 miles. We've noticed on a number of occasions that the rear door does not close properly. You close it, then get in and drive off and then a light on the dashboard indicates that a door is open. You stop, get out and close it, quite inconvenient.

Unfortunately for us, this happened again last week, where the rear door did not lock properly and we drove over a speed bump and under a height restrictor. You can guess what happened next!

The door sprung open and smashed into the height restrictor, smashing the glass and damaging the rear windscreen wiper - Approx £440 of damage.

Initially The Fiat dealer service department said they would fix it under a warranty claim but now Fiat have said no, they 'don't believe it happened that way' insinuating we are lying and that we must have reversed into something!

Has anyone else had a problem the rear door not closing properly?

Thanks

Doug
Click to expand...
Which handle are you closing it with?
 
Two reasons spring to mind: either (i) it was not adjusted right or (ii) by mistake you were touching the micro-switch controlled handle as you closed it, and opened it again.

Either way, if you had the warning to say it was open and chose to drive on I am not surprised that the dealer thinks this one is down to you - bad luck all the same.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the responses. To be honest not really sure how we close it. I sort of recall just pushing it shut, not closing it by holding the handle, though it is possible we have done it that way too.

By the micro switch, do you mean on the key fob?

So it seems we have not locked it properly and there is no fault?
 
DougLyon said:
Thanks for the responses. To be honest not really sure how we close it. I sort of recall just pushing it shut, not closing it by holding the handle, though it is possible we have done it that way too.

By the micro switch, do you mean on the key fob?

So it seems we have not locked it properly and there is no fault?
Click to expand...
Possibly. There is a switch on the underside of the handle and if you push it closed while squeezing the switch then you don't close the car.
 
306maxi said:
Possibly. There is a switch on the underside of the handle and if you push it closed while squeezing the switch then you don't close the car.
Click to expand...

On the inside of the boot that is a little strap. You can put your finger in this (that's all that will fit) and pull your arm down the boot shuts perfectly. It was designed so that you wouldn't get your hands dirty (handy if you have the white ambiance) when you were closing the boot.
 
Thats really unfortunate, will the insurance glass excess not cover most of the damage.

Unfortunately, I think your only chance of the dealer accepting liability would be if the boot catch was faulty and suddenly opened. Even if it was the case that it was not adjusted correctly, as one of the previous posters has suggested, they are still going to wriggle out of it by saying that you shouldn't drive off if the door open warning light was on?

We shut ours using the little fabric strap on the bottom RH side of the tailgate (inside).
 
Very unlucky, I've had three 500s and all of the tailgates (albeit with rear spoilers) would only rattle on the catch if left open. They were far to heavy to lift up by themeselves. That speed bump must have been hit at a fair speed.
 
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