Hello I have just purchased a 70 plate Fiat 500 Rockstar, it has the auto climate control button, whenever I turn it on, it always turns on the air condition button so they both have a orange light. If i try to turn off the Air Con button then the Auto button goes off too. Also it doesn't matter what temperature it is on the Air Con button always comes on when the Auto button is turned on.
Is this normal? Does anyone else have this issue?
This is normal on all cars.
Any car with automatic climate control needs to have the aircon on to be able to manage the internal car temperature properly. If for example it was 25 degrees C outside and you set it to Auto, but turned off the aircon but selected 20'C on the display, then the car could not bring the temperature down.
So as soon as you turn the Aircon off you are switching off the system's ability to manage the temperature.
Now... What is always recommended is that you leave the AC on at all times with climate controlled cars, even in the winter, this will help keep the inside of the car dry, it will help demist the windows way quicker than if you just put heat on the windscreen and it will keep the AC system healthy.
If you do not use the AC system then the seals that keep the gas in, dry out, crack and the gas leaks out, causing the system to stop working and can result in some expensive repair bills.
The Impact on fuel economy is minimal, barely noticeable on modern cars, the AC will be cycled on and off as needed by the Climate control system.
