I have just noticed that the passenger side window on my wife's 500 doesn't auto-shut - the driver's side one does. I assumed that it would need resetting somehow as I had this problem on a Ford Mondeo before but I cannot find any reference in the manual to this. I did a search on here and found nothing specific to the 500, does anyone here know the procedure?

It just doesn't, not much more I can add really. Seen the same thing on a number of small cars I've owned in the past.

Oh! Thanks for that, strange that it doesn't mention that in the manual... Also strange that Fiat should introduce unnecessary changes between left and right hand drive vehicles.

trphil said:

Also strange that Fiat should introduce unnecessary changes between left and right hand drive vehicles.

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Tell me about it... *Glares pointedly at his boost gauge*

My bosses Maserati Quattroporte's rear windows are the same Made me chuckle when I was driving it (when I say driving, I mean move it from one end of the car park to another )

I have been thinking about this, it is unlikely that the switch is different (expensive to have four different window switches when two will do), it is also likely that the motor for the window is identical, furthermore I would also expect the wiring loom to be the same... I think I'll have a little look later and see whether it's just a matter of a disconnected wire. Of course it's probably actually a sofware issue rather than hardware...

Its the same on the Panda, cheap cars built to a very tight cost. Same scenario with the boot light !

Its the same on Panda as well, but not bigger things like my Stilo.

Thats Fiat for you

trphil said:

I have just noticed that the passenger side window on my wife's 500 doesn't auto-shut - the driver's side one does. I assumed that it would need resetting somehow as I had this problem on a Ford Mondeo before but I cannot find any reference in the manual to this. I did a search on here and found nothing specific to the 500, does anyone here know the procedure?

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This is standard on most if not all cars I've been in. The drivers side is always like this because the driver doesn't want to be holding the switch down which is not a problem for passengers, it's also a safety thing as children can get arms, fingers etc etc stuck in auto windows. It's exactly the same on my 406 and the wifes Legacy. It's just the way things are.

306maxi said:

This is standard on most if not all cars I've been in. The drivers side is always like this because the driver doesn't want to be holding the switch down which is not a problem for passengers, it's also a safety thing as children can get arms, fingers etc etc stuck in auto windows. It's exactly the same on my 406 and the wifes Legacy. It's just the way things are.

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I always thought it was a safety thing too, especially after the hoo hah about the throttled child a few years back... I believe that was a Tipo...

It might be "just the way things are" with small Fiats, although logic dictates that it would be easy to resolve on the 500 simply by fitting the appropriate part(s) from the driver's side of a LHD vehicle. If it is "just" a software issue then obviously that is not going to be possible.

However most of the cars I have owned have had one-touch on all electric windows: 1990 Vauxhall Cavalier (front only), 1990 Vauxhall Astra (front only), 1993 Cavalier (front only), 1995 Cavalier (all), 2002 Ford Mondeo (all), 2002 Vauxhall Zafira (front only) and 2007 Ford S-Max (all).

I had a 1997 Peugeot 406 where only the driver's window was one-touch and the switch was obviously different (clearly marked with an "A"), I also had a 1999 Peugeot 306 for a short while which I think had one-touch on both sides but I can't remember for sure!

I hear what people are saying with regard to cost but I don't think this particular issue is to do with cost at all, I think it's probably some misguided "safety feature". With regard to the boot light, the wiring is almost certainly there with just the lamp and switch missing as there would probably be more cost involved in varying the loom although there is obviously a saving by not fitting the lamp unit.

trphil said:

It might be "just the way things are" with small Fiats, although logic dictates that it would be easy to resolve on the 500 simply by fitting the appropriate part(s) from the driver's side of a LHD vehicle. If it is "just" a software issue then obviously that is not going to be possible.

However most of the cars I have owned have had one-touch on all electric windows: 1990 Vauxhall Cavalier (front only), 1990 Vauxhall Astra (front only), 1993 Cavalier (front only), 1995 Cavalier (all), 2002 Ford Mondeo (all), 2002 Vauxhall Zafira (front only) and 2007 Ford S-Max (all).

I had a 1997 Peugeot 406 where only the driver's window was one-touch and the switch was obviously different (clearly marked with an "A"), I also had a 1999 Peugeot 306 for a short while which I think had one-touch on both sides but I can't remember for sure!

I hear what people are saying with regard to cost but I don't think this particular issue is to do with cost at all, I think it's probably some misguided "safety feature". With regard to the boot light, the wiring is almost certainly there with just the lamp itself missing as there would probably be more cost involved in varying the loom although there is obviously a saving by not fitting the lamp unit.

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I don't mean to be rude but you seem to be making an awful lot of noise about something very minor. It is the way it is and it's there for reasons of safety. It's NEVER a good idea to modify anything safety related on a car, period.

306maxi said:

I don't mean to be rude but you seem to be making an awful lot of noise about something very minor. It is the way it is and it's there for reasons of safety. It's NEVER a good idea to modify anything safety related on a car, period.

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I'm not making a fuss, it just seems a strange omission (to me) and if it is easily "fixed" I would rather fix it than leave it!

With regard to changing safety related items, broadly speaking I agree with you although it depends upon the the particular part involved. There is no logical reason why one touch windows are safe on the driver's side but not on the passenger side, indeed there is no reason why they should be safe on a Stilo but not on a 500. I have changed the front brakes on my Triumph TR7 as I didn't particularly like the fact that you could only brake hard 3 times before getting brake fade due to overheating...

trphil said:

I'm not making a fuss, it just seems a strange omission (to me) and if it is easily "fixed" I would rather fix it than leave it!

With regard to changing safety related items, broadly speaking I agree with you although it depends upon the the particular part involved. There is no logical reason why one touch windows are safe on the driver's side but not on the passenger side, indeed there is no reason why they should be safe on a Stilo but not on a 500. I have changed the front brakes on my Triumph TR7 as I didn't particularly like the fact that you could only brake hard 3 times before getting brake fade due to overheating...

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No logical reason why it's safe on one side and not on the other? How many toddlers do you know who travel in the drivers seat with mummy and daddy and are possibly going to get fingers and arms caught in the window?

I personally wouldn't carry a toddler in the front of the car at all except where there is no back seat, however I would hazard a guess that someone who is happy to carry a small child in the front of their 500 would also be happy to carry said child in the front of their Stilo. One touch electric windows cut out when they hit something anyway.

The thing that bugs me is the fact that it is one-touch down but NOT up, if it were not one-touch at all (like the Peugeot 406 was) then that would at least be consistent.

Anyway, I'll leave this thread now - we'll just have to agree to disagree.

I'll post back if I manage to "fix" this issue cheaply/easily/safely.

the boot light is a easy fix just by a boot light and plug it in the switch is the tailgate catch i put one in my sport and it works fine the light cost's around £12

My previous Vauxhalls (Senator and Omega) have had one-touch for both front windows. There was a safety feature incorporated into the system though, where the window would wind back down if something got in the way as it closed. I guess that must be the bit that makes one-touch windows too expensive for both sides of the 500.

our multipla only has auto open/close on the drivers side.

Use the aircon, then you don't need to open the windows