Hello all
I'm new to the Panda forum. I've been on the 500 forum for awhile and have been a long time Fiat and Alfa owner.

I've just traded in my 2015 500S 1.4 for a 2017 Panda Lounge TA. One thing that bothers me is the lack of a boot light.

I'm handy enough to find the boot light wiring as this Panda does show the boot is open on the dashboard. The problem I have is that on the the panel where the OEM light would go there's no cutout for the light.

Does anyone have the part number of the trim/shelf piece with the required cutout.

Alternatively could someone who owns a Panda with the factory fit boot light please let me have their VIN number so I can look up the right part number on EPER?

aparsonson said:

I'm handy enough to find the boot light wiring as this Panda does show the boot is open on the dashboard. The problem I have is that on the the panel where the OEM light would go there's no cutout for the light.

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This may be a very obvious, or very daft, answer (I don’t know which) but can’t you just cut a hole of the right size in the existing panel, rather than buying a new one?

Possibly the part shown as '1' in this link:
https://www.fiatdalys.lt/en/catalog...210975/0/0/0/bag-storage-internal-side-lining

I thought the Lounge spec included a boot light - are you sure its not there? Left hand side of boot, tucked under the parcel shelf support, nearer the hatchback (compared to the 500 where it was rather nearer the back of the back seat)

MuddyPaws said:

This may be a very obvious, or very daft, answer (I don’t know which) but can’t you just cut a hole of the right size in the existing panel, rather than buying a new one?

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I've thought about doing that but I'm a bit reluctant to cut up a new car if I don't need to.

Herts Hillhopper said:

Possibly the part shown as '1' in this link:
https://www.fiatdalys.lt/en/catalog...210975/0/0/0/bag-storage-internal-side-lining

I thought the Lounge spec included a boot light - are you sure its not there? Left hand side of boot, tucked under the parcel shelf support, nearer the hatchback (compared to the 500 where it was rather nearer the back of the back seat)

Click to expand...

It's a South African market car so Lounge spec doesn't include things like a boot light or electric mirrors.

aparsonson said:

It's a South African market car so Lounge spec doesn't include things like a boot light or electric mirrors.

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Ah ha - I'd missed that you were in SA. The VIN for my previous car (2017 4x4 UK spec) is in that link I posted previously. (That car is no more, having been written off by someone driving in to it)
The indication that the boot is not shut comes from a switch built into the tailgate latch, but power to the bootlight is sent via the 'body computer'. It is clever: if you leave the tailgate open for more than 10 minutes, the boot light goes out (to save the battery). So I guess there's a separate feed cable from the computer/fuse box to the back of the car for that. Very likely that cable is in place already - maybe even with the connectors on the end? - as I'd be surprised if they make two different wiring looms.

Herts Hillhopper said:

Ah ha - I'd missed that you were in SA. The VIN for my previous car (2017 4x4 UK spec) is in that link I posted previously. (That car is no more, having been written off by someone driving in to it)

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Thank you much appreciated. I'll check the part number against my own car's VIN and see if they're different.

Can anyone give some pointers on how to remove the rear panel that would house the boot light? There are two obvious crosshead screws but after that it all just seems to be clipped into place? There's a whole lot of bending but it's not coming off.

You are right it is just clipped into place. You just need to pull firmly. Its easy to bend the retaining tangs when refitting so double check they are lined up right before biffing it back into place. I remove mine when fittimng a tow bar. I did not entoirely remove it as the seat belt seems to need to come out too to completely get it out, but you can get easy access to behind it. I suspect you only need to shift the screws to be able to get the boot side carpet out and that will probably give enough access to see / get at the boot wiring if its there.

If you have to get a power source from the battery there is a grommet behind the glove box that allows a wire to pass from the car into the wheel arch for towing wires you just need to puncture it and take the wire through to the battery, this does require the wheel arch liner to be removed but this is only 4 or 5 screws and a 10mm nut to shift. Keep us posted I have a 169 to do and I suspect the job would be similar.

So I can confirm that this works. The wires for the boot light where really easy to find. They're packed in with the wiring to the passenger side tail light (RHD) and all i had to do was plug the light in. The boot light goes on and off when I open and close the boot and it also pops on when I unlock the boot with the remote. I will say however that I was pretty confident it would work because when I opened the boot with the ignition on the 'door open' warning light would come on with a 'boot open' message on the info screen.

The plastic trim is easy to move. One just needs to undo the two screws along the bottom, move the boot lid seal away from the edge of the trim and give it a bit of a tug to get the pop fit fasteners to come off (there's two behind the seat belt anchor)

The next step is to figure out if I want to just cut out a whole in the trim piece for the light or replace it with the proper piece of trim. That decision will all hinge on how much the trim is likely to cost.

I've been down the local dealers and the correct plastic trim piece is only (550ZAR) about 31 odd Pounds so I've ordered one.

So if anyone's interested I've finally finished this little project off. My Panda Lounge that strangely shipped without a boot light but has climate control and the heated windscreen now has a totally OEM boot light installation.

As mentioned previously I ordered the correct trim piece with the boot light cut out in it and fitted today. The process was as follows and keep in mind the bottom seat belt anchor needs to come off to get the plastic trim off which requires the rear seat base to come out too. Part number for the trim with the correct cut out is 735547935

-Loosen the two bolts in the rear footwells holding the seat base in. Once that's done tilt the seat base forward. I moved both front seats all the way forward for easier access.

-Loosen the bolt holding the bottom seat belt anchor down. The anchor is quite weighty so once it's free it won't shoot off.

-Unclip the plastic square surround covering the top seat belt mount. This is quite easy and there's a slit at the bottom that allows you to slide it off the seat belt.

-Remove the plug at the top of the trim panel and loosen the screw inside.

-Remove the two screws below the parcel shelf. These can be accessed from the boot.

-Move the rear door seal and boot seal away from the edges of the trim panel.

-Then all you need to do is give the plastic panel a firm tug and the poppers holding it on should come off (there's four or five of them if memory serves) Don't worry too much about breaking any of the poppers as the new panel ships with it's own set.

-Once you've got the panel off you should find the boot light wire bundled in with the wiring going to the left rear tail light cluster. Mine was pretty obvious.

-Offer up the new panel but before you do, first thread the seat belt and the wire through the relevant holes.

- You can now give the panel a good thump on the areas where the poppers are situated. Make sure you have the panel lined up correctly before you do because there's some locating pins that need to be lined up properly.

-Replace all the screws in the reverse order and fit the boot light to test. If it doesn't light up remember it's meant to time out after 15 minutes so just open and shut the boot again.

-Refit the door and boot seals around the edges of the trim piece.

- Replace the bolt holding down the bottom seat belt anchor and make doubly sure it's properly tight (safety and all...) You can then refit the square plastic trim piece at the top and replace the cosmetic bung above the window.

- Refit the back seat. It's rear edge is just held down by the seat backs so slide it all the way back and refit the two screws in the foot well.

- Take a step back and marvel at your handiwork.

##NOTE## Removing and refitting the bottom seat belt anchor is a safety critical job and shouldn't be attempted if you don't feel capable. Also note I cannot be held responsible if either the seat belt or rear seat base fail due to incorrect refitting.