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Wind down windows vs electric windows (in cars)

mrsir2009

mrsir2009

macrumors 604
Original poster
Sep 17, 2009
7,505
156
Melbourne, Australia
Every car made in the last ten years or so has electric windows now. My mum's old commodore wagon (budget as) had windy down windows, and I prefer them over electric. The main reason is that you can wind down/up the windows when the car in turned off! In most cars these days you need to turn the key round two notches to be able to use the electric windows ... Plus I had a bad expeience when I was a kid getting my fingers jammed in the electric windows of my dad's beamer (not to mention that that window never worked again)

So, is it just me or does anyone else prefer the old hand cranked windows?
 
I'm pretty sure my '10 Ranger has windup windows... I do prefer them over the other kinds. It always fun making them go up and down. :D
 
mrsir2009 said:
Every car made in the last ten years or so has electric windows now. My mum's old commodore wagon (budget as) had windy down windows, and I prefer them over electric. The main reason is that you can wind down/up the windows when the car in turned off! In most cars these days you need to turn the key round two notches to be able to use the electric windows ... Plus I had a bad expeience when I was a kid getting my fingers jammed in the electric windows of my dad's beamer (not to mention that that window never worked again)

So, is it just me or does anyone else prefer the old hand cranked windows?
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I believe that electric windows are now all equipped with an "automatic down" sensor for just such a situation.
 
Though wind down windows have the advantage of being able to be rolled down without keys. I prefer electric. Which is strongly highlighted when I wanted to roll up or down the windows of my former 86 suburban while driving down the highway. At times like those I had wished I had electric windows.
 
My dad's 10 year-old Accord has automatic windows that can be wound down or up even without the key. The trick is that prior to pulling the key out of the ignition, you had to have played with at least one of the windows.

Still, not a bad feature, and certainly not worth giving up for manual windows.
 
Power windows all the way. I had a car with manual windows and it sucks to role down both sides. Yes my car has to be in run to work but I would much rather put up with that than go back to manuals.

As for manuals the only time you see them today is on the very low end cars. It is getting to the point so little is saved by going manual for the manufactures that they are killing them off.
 
I'd have to vote for electric windows. While the advantage of being able to roll them down without power may come in handy should I drive off a bridge into the water, most of the time I find them to be much more desirable than hand-crank windows.

Plus, having 3 young children, the availability of a window lock feature is much appreciated.
 
emw said:
I'd have to vote for electric windows. While the advantage of being able to roll them down without power may come in handy should I drive off a bridge into the water, most of the time I find them to be much more desirable than hand-crank windows.

Plus, having 3 young children, the availability of a window lock feature is much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Now THAT'S what I call planning ahead for a worst case scenario!! ;) :D
 
emw said:
Plus, having 3 young children, the availability of a window lock feature is much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Thing is though, young children only like to play with electric windows because they're a novelty and are so easy to use. They might not bother with hand cranked because its not nearly as fun to reach down and wind a stiff handle ;)
 
mrsir2009 said:
Thing is though, young children only like to play with electric windows because they're a novelty and are so easy to use. They might not bother with hand cranked because its not nearly as fun to reach down and wind a stiff handle ;)
Click to expand...

In cars I have seen (mostly rentals), there is a window lock on the driver's button panel. You can lock all the windows but the driver's window.
 
Electric.

Assuming manual windows:
How fun is it to roll down all your windows while seat-belted into the driver's seat? Not very.


How fun is it to roll down your window while focusing on driving, going at speeds around 50-60mph? Not at all


How fun is it when it gets broken...?
 
I wouldn't buy a car with electric windows! :eek:

Well, it wouldn't be my first choice anyway.

My first car, an old '68 SAAB had the best windup windows ever. About 1-1/2 turns got them up or down with very little effort. Oddly, they pivoted at the front instead of sliding up and down. ;)

The Trabbi has manual EVERYTHING including the windows...:p

My Tercel also has windup windows. :D

Trabbi Pix!
 

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So what happens if you're ready to cruise in some nice weather and you're already driving? You reach across to manually roll down the passenger window and crash? Sounds safe. :rolleyes:

I can understand wanting to purchase a classic car with manual windows or the fact that some can only afford a car that has manual windows but given the option I don't see why you would prefer them.
 
Shrink said:
In cars I have seen (mostly rentals), there is a window lock on the driver's button panel. You can lock all the windows but the driver's window.
Click to expand...

Haha reminds me when my driver side window would NOT go up...I proceeded to tear apart the door and started to test components and guess what....ended up that the windows lock button was engaged which also locked the drivers window lol

Sucked as that week I was paranoid of driving places without being able to secure my car!
 
I prefer the manual crank windows. I have always bought used cars, so the fewer things there are to develop electronics-related "issues" as the vehicle ages, the better. Stuff like having the windows roll down of their own accord (in the rain) while you're tooling down the highway...

It's getting harder to find those crank-up windows though! Seems like it's getting harder to find stick shifts... or even single-user used cars at all. I'm gonna have to buy a hayburner when the Prizm croaks, and just give up on cars.
 
Shrink said:
In cars I have seen (mostly rentals), there is a window lock on the driver's button panel. You can lock all the windows but the driver's window.
Click to expand...

Mostly you can lock the back windows on the central console.

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LizKat said:
I prefer the manual crank windows. I have always bought used cars, so the fewer things there are to develop electronics-related "issues" as the vehicle ages, the better. Stuff like having the windows roll down of their own accord (in the rain) while you're tooling down the highway...

It's getting harder to find those crank-up windows though! Seems like it's getting harder to find stick shifts... or even single-user used cars at all. I'm gonna have to buy a hayburner when the Prizm croaks, and just give up on cars.
Click to expand...

Yeah, electric windows are the norm now. They were pretty common in the 90s too, the only reason the commodore had wind downs was because it was a budget car (my dad had the better, more expensive model with electric windows).
 
I'm kind of on the fence on this one. I prefer power windows in some situations (while driving). Manual winding windows is preferred in others (sitting in my car, not driving or sinking to the bottom of a lake).
 
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