Not all car windows, especially those in the rear of the vehicle, will go all the way down! Some great examples are the Tesla Model 3, some Infinities, and even some SUVs. Many have wondered why this is and if they could make it all the way down.

So why don’t car windows go all the way down? In most cases, this is due to the physical limitations of the window and door. However, there are other reasons, such as safety and the fact that your window motor might actually be bad.

Let’s dig in further to see the reason in your case!

1. Construction of the door

Most car (especially rear) windows don’t go down all the way because they are physically unable to go any further than that.

Usually, this is because the door wraps around the rear wheel wells instead of going straight down. This means that the window “hits” the wheel well and cannot go any further.

On other cars, it could also result from the straight glass light and the door having a curve or something along those lines.

In the end, windows can’t “roll up” and are not pliable, so they have to have physical room in the door to roll down into. If the car is designed with thinner doors to wrap around a wheel well, the window itself can’t go down that far.

The only way to get around this would be to split that rear window into two parts and only allow the front part that is not above the wheel well to roll down. An example of this would be the Infinity, which you will find above.

2. Safety for rear occupants

While the primary reason that rear windows only roll down halfway or partially is the physical limitations of the door and window, a secondary reason is safety.

Generally speaking, younger children and pets tend to sit in the back of a vehicle! Because of this, it is beneficial for rear windows to be unable to roll all the way down so that they don’t crawl out the window and get hurt (considerably).

This physical limitation of the window actually plays out!

3. It might just be broken.

The final reason your window may not be rolling all the way down is that it just might be broken… if you see other vehicles like yours driving down the road with the windows all the way down, but yours won’t, you might have something snagging on the inside of your door, or a motor is going out.

That said, this likely causes the window to not work, and it shouldn’t be a rare occurrence.

Why would you want your window to go all the way down?

The main reason most people would want their windows to go all the way down is to put your arm on the windowsill or entirely out the window! One of the most excellent things about road trips is putting your arm out the window to feel the wind rush past it; however, if your window doesn’t go all the way down, this becomes much less comfortable and enjoyable.

Another reason some may want the window to go down is to be able to put things through, but that doesn’t! This could range from snowboards to moving boxes from one place or another. Of course, in this case, the best solution… would be to open the door.

Side note: Did you know that some sedans have a hole between the rear seats to allow you to put skis and snowboards into the interior of a smaller sedan? This fixes this whole issue of Windows not going all the way down.,

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you know if your window motor is bad?

There are some signs that your window motor might be bad or going bad! The most obvious is that your window won’t go down, is slowly going down, or won’t go back up. Another great way to tell is if there is a clicking noise when you are using your windows.

Can I make my rear windows go all the way down?

Generally speaking, if your rear windows don’t go down normally, there really isn’t any way to force them to go any lower! This can be due to the window’s physical limitations or safety precautions. Manufacturers are not really going to give you a way to override that and possibly cause damage.

Do Tesla Model 3 back windows go all the way down?

I have found that Tesla Model 3 windows in the rear will not go all the way down. This is strictly because the wheel arch is too close to the window. The window would hit the door panel if it went any further down.