Sorry if this is in the wrong forum. I came out to my car this morning (it was still raining) and realized i left my passenger side window down. The right side of my interior was drenched. The leather, the door panel, carpet, ect. I hand dried everything and got all visible water (behind the seat, dash, door, leather). I had to go into work today so I had no choice but to drive it in. I left the passenger side window cracked (i park in a garage at work). My carpet and leather seem to be ok and all electrical components seem to been fine, however my door panel has significant water stains. There is like faint white streaks down the whole panel. I just bought this car like 2 months ago, it is a 2008 Z. I seriously wanted to cry when I noticed my window was down, any help feedback as to how to dry this thing and limit the damage. Also anyone know where to get a new door panel or how to remove water stains? I am going to take off the door panel tonight to dry behind it and leave the car completely open over night with heat/fans blasting in it. Please help!!

 

first, stop freaking out because it will be fine.

do you have a local stanley steemer? I guess any apolstry(sp) shop would work also.

They could steam clean the door panel and the vacuum on that will also partially dry out the door. It shouldn't be too hard. The residue left over from rain is just minerals so it should clean just like any interior.

 

What you see is minor. What you cannot see is major. Fans running all night is good. Can you put a dehumidifier inside the car?

 

Just remember for future reference, always roll up your window before you get out...

 

Get some DAMP - RID at your local Home Center. It will absorb moisture. Follow the directions.

 

I have a dehumidifier and I can use that tonight as well. I know I am prob freaking out but seriously kinda scared the hell out of me seeing all that water in my car. I put down the window to back up last night due to my tint at night. My drivers side window stopped working this week as well, i think its the motor. Should be under warranty and I am going into the dealership sat for that. But anyway my biggest concern is the water stains and the potential for mildew. Any other suggestions for these two concerns? Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it.

 

I just called a local detail shop and explained the situation and the guy seemed to believe that there is significant damage. He said he has an acura in his shop with the same situation, windows left down in the rain, and it was $4,000 worth of water damage. Is this guy out of his mind or so I really have a lot of damage here? I was hoping to resolve this myself but I though an interior detail wouldnt hurt when it was dry, but $4,000?!?

 

As I mentioned water stains are minor. The potential problem is a wet mat under the carpet. Doubt if you want to take apart the inside of the car for drying.

 

if it really is $4000 of damage, might be worth using insurance on it. i'm guessing insurance should cover it.

 

I can pull the carpet up some to dry tonight and remove some door pieces to further the drying there, but i cant see there being THAT much damage. The first thing the detailer said was to use insurance which makes me believe hes simply trying to milk the insurance company. I would rather not go through insurance for this. I guess I will just put the car in the garage, leave all doors and trunk open, air it out and dehumidify, then when I believe its dry, take it to get a pro detail. Sound good?

 

1) Use a shop vac or carpet steamer to extract as much water from your carpet as possible.
2) Use a dehumidifier and fans overnight as others have said (put a dehumidifier in as quickly as possible). The faster you dry out the carpet and air in the car, the less likely it is that mold will begin to grow.
3) Don't believe a guy that is assessing the damage to your car over the phone without ever seeing it.

 

When I use the dehumidifier, where would i put it in the car? Also should I close the doors and everything when using the dehumidifier? If someone could give me kinda like a step by step of what to do that would be great. Sorry if I am being a little annoying, its just I love this car.

 

I used a carpet cleaner/shampooer on my interior and seats which left all the carpet and fabric pretty damp. I put a dehumidifier on the floor of the passenger seat, and let it run for the night with the windows and doors closed. By morning everything was bone dry. Yours might take a little while longer to dry, but it's a start. As I mentioned before, make sure you extract as much moisture as possible with a shop vac or carpet shampooer first, which should make the dehumidifier's job easier.

Don't worry, you'll probably be fine.

 

Ok ill dry it as much as i can first then let the dehumidifier run over night, i guess this would be a good time to detail the interior myself. I conditioned the leather like 3-4 days ago so that should ensure no cracking takes place due to it drying too fast.

 

Yes. If not you will be attempting to dehumidify Pennsylvania. That's not going to happen.

 

I had the same thing happen to me. My kid left my pass window down and we had a brief, but heavy storm come through, leaving a puddle in the passenger floor. I soaked up as much as I could with a towel. I had to pull out half my interior to get the carpet pulled up enough to dry out the metal floor underneath. I then put a fan by the door to blow on the pulled up carpet to dry the padding underneath. It was a PITA, but worth it to save $$ on some shop to overcharge me to do what I did. They probably would have jacked the interior up as well. No problems since. Good luck.