It was very warm out today in the DC area, so when I parked my car I tilted up the sunroof and cracked the windows. There was no rain in the forecast that I recall. Unfortunately, a rain shower came through, and the interior of my poor car got wet. As soon as I realized what was going on, I grabbed a clean towel, a microfiber cloth, and a bottle of Optimum leather cleaner/conditioner, and drove the car to my office's covered parking structure (about a mile away). I then proceeded to dry the interior out completely while running the car's vents at full blast, and then once I was sure it was dry I proceeded to use the leather cleaner/conditioner on the seats so that they wouldn't get water spots. They now look and feel fine, and the car is parked under cover with the windows and sunroof cracked open to allow any remaining moisture to evaporate out of the car. My only concern is that water got on the top of the sunroof shade. It was damp to the touch but did not penetrate to the headliner. Since my car doesn't allow me to open the sunroof fully and close the shade I couldn't completely dry it out, and hopefully it will evaporate dry. Is there anything else I should do? I take really good care of this car and would hate for it to get damaged due to a passing rainshower.
Emergency interior issue: rainstorm hit car
- Thread starter MattB
- Start date
PerroneFord
New member
- Apr 8, 2009
- 148
- 0
I had that hppen in my BMW years ago. Twice. Had no ill effects.
Best of luck.
Best of luck.
maddenbowler
New member
- Jun 3, 2008
- 203
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just vacuum any water out that you can
AjNavo61490
New member
- Oct 29, 2007
- 548
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you should be alright bro,
maybe use a hair dryer for the headliner?
maybe use a hair dryer for the headliner?
- Thread starter
- #5
There wasn't enough water to need a vacuum thankfully. It was just more sitting on the surface of the seats. I had put conditioner on them earlier in the day which I think may have helped. Thanks to everyone for the reassurances.
watermantra
New member
- Jun 4, 2009
- 32
- 0
Yeah, I think you'll be fine. I understand the initial freak-out, though. If you are posting on this site, you are probably pretty type-A about your car care. I can only imagine your horror!
The thing I would worry about is any fabric surfaces. You really want to deal with any potential mold problems. The leather will be just fine. Dry that carpet!
The thing I would worry about is any fabric surfaces. You really want to deal with any potential mold problems. The leather will be just fine. Dry that carpet!
- Thread starter
- #7
The carpet never got wet thankfully, the floormats took everything and they were only damp at worst. Everything was pretty much dry when I left the car last night and everything looked normal this morning when I got the car at 8AM. There wasn't even any condensation on the windows so I imagine everything just evaporated during the night. The car is now sitting in the sun so it can dry out further if there's anything that I missed (which I dout I did). Hopefully that should prevent any issues. I've seen water damage firsthand though, I once saw a convertible (thankfully it didn't belong to me) that had a bad roof seal which was left out for a year uncovered, water got in it and it was so bad so you could smell the mold from several feet away.