Argh! Windows open during heavy rain

[Muggsy]

This morning my son took the garbage out, then came in and told me the windows were open on my CTR. It rained all night. The interior is SOAKED.

I drove it around 5 pm yesterday and must have accidentally pushed a button on the remote in my pocket last night. I used a microfiber towel to get the standing water inside the car but it's going to take a couple dry days with open windows to really dry it out. Anybody have any other suggestions? Should I try a blow dryer on the seats?

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[8409_CW]

They sell water extractors that are like a vacuum but yeah probably just do the best you can to let it air out

if you have a shop vac I’d at least do that much and pick up whatever you can

good luck, hopefully it is not a lot of water!!

 

[tinyman392]

They sell water extractors that are like a vacuum but yeah probably just do the best you can to let it air out

if you have a shop vac I’d at least do that much and pick up whatever you can

good luck, hopefully it is not a lot of water!!

This up here is probably your best bet. You want to get that water out ASAP since fungi tend to like to grow in those situations. Good luck.

 

[EdG]

My windows opened like that once while I was waiting for take out. What combo of buttons on the key fob does that?

I agree with shopvac and towels. Do everything you can to pull the water out as fast as possible. Fans if now dry outside.. I hope the electronics are fine. Good thing no power seats, right?

 

[HRace]

They sell giant tubs of absorbent material. You leave it in the bucket but open the lid and set it in the car to also soak up moisture from various places. Then dispose of the container. It’s called DampRid at some stores. Worth a look after you’ve removed all the water you can first.

 

[waterudoing]

My windows opened like that once while I was waiting for take out. What combo of buttons on the key fob does that?

I agree with shopvac and towels. Do everything you can to pull the water out as fast as possible. Fans if now dry outside.. I hope the electronics are fine. Good thing no power seats, right?

Holding the unlock button on the key fob opens the windows on most cars

 

[brownman]

They sell giant tubs of absorbent material. You leave it in the bucket but open the lid and set it in the car to also soak up moisture from various places. Then dispose of the container. It’s called DampRid at some stores. Worth a look after you’ve removed all the water you can first.

yes! sold at Walmart and home depot

 

[NapalmEnema]

Wet dry vac - go over it over and over and over - but document for insurance before trying to address!

 

[roflitzjinno]

I agree with documenting what's going on first, just in case it messed something up and you need to go through insurance.

Dry everything you can manually with towels and such
Heavy duty vacuum the seats and carpets
Clean vents if you can (mold can build up there)
Dehumidify the interior for a while (you can buy one and leave it on in the car to suck out the moisture once you've manually done as much as you can)
Pray and hope that no electrical got messed up.

As far as retouching the suede/alacantra, there's suede brushes you can buy that will unmat them and sort of bring it back to life.

 

[Green82]

My windows opened like that once while I was waiting for take out. What combo of buttons on the key fob does that?

I agree with shopvac and towels. Do everything you can to pull the water out as fast as possible. Fans if now dry outside.. I hope the electronics are fine. Good thing no power seats, right?

press you unlock botton once then hold it down it will roll down all 4 windows

 

[Muggsy]

Thanks to all who responded. I got lucky, there's a big tree that hangs over my car in the driveway, so it wasn't nearly as wet as it could have been. The front seat bolsters closest to the windows were wet but I dried them with a hair dryer. Same for the back seats. My all-weather mats had a bunch of standing water but protected the carpets. The only parts that got really wet were the armrests and upholstery on the doors. I dried them best I could with a towel and the hair dryer, then drove around for a while with the windows down yesterday to air it out. Now it seems fine, and no musty smell so far.

 

[NapalmEnema]

Thanks to all who responded. I got lucky, there's a big tree that hangs over my car in the driveway, so it wasn't nearly as wet as it could have been. The front seat bolsters closest to the windows were wet but I dried them with a hair dryer. Same for the back seats. My all-weather mats had a bunch of standing water but protected the carpets. The only parts that got really wet were the armrests and upholstery on the doors. I dried them best I could with a towel and the hair dryer, then drove around for a while with the windows down yesterday to air it out. Now it seems fine, and no musty smell so far.

Awesome outcome!

 

[EdG]

Thanks to all who responded. I got lucky, there's a big tree that hangs over my car in the driveway, so it wasn't nearly as wet as it could have been. The front seat bolsters closest to the windows were wet but I dried them with a hair dryer. Same for the back seats. My all-weather mats had a bunch of standing water but protected the carpets. The only parts that got really wet were the armrests and upholstery on the doors. I dried them best I could with a towel and the hair dryer, then drove around for a while with the windows down yesterday to air it out. Now it seems fine, and no musty smell so far.

I get it now. This was just an excuse to drive around all day on a weekend. ; ) Glad it all worked out.

 

[Muggsy]

you need a professional detailer to suck out all the water from your seats.. they have strong vacs to do that.. anything other than that is useless.

Well, that wasn't necessary in this case, but I could see going that route if there was a lot more water. I got lucky.

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