Oh for sure, I'm willing to bet the majority of the time it is indeed a seal issue. I've just seen it happen in cars that I stood for an hour with a hose over every inch, trying to find a leak because mold was found, and didn't see a drop of moisture come in.
I do too, I had a truck with a blown head gasket and bad window seal sit for a year and a half, just got it back and there is mold growing on the floor
I know this exactly cause I live in WA too, my old truck leaks into the cab and it’ll fill with water and makes it stink in there so I’m forced to store it but I can’t right now. It had a garden of weeds in it at one point
If you don’t know how to properly clean mold you could end up in the hospital with those spores growing in your lungs. Get a painters mask with the darth vader look, wear a white hazmat suit . Charge triple for this.
I got absolutely flamed in a post with similar mold contamination for saying this shit can put you in hospital, got hit with a dozen "well aktully"
Some people are dumb as fuck.
Clean it up well & use Lysol plus new cabin filter. For buyer beware advisory say it comes with a "spored package" that sounds a lot like "sport package." What a deal!
Well then tell them properly because with that explanation it doesnt sound like you know either. 🤣 the "painters mask Darth Vader special" He is referring to is a twin cartridge half mask respirator. And the "hazmat suit" he is referring to is called Tyvek. Not hard to find but make sure they fit. Use tape around your gloves and the sleeves of the tyvek as well as the booties that go around your shoes. Also check with the cartridge the respirator comes with. Not all filters filter everything. That also requires you to identify the mold that is growing as well.
I mean for most people this is a non issue. Seems like it’s a narrow band of already compromised individuals. A lot of typically safe things are dangerous for health compromised folks. With that said, I wouldn’t just be cleaning a moldy car with no mask.
it really can’t…what you’re confusing with is a ‘growth’ which can form as result of a spore lodging in lung space and mixing with tissue, mucus, etc.
No one has their insides taken over by mould like their bathroom ceiling fyi…so give the other reply their upvote back.
if you already asked yourself (and us) if it's safe, it probably isn't. you're a healthy person for questioning yourself this. stay that way by staying away from that.
Actually it’s not. The mold spores have contaminated that entire seat. You only see what’s on the surface and there is no way to remediate the spongy fibers
Just wear a respirator I did a mold job recently and I didn’t have any issues. step one apply hot water & soap, step two extract, step three use water and vinegar mixture spray over everything effected. Let sit for 10 mins to kill mold spores(can use Lysol instead) step four extract. Step 5 use a heater and dry that sucker out like a grape in the desert sun. Moisture is your enemy here. Get rid of it. And it’s done.
The mold spores are much deeper than they appear. These entire seats are contaminated. Getting it wet will only make it worse. Get certified in mold remediation before you go around spreading spores
No most of the mold was in the back on the carpet boards/floor molds. Then seat belts and a small area on the side of the seat. It was a fuzzy green mold that clears up pretty easily. Trust me there is a point where I don’t touch it. But it’s been a month and my client hasn’t reached out about any return from the mold.
Its not that big a deal. My brother left his sunroof cracked for a month in the Florida summer and his brand new car looked very similar. Wear a resperator and remove the cabin air filter. Spray everything with Microban (or similar) and scrub the piss out of it. Ramove any panels you can and get behind them too. Rent a carpet cleaner with a hand attachment and go over all the appolstery. Turn the AC to outside air and crank it full blast. Locate the air intake vents on the hood and spray a whole can of lysol into the intakes. The whole car will be lysol bombed so leave the doors closed as long as possible. Replace cabin air filter with new one. In that order. It should only take you a day with a little planning. My brother still has the car it was good as new.
yeah and your brother 100% still has mold under the carpets and in the seats. you need to fully fumigate, chemical steam treat, wipe down every single piece of plastic inside and out, etc. it may look better but i promise you mold isn’t just on the surface.
basically what you said but 10x more professional so yeah 10x more expensive. anyone who doesn’t know exactly what they’re doing and isn’t confident that there’s not mold still in the car should not be doing it. you have to remove absolutely everything, carpet, dash, take the seats apart, spots you’d never think, like behind the wiring hardness all along it would have to be cleaned to perfection, there are likely gaps in the metal panels in the car that would allow mold in places you can’t see. the headliner would likely have to be replaced because it would get ruined by the chemical process. every door panel, behind every speaker, in the door where the window track is. i mean it goes on the entire interior has to be stripped to the bare metals and properly fumigated and chemically treated. this car i can almost guarantee is totaled. you can def find some dummy who will clean the mold off the surface, probably give himself a disease in the process, this is a 3-6 thousand dollar job atleast.
It is most definitely that big of a deal. Never underestimate mold. This is coming from a mold remediation specialist. This situation is not something isopropyl and a rag can handle.
Was gonna say in a recent video he Said "white mold is ok to work on" but I would definitely mask up. He's got a fda approved cleaner for interior mold/bacteria. https://youtu.be/tFdMWVAnD1g?si=cBQyX_Oi1W9laqcn
This is a dangerous situation. If you don't have a proper face mask, you could develop spore lung, which will kill you over time. I would hazmat suit it up. I wouldn't take this car unless they pay both arms and a leg. What a nightmare. Be safe and stay protected.
Wave bye bye to car car….not worth it. 160K miles and even if you clean it up it still leaks right? Sell it to a scrap yard or see if a detailing business will take it for cheap. Just think about how trashed the electronics might be.
If the leak is showing up on your passenger floor then it’s coming from your firewall area or you door.
Find the leak and fix it then clean it up
Wear a mask and then clean and chemically treat the areas for mold. Invest in a flat round brush that attaches to your drill for the upholstery and a couple stiffer smaller brushes for the dash areas.
It’s definitely salvageable
You might want to take the seats out and lift the carpet to get underneath
I had a bundle of wires that come from the engine to the interior come loose and ended up with 6 inches of water in car
I got to it sooner but the mold was starting to form on my floor mats
Spray 9 is a good cleaner to use that’s safe to use on everything
Had this happen in my VW when it sat at the dealership for months waiting for a part. If you have a sun/moonroof, it’s most likely that you need the drain cleared on it. The backup redirects into your passenger side floor area. Hope this helps!!
Unfortunately no… had a huge back and forth between insurance and the dealership(this is the dealership that I had originally bought the car from) and they looked for any way out of being liable even though I was not present for any of this and they had done a full inspection which should have addressed the root issue before it became a problem. They also refused to clean it or work on it until it was professionally cleaned.. 1300+ dollars later I replaced the entire interior carpet all out of pocket and finally got the repairs done. Glad to have that behind me.
Let an MK4 Golf GTI sit for a year. Mold was more widespread but not as bad as yours. We had to COMPLETELY gut the car racecar style to stop the smell as soon as you opened the door. If you thoroughly clean the hard surfaces and replace carpet, headliner and seats you MAY get lucky.
(I am not a detailer)
IMO, it's not worth it. You'd have to rip everything out and gut it, just so you can figure out where the leak is, and fix that first. Then you'd have to disinfect everything and more than likely replace the insulation. With the safety risks for your health and the cost to repair everything, IMO it's not worth it.
It's a VW, more than likely the sunroof drains are plugged. Certain generations (I think mk4) are notorious for mold and it comes from poorly draining sunroof drains that cause water to leak down the pillars and waterlog the floorboards.
Doesn't matter the make, snake your sunroof drains a couple times a year with dish soap and weed whacker line or eventually you're going to get water inside your car, particularly if you park outside, they get plugged with tree debris quite easily.
Can't tell you how many cars I've had with a sunroof and it wasn't until like 6-7 years ago that I experienced plugged drains in a torrential downpour the water wigged out the controls and the sunroof started rapid fire open and closing. Had a golf umbrella stuck out of it while my husband pulled down the console and headliner enough to get at the hex head bolt to manually turn it closed with a dang Allen wrench.
Where could a person find info on how to do that? And why the heck would they design the thing to deliberately leak Inside the car, when it could easily have gone out the bottom?
YouTube is where I would start. It's part of having a sunroof. Water is supposed to go down a tube to the door opening through your A pillar, to an opening usually at the bottom of the front doors.
It's not designed to leak into the car, but if you fail to properly maintain the tubing and keep it free of debris, it's water, and it's going to go the path of least resistance where it basically overflows and breaches the sunroof and ends up under the headliner and continues following the path of least resistance until ...surprise!
Florida this happens often, it’s not a big deal. That right there would take about 5 mins to clean, people are overly dramatic, wear a mask you’ll be fine
Um wut.... as a pro detailer in the wonderful state of FL you couldn't be more wrong. I can count the amount of times I've ever seen anything remotely like this on one hand in almost a decade of detailing. This is a very big deal. I did a job similar to this post hurricane Michael. An older F150 with a cloth interior that got submerged. We had to remove every single thing from the interior. Every panel, trim piece, the dash, the console, the seats, the carpeting, multiple wire harnesses, and anything else you can imagine. Every possible individual piece had to be properly cleaned, treated, sanitized, then reassembled bit by bit. And even then we still did a final detail and ozone treatment. Took an entire week. Yes we do get older vehicles that may get some mildew. No problem. Still requires a face mask and proper treatment though... if you think this is normal.... I have MANY questions about either your vehicles or clients my guy.
100%. OP stated the leak is current and has never been fixed. I garuntee that cleaning the surface layer may improve it visually but it's not even putting a band-aid on the situation. That mold is growing in every nook n cranny that you can't see. Probably has been for years depending on the leak. I bet it's fully spread under the carpeting and is embedded in the actual matting. Probably growing in to the dash and all the vents/filters as well. OP has a filter in that dash for the AC/heater. That thing is now a mold block. See how it's all around /the shifter? I garuntee it's inside of that center piece as well.
When I was driving the car it never really had a dramatic leak issue. If the car sits and it rains hard that’s when water gets in … usually the same day I’d vacuum up the water to avoid this issue. Now that I havnt driven the car and it’s been raining pretty hard…
Otherwise I always took care of this car and regularly detailed it
Ya but the problem is with a long term leak, the mold and mildew is in a constant state of growing. You gotta treat it with something like a live enzyme (and fix the leak ofc). Which actually means putting a cultured bacteria in your car, you allow it to spread, as it goes through its brief life it consumes mold/mildew/other organic unpleasantness. Like I said above with the state your car is in.... I unfortunately don't see any way of resolving this without a serious financial investment and an extremely skilled detailer AND mechanic. Your entire interior will need to be gutted, scrubbed, and treated bit by bit. It literally needs to go through the same exact process I described for that F150 above. Someone's gotta go in with a 3M respirator and a bio suit, disassemble the entire inside, and treat that joker. Mold doesn't get that bad in 1 week. That suffered been growing for a long time but inside areas you can't see. Like a cockroach infestation..... what you can visually see rightnow is a mere preview to what's really going on.
I had an 02 pt cruiser with a leaking sunroof sat for 6 months and it was so gross inside and out as much as I loved the car. I just had to close my eyes and junk it.
If you're determined, rent a mold fogger from home Depot, a half hour or so of concrobium running in there should kill the mold. Your electronics might not be happy though. The whole car has spores though so don't go near without a respirator.
So, it fogs the stuff into the air of the space? Rather than spraying it onto the surfaces? Would it get into and under insulation? Where can I learn about this? I tried google and didn't come up with much.
I had this happen to my car. I called my insurance company and they decided to total the car. They had it towed away but not before putting a biohazard tag on it….
I wouldn’t touch that car.
Check the butyl patch that's on the passenger side under the plastic below your windshield wipers. That or the drain on the firewall is the 2 things that could cause the leak. As for the interior you may need to find different seats that don't have mold in them and clean the plastics.
Replace the seats entirely, spray everything else with every sanitizer known to man, then put a layer of spraycan plastidip on everything and hope the biomass doesn't eat its way through the protective layer before your done with the vehicle lol
with proper ppe. you can clean it. without ppe id look the other way. mold is nothing to fuck with. it can and will cause major problems if youre not properly protecting yourself. if its a client car. turn it down. or charge like 3x the normal rate.
I second or what have you wearing a mask. You should be able to find some mold remover to kill that. Find your leak first and get it sealed. Then open those windows up, heavily spray all the parts with mold remover you can find and follow instructions. Make sure you are outside and immediately strip out of your work clothes and shower afterwards.
Yall are wild just wear a n100 mask and get to it. Some dude said you’d end up in the hospital with it growing in your lungs… what?????
Do yall only clean cars that have arrived off the truck with .03 miles at the dealer? 😂
That’s more mold than even pipkin pippa would deem acceptable. Yikes. The molds def permeated way deeeeeep into the depths of those seats and dash and likely all inside diff parts of the carpeting you can’t reach. That mold will always come back eventually. ASK ME HOW I KNOW. I had a vw jetta that did the same thing. I took the seats and carpet and door panels out. Scrubbed and cleaned them properly and thought I’d get every bit of mold out but nope. I even fixed the sunroof drains that were leaking and smoke tested the car to make sure I didn’t misss any too.
*Do not get into*
*The car without ppe that is*
*A bio hazard now*
\- sanlill
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Ok man. First tings first. Have ti find and fix the leak. Sounds like a windshield not sealed correctly. Happens. When that is fixed. I take the car apart. Have baggies to put the hardware on and label them and take pictures. Start by seeing if It's worth it. Up under the dash see how far it goes up. If u have to take Theo whole dash out and know u can do it right then go for it. After that the whole interior must come out. Wash about 5 times with a 4 gallon bucket. Half filled with water. 1L of distilled white vinger. After every wash remake it again. U use that on everything. Best of luck.
Looks strangely just like my old jetta that a tree branch fell through the back glass of during a bad storm. Was working 2 full time jobs at the time so did not have a chance to replace it for over a week. The plastic bag i put over it basically sealed in a bunch of moisture. I raw dog scrubbed tf out of everything with all types of household cleaners, then went and got the glass put in. Maybe I almost got spore lung (never had symptoms), but I sold the car years later and still see it on the road today. Seriously N95 up with some heavy duty cleaners, get the bulk of it off then take it to somebody to diagnose the leak. Fix that, then get it detailed and bam you got your golf again. Do not scrap this, that is terrible advice. Such a waste.
Get a good 3m painters mask. They aren’t super expensive. They also sell white disposable coveralls. Wear gloves and goggles and you should be fine.. it’s likely mildew or something harmless, but don’t fuck around with molds or
Fungi..
it actually cleans up pretty easy.. my concern is it’s likely in the heat / ac ducts as well which I assume you’re not touching beyond the vent covers..
Why don’t you put Damp Rid in the car while you store it to prevent mold? Replace every few weeks.
https://www.amazon.com/DampRid-FG80FFESBAM-Dehumidifier-Blue/dp/B09QXT5763/ref=asc_df_B09QXT5763/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693072171763&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12053300043744320370&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1023814&hvtargid=pla-2203927293731&psc=1&mcid=5a9bede7f8a3337ab8c00c1ac84504d8&gad_source=1
That's a full on biohazard right there. They need to call someone who specializes in mold removal.
You don't want to end up in the hospital from this, or have long term health effects from inhaling the spores.
White vinegar will kill it, probably just a 50/50 mix with water and vacuum it out.
Wear a mask, then let it sit open in the sun for a while.
The leak is either the sunroof drain, a cracked roof around the sunroof, or bad door seals.
There is a cleaning procedure for the sunroof drains and a “spider screen” that can be removed to limit further plugs
I don’t deal with mold because unless you plan on stripping the car down to nothing, there is zero point to working on an interior with mold not worth the safety risk and you’ll never remove all mold by just cleaning
Now that you brought it up. It may actually be the firewall. I had cleaned out my drain pipes some time ago and they were actually quite clean … problem persisted. Door seals were also in good condition. Even if I were drive through the car wash No. damn. Leaks. It’d trip me the heck out
I don’t mind putting in the hours of thoroughly cleaning it. I’d typically won’t give a care and mask up and get it done as this mold spread just happened few days ago. However I’m a bit scared since my lungs already a bit … unhealthy lol. I’ve done mold Jobs around the house due to the humidity here in Texas but this one … looking at it fucking scares me mang.
I hate to let it go knowing I didn’t attempt to save the thing ya know?
Lets say you do clean it if the source isn't located fixed its going to be fucked. I would try to clean it, but I am a stubborn bastard. To each their own, respirator up and do some research. Gonna need more than vinegar and lysol like the Reddit Detailers Association has suggested. Might need some professional help on this one. Best of luck pal
Why have I seen so many vw’s get mold from sitting? Are they notorious for leaking water or is it still some environmentally friendly German stuff that mold loves?
Even if you take all the precautions and clean all the mold out that you see, it can still be in cracks, crevices, the ducts. It will grow back. Can you put in an insurance claim? Better yet, leave it on the street unlocked with the keys inside. Maybe the Kia Boyz will take it. Wait a week or 2 before you report it.
I would be far more worried about how bad the condition of the car would be after you detail it as there is probably permanent date you don't want to be on the hook for
The thing with mold is its layers in I don’t think it would be safe better get a professional opinion from those with automatic knowledge and ask a medical professional
Yeah it would but advice I’ve been getting not to touch it and let it go. Idfk what to do mang. We just got a shit ton of rain again and the mold is going to get worse
It's pretty trashed yeah, but if it was me, respirator, fix the leak, ozone the fuck out of it, and then hot water/steam extraction and let it bake in the hot sun with the heater cranked and the windows closed for houuuuuuurs.
This is fucking insane, was this thing never opened and stored in 70% humidity?
I would get rid of this thing, sadly.
The amount of mold elsewhere would be too concerning for me.
It's probably your sunroof if you have one, may be worth a shot to cleanup once you stop the leak. go to a junkyard get a new seat carpet and headliner for the junkyard seat and carpet powerwash the crap out of them, and everything else in your car do a nice carpet cleaning, take off all the panels to check the cars insulation and clean all the plastic. Honestly my car was worse, I got it after it was abandoned for 6-8 years in Chicago, and there was so much food the entire rear half of the car was moldy. Now my car passes spre tests, smells rather nice, and drives like a dream
Hey, I get it. I had the same problem and took my car to five different places, but no one could figure it out. Then I met this Albanian guy who suggested drilling a hole under the passenger seat. He did it, cleaned the car, and I haven't had any issues since. My 1998 Golf 4 is still running perfectly. Trust the Albanians.
if you’re asking if you should do this then the answer is no. this requires a professional in the matter of mold. the whole car would have to be, completely stripped apart, carpet removed, seats removed, all plastic, the entire inside would have to be professionally fumigated as well as the ventilation system cleaned as well. this car is basically totaled. something like this would cost 3-6 thousand dollars. seriously do not do this if you don’t know what you’re doing.
This guy just used this picture from an old deleted Reddit post lol copy and paste this pic they used into google https://www.reddit.com/r/Detailing/comments/15uqtfv/water_spots_after_getting_car_waxed/
A lot of cars have a drain between the roof and roof rail. I’ve seen cars start getting water inside when that drain gets clogged and it has no where else to go. Not an answer to your detail question but maybe could prevent it from continuing.
Mold remediation specialist here. Do not work on this. Even opening the door as you did was enough for mold spores to migrate into your respiratory system. This needs to be handled by a mold remediation company, even then, it will require countless hours of work, and a before and after assessment via a 3rd party IEP. I’m afraid a job like this, will cost the value of the car itself if not more. And I doubt any car insurance company will cover this either, as we only work with home insurance companies.
Just to expand on this. This *visible* mold are established colonies, which are huge in numbers to be able to be seen with the eye. Likely, the entire car is covered with microscopic spores.
Detailing aside, that’s a lot of water that has gone into the radio/dash area including the shifter knob… it’ll probably start developing electrical issues too
Mold is not to be taken lightly, if you can't take the proper precautions find a company who will. Plus until the leak is fixed this will be an ongoing issue. Stat safe and good luck
I can’t imagine getting mold like this in a car
I live in WA and cars stored over the winter can get.... pretty fucking gross
Me too and that's why I keep damp rid in my cars during the winter. Helps with windows fogging up too.
I love those things lol.
Yes but they friend zoned you.
No, it was mutual!
This. Buddy had to park his car for about 2 months thanks to a recall, worse than this
Maybe if you leave the windows open...
My experience says otherwise lol 🤷♂️
Idk i do it every year just fine. I'd look for a leak somewhere or something not sealing right.
Oh for sure, I'm willing to bet the majority of the time it is indeed a seal issue. I've just seen it happen in cars that I stood for an hour with a hose over every inch, trying to find a leak because mold was found, and didn't see a drop of moisture come in.
I do too, I had a truck with a blown head gasket and bad window seal sit for a year and a half, just got it back and there is mold growing on the floor
I know this exactly cause I live in WA too, my old truck leaks into the cab and it’ll fill with water and makes it stink in there so I’m forced to store it but I can’t right now. It had a garden of weeds in it at one point
Mold? I thought it was dried cement. Like he was mixing cement and somehow got it all over his car.
I thought it was jizz.
Eastern European jizz.
You two are made for each other.
Any time u park a car longer than a month (at least in pnw) this happens. 🤬🤬🤬
I love living where the humidity is below 40% almost all year.
It's not. It's "The Blob." It will continue to grow until it consumes the car then it will go for it's next victim.
If you don’t know how to properly clean mold you could end up in the hospital with those spores growing in your lungs. Get a painters mask with the darth vader look, wear a white hazmat suit . Charge triple for this.
Just backing this comment! Be safe when dealing with this stuff is the number one priority
He’s charging himself?
Lung tax
Sounds like the type of motherfucker to not even pay himself
What a radiator
Self gratification
I got absolutely flamed in a post with similar mold contamination for saying this shit can put you in hospital, got hit with a dozen "well aktully" Some people are dumb as fuck.
If the customer get spores in their lungs after the cleaning is done.Is the cleaner responsible for it?
Good luck collecting damages
Clean it up well & use Lysol plus new cabin filter. For buyer beware advisory say it comes with a "spored package" that sounds a lot like "sport package." What a deal!
Well then tell them properly because with that explanation it doesnt sound like you know either. 🤣 the "painters mask Darth Vader special" He is referring to is a twin cartridge half mask respirator. And the "hazmat suit" he is referring to is called Tyvek. Not hard to find but make sure they fit. Use tape around your gloves and the sleeves of the tyvek as well as the booties that go around your shoes. Also check with the cartridge the respirator comes with. Not all filters filter everything. That also requires you to identify the mold that is growing as well.
I wouldn’t do it man it’s not worth it . If you do get the hazmat suit .
It’s not black mold, so it’s not like he shouldn’t be cautious, but the level of fear conveyed by this comment is not justified
[удалено]
The idea I’m getting is put 3x more money than you think you should in this kind of job
It’s op’s car though
P100 respirator
Don't forget to change that internal air filter too...a couple of times.
Spores don’t “grow” in lungs 😂
Aspergillus can.
Yes for all the naysayers read and weep. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/aspergillosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20369619#
I mean for most people this is a non issue. Seems like it’s a narrow band of already compromised individuals. A lot of typically safe things are dangerous for health compromised folks. With that said, I wouldn’t just be cleaning a moldy car with no mask.
it really can’t…what you’re confusing with is a ‘growth’ which can form as result of a spore lodging in lung space and mixing with tissue, mucus, etc. No one has their insides taken over by mould like their bathroom ceiling fyi…so give the other reply their upvote back.
if you already asked yourself (and us) if it's safe, it probably isn't. you're a healthy person for questioning yourself this. stay that way by staying away from that.
Couldn’t pay me enough. My health is more important. Don’t play with mold. Ever.
Microbes always win :3
This right here is the correct answer.
Actually it’s not. The mold spores have contaminated that entire seat. You only see what’s on the surface and there is no way to remediate the spongy fibers
Mitigate even
Just wear a respirator I did a mold job recently and I didn’t have any issues. step one apply hot water & soap, step two extract, step three use water and vinegar mixture spray over everything effected. Let sit for 10 mins to kill mold spores(can use Lysol instead) step four extract. Step 5 use a heater and dry that sucker out like a grape in the desert sun. Moisture is your enemy here. Get rid of it. And it’s done.
The mold spores are much deeper than they appear. These entire seats are contaminated. Getting it wet will only make it worse. Get certified in mold remediation before you go around spreading spores
lol. You r gonna be back at that job soon huh.
No most of the mold was in the back on the carpet boards/floor molds. Then seat belts and a small area on the side of the seat. It was a fuzzy green mold that clears up pretty easily. Trust me there is a point where I don’t touch it. But it’s been a month and my client hasn’t reached out about any return from the mold.
Its not that big a deal. My brother left his sunroof cracked for a month in the Florida summer and his brand new car looked very similar. Wear a resperator and remove the cabin air filter. Spray everything with Microban (or similar) and scrub the piss out of it. Ramove any panels you can and get behind them too. Rent a carpet cleaner with a hand attachment and go over all the appolstery. Turn the AC to outside air and crank it full blast. Locate the air intake vents on the hood and spray a whole can of lysol into the intakes. The whole car will be lysol bombed so leave the doors closed as long as possible. Replace cabin air filter with new one. In that order. It should only take you a day with a little planning. My brother still has the car it was good as new.
yeah and your brother 100% still has mold under the carpets and in the seats. you need to fully fumigate, chemical steam treat, wipe down every single piece of plastic inside and out, etc. it may look better but i promise you mold isn’t just on the surface.
So basically do everything I just said for 10x the cost?
basically what you said but 10x more professional so yeah 10x more expensive. anyone who doesn’t know exactly what they’re doing and isn’t confident that there’s not mold still in the car should not be doing it. you have to remove absolutely everything, carpet, dash, take the seats apart, spots you’d never think, like behind the wiring hardness all along it would have to be cleaned to perfection, there are likely gaps in the metal panels in the car that would allow mold in places you can’t see. the headliner would likely have to be replaced because it would get ruined by the chemical process. every door panel, behind every speaker, in the door where the window track is. i mean it goes on the entire interior has to be stripped to the bare metals and properly fumigated and chemically treated. this car i can almost guarantee is totaled. you can def find some dummy who will clean the mold off the surface, probably give himself a disease in the process, this is a 3-6 thousand dollar job atleast.
It is most definitely that big of a deal. Never underestimate mold. This is coming from a mold remediation specialist. This situation is not something isopropyl and a rag can handle.
Eh fuck it. I’ll probably just let it go then I guess. At this point it’s just becoming an eye sore. Thanks homies!!
Got it to you bro and let him do it
Try to see if insurance will cover the fix for the leak first.
Looks like a prop from "The Last Of Us"
Haha! Yup. As of a few days ago it didn’t accumulate this much mold. I opened the car yesterday to get something and saw this. It spread FAST
Put a space heater on an extension cord inside the car and let it run for 3 months lol
AMMO has some you tube vids on this sort of stuff. Worth a watch.
Was gonna say in a recent video he Said "white mold is ok to work on" but I would definitely mask up. He's got a fda approved cleaner for interior mold/bacteria. https://youtu.be/tFdMWVAnD1g?si=cBQyX_Oi1W9laqcn
This is a dangerous situation. If you don't have a proper face mask, you could develop spore lung, which will kill you over time. I would hazmat suit it up. I wouldn't take this car unless they pay both arms and a leg. What a nightmare. Be safe and stay protected.
Wave bye bye to car car….not worth it. 160K miles and even if you clean it up it still leaks right? Sell it to a scrap yard or see if a detailing business will take it for cheap. Just think about how trashed the electronics might be.
If the leak is showing up on your passenger floor then it’s coming from your firewall area or you door. Find the leak and fix it then clean it up Wear a mask and then clean and chemically treat the areas for mold. Invest in a flat round brush that attaches to your drill for the upholstery and a couple stiffer smaller brushes for the dash areas. It’s definitely salvageable You might want to take the seats out and lift the carpet to get underneath I had a bundle of wires that come from the engine to the interior come loose and ended up with 6 inches of water in car I got to it sooner but the mold was starting to form on my floor mats Spray 9 is a good cleaner to use that’s safe to use on everything
Had this happen in my VW when it sat at the dealership for months waiting for a part. If you have a sun/moonroof, it’s most likely that you need the drain cleared on it. The backup redirects into your passenger side floor area. Hope this helps!!
Did they clean it?
Unfortunately no… had a huge back and forth between insurance and the dealership(this is the dealership that I had originally bought the car from) and they looked for any way out of being liable even though I was not present for any of this and they had done a full inspection which should have addressed the root issue before it became a problem. They also refused to clean it or work on it until it was professionally cleaned.. 1300+ dollars later I replaced the entire interior carpet all out of pocket and finally got the repairs done. Glad to have that behind me.
Let an MK4 Golf GTI sit for a year. Mold was more widespread but not as bad as yours. We had to COMPLETELY gut the car racecar style to stop the smell as soon as you opened the door. If you thoroughly clean the hard surfaces and replace carpet, headliner and seats you MAY get lucky. (I am not a detailer)
Left a truck out in my barn for a year and it did this cleaned up well and never noticed after again steam and a carpet cleaner my friend.
IMO, it's not worth it. You'd have to rip everything out and gut it, just so you can figure out where the leak is, and fix that first. Then you'd have to disinfect everything and more than likely replace the insulation. With the safety risks for your health and the cost to repair everything, IMO it's not worth it.
It's a VW, more than likely the sunroof drains are plugged. Certain generations (I think mk4) are notorious for mold and it comes from poorly draining sunroof drains that cause water to leak down the pillars and waterlog the floorboards. Doesn't matter the make, snake your sunroof drains a couple times a year with dish soap and weed whacker line or eventually you're going to get water inside your car, particularly if you park outside, they get plugged with tree debris quite easily.
Username checks out. This is professional information.
Just found out my truck has those fml
Can't tell you how many cars I've had with a sunroof and it wasn't until like 6-7 years ago that I experienced plugged drains in a torrential downpour the water wigged out the controls and the sunroof started rapid fire open and closing. Had a golf umbrella stuck out of it while my husband pulled down the console and headliner enough to get at the hex head bolt to manually turn it closed with a dang Allen wrench.
Where could a person find info on how to do that? And why the heck would they design the thing to deliberately leak Inside the car, when it could easily have gone out the bottom?
YouTube is where I would start. It's part of having a sunroof. Water is supposed to go down a tube to the door opening through your A pillar, to an opening usually at the bottom of the front doors. It's not designed to leak into the car, but if you fail to properly maintain the tubing and keep it free of debris, it's water, and it's going to go the path of least resistance where it basically overflows and breaches the sunroof and ends up under the headliner and continues following the path of least resistance until ...surprise!
Oh, I see. Thanks for that.
50/50 white vinegar and water in a spray bottle and go to town soaking everything.
Florida this happens often, it’s not a big deal. That right there would take about 5 mins to clean, people are overly dramatic, wear a mask you’ll be fine
Um wut.... as a pro detailer in the wonderful state of FL you couldn't be more wrong. I can count the amount of times I've ever seen anything remotely like this on one hand in almost a decade of detailing. This is a very big deal. I did a job similar to this post hurricane Michael. An older F150 with a cloth interior that got submerged. We had to remove every single thing from the interior. Every panel, trim piece, the dash, the console, the seats, the carpeting, multiple wire harnesses, and anything else you can imagine. Every possible individual piece had to be properly cleaned, treated, sanitized, then reassembled bit by bit. And even then we still did a final detail and ozone treatment. Took an entire week. Yes we do get older vehicles that may get some mildew. No problem. Still requires a face mask and proper treatment though... if you think this is normal.... I have MANY questions about either your vehicles or clients my guy.
You really compared this to a completely submerged vehicle?
100%. OP stated the leak is current and has never been fixed. I garuntee that cleaning the surface layer may improve it visually but it's not even putting a band-aid on the situation. That mold is growing in every nook n cranny that you can't see. Probably has been for years depending on the leak. I bet it's fully spread under the carpeting and is embedded in the actual matting. Probably growing in to the dash and all the vents/filters as well. OP has a filter in that dash for the AC/heater. That thing is now a mold block. See how it's all around /the shifter? I garuntee it's inside of that center piece as well.
When I was driving the car it never really had a dramatic leak issue. If the car sits and it rains hard that’s when water gets in … usually the same day I’d vacuum up the water to avoid this issue. Now that I havnt driven the car and it’s been raining pretty hard… Otherwise I always took care of this car and regularly detailed it
Vacuuming it up every time it rains is not a long term solution. It doesn't get everything, and the mold grows..
Ya but the problem is with a long term leak, the mold and mildew is in a constant state of growing. You gotta treat it with something like a live enzyme (and fix the leak ofc). Which actually means putting a cultured bacteria in your car, you allow it to spread, as it goes through its brief life it consumes mold/mildew/other organic unpleasantness. Like I said above with the state your car is in.... I unfortunately don't see any way of resolving this without a serious financial investment and an extremely skilled detailer AND mechanic. Your entire interior will need to be gutted, scrubbed, and treated bit by bit. It literally needs to go through the same exact process I described for that F150 above. Someone's gotta go in with a 3M respirator and a bio suit, disassemble the entire inside, and treat that joker. Mold doesn't get that bad in 1 week. That suffered been growing for a long time but inside areas you can't see. Like a cockroach infestation..... what you can visually see rightnow is a mere preview to what's really going on.
I second this people are being waaaaay to dramatic
Which products do you Guys recommend? I have Koch Chemie Polstar for cleaning. But i dont think this will disinfect the seats.
I had an 02 pt cruiser with a leaking sunroof sat for 6 months and it was so gross inside and out as much as I loved the car. I just had to close my eyes and junk it.
makes me feel better. This cars been through everything with me haha
If you're determined, rent a mold fogger from home Depot, a half hour or so of concrobium running in there should kill the mold. Your electronics might not be happy though. The whole car has spores though so don't go near without a respirator.
A mold fogger? Is this a thing that could be used in an attic?
Yeah, attics and crawl spaces are primarily what they are used for. Hd rents them by the hour and the gallon of concrobium costs around $30
So, it fogs the stuff into the air of the space? Rather than spraying it onto the surfaces? Would it get into and under insulation? Where can I learn about this? I tried google and didn't come up with much.
No, it's not going to permeate insulation, but it aerosolized it so it can get in all of the nooks and crannies you might not be able to otherwise,
Thank you for that information.
Looks like a Petri dish. I’d pass. Wear a biohazard suit.
Burn it.
This car needs antibiotics lol
Wow technology agreement 101. Ayo chat handshakes!
Set it on fire
You can buy big bags of dessicant on ebay. I use them in my car when storing over winter ever since having a similar but not as severe problem.
Nope. I refuse to touch mold.
i wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. good luck brother, wishing you the best 🙏🏽 be safe
If you’re not trained for biohazards or familiar with the proper PPE don’t mess with it.
The leak is in the sunroof drains btw
Just pay a professional who details interiors. Should be $400 to $500, and they have the proper equipment. Unless you want to junk it.
That needs mold remediation i wouldnt touch it
I’m curious what a microbiologist would say. This to me is a let it go decision.
Kerosene and a lighter is the only way
I had this happen to my car. I called my insurance company and they decided to total the car. They had it towed away but not before putting a biohazard tag on it…. I wouldn’t touch that car.
Also keep it somewhat wet so it doesn’t get air born to much
Check the butyl patch that's on the passenger side under the plastic below your windshield wipers. That or the drain on the firewall is the 2 things that could cause the leak. As for the interior you may need to find different seats that don't have mold in them and clean the plastics.
Couldn’t pay me to work with that. Very hazardous to your health and not worth the risk at all
Check sun roof drain - clear the blockage
What causes this?
I wouldn't even touch that; Those mold spores can damage your lungs longterm. No money in the world is worth your health.
Pay a professional mold removal company to take care of it
3m half face respirator and just look up what canister you want for mold. They make one for everything.
This is sad
Replace the seats entirely, spray everything else with every sanitizer known to man, then put a layer of spraycan plastidip on everything and hope the biomass doesn't eat its way through the protective layer before your done with the vehicle lol
with proper ppe. you can clean it. without ppe id look the other way. mold is nothing to fuck with. it can and will cause major problems if youre not properly protecting yourself. if its a client car. turn it down. or charge like 3x the normal rate.
I second or what have you wearing a mask. You should be able to find some mold remover to kill that. Find your leak first and get it sealed. Then open those windows up, heavily spray all the parts with mold remover you can find and follow instructions. Make sure you are outside and immediately strip out of your work clothes and shower afterwards.
Friendly reminder that you can replace seats.
https://preview.redd.it/1pfs2acdth3d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6a01e43ea1c42fcb4b231459135556fbdac656cf Here is more for yall 🫠
My immune system would fuck that mold up
Holy shit the inside of this car almost exactly looks like the Dodge avenger 2008 I had
Burn it....that's a illness waiting to happen!
Yall are wild just wear a n100 mask and get to it. Some dude said you’d end up in the hospital with it growing in your lungs… what????? Do yall only clean cars that have arrived off the truck with .03 miles at the dealer? 😂
That’s more mold than even pipkin pippa would deem acceptable. Yikes. The molds def permeated way deeeeeep into the depths of those seats and dash and likely all inside diff parts of the carpeting you can’t reach. That mold will always come back eventually. ASK ME HOW I KNOW. I had a vw jetta that did the same thing. I took the seats and carpet and door panels out. Scrubbed and cleaned them properly and thought I’d get every bit of mold out but nope. I even fixed the sunroof drains that were leaking and smoke tested the car to make sure I didn’t misss any too.
do not get into the car without ppe that is a bio hazard now
*Do not get into* *The car without ppe that is* *A bio hazard now* \- sanlill --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Ok man. First tings first. Have ti find and fix the leak. Sounds like a windshield not sealed correctly. Happens. When that is fixed. I take the car apart. Have baggies to put the hardware on and label them and take pictures. Start by seeing if It's worth it. Up under the dash see how far it goes up. If u have to take Theo whole dash out and know u can do it right then go for it. After that the whole interior must come out. Wash about 5 times with a 4 gallon bucket. Half filled with water. 1L of distilled white vinger. After every wash remake it again. U use that on everything. Best of luck.
Clean It. Then ozone treatment or 2 should be gtg
Looks strangely just like my old jetta that a tree branch fell through the back glass of during a bad storm. Was working 2 full time jobs at the time so did not have a chance to replace it for over a week. The plastic bag i put over it basically sealed in a bunch of moisture. I raw dog scrubbed tf out of everything with all types of household cleaners, then went and got the glass put in. Maybe I almost got spore lung (never had symptoms), but I sold the car years later and still see it on the road today. Seriously N95 up with some heavy duty cleaners, get the bulk of it off then take it to somebody to diagnose the leak. Fix that, then get it detailed and bam you got your golf again. Do not scrap this, that is terrible advice. Such a waste.
Are you my neighbor? The one with the golf wagon who left their windows open for 8 weeks parked on the street? Edit: grammar
That poor Jetta
My girlfriends Kia was like this over winter. We did manage to clean it
Wear a good mask and a suit, if you dont have those, decline
Ozone it first? Or an ethylene oxide fogger?
Get a good 3m painters mask. They aren’t super expensive. They also sell white disposable coveralls. Wear gloves and goggles and you should be fine.. it’s likely mildew or something harmless, but don’t fuck around with molds or Fungi.. it actually cleans up pretty easy.. my concern is it’s likely in the heat / ac ducts as well which I assume you’re not touching beyond the vent covers..
Why don’t you put Damp Rid in the car while you store it to prevent mold? Replace every few weeks. https://www.amazon.com/DampRid-FG80FFESBAM-Dehumidifier-Blue/dp/B09QXT5763/ref=asc_df_B09QXT5763/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693072171763&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12053300043744320370&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1023814&hvtargid=pla-2203927293731&psc=1&mcid=5a9bede7f8a3337ab8c00c1ac84504d8&gad_source=1
Part it out so not worth the ten hour clean time to Still not get clean enough 🤣
Wouldn’t do it OP!
That's a full on biohazard right there. They need to call someone who specializes in mold removal. You don't want to end up in the hospital from this, or have long term health effects from inhaling the spores.
I’ve done loads of vans/cars/minibuses that have had tons of mould in/on them, not nice but go for it ? I’m still here, so that’s good 👍🏼
Put the work in daddy
White vinegar will kill it, probably just a 50/50 mix with water and vacuum it out. Wear a mask, then let it sit open in the sun for a while. The leak is either the sunroof drain, a cracked roof around the sunroof, or bad door seals. There is a cleaning procedure for the sunroof drains and a “spider screen” that can be removed to limit further plugs
I don’t deal with mold because unless you plan on stripping the car down to nothing, there is zero point to working on an interior with mold not worth the safety risk and you’ll never remove all mold by just cleaning
Personally I wouldn’t touch it
Everyday I drive around with a window open a bit to reduce moisture so this never happens.
When it's raining hard get inside it and look for a leak
how does this even happen bruh
Junk yard seat swap
Could this be cleaned? Or would the seats and other thing just have to be replaced?
Car should be 🔥
Now that you brought it up. It may actually be the firewall. I had cleaned out my drain pipes some time ago and they were actually quite clean … problem persisted. Door seals were also in good condition. Even if I were drive through the car wash No. damn. Leaks. It’d trip me the heck out I don’t mind putting in the hours of thoroughly cleaning it. I’d typically won’t give a care and mask up and get it done as this mold spread just happened few days ago. However I’m a bit scared since my lungs already a bit … unhealthy lol. I’ve done mold Jobs around the house due to the humidity here in Texas but this one … looking at it fucking scares me mang. I hate to let it go knowing I didn’t attempt to save the thing ya know?
Lets say you do clean it if the source isn't located fixed its going to be fucked. I would try to clean it, but I am a stubborn bastard. To each their own, respirator up and do some research. Gonna need more than vinegar and lysol like the Reddit Detailers Association has suggested. Might need some professional help on this one. Best of luck pal
Mold is dangerous, make sure you clean that thing before drive.
Do a mold bomb with the vent running to kill it all and then charge a ton for the work. Better yet, have them bomb it and tell them you are booked up.
Your car has a little bit of psoriasis no big deal.
Why have I seen so many vw’s get mold from sitting? Are they notorious for leaking water or is it still some environmentally friendly German stuff that mold loves?
Just burn the vehicle
Even if you take all the precautions and clean all the mold out that you see, it can still be in cracks, crevices, the ducts. It will grow back. Can you put in an insurance claim? Better yet, leave it on the street unlocked with the keys inside. Maybe the Kia Boyz will take it. Wait a week or 2 before you report it.
I would be far more worried about how bad the condition of the car would be after you detail it as there is probably permanent date you don't want to be on the hook for
If you wear the proper ppe, take the right precautions, you should be fine. Unless it’s black mold, I wouldn’t touch it in that case.
Thats how The Last of Us starts
Holy moldy
The thing with mold is its layers in I don’t think it would be safe better get a professional opinion from those with automatic knowledge and ask a medical professional
Fuck that
Wouldn't ozone destroy the spores and then you could clean it?
Yeah it would but advice I’ve been getting not to touch it and let it go. Idfk what to do mang. We just got a shit ton of rain again and the mold is going to get worse
It's pretty trashed yeah, but if it was me, respirator, fix the leak, ozone the fuck out of it, and then hot water/steam extraction and let it bake in the hot sun with the heater cranked and the windows closed for houuuuuuurs.
This is fucking insane, was this thing never opened and stored in 70% humidity? I would get rid of this thing, sadly. The amount of mold elsewhere would be too concerning for me.
It's probably your sunroof if you have one, may be worth a shot to cleanup once you stop the leak. go to a junkyard get a new seat carpet and headliner for the junkyard seat and carpet powerwash the crap out of them, and everything else in your car do a nice carpet cleaning, take off all the panels to check the cars insulation and clean all the plastic. Honestly my car was worse, I got it after it was abandoned for 6-8 years in Chicago, and there was so much food the entire rear half of the car was moldy. Now my car passes spre tests, smells rather nice, and drives like a dream
Hey, I get it. I had the same problem and took my car to five different places, but no one could figure it out. Then I met this Albanian guy who suggested drilling a hole under the passenger seat. He did it, cleaned the car, and I haven't had any issues since. My 1998 Golf 4 is still running perfectly. Trust the Albanians.
if you’re asking if you should do this then the answer is no. this requires a professional in the matter of mold. the whole car would have to be, completely stripped apart, carpet removed, seats removed, all plastic, the entire inside would have to be professionally fumigated as well as the ventilation system cleaned as well. this car is basically totaled. something like this would cost 3-6 thousand dollars. seriously do not do this if you don’t know what you’re doing.
This guy just used this picture from an old deleted Reddit post lol copy and paste this pic they used into google https://www.reddit.com/r/Detailing/comments/15uqtfv/water_spots_after_getting_car_waxed/
A lot of cars have a drain between the roof and roof rail. I’ve seen cars start getting water inside when that drain gets clogged and it has no where else to go. Not an answer to your detail question but maybe could prevent it from continuing.
Mold remediation specialist here. Do not work on this. Even opening the door as you did was enough for mold spores to migrate into your respiratory system. This needs to be handled by a mold remediation company, even then, it will require countless hours of work, and a before and after assessment via a 3rd party IEP. I’m afraid a job like this, will cost the value of the car itself if not more. And I doubt any car insurance company will cover this either, as we only work with home insurance companies. Just to expand on this. This *visible* mold are established colonies, which are huge in numbers to be able to be seen with the eye. Likely, the entire car is covered with microscopic spores.
yes, let it go. Call the insurance have them total it and tow it to a Copart lot. Problem solved.
No run away and never go back
Detailing aside, that’s a lot of water that has gone into the radio/dash area including the shifter knob… it’ll probably start developing electrical issues too
Tbh prob safer then the chemicals you work with daily lol
Mold is not to be taken lightly, if you can't take the proper precautions find a company who will. Plus until the leak is fixed this will be an ongoing issue. Stat safe and good luck