That wife of mine went ahead and left my sunroof wide open all night in the Ophelia torrential rain. My car is a 3 week old S40 T5 AWD loaded. .5" of rain on the floor, all console controls are wet including the CD player. When you sit in the seats water spews out of the seams. Should I take it to the dealer and see if they can remove the water? Is this car done in for good?[:@][:@][:@][:@][:@]

 

I wont laugh, that sounds like a giant **** off. I have left sun roof open on a nissan I use to own, didn't get 5" of water in it though. She pretty much dried out but it took awhile. I dont really know what to say, I guess if it were me I would try to sell it but you might have to tell buyer. I would think with that much water your wiring may start to corrode. If you want to keep it let it dry as much as you can before you start driving around. You might have pools of water that could cause a short.

Good luck, let me know what happens

 

go buy a cheap dehumidifier and leave it running in the car with an extension cord and everything closed, the longer that water sits there the more damage it'll do

 

You hardly need telling that half an inch of water in a car can do no good at all. Please do forgive your wife quickly - it's bound to mean an awful lot to her, she must be feeling absolutely terrible. You may not realise it now but you could be dining out on this story for years to come.

The water is likely to cause long-term problems, especially if action isn't taken quickly. Strongly suggest that you talk to your auto insurers and to Volvo urgently. Either or both of them may know of specialists who can dry the car out & check the car over ESPECIALLY THE AIRBAG/SIPS SYSTEMS - I've heard that these are particularly susceptible to damage by water.

Remedial action may include removing absorbant bits such as carpets, seats & perhaps the roof-lining & putting the car in an enclosed space with powerful dehumidifiers running 24/7. The quicker it is dried out, the less likely corrosion/mould/smells are to happen and the faster technicians can start checking the car's systems for faults.

Even if the car can be salvaged, if it were me I would sell it once it has been certified as being safe and fit for further use. Good luck[sm=icon_cheers.gif][sm=violin.gif]

 

Remove the seats and the carpets and let it dry out good.

I have seen this before on the new S40.

Leave it sit for a day or so.Then make sure it is dry and then you should be good to go.

 

If it is sopping wet, it couldn't hurt to take a shop-vac to it.

 

All great advice, thanks very much. Here's what I've done: I took it to my trusted detailing center and they wet vacuumed it all out then sprinkled desiccant on all of the carpeted surfaces then re-vacuumed. Then they put industrial heat blowers on it for a couple hours. I put a couple of those desiccant containers inside the car but getting a dehumidifier in there is a good idea. The carpets seem dry but the foam in the seats is still damp. Tech, When you say remove the carpets, is this something I can do or does the dealer have to do that? I have thought about selling the car but I will get absolutely killed on it considering it's only 3 weeks old.[:'(]

 

You can do it your self.Try to leave the key off after you remove the seats or you will set a code in the SRS.
Then the dealer will have to erase it.

It is only 4 screws and a couple of plugs.

 

..............did you call your insurance carrier??? Comprehensive will cover your loss 100%! It may well be that your vehicle will be "totaled".
R.