Wellthatsucks
Went to use my mom's car that she bought to use at her summer home in Myrtle Beach. It was full of mold.
It's a brand new car. Guess we're ubering everywhere lol
Discussion
i can imagine how long it would take to deep clean it
I don't want to even imagine. The worst part is I sat on it before I noticed. 🤮
My mother in law has a convertible that leaks and she patched with caulk, but it smells so weird in her can mixed with mold, mildew, and nasty vape
that smell sounds like future therapy bills. mine smelled like beets, dryer sheets and diesel.
Beets? Are you a Shrute?
Beet me to it 😂
i wish! he was so cute and militant 🥰
I'm curious about the beets, compared to the other two smells
but i ask you; how did you mentally dismiss and/or accept the other two as not needing more elaboration?
Diesel cuz vehicles leak, dryer sheets to keep mice or other critters out, but the beets made it a weird/funny trio
Is your father Dwight Schrute?
I had to ride to work with a dude for like a month and the whole ride I had to put my feet on the far sides of floorboard cause there was a hole rusted through I could see the pavement.
My sister had a car like that when we were in high school, so I had to do the same when she drove us to school. It was particularly inconvenient when it was raining, and grimy water would splash up through the hole.
I kept thinking some road debris was gonna shoot up through it. He didn’t really mind.
In all fairness, sounds like his car was better than yours.
She caulked her car?! People are sooo funny
Oh she caked that shit onto it and it somewhat works but looks horrible
My mom gorilla glued her bumper back on once. Lmao
We gorilla-taped the side mirror back on my partner's last truck. All the wires/adjusters still worked & I was NOT paying over $600 just to have them knock it off a third time...
That’s where you made your mistake. You shouldn’t be smelling her can.
At least just waft it if you must, don't go stuffing your whole head up in there like it's just something to do
Tell me more about how it smells in your mother in law's can.
So my partner had this problem after her car broke down and got stuck in an ice storm. It’s super fucking expensive to have someone else deal with it. So instead we cleaned it ourselves, but that took like a week and was really gross. So…sorry for your mom 😬
The sitting part is the least of your worries, the vents are just blowing block plague into your lungs now
Lol I got right the fuck out and will never be inside that car again.
I live in the Pacific Northwest... and anything that doesn't move for longer than a month starts to grow something or another. this is not the worst thing in the world you should see my hummer right now.
It happened to me. Just spray the entire interior down with 50/50 vinegar and water then wipe it down.
Ha yeah OP and not to sound like a jerk but if she has a ‘summer home’ you can easily afford the Ubers or just buy a new car lol
My mother's income has nothing to do with my income. She bought this place in her retirement after saving away for 30+ years. It's Myrtle Beach, not the mar-a-lago. Lol
Get it detailed. Lots of retailers are set up to come to your location if there is electrical outlet to plug in equipment. Have them ozone it to kill the bacteria.
After it's detailed, wipe down surfaces you touch a lot - like door handles, screens, sun visor, steering wheel, shifter etc with baby wipes or binegar and water solution in spray bottle to keep bacteria growth down.
It won’t take very long. About an hour. Call a car detailing service and tell them you need a “mould removal” and see if they are still willing to do it. Hopefully it’s only on the seats, but this implies a major leak.
I mean, summer home at Myrtle Beach screams to me sitting in the car without a towel down while wet constantly
She bought a brand new car just to use at her second home, I think she can probably afford to pay someone to do it for her.
If the seat can't be cleaned you can get new seats
It's on every seat and I imagine in the floor. Gonna be expensive but at least it's not my car so not my problem lol. Sorry mom.
It's gonna need to be deep cleaned and filters changed.
Dehumidifier, ozone machine should kill the mold. Getting all the spores out and cleaning is going to be next to impossible. Getting the smell out even harder
from personal experience on a friends car, it is absolutely possible to get 99.9% of this removed- it’s just time consuming. Leave an ozone machine running with the windows up and AC heat with recycled air on for several hours followed by a carpet/upholstery carpet cleaner over the seats and floors.
It’s not a lot of work, the hardest part is wiping every surface down and cleaning the carpets. A decent carpet cleaner and ozone can be had for ~$150 total
This is how we got smoke smell out of our car. Took a few sessions with the ozone machine but it worked
Depending on the ozone machine a couple hours could do more damage. Most recommend only doing ~15 minite sessions in vehicles.
Mom needs to put in a claim and say she left her windows down on x day when it rained and then she didn’t use it for two weeks later on x day and noticed the mold.
Bring it to a detailer. They‘ll know how to deal with this. It‘ll be cheaper than buying new seats.
Oh no her second car at her second home, how will she afford anything anyway?
It'll always be askew. It will never sit at 12 o'clock
Is this a sopranos reference?
How do you get mold in your car?
well, there’s tons of humidity and moisture near beaches. homes/cars/buildings require alot of cleaning to help prevent mold. his mom didn’t keep up and that’s why the car is moldy
I live in a state that is constantly humid as FUCK. 36 years old. I have never once had mold INSIDE my vehicle. The only time I have ever seen this is people leaving shit open for extended periods of time.
EDIT: Just would like to point out that my first car literally had a HOLE rusted through the passenger floor. I had to scrape the INSIDE of my windshield in winter and, yet, still never had mold IN my car. Lmao.
It’s from going to the beach, and sitting on the seats without towels, in wet bathing suits, and then keeping it locked up for months, without allowing it to properly dry. I live in Myrtle beach, and clean beach houses. This happens to sofas, as well, when people sit their wet asses on the couches, like Neanderthals.
100% user error. You don't just "get mold" like this unless you've fucked up somehow.
happens when a car just sits around with no airflow. mold spores are everywhere
Letting your car sit and never using it would be a form of fucking up. It's bad for the car to sit for many reasons. Mold growing is a byproduct of that.
This is a car left at a beach house that probably only gets visited in the summer so it’s pretty easy if you don’t realize there’s moisture still present.
Yeah we know lol
Left my car 2 months in Raleigh no leaks or anything. Not this bad but white mold everywhere. Brutal cleaning and it came back
How humid is it?
At this exact moment? 82% humidity.
Accurate. 90+ here with near or at 100% humidity for weeks.
In that case you had ventilation…
Florida? 90% humidity is the norm.. I live near the gulf in florida and never had this happen either.
Spores are everywhere.
There’s a water leak somewhere in the car. Maybe a window seal, door seal, or sunroof seal. Water gets in and then can’t get back out because it’s “sealed in”. Mold will grow on softer surfaces when this happens, at least in my experience.
Leave the window open when it rains in a humid environment.
Do what my roommate did who had a leaky sunroof in his old Saturn.
Cover the floor of the car in mulch to absorb the moisture.
If they bought it to be used at Myrtle Beach I could imagine the last person to have used it was wet, then locked the car up somewhere.
Idk man but apparently it happens in the south. I'm from New England. We don't have this problem at home.
I live in Myrtle beach. This is not a “south problem”. This has never happened to my car or anyone I know. It’s from y’all sitting in wet bathing suits without towels, and then locking the car up for months, without allowing it to properly dry. Mold grows where the wet butts were, and then spreads to the rest of the car. This is on your mom and whoever else uses this car. It happens to cars, and couches when you don’t give a fuck about taking precautions.
From the south. This is not common in functioning cars (or even the many non functioning ones I’ve been around tbh). You may not want to believe it but it was probably user error.
This actually just happened to my mom in Massachusetts. Your car is not water proof and it rained, which can happen anywhere. Mold spores are everywhere.
Btw she ended up selling the car because it was like a $9000 problem, so good luck :/
I’ve been down south my whole life and never seen a car like this. I’m willingly to bet your Ma bought a car that already had mold that wasn’t showing. And this isn’t “brand new” like you claim.
Very easily if you live near beaches or other extremely humid places.
Your mom bought a car just to keep at her summer home. Jesus.
Her summer home is at Myrtle Beach. That place is the physical embodiment of meth, cigarettes, and cheap beer
That's where my ex ran off to, I figured that's what's going on over there lol
My parents went there for their honeymoon and took my sister and I there every year from ages 4 to like 19
It's such a shit hole but I have so many fond memories lmao
My family went yearly from before I was born until I was about 15 years old. Like you, fond memories even if it's not the best place on earth. I love it though. The wife and kid went 2 years ago and had a blast!
Yeah now that I'm married I would love to bring my wife there just because it feels like I should. It was such a big part of my life.
But being in Canada I have no interest in going back to the states for the foreseeable future. Hopefully that changes.
Dirty Myrtle aka Dirtle!
That is an internet falsehood. Have you ever been? There are like two separate weeks out of the year where the place gets bombed by trashy bikers, and they aren't even from the area.
It’s still a second home lol
Sounds like they have problems......
First world problems.
I love the conversation about the “horrible severe damage” in the photo,mentioning long hours of deep cleaning, that according to them might not be enough and will need new seats 🤦♂️🤣 like dude it’s mold, have you ever heard of cleaning products/soap,warm water??
Let's be honest......Hell OP or the family ain't cleaning this....Some poor detailer is gonna breathe this stuff in lol
She worked her ass off. She deserves to have luxuries.
For real. People on reddit act like any person who can enjoy luxuries are billionaires who deserve to die.
Good for your mom, and lucky for you.
Lol yeah downvoting like it's my fault my mom bought things.
I think its the absurdity of buying a car just to leave at the summer house to get groceries. Is she arriving by boat? Wouldn’t she drive there in a car that can get groceries?
Airplane??
It's because it doesn't suck for her. It's an inconvenience, but it doesn't suck for her anywhere near as much as it would for the average person. That's why people don't sympathize.
A whole seperate vehicle for a VACATION HOME is not just “a luxury”. That’s the home. The car is a different level of privilege. Most humans in modern era will never experience enough wealth to own their own personal vehicle, yet alone waste the resources to drive two less than full time.
My mom was a teacher. She cleaned houses, tutored, and worked at a general store at the same time. I grew up lower middle class. This isn't the Hamptons it's Myrtle Beach. Lol
And on top of that, cars can be bought for cheap, especially if you dont care what features it has and are patient
People, that live during a housing crisis (who cant afford to own property), will never be sympathetic towards someone with multiple houses. That's the long and the short of it. Add on to that multiple vehicles, and it's understandable why people wouldn't feel like it sucks for someone like that.
Luxuries kick ass when they're used productively.
Buying a car you only use a couple months then let sit in a garage somewhere you presumably don't live, you know, results in the exact image you just posted.
It honestly makes sense. If you have multiple homes that are not within driving distance, how else do you plan on getting around? Just like having 2 sets of furniture and dishes and everything else.
I used to keep a $2000 beater car at families house. If I drove it 2 weeks a year, it was cheaper than a rental. (Rental prices are double other areas).
Cool man, I'll make sure to let my mom know that. I don't really have any say in what she does with her money but I'm sure she'll take your opinion into consideration.
i think dudes are mad that your moms beater mold car is nicer than their owns. Don’t let it get to ya.
"its a brand new car"
Beater?? Lmaoooo I’ve never seen someone call a brand new car a beater
You people are insufferable.
She worked hard her whole life. Made a mistake.
Incoming is your contempt for people who have shit you don’t.
she worked hard her whole life
Um.... this isn't OPs main. Did you switch to a burner and forget to switch back?
Well yea dude I understand why you’re defensive but I also ain’t gonna blame ppl for not having empathy that ur moms second car in her summer home has got mold from lack of use. I mean read the room a lil.
People like your mom are the reason rent and property are so high in Florida and why actual Floridians can't afford a house and have to leave the state.
Do with that as you will. I'm sure you care more about your mom than 7 million people.
Hell yes mom
Don’t be jealous. It’s known as Dirty Myrtle. People literally give disclaimers about why they’re vacationing there.
It won't help now but they make small things called damprid you can buy at home Depot. Might be worth keeping it in the car when it's sitting.
Brand new car, summer house. Looks like you will fine. Sorry for your inconvenience
This was my thought. Darn I guess buy another new car then money bags lol difficult to have sympathy for such a degree of wealth.
ozone generator. it will be harsh on plastics but it will remove/kill all the mold.
Take it to a detailer, it will cost a few hundred but it will be clean and they will apply an anti mold agent. Another good thing to do is place a small eater in the car and a couple Damp Rid devices.
50/50 vinegar & water… from a spray bottle.
Or simple Green pro D. Ask me how I know…..
i will ask u bc i feel ur eager to talk about it. how do yk ? would a steamer be necessary
Had to do something similar. Simple green pro d, scrub brush and sponges worked amazing.
was the smell 100% gone after ?
Hasn’t been long enough yet. Honestly did this about 6 hours ago.
According to Reddit, it must be taken apart completely, all parts professionally cleaned or replaced, and one should fret about it for months since all mold is black mold that will kill you in your sleep.
In the whole entire car? Nah
Not going to cut it
It’s just gonna come back and it’s probably in the vents too
Ok, just trying to help.
Don’t mind them, that would COMPLETELY BE ENOUGH and anyone commenting all this other life and death matters or buying an entire new car/overkill cleaning suggestions are clueless as OP.. Thanks for trying to help 😎
I appreciate the info but this is a professional job. Also not my car, not my problem. Lol
Then why are you posting it here? Doesn't seem to suck at all. It's not your car and it's not your problem.
Cleaning it is not my problem. Not being able to drive it also sucks.
Guy at work bought a salvage car that had been in a flood. Omg. He reeked a moldy musty smell. It was on him, his backpack, his coat. He didn’t smell himself. Mgmt had to talk to him cause it was bad.
happened to my car in England... only took two months for the mold to start growing. she can just use CLR Mold & Mildew to clean it up and keep the mold "at bay"...
Welcome to the south. Vinegar works or lay someone 150$ to detail it for you and then hit it with vinegar. It happens down here.
Mold or no mold. If it runs, I’m driving it. No Ubers for me. Windows down, bleach spray, towels over the seats. That’s my method.
You should clean it for her.
Oh, no. Your poor mother with her brand new car at her beach home. Whatever shall we do?
Eh it's not that bad. Shop vac, sterilizing agents, let the stuff soak, vacuum again, replace the cabin filter, prolly be good as new. Might have to remove the seats though to make sure you get every inch. A solid weekend of work and it would be like it never happened
That type of mold happens in cars around the beach. My parents gave me a Pontiac G6 from our hometown on the eastern shore of MD and I moved it up to PA. Same thing happened.
Hit it with a shit ton of CLR to kill the spores, dab that up after you let it soak. Repeat that quite a few times. Then, just hit it with any febreeze or gain fabric disinfectant. They’re made for killing pet residue, which are just as nasty on a germ and allergen level.
A quick steam clean and some grime wipes be sorted in 30 mins if not quicker.
Air it out - clean it thoroughly. Buy "Damp rid" and hang them in the car moving forward. Happened to me a couple years ago and was told the white mold isn't so bad. Your car will be ok. Change the cabin air filter if the vehicle has one. Generally in back of glove compartment.
Just clean it. Yeah a lot of work but it's not like the car is ruined
Welcome to Florida.
I know someone who had a 2013 Roush Mustang down here for their condo in the Tampa area. It was full of mold. it got flooded during the hurricanes so insurance paid out for it but the cleanup would have been expensive. Car stayed In the garage. I think you have to put a dehumidifier in there. One that empties itself out
Everyone giving advice like they didn’t read the same title I did. Extra car. Summer home. These people don’t need advice. They aren’t cleaning shit. They’ll throw money at it and then everything will be ok.
I recommend looking for the car cleaning video posted by The Outdoor Boys. He came back to a car full of mold too and did a pretty good job cleaning it all by himself.
Ozone machine
Moldmobile
I’m sorry that this happened to your car. Unfortunately, cars need to be driven periodically to prevent mold and mechanical problems.
She’d be better off paying a neighbor to drive the car every two weeks to keep the car in good condition. If she can’t, then she should probably sell the car and just drive when she goes down there, rent a car when she’s there, or have her car shipped cross country.
I had a repair done on my car when my bumper was clipped by a lady running a red light. The repair shop didn’t properly fix the seal on the trunk and then Covid hit and the car sat in the driveway for forever and a day. Because it was the trunk I had NO IDEA but I went to open it up one day and the entire interior was covered in mold including my kids’ car seats. I filed w insurance and because the adjuster could locate the fault seal I was SO LUCKY it was deemed a total loss that was covered because if it wasn’t I would have been just so totally fucked
Man, people really underestimate the ocean and its impact on property. I grew up oceanfront and we had to replace ac units and cars parts often due to salt erosion. Florida has huge issues with mold, especially for people that aren’t present year round.
You can’t just have it cleaned? You’d save more money than ubering…
This may not be the case for you but if the car is parked near or under trees or bushes, there are drain plugs in the firewall that can get plugged.
This happened to my last car. The interior was constantly moldy. After three deep cleanings and new carpet with the mold still coming back, I was about to burn it. Came across some rubber caps, pulled them and about half a pound of debris and nearly as much water flowed out.
That doesn't seem that bad. Cleaning and a ventilation
I wish my family was rich
Run a carfax on the VIN
They don't call it Dyrty Myrtle for nothin'
To prevent it in the future...
I live in a humid place. We keep moisture grabbers in each car now. Have had this happen twice to cars that weren't driven every day and were parked outside.
Something similar happened to my helicopter at my winter home in France.
Well, that sucks.
Why did it happen? We had a beach home and the salt water eats away at everything. We got a brand new washing machine and never used it. When we came back the next year the machine wouldn’t turn on-the tech said the door sensor had corroded and the unit couldn’t tell The door was closed so it wouldn’t turn on. They replaced it. Every year something had to be replaced or painted. The oven is unforgiving.
Summer home...beach or pool access? Possibly someone sat on the cloth seats after being wet? They didn't let the car air/dry out and closed it up for the eco system to grow on her seats?
This isn’t too hard to kill. My wife didn’t drive her car for about 6 months and when I opened it it was much worse than this.
Grab a cloth and wipe it out
Then wipe down everywhere with antibacterial wipes
And then park it somewhere it can be left in the sun
We did this and no mold had come back. Seems like it was all on the surface
There’s a leak somewhere in the vehicle. Find and fix the leak, clean and kill the mold, and continue on as if it never happened.
I'm sure your mom can afford to get the "extra" brand-new car that she bought exlclusively for use at her expensive vacation property detailed. Boohoo. Guess you'll just have to Uber. I'm so sorry. You must be so upset.
Oh no! Not her extra car at her extra house!!
Thanks, I just ate some moldy blueberries..
We had a sunroof leak and put a couple of those moisture absorber tubs inside, it sucked up a ton of water (after we shop vacuumed it well and let it air out as much as we could). Your mom might want to put a few in when it’s sitting
Mine did this a couple times. I had kids so the car sat outside for years barely moving. I would keep the big buckets of damp rid in there and that would help a little bit as soon as they were saturated mildew or mold would start to form.
To clean it i would lysol wipe everything and then use one of those spot carpet cleaner vacuums and clean the seats and carpet. Park it out in the hot sun if you can to dry it out really well. This is likely not best practice but it's what I do for an occasional drive. Pondered trying an ozone generator.
Mine also smells like dead rat since one died under the hood so I gotta figure out how to clean that too.
First world problems.
First world problems. Spray and wipe or use a wetvac
Call insurance, if it's elsewhere, the car might be totaled.
If it’s a new car, take it back where she bought it from. There’s obviously a problem with the foam in the seat if it did this. It could be a recall issue that needs addressing. Not only is it gross, it’s a biohazard.
You so kind assuming she didn't do anything like spill the drink or something
Brand new car. Specifically for use at the summer home in Myrtle Beach.
Y’all can afford the uber fees lol
People out here starving with two jobs and OPs mom got a summer car for her summer home 😂
If you have comprehensive coverage your insurance may just total it.
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Rough life
That car has been swimming.
Kia sorento?
My car has been in Myrtle Beach for 24 hours. I can't believe how cloudy my windows and mirrors are.
If you want to save the car and not rid yourself of it, I wrote a guide on what to do in such a case. Someone else on this sub found their car interior moldy just like this. And I took the time to write a safety guide on how to treat the interior so the car is safe to use and drive again without you risking some disease.
Here's the link to the comment. Made sure to write clearly and to not miss any vital steps in the process.
Perhaps silly question, but is running a car idle for 2 hours bad for the car? I feel like I remember someone telling me once upon a time that running a car while not driving it isn’t good for the engine
Nah. The engine won’t mind in the slightest. Way easier on it than running highway speeds for that long and they are built to run. Very possibly back in the past some engines might have oil pressure issues and things like that at low rpm and might eventually get damaged but anything newer than like 1990 should be fine
thank you!
Some modern vehicles still have this issue, albeit rare
cough cough hemi’s cough cough
Iirc, mostly big block engines, like 6+ litre. Mainly diesel I think
I left my Lexus running for 12 hours overnight once and it was fine lol
Was that so the battery didn’t die?
If the engine is running, it’s charging the battery.
I am pretty sure he meant to run the ozone machine for 2 hours. Not the car.
Number 5. Says start the car and recirculate blasting AC for 2 hours. The verdict seems to be that it’s fine to let the car run anyhow, my information must’ve been hella outdated
Oh you’re right
Thank you