FridgeFreezer Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Came across this, a lesson for any of us who park vehicles up for extended periods! And some useful cleaning tips in the comments section Story time: Photos: https://imgur.com/a/rIFBfFY Quote My Land Rover LR3 has been parked in my garage since July due to some suspension issues. We haven't really paid any attention to it since we have other cars, but we did turn it over once every few weeks. I have been driving my other truck to take my daughter to school ever since my Rover has been out of commission. My other truck is parked in the driveway, so we usually walk through the garage every morning, passing by my Rover. This morning as we passed by it, I noticed that the steering wheel looked like it had melted! I was in shock thinking that it hasn't been that hot in the garage and leather doesn't melt like that so I opened the drivers side door to inspect the steering wheel. It didn't melt like I had suspected. It was mold. Not your every day, 'oops we forgot to eat the bread and it's green now' mold. It's next level, dripping, waving, multicolored mold. All over the inside of my beautiful, immaculate leather interior. It looks like my truck decided to venture into the upside down and bring a little of it back with it. Mold draped over my steering wheel, arm rests, and head rests. Fluffy strings of mold hanging off the carpet on the back of the middle seats. Mold crawling up the seat belts into the roof. Mold spots on my light tan headliner. Disgusting mold everywhere. I couldn't believe it. What in the holy ones name happened to my friggin car! I literally started it a week before and it was fine! It did smell a little funky but I chalked it up to being garaged for months. Now it is destroyed. While searching through the truck to find out if maybe we left something wicked gross in there, we found two empty two gallon jugs of water. And then I remembered. Before we garaged it, we took it to the grocery store to stock up on groceries for an upcoming camping trip on the fourth of July. We would have taken it camping but the suspension started acting up at the store so we decided to leave it so we weren't stuck in BFE without a ride home. We thought we took everything out to put it in the other truck, however we forgot two 2 gallon jugs of water that were in the middle seat on the floor. They were now both empty. Four gallons of water had slowly leaked into my truck for months and we hadn't a clue. Until this morning. My poor truck is now ruined. Words of advice: Never leave an excess of 2 small bottles of water in your car for an extended period of time. If your garaged car smells funky, investigate the smell. Don't delay repairs. Just fix your car and be done with it. Don't ignore your car. Always have full coverage insurance. Always check your backseat for forgotten groceries. TL;DR Today I ****ed up by leaving 4 gallons of water in my car for over 3 months, which all leaked out, causing extensive mold damage throughout the entire interior, likely totaling my car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Why should they leak ... but what a numpty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 The irony being that it wouldn't happen in a Defender - the various panel gaps would ensure adequate ventilation! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutley Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 2 hours ago, Retroanaconda said: The irony being that it wouldn't happen in a Defender - the various panel gaps would ensure adequate ventilation! And DRAINAGE!!! :)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 I'm not sure the water could have caused this. Not without some mould or such already being in the car. I've left cars outside for years, without paying much attention and they still look OK inside. I do try to open the doors from time to time on a sunny day. On the other hand, I'd never just start a car for no reason, rather just disconnect the battery and/or attach a charger. Filip 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 Depends what your ambiant temp is with the moisture I guess. I've seen this (not quite to this extent mind) in 3 different Discovery 1's the steering wheel likes to go first then seats/seat covers then usually the head liner. that's with a standard rusty floor letting moisture in and it sat out in an exposed area open to the sun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cackshifter Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 Good look for Halloween though. Every cloud... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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