MK4 sunroof leaks covered by new campaign

[coalminer16]

It is wishful thinking. The sunroof will still "leak" some since the glass doesn't sit on a seal. The edges are close to sealing but water still gets by.

 

[HoneyBeetle]

I had water ingress issues that got worse due to clogged sunroof drains. I don't seem to have issues with the seal, from what I noticed. But, I'm not experienced enought to know. I'm having the Beetle checked and repaired as needed.

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

I never had leaks in my 2003 Jetta wagon sunroof, but I had the mod done anyway. Water once dripped out of the light in the passenger side vanity mirror. That was interesting.

 

[HoneyBeetle]

Too bad I didn't enter my appearance at the hearing on the ingress class action being heard in New Jersey later this July. Is anyone going to the class action hearing?

 

[BigBadThor]

Has anyone gotten a notice up there?
If not, the likelihood of getting a class action started up there is pretty good now.

I didn't get a notice, probably because I just bought the car a few months ago and I wasn't in VW's database yet (now rectified), but because of this thread I phoned my local dealer and they said yes, there was a service bulletin on this issue and I took it in and had it done. I don't know why anyone wouldn't; it's free and eases your mind. I had an issue with water draining into my 1993 Honda Civic Si years ago....I don't want to ever go through that again.

 

[maketoast]

I just got my notice last week... then we had heavy rain Friday and I had a puddle on the drivers side floor. Just bought the car a month ago. I used a wet-dry vac, but the car has started to smell. Has anyone had success in getting VW to take care of the water in the carpet? It would probably be better for them to address the problem now rather than wait for the floor to rust out...

 

[ethan12horn]

i forgot all my paper work back 500 miles away and am now getting my clogged drains taken care of at home. My car has the musty smell and im considering taking action on getting the carpet replaced. Can someone help me get a number or let me know who to contact on this?

 

[ZipiTDi]

I just did the stuff needed myself. I wasn't going to bother with the long drive to the dealer. Found both of my front drain hoses were kinked and not letting water through. It doesn't rain much here and my wife is the main driver. I checked it after she called me when it did rain and said there was standing water in the rear pass side floor. I think I am good and since it is so dry here I don't think I will have to worry much about mold.

CoalMiner16:

You have to be very careful if you are cleaning the drains yourself. You could accidentally puncture them and/or pull them loose a little bit or more. After looking at the ones they modified on our Jetta, they actually cut them off at an angle, leaving only about an inch of the drain sticking out from the door area.
If you or your wife have seen standing water on top of the carpet in the rear passenger side, then you have had water in it before, and the padding under the carpet is still wet and not drying out. The pad cannot absorb anymore water and that's why you can sometimes see the water on top of the carpet. The under padding can't dry out either as it's never exposed to air and sun to dry out. The only part that dries is the carpet on top.

When I brought my daughter's Jetta back from WA state in early June, I went through WY on I-80 and it rained almost the whole way, including over night in Creston, when it poured and hailed too. I know it doesn't rain all that much in WY in the summer, but you can get enough heavy rains to make the situation bad enough to warrant carpet and pad replacement. It's free to you courtesy of VW, so why not get it.

Take it to the closet VW dealer and tell them what you've seen in the past. Also tell them you are sometimes smelling a foul, musty odor. If you can smell that, you have mold growing somewhere where you can't see it, likely it's under the carpet in the padding. Tell them you not only want the carpet and pad replaced, and the drains cleaned and modified, but also an interior cleaning to remove the moldy smell, AFTER they remove the old carpet and pad, and BEFORE they put in the new one.

 

[ZipiTDi]

I have an 03 Jetta and have never had any problem with a leak. Im confused about this drainage system. It appears to me that as long as the sunroof is closed there is no way water could get in around it. Is this true or just wishful thinking? I really dont see any reason to go the dealer if Iver never had any problems, just seems like something they could screw up.

You may not know you've had water leaking in unless you lift up the carpet to see if the padding is wet. Also, smell your carpet for the moldy smell (smells like a wet dog). It can take several incidences of water leaking in before the padding is so soaked that it can't absorb anymore water. That's when it begins to show up on top of the carpet. That was what happened with our Jetta.

We never saw water in the car when it was in Colorado, but we did have the wet dog, moldy smell. My daughter took the Jetta to college in WA state last fall and 3 months later is when she first saw mold growing on the cloth seats, headrests, door panels, etc., and water on the back passenger floor area. We had the carpet and pad replaced, tried to have the leak found, and the mold was cleaned up. The repair company wasn't the dealer. They couldn't find the source of the leak.

A month later, there was water on the carpet again and mold growing again. Car went back to repair shop who cleaned it again, but didn't replace the carpet again. 2 months later, more water on the floor. That was why I brought it back to Colorado to deal with it here. Got my insurance co. involved again. They contacted VW and all was replaced and cleaned and fixed.

Sent all repair bills to the administration co. handling the claims. Hopefully, all will be reimbursed and this will be the end of it.

 

[ZipiTDi]

ZipiTDI, did you get your VW repaired yet? Did you file your claim?
I got a class action notice in May, same as everyone else.
I've had damage from water ingress due to clogged sunroof drains. HopefulFred, who was kind enough to help me resolve the issue this past winter.
I contacted the Administrator today to ask a couple of questions about compensation and choice of repair shop.

HoneyBeetle,
Yes, I got our Jetta back from the local VW dealer last week. Another new carpet and pad replacement, and the drains were cleaned and modified. If you've got mold issues too, make sure they see it. Take pictures of the damage, for your records. Might as well have the dealer to do the repair so VW can pay for it. You shouldn't have to pay for it, at this point. Filed my claim last week too, but haven't heard anything back from the claims admin.

 

[ZipiTDi]

i forgot all my paper work back 500 miles away and am now getting my clogged drains taken care of at home. My car has the musty smell and im considering taking action on getting the carpet replaced. Can someone help me get a number or let me know who to contact on this?

I posted this at the beginning of the thread but here it is again:

Make sure VW of American, VW or whatever country you live in, knows you own your car, especially if you bought it used. Call them to register it in your name; btw, you'll need the VIN. You can find the phone number online. Make sure you call during regular business hours.

Then call the Settlement Administrators: 1-877-740-6992., or go here:
http://wateringresssettlement.com to find out if your car is in one of the classes listed. Looking on the website can be more difficult. Better hurry tho as the deadline for filing in tomorrow, July 23, tho you might be able to get an extension if you call today and ask for that. The Settlement Admin's office is in MN and I think they close at 4 PM midwest time.

 

[TooDooIoo]

Now that the settlement is over, I still have a moldy smell in the car. Anyone have a cheaper way to get rid of the smell? I have tried about a gallon of febreeze, baking soda, lysol.

I'm thinking have the carpet pulled by a car stereo place. Get it and the pad cleaned by a professional and sprayed with some sort of anti-fungal. Have the inside of the car steam cleaned. Put the pad back in?

How much would it cost me to have the carpet replaced.

I would have had it done already, but have been putting it off and didn't realize the deadline fot the settlement was coming.

 

[coalminer16]

It was only the front drains that were kinked in my case. I didn't have to send anything through to clean them. I just took the duck bill thing out of the door area and found that it was kinked. It was right after a rain and there was water since the car was parked downhill. Once I cut the kink out (too much hose from the factory). it sprayed out-both sides. The rears weren't clogged but I did cut the dick bill parts to prevent clogging. I don't have a wet dog smell other then when my dog is wet. It hasn't gotten wet many times as the car has to be parked downhill to have the issue. WY is extremely dry year round. The snow almost evaporates in the winter more then in melts on the streets. There isn't much rain that is in the state and it is just plain dry air here. I don't have an issue with my carpet and the padding. I haven't had floor mats in the rear since I bought the car since I never have passengers and my little one is still in the car seat (the baby one)

 

[ZipiTDi]

Now that the settlement is over, I still have a moldy smell in the car. Anyone have a cheaper way to get rid of the smell? I have tried about a gallon of febreeze, baking soda, lysol.

I'm thinking have the carpet pulled by a car stereo place. Get it and the pad cleaned by a professional and sprayed with some sort of anti-fungal. Have the inside of the car steam cleaned. Put the pad back in?

How much would it cost me to have the carpet replaced.

I would have had it done already, but have been putting it off and didn't realize the deadline for the settlement was coming.

I wouldn't let a car stereo place to do something like this. Tho they may know how to remove and replace carpet, they are not trained in flood / mold remediation work. The job would likely expose the employees doing the work, and yourself too, to what could be dangerous mold spores. Just drying the carpet and pad, then spraying them with anti-fungal also won't kill the mold permanently.

If you smell mold, the spores are floating around inside the car and in your a/c / heating system, hence the need to do more than just replace the carpet and pad. The reason your car still smells like mold, even though the carpet may appear dry, is because the padding, which is under the carpet and attached to it as well, has been wet for a long time and is harboring the mold, mold roots and the mold spores. Anytime the carpet padding gets wet again, or it's humid outside or in your car, the mold will likely grow again and the smell will return. I know this from personal experience with my Jetta, and in my home's basement. I just threw out the carpet and padding from my basement, after a second flood down there in 6 years started the mold growing again. Next, I have to remove all the baseboard and door trim that grew mold, and the bottom half of the dry walled walls that got wet too.

The carpet padding in your car is made of jute, a natural substance. All molds have roots that entangle themselves into any porous substance (wood, rubber, rocks, fabrics, wall boards, etc.). The only way to permanently stop the mold from returning is to toss out the old carpet and attached padding, clean the interior, upholstery, and floor under the padding with proper chemicals to kill the mold (bleach is not recommended for obvious reasons), and put in new carpet and padding. Baking soda, FaBreeze and/or Lysol can't do this. This will also require running ozone through the a/c system (a detail shop can do this for you or you can do it yourself). A certified mold remediation detail shop should be able to do all this too.

Now, you're likely thinking, "Why can't I/they use the same chemicals on the carpet and pad as are used in cleaning the upholstery of mold?." Well, the answer is because the cloth upholstery and carpet are made of man-made fabrics (usually a nylon and/or polyester blend); but, as I said before, the carpet padding is natural jute. The man-made fabrics don't allow the mold to stick around like the jute does. However, from my own experience, I have seen the mold regrow on our Jetta's seats 1 month after the first cleaning was done, hence the reason it needed a second cleaning and a longer drying time. Still, the smell persisted, since the flooding continued to happen and so the mold kept coming back too.

I'm not sure how much it would cost to do what you plan to, but I suggest you talk first with your car insurance company's claims office. Also, talk to several professional carpet cleaning service and disaster remediation companies for estimates on doing the work. They are trained to handle fire and water damaged homes and cars, and have the proper chemicals to do the mold clean up work. You should also call your VW dealer for an estimate on carpet replacement. Another place to try is car detail shops and auto body repair shops that might do this work. It took me a number of calls to get it all lined up.

When I first had the issue with the mold and wet carpet, I called my auto insurance company about it. They told me to take the car to an auto body shop who also sent the car to a detail shop that specialized in mold remediation. But they also replaced the carpet and pad. This was before the lawsuit became known to all of us. Unfortunately, the reason for the water ingress wasn't known at that time by us. When water invaded again and more mold grew, it went back to the same shop for another cleaning, but no carpet replacement. However, water was still coming in regularly and so the mold kept returning too.

After getting the water ingress notice, I called my insurance company again, because the car was still taking on water and mold was growing again, and insisted they step in and deal with VW directly. They did. This time my local dealer replaced the carpet and pad, cleaned and modified the sunroof drains, and cleaned the mold up, on their dime.

 

[jasongind]

Resurrecting an Oldie.

Was anyone ever successful at getting VW to pay for a new headliner or carpet that were water damaged after the lawsuit closed? Now that there is actually sun here in WA state, I noticed it looks like a ring around the opening of the sunroof where it got wet at one time. I called VWoA and they said I still can have the drains cleaned. So I plan on doing so. Just wondering if I can get the headliner replaced before I go to get the drains cleaned.

 

[vdubdezl]

how long does it take them to check/clean drains?? I'll have to have my wife take my car in because I work out of town and have no dealer in the town I work in.

 

[xepperpotamus]

Can someone help out my non-litigiously minded brain and confirm that if you missed the recall window, you're out of luck for any fix on their dime?

The phrasing in the suit is "YOU WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR REIMBURSABLE REPAIRS. HOWEVER YOU WILL STILL RECEIVE THE REVISED MAINTENANCE SCHEDULES. YOU WILL STILL GIVE UP YOUR RIGHTS TO BE PART OF ANY OTHER LAWSUIT ABOUT THE CLAIMS IN THIS CASE." if you didn't postmark by July 23 of last year.

Does that mean they won't cover carpets damaged by water leakage or they won't cover the drain cleaning at all? Yesterday I went to get a bag out of the hatch of my 2001 Golf and it was totally soaked. I lifted up the spare tire cover and there was mycelium growing on the bottom of it! I'm fine with that not being replaced (even though it's nasty!) but would love to have the problem fixed.

 

[Jon Linn]

Does anyone remember if there was a time limit on the recall? My drain just started leaking today,
Thanks

 

[coalminer16]

I took my car in for the glow plug recall and they did there thing on the drains (even though I already did it myself) this past december. That is all I can tell you.

 

[CGDoig]

Applies to Canada as well, got it done on Friday. Dealer said its a 10 minute mod.

 

[JDub8]

Time limit for me was December in either 2011 or 2012 - i forget. Either way take it in and find out.

 

[ChiTDI]

Took about an hour today. They even washed it to check!

 

[jimnms]

The fix definitely works. A couple of weeks ago it was hot and humid, so while at the gym I let the sunroof tilted up to vent while I was inside. I checked the weather that morning and there was a 10% chance of rain.

I heard it raining while inside, but didn't think anything about it. Right before I was about to leave, I looked outside and it wasn't raining anymore, but it was cloudy. I ran to the bathroom, but when I came out it was pouring down rain, the wind was blowing hard with thunder and lightning. I decided to wait for it to slack off before leaving. About 10 minutes later I remembered I left the sunroof up. The rain and wind was blowing so hard I couldn't even see the parking lot, and it began to drop dime sized hail, there was no way I wasn't going to go out in that.

Finally after another 10 minutes, the wind died down and the rain slacked up enough that I could make a break for it. I was expecting to find my car flooded, but to my surprise there was not a single drop of water in it.

 

[Jon Linn]

Yes, It was fixed for free. I found my official documents that were sent out May 2010 and it was only to be honored through the end of 2010. I am just glad the dealer fixed it for free. But they didn't or don't want to fix the headliner stain from the water.

Jonathan

 

[79TA7.6]

I now have a mildew smell in my car and I am highly allergic to molds and mildew. VWoA told me that it was up to the discression of the dealer as to whether the carpet should be replaced. Of course the dealer said that the carpet dried out nicely, but said the mildew smell will eventually be gone. I told them of my allergies and they told me that did not matter, they were not replacing the carpet. I absolutely hate APPLEWAY VW in Spokane. They are crap.

 

[alloztome]

First-if you check the settlement site it says that the legal fees were challenged and until that is settled no more claims are being paid.

I have a 2001 Golf that I bought from a club member-it smelled funky when it was damp/humid outside but not that bad.

Irene blew through here, then we had a few more days of rain-I came out and found about an inch of rain in the drivers side-both front and back. I got as much out as I could but the next day was just as bad-and the Smell was Rank.

Brought it to the dealership, told my story-they fixed the drains, then called VW about the carpeting. I am having new carpet and padding installed on Thursday at N/C. The drain repair was free too.


The service guy told me they usually remove the carpet and padding, dry it, clean it with baking soda and it's fine. In this case he agreed with me about the stink-so I'm getting new carpet. I don't know what caused it but the carpet smells like cat pee. My cat was very interested in the wet towels I used to sop up the water.

 

[SMUG SLUG]

First-if you check the settlement site it says that the legal fees were challenged and until that is settled no more claims are being paid.

I have a 2001 Golf that I bought from a club member-it smelled funky when it was damp/humid outside but not that bad.

Irene blew through here, then we had a few more days of rain-I came out and found about an inch of rain in the drivers side-both front and back. I got as much out as I could but the next day was just as bad-and the Smell was Rank.

Brought it to the dealership, told my story-they fixed the drains, then called VW about the carpeting. I am having new carpet and padding installed on Thursday at N/C. The drain repair was free too.


The service guy told me they usually remove the carpet and padding, dry it, clean it with baking soda and it's fine. In this case he agreed with me about the stink-so I'm getting new carpet. I don't know what caused it but the carpet smells like cat pee. My cat was very interested in the wet towels I used to sop up the water.

who in Ct did you bring it to??
i went to old saybrook and they did not even do the service correctly - i still getting water in the car. maybe their fix was not enough? should I bring it some where and make them fix it - or should i try the coat hanger fix they suggested?