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    civicdriver06 New Member

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    I have finally purchased a 2012 european Prius and i absolutly love this car exept for a major design flaw it has .
    Every time i drive in rain or on wet streets the doorsills get messed up !
    I just can´t believe that Toyota didn´t notice this on several testdrives before bringing the car to market .
    I never ever had this in any car i drove before !
    I own a blizzard pearl and it´s very annoying !
    Has anybody found a solution for the problem ?
    Last edited by civicdriver06, Jun 28, 2012
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    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Additional weather stripping along the door channels? Another member did this to reduce wind noise. I noticed it too and it is very annoying.
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    spiderman wretched

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    Our 97 Camry did the same thing... in fact all my Toyota's have.
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    ny_rob Active Member

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    I've noticed it on my BP Five too.... annoying? Yes. Major design flaw? Hardly.
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    WE0H My 1st Prius & my 17th anniversary present

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    Anyone got a picture to show what your talking about? I don't drive my car in the rain but my wife will be driving her's next season rain or shine. If there is a mod to do I would like to see what needs fixing :)
    tnx,
    Mike [IMG]
    Last edited by WE0H, Jun 29, 2012
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    xliderider Active Member

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    Yep, same here. 99 Camry, 2010 Camry, and 2011 Prius all get dirty door sills after driving in the rain. Our 98 Nissan Pathfinder and 2004 Quest also had this problem.
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    RRxing Active Member

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    Dirty door sills? Oh, the humanity!
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    SageBrush Senior Member

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    How! terrible! for! OP!
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    yeldogt Member

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    Some cars do this better than other by having two weather strips -- this keeps the inner ring around the door clean so you don't get dirty when you enter/exit. Years ago this was less of an issue because the doors were larger and the sill was higher and smaller. With the lower rail on some many cars growing they should have a second seal.
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    xliderider Active Member

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    There are drain holes on the bottom of the doors to drain away water that runs down the windows and gets by the "felt" seal at the top edge of the door. If there are seals down at the bottom of the door, the water will get trapped there and not drain out.
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    TWong1200 Junior Member

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    Yeah, I'd like to know too. Unsure what's being described here.
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    spiderman wretched

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    Pic attached. This is really clean for mine, but you get the idea. 20120629_061754.jpg
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    katiesdad7 Member

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    That's nothing compared to the dirty floor mat. :)
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    The Broz New Member

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    So is the complaint that rain causes that area to get dirty? If so, my 2000 Camry has this as well - I guess I kind of thought that all cars did. If that is the issue, take a wet rag to it and get over it. Chalk it up to stuff getting dirty sometimes.
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    xliderider Active Member

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    I know right? A lot of cheese could be served with the whine in this thread.
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    David Beale Senior Member

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    Funny! "I drive my car in the rain and it gets dirty." Well Duh!
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    car compulsive Active Member

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    Many cars have this design as the door sills have become wider due to side impact protection. Some sills get dirtier than others. I wash the sills every time I wash the car.
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    jabecker driver of Prii since 2005

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    I drive in the rain pretty constantly. I take my car to a car wash where they go over it, inside and out, including the sills. The only time I see the sills is when the doors are open and I'm getting in or out, and I'm not usually looking in that direction. If someone else sees my sills and thinks "ewwwww dirty!" then I have a few most unladylike phrases for them. :D
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    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North

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    Yeah it is annoying (though it shows up less on my Blue Ribbon Metallic). It's just the design of the door. I suspect it may be for side impact protection (a reinforced side sill). Toyota has a few models that do have the door go over the sill (the current Highlander IIRC).
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    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    Hmm...judging from the picture, I'd be forced to say that almost every vehicle I have ever owned has evidently had this "Major Design Flaw". Guess I always just thought of it as "Life".

    My expectations are not that the closed space between the door and the interior will remain pristine and clean. I don't consider that a visible part of the interior, even if it isn't a visible part of the exterior most of the time, therefore, I wouldn't expect Toyota to go to the trouble of adding weight, or designing protection to keep that area clean.

    But I suppose you or anyone are free to be annoyed by this....My solution would be....a rag or sponge applied occasionally.

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