First Winter Question

This is eerie! I just turned on my computer and went immediately to this site, planning to post this exact question!! In forty-some years of driving I have never, until this morning, had to scrape the inside of my windshield. What gives???

 

Yep, can be normal in any car. 17 is quite cold, and there was moisture inside and outside the car. Happens to me sometimes because I leave open cans of water in the cupholder. If you want to try to get rid of some of the moisture inside, you can run the AC.

 

Source of water inside the car is most likely from wet carpets -- snow coming off shoes onto the carpet. And, if the temperature drop is abrupt, the windshield is likely colder than the carpets. In other words, the carpets are relatively "warm" and evaporate water into the car's interior.

 

Sounds plausible but..this morning's circumstances were far from unique. Surely I have tracked snow into cars before and surely it has been cold before and no, I don't have any open cups or bottles evaporating into the cabin. Could the C just be that much more "airtight" than all the other cars I've owned?

 

Could the climate control be spending too much time in 'Recirculate', retaining more moisture inside than your previous cars?

In winter with outdoor parking, I have had to actively manage interior moisture in every car I've ever owned. Flush the damp air outside, sometimes even pull damp floormats into the house overnight to dry.

 

I never use recirculate because the C is very prone to inside condensation, in my experience. This was true for the A/C, I can only believe it would be the same for heat.

So my guess is that you use recirculate or don't use the climate control very much (no doubt to keep the mpgs from falling.)

 

Reasonable guesses but, in my case, not correct.

 

A/C will leave gobs of moisture in the system, regardless of it's set to fresh or recirc. Just try switching it off after it's been running for some time: you'll be battling fogging for the next few kilometers (or miles ).

 

A/C was not a factor.

 

I'm wondering if the Prius has the typical cabin-air exhaust ports at the rear of the vehicle.

 

Why would you have to scrape the inside of your windshield? Turn on the front defroster and let the car do it's thing.

 

Are you saying that the fresh/recirculate setting has no affect on how much your windows will fog up? And running the a/c will fog your windows? Really? That has not been my experience.

 

On other vehicles I've had this issue from leaving the vents open, which lets moisture in even if the inside of the vehicle is mostly dry. It's in the teens this morning here, I won't be surprised if I have this same issue when I leave for work soon.

 

Verrrry interesting!
Since this exchange, I've spoken to three other people (not Prius owners) who reported the same thing yesterday morning. None could remember it happening before.We had wet snow all day Tuesday then a very cold night. I guess that combination made this possible.

 

My V just did this yesterday - - no obvious water inside, doors and windows shut of course, yet the whole windshield was iced over. Running the defrost, A/C etc is hardly an answer - - I didn't have time to wait 10-15 minutes for it to clear. There has to be something wrong for this to happen. I have calls and emails into the dealer, Toyota on FB, and everywhere else I can think of.

 

It took me 10-15 minutes on defrost! I can't do that every morning ! Wastes time, gas, battery. There needs to be a fix by Toyota!

 

Certain Prius owners have complained about dual images and ghosting when looking through their windshields. I have to wonder if there is something in the windshield construction that is causing both of these issues?

 

In the climates where I have lived, it has happened on everything, including Ford, Chevy, Rambler, International, Honda, Acura, and Subaru, not just Toyota. It is something the driver needs to learn to manage.

Ice scrapers and towels can be used inside too. But don't leave the damp towel in the car, as the moisture will evaporate and then re-freeze on the windshield another morning.

 

Normal if you have moisture inside the car to freeze. When you use cabin heat, let it be with A/C to dry the air in the cabin. I've had inside frost too, it melts with heat and defrost. Scrape if you must, but it's difficult on the concave inside glass.