Moonroof Soaking - No easy solution

2012 Prius Four purchased new in Feb '13. 3 months ago, the moonroof was open when 1" of rain fell in about 10 minutes. Discovered it the next morning - puddles in the backseat foot area - both sides but mostly the drivers side. Got to work with a wet vac and pulled a lot of water out. Spent several hours on it. Next several days were dry and sunny so I left the car open all day with all doors and hatchback open.

All electronics worked fine, the carpets were now dry and I though I'd dodged the moldy bullet. 1 month or so later, I noticed the first hints of mold/mildew. Bought drying crystals (DampRid) and over the next month I was convinced the smell was going away.

This weekend, we decided we needed to take the Prius on a 7-hour drive this coming Wednesday (the first BIG trip). At the same time my wife said that she has noticed the mold smell on my work clothes when I first arrive home each day. My nose had gotten too used to it and I guess I was in denial.

This morning, I pulled out the backseat, unbolted and removed the drivers and passenger front seats as well as the center console and removed the carpet. Here is a photo (after I put the drivers side back in).

Found the source - the subcarpet behind the drivers seat was sopping (though the top was dry) and smelled very moldy. All of the other sections of the carpet were dry and didn't smell at all - it appears that the wet vac worked fine on all of the other areas, but the worst puddle was behind the drivers set (the car was on a slight slant toward that side when the deluge hit).

I removed the subcarpet by pulling the felt-like material away from the bottom of the carpet, then scraped it with a knife (like a tanner) to take away as much as possible. Then sprayed the underneath area with Mildex generously. Here is a photo with the carpet wrapped around an old refrigerator and a worklight on it to dry it out. After an hour it was toasty dry.

I'll put it all back together tonight and keep my fingers crossed that my new car will smell normal again. After our trip on Wednesday I'll know for sure and will post an update here.

John