Went to the garage yesterday morning and found my car like this
765 comments · 97% upvoted · source · other discussions
comments
sapphic-slut
zabian333
Bruh. Is this fixable? Moldy people pls tell me
LS25-User
As a Car Cleaner with good Steam Cleaner and Time? Yep! It definitley is
Ezzy77
Ozone generator to finish it up.
LS25-User
Exactly
TheDabberwocky
Sheep-Shepard
Doesn’t ozone eat through the plastic trim and make it all sticky?
Mindshard
Yeah, the steam will feed the roots while ozone will damage the plastic and corrode the metal.
I'm speaking from the perspective of someone who managed a business, one side of which was professional detailing, and we worked for every local dealership and insurance. I can tell you the provincial insurance (ICBC) would tell us not to touch it and have the client file a claim so it can be written off.
Surface mold is like the tip of an iceberg. You only see the smallest bit, the root system is the real issue. A steam cleaner especially will just cause a bigger bloom later on, because the steam cools as it goes into the foam where all the roots are, and simply feeds it.
DontTrustASloth
ded-rater
do you think its not possible to save?
if you strip everything off like the seats and carpet, clean them separately, will it come back?
Mindshard
Anything is possible, but who is going to spend $30K+ on a $10K car? That's really what it comes down to, because it's just not permanently fixable without massive, massive work. Mold spores will hide everywhere (at much higher rates than normal environmental levels) after a bloom.
SwimOk9629
shit, 30k? give me 1k and a cooler full of Glacier Freeze Gatorade and I'll get it done lickety split
0CldntThnkOfUsrNme0
I hate to be that guy but the "roots" is the actual body of the fungus. The visible stuff we see is the fruiting reproductive parts of the fungus—of all fungi really—the fungi's dick basically. I completely understand why you chose the word "roots" to describe what's going here. But you are completely correct. You're only getting rid of the stuff on the surface. The body of the fungi runs deep into whatever substrate its growing out of.
ButterflyDesperate36
How much would it cost?
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Ezzy77
It's perfectly fine. Thorough wash with cleaners meant for mold, steamer and afterwards the killer, ozone generator. Zero mold left alive.
Triairius
Yeah, mold is actually treatable. Though I’d have a professional do it, just in case.
Kletterfreund161
Same. Or use a papr to protect your lungs if you do it yourself
echoshatter
Or use a papr to protect your lungs if you do it yourself
.... if you can afford a PAPR that's actually worth a damn, you can afford to hire a professional service to do it right.
Mindshard
Ozone generators, and ozone in general is extremely corrosive. It melts and cracks plastic and corrodes metal.
The business I used to manage, one side of the business was detailing vehicles, and I can tell you because we worked with insurance claims all the time, this is a write-off.
Surface mold is nothing. The roots go way down, and you'll never get them all. This car is done.
The roots are why bleach is useless on a porous surface, all it does it gives water to the roots.
No insurance company on the planet would try to save this.
[deleted]
What a ridiculously false comment with 500 upvotes. You absolutely can clean this out and kill the remaining spores, there are plenty of videos of auto upholstery mold remediation out there.
Mindshard
I can tell you from personal experience. I used to run a business, and one side did vehicle detailing and worked directly with insurance.
This vehicle would be an instant write-off.
You'll never get the roots out of the foam seats. Eventually the anti-fungal sprays wear off enough. Ozone is extremely corrosive and melts and cracks plastic and rusts metal. I know. We had 4 ozone generators. They'll get rid of smells and bacteria, but mold is a whole other story.
Every single vehicle brought to us with mold even half this amount, I'd refuse it and tell them to just call insurance, and every time they'd get it paid out.
Surface mold is like the tip of an iceberg. The root system that you aren't seeing is the real fungus, and you'd have to basically burn the car to get rid of that.
I've seen insurance try to cheap out on everything you can imagine, but mold is the one constant that they'd pay out and just write the vehicle off every time it was anywhere near this.
eagleeye1031
This car is 100% totalled.
You would have to throw out literally everything that isnt plastic or metal in the trash and buy them new to make this car not be a biohazard.
The cost of that definitely exceeds what the car looks to be worth.
georgelaker
Bruhhh how long has it been sitting there ?!?!
towerfella
seiscuatro64 [OP]
belive it or not a week or so
BittaminMusic
“Or so” is equivalent to 2 years
Impossible-Tank-1969
Im guessing OP lives in a very humid area and you don’t?
BittaminMusic
I’m literally in Florida right now lmfao
Impossible-Tank-1969
Interesting. Im also in the southeast but not as far south as you. I can see how this could happen in a week if the car got damp and then was enclosed- it’s been hot here this week!
BittaminMusic
There has to be multiple factors that occurred to get OPs car looking like this.ive never seen anything like it before!
sasstermind
I’ve see this happen in more humid areas of SEA, it can happen pretty fast.
Fantastic_Speed_4638
I never had a mold problem (in my car) in South Florida. Within two months of living in Seattle, I had to get an ozone generator and deep clean my seats for mold lol.
SubstantialBelly6
As someone with ADHD I can confirm that this is 100% accurate
Triairius
It might not be sealed or have water in the doors or something. My car got mold because the seal on the doors had a gap and the doors would fill with water when it rained.
Fine-Bumblebee-9427
I do believe it. Moisture trapped in hot box for a week will totally cause this.
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dx716
It’s not eating it. It’s from moisture getting in the fabric and not drying out. The way the cloth insides are structured are perfect for colonies of mold to live inside since they can stay damp and continue to grow in between. This is 100% totaled if u go through insurance since the mold will likely come back after trying to replace everything yourself.
Murderdoll197666
Definitely a gonner. Future sister in law's car was parked in the driveway for a weekend with some pretty heavy rain after her mom drove it home and forgot to roll the windows up. Mold everywhere whenever she came back later that week and they just wound up having to write the whole car off on insurance. It wasn't a newer or fancy car by any means so it probably made the most sense to total it out since the cleaning for that sort of thing requires a full on specialized company that deals with hazardous materials removal and all that good stuff. Can't just get it vacuumed out or a regular detail since its all super specialized shit with ozone machines and special foggers and all kinds of other crap that are super expensive.
ohhlookattchris
Mold and fungi can definitely eat fabric. Cotton swatches are a very common media to grow many species.
Doc_Hollywood
You should see the ones of the Teslas this happened to because Elon didn’t want to use standard practices for weather sealing lol
Punchinyourpface
I saw a video where these guys tested a cyber truck against a regular truck. They ended up breaking the Tesla by accident, but they found out a bunch of trim and some components were held in place by stick on velcro lol.
KurtTheCuntBoi
I’m not even shocked. Smh what a tightwad
shitshowexpwy
Serious question. I had like 1/8th of this mold in my car (I surf a lot and drive the 4 mins home in my wetsuit in winter) and I cleaned it with rubbing alcohol and it hasn’t come back. How serious is the contamination, most likely?
Ok_Energy6905
Reddit hivemind is freaking out and thinks the mold is permanent as the mold lives deeply within the fabric. While this is true, mechanics and detailers have an ozone generator that can kill mold; this is a fairly regular occurrence. I wouldn't worry too much. Ensuring you are as dry as possible and sitting on a towel might help to avoid a pretty significant bill though [I know nothing about cars, just consolidating info from other users in this thread who seem to be car professionals].
seiscuatro64 [OP]
Yeah idk why everyone if freaking out like its covid 19. I get it looks straight outta Chernobyl but the guy at the car cleaning service asured me this is pretty common where i live when we got heavy rain.
QuadrillionthBest
Yeah these comments are mad. i've worked in and out of various car businesses for years and seen many cars like this. They just get dried out and wiped down and cleaned and nobody even knows. my own car was like this (albeit not as bad but similar) after leaving it parked up for a few months and I dried it out and vacuumed up the mold and nothing has ever come back.
-fno-stack-protector
i've cleaned a car with this exact problem, though not as bad. cleaned it and used it for years after without any issue. no ozone, wiped it off. no reoccurrence
the rubber door gasket was leaky during a ridiculously wet summer, where i was overseas for a month
boterkoek3
According to reddit, once mold is visible it's already penetrated your brain. It's all over, you're becoming mold now
shitshowexpwy
My car is like 25 years old, when she goes, she goes haha But yes trying to preserve as long as possible. Thanks
TheDarbiter
You gotta crack the windows open if you ever plan to leave your car for an extended period of time.
seiscuatro64 [OP]
we always do and it was there only for a week
TheDarbiter
Damn that really sucks then. Do you live in a humid area?
seiscuatro64 [OP]
yes very humid the guy at the car cleaning place told us it was caused by the past week heavy rains and they have ten cars like mine
TheDarbiter
That’s a shame. I also would not recommend simply cleaning it; the mold would have already penetrated deep and I don’t believe there is any type of machine or cleaner that can safely remove it all.
seiscuatro64 [OP]
yeah ofc but for now we gotta get it cleaned bc we only have this car and we need it
Mdp2pwackerO2
Ozone generator is your best friend
ButtplugBurgerAIDS
Dude this happened to my friend's car and his insurance paid for it in full. They deemed it as too much of a biohazard to fix. I would seriously look into that.
Wonderful-Hornet3742
I believe a descent period of straight ozone would do it, maybe 3-5 hrs, broke 3 gallons of raw milk inside a Prius and it seeped into battery compartment and all crannies needless to say it was very fragrant, tried everything to remove smell, then decide to shut it up and put an ozonator in it for 3 hrs and POOF smell was GONE
Swimming-Pear-9900
No in a humid area you do not crack the windows!
Rollieboy2012
It's actually the exact opposite. You would not want moisture to enter the vehicle. Allowing the moisture in the vehicle allows for moisture to sit and reproduce. You would actually need to keep the windows closed and place several moisture absorbers in the vehicle.
TheDarbiter
Yeah in OP’s case, it really was the opposite.
dat_GEM_lyf
That way you get free spores from the environment and god knows what else from your now “open air” concept vehicle…
poorpeasantperson
I don’t ever leave my car unattended for longer than maybe 48 hours this posts has terrified me Into buying a damp-rid just in case
VeterinarianClean160
What do you do if you - say - fly somewhere for a week’s vacation?
poorpeasantperson
Lol I’ll let you know if I get the opportunity. The 48 hours shut not driving is the weekend, recovering from the week. Gonn buy a $5 damp rid container anyway tho this isn’t worth it
larsmaehlum
scseven
that's the mold's car now
DuchessOfCelery
Ah, just drop it at the detailer, wink, and say, "There's a fiver in it for you when I pick it up."
Finger guns and mouth clicks are optional.
dreizehn1313
[deleted]
Put it in rice
Automatic_Serve7901
Something similar happened to my car (not as bad though). I got a hard-core face mask, jumpsuit, & new brushes to scrub (and toss afterwords) the car with. I just used a fuck ton of vinegar and then let it dry outside in the warm air. It totally went away.
shitshowexpwy
Did the same but with 91% isopropyl alcohol and has also not come back
PortugueseDoc
TheLastF
Congratulations on your brand new car. This is totaled and insurance should cover it
ImAchickenHawk
This makes me itchy
How long has it been in the garage mate?
Still_Silver_255 4,016 points · Mar 2026
Man’s got more penicillin than a hospital in his Jetta
Ok_Yesterday_1896 785 points · Mar 2026
They must’ve forgot they had a car, guess we all do it from time to time
ThatDeuce 18 points · Mar 2026
Okay Richard Harris
xanderlearns 259 points · Mar 2026
Why does he have a hospital in his Jetta
notoneforlies 112 points · Mar 2026
amberlam edit: HEHE THANK U FOR AWARD HAZA!
toppocketfind902 91 points · Mar 2026
Woaaaaah black Betty.
IrregularConfusion 66 points · Mar 2026
Lorazepam
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VanguardBronco 30 points · Mar 2026
Bam ba lammm
NostyNol 19 points · Mar 2026
The dang molds grown wild, Bam ba lammm
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AstaCat 26 points · Mar 2026
ohhh black Betty.
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FlashyTea4721 93 points · Mar 2026
Mobile unit
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ButterflyDesperate36 19 points · Mar 2026
I don't think a hospital would store penicillin in this man's Jetta so that makes sense.
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motherofjazus 129 points · Mar 2026
It’s like flight of the navigator. Younger brother is older than him now.
becausesometimes 18 points · Mar 2026
Are you a millennial?! No Gen Z person I've told about this movie has seen it! 🥲
motherofjazus 33 points · Mar 2026
Yep. Millennial. I grew up fast (I talked to a zoltar fortune teller machine at my local fairground).
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Damet_Dave 19 points · Mar 2026
Long enough for Dirty Mike and the Boys to use it several times.
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Kysman95 37 points · Mar 2026
Since the last time he had sex
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