Moisture in recently purchased SL

Moisture in recently purchased SL

Author
Discussion

CIS121

Original Poster:

1,271 posts

220 months

Thursday 3rd January 2008
quotequote all
Hi,

I've jsut recently bought an 02 plate SL500 and I've noticed on cold mornings that there's more moisture on the windscreen inside than I'd expect. I don't know if it's because teh roof is leaking or whether moisture is still in teh car from the dealer's cleaning/prep treatment. I've been around the car to check for obvious damp patches but not found anything.

I'm keen to find out if the roof's leaking at all fairly soon as I've found in the past that used car warranties haven't covered rubber seals and if it was leaking when purchased I'll expect the garage to resolve it.

Is it normal to get a bit of condensation on the inside of teh screen? I've never had it in a car before except an old Boxster that had a tiny leak.

sneijder

5,221 posts

241 months

Thursday 3rd January 2008
quotequote all
There was a bit of a problem with the boots leaking through the seals in the panels either side of the rear screen. When these were in for warranty the panels were removed, modified a bit and resealed. If this hasn't been done in your car I would suggest the boot would be soaked, but you would have noticed that.

Some SL's don't close properly when they have been stood in a showroom for a few months. When you open the door the drop glass drops down a few mm to clear the roof, and if the car is out of synch the windows don't go back up when you lock it. That's an easy thing for your dealer to fix.

Does it smell or ice up inside in the cold, is it that bad ? Or perhaps someone has gone mad valeting it.

There were one or two cars I heard of being written off in the floods and coming back through Ireland, That's an extreme example but look for tide marks in hard to get to places, or any electrical gremlins.

In the meantime invest £5 in a room moisture absorber from the supermarket, they live next to the air fresheners and cleaning stuff. If it's something and nothing that should sort it out over the weekend.

Enjoy the car, and hope you don't feel too stupid testing the roof off at full chat in the cold snap !

anonymous-user

61 months

Friday 4th January 2008
quotequote all
I bought another car recently (Clio) that did the same thing and was concerned about a leak. However after a week it went away and I am convinced it was from the shampoo and set the dealer gave the car prior to me picking it up biggrin

CIS121

Original Poster:

1,271 posts

220 months

Friday 4th January 2008
quotequote all
sneijder said:
There was a bit of a problem with the boots leaking through the seals in the panels either side of the rear screen. When these were in for warranty the panels were removed, modified a bit and resealed. If this hasn't been done in your car I would suggest the boot would be soaked, but you would have noticed that.

Some SL's don't close properly when they have been stood in a showroom for a few months. When you open the door the drop glass drops down a few mm to clear the roof, and if the car is out of synch the windows don't go back up when you lock it. That's an easy thing for your dealer to fix.

Does it smell or ice up inside in the cold, is it that bad ? Or perhaps someone has gone mad valeting it.

There were one or two cars I heard of being written off in the floods and coming back through Ireland, That's an extreme example but look for tide marks in hard to get to places, or any electrical gremlins.

In the meantime invest £5 in a room moisture absorber from the supermarket, they live next to the air fresheners and cleaning stuff. If it's something and nothing that should sort it out over the weekend.

Enjoy the car, and hope you don't feel too stupid testing the roof off at full chat in the cold snap !
Hi,

Many thanks for your advice!

I've checked the doors and they appear to go up well after closing them. It certainly doesn't smell mouldy inside. I've actually created space in the garage tonight and have left the hood down in case it's built up moisture that needs to escape. I'm reluctant to use it much hood down on the roads at the moment due to all the salt and dirt that's being kicked up. I had a lovely experience in my last sports car a few years ago passing a gritting lorry going the other way!

The story about cars being written off and coming back through Ireland sound pretty nasty.

yellowbentines

5,550 posts

214 months

Monday 7th January 2008
quotequote all
I'll second the valeting theory. I wiped down all of the leather seats in my car about 1 month ago, and left the doors and windows open for it to dry - however I think due to the weather at this time of year (cold, high moisture level in air) the moisture just sank into the seats and stayed there. My car has also been fogged up ever since which sounds like you may be experiencing also. Lesson learned for me.

freddytin

1,184 posts

234 months

Monday 7th January 2008
quotequote all
Just a thought, has the pollen filter been changed recently ? As I know of a few motors that have misted up due to old filters, i.e over a year old.

eldar

22,793 posts

203 months

Monday 7th January 2008
quotequote all
CIS121 said:
Hi,

I've jsut recently bought an 02 plate SL500 and I've noticed on cold mornings that there's more moisture on the windscreen inside than I'd expect. I don't know if it's because teh roof is leaking or whether moisture is still in teh car from the dealer's cleaning/prep treatment. I've been around the car to check for obvious damp patches but not found anything.

I'm keen to find out if the roof's leaking at all fairly soon as I've found in the past that used car warranties haven't covered rubber seals and if it was leaking when purchased I'll expect the garage to resolve it.

Is it normal to get a bit of condensation on the inside of teh screen? I've never had it in a car before except an old Boxster that had a tiny leak.
Worth checking really carefully for boot leaks, under the carpets and the like. There are a lot of expensive electronics low down in the boot.