I have a 2007 Prius Touring. I had to evacuate early in the morning on Halloween 2013 due to flooding. I drove through pretty deep water but managed to get to high ground. However my car's interior started to smell musty since then. I have changed the cabin air filter to no avail. Does anyone have any tips about how to address this problem? A carpet guy is going to let me use his Ozone machine next week to try to get rid of it. Also, I have run the air circulation on exterior air during dry sunny days and it still smells musty. One friend said it smelled like I smoked a cigar in it. I haven't! Thanks all!
take off the covers to the spare tire area in the back. many people have experienced water collecting in the spare tire and 12v battery area. If there is water there, find a way to drain it.
I replaced my 12 volt battery a couple of weeks ago and didn't notice any water but didn't remove the tire. I will check that asap! Thanks, Larry
you would notice if there was water there when you replaced your 12v, the spare tire is right in front of you. The smell must be from another source.
After driving through the high water, did you feel the passenger compartment carpet to see how much water was trapped in it? If you don't find any standing water in the hatch, you may need to remove the seats, then take out the carpet and clean or replace it.
I too agree to check in the cabin. Most shops will pull carpet, dry it out and shampoo it. Then sprinkle baking soda through out car on floor boards after they have dried out, then reinstall carpet and seats and call it a done deal. Seats are usually cleaned also unless they got real wet, then sometimes are replaced. Most thought just pull the seats, clean them up and let them dry real good. Seen a lot of flood damage cars go through places that fixes them and then resells. Pretty easy to spot them IF you know what to look for.
