Potential water ingress?

[gcmak]

Hi all - took my BRZ out of the garage for the first time since November 8th. Drove to get lunch and when I put up my sunshade, I noticed both visors were stained, inside and out. I felt the headliner and it felt cool/damp in the front area but dry in the rear. Visually I could see a very slight line (suspect water line) right above the front row seats across the entire width of the headliner.

The stains you see on the front visors do not wipe off, but the line on the headliner seems to have faded and the headliner no longer feels damp since I left the car parked in the sun for a few hours. Some have proposed that there's no water leak, but rather it's off-gassing.






I popped off the two a-pillar covers and the dome light cover to check for water staining or other evidence of a leak - nothing found. I felt around the headliner edges where I tucked in radar/dash cam wires and it seemed dry. Aside from tucking cables and adding a windshield tint strip, no other mods have been done to the car in that area and I hadn't noticed any issues in prior washes.

2020 BRZ w/1,968 miles.
I plan to take it to the dealer as soon as they have an opening.

Thanks for any insights or help!

[Tcoat]

[ls1ac]

It looks more like condensation to me.

[pope]

Originally Posted by ls1ac

It looks more like condensation to me.

second.

Likely caused by temperature swings in the garage. Try leaving your windows cracked open when letting a car sit. Allowing airflow into the vehicle will help prevent temperature differentials to reduce the likelihood of condensation (which can also lead to mold and/or mildew).

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by ls1ac

It looks more like condensation to me.

Originally Posted by pope

second.

Likely caused by temperature swings in the garage. Try leaving your windows cracked open when letting a car sit. Allowing airflow into the vehicle will help prevent temperature differentials to reduce the likelihood of condensation (which can also lead to mold and/or mildew).

Living in an area where we can get huge fluctuations in temperatures and humidity I am well familiar with condensation in cars. I have never ever seen it do anything like that.
I have a hard time believing that there was enough extreme temperature fluctuation in a garage, in California, to get that result.
On the other hand I have no better explanation.

[gcmak]

Originally Posted by ls1ac

It looks more like condensation to me.

Originally Posted by pope

second.

Likely caused by temperature swings in the garage. Try leaving your windows cracked open when letting a car sit. Allowing airflow into the vehicle will help prevent temperature differentials to reduce the likelihood of condensation (which can also lead to mold and/or mildew).

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Living in an area where we can get huge fluctuations in temperatures and humidity I am well familiar with condensation in cars. I have never ever seen it do anything like that.
I have a hard time believing that there was enough extreme temperature fluctuation in a garage, in California, to get that result.
On the other hand I have no better explanation.

Thanks everyone. It's not impossible that it's condensation. I did leave the car parked with the windows closed. I am in San Francisco specifically and our temperatures and humidity really do not fluctuate much, especially inside the garage that remains mostly closed.

It was one of the colder nights yesterday and as usual the garage is around 60F. It rarely drops into the 50s and it rarely gets above 70F inside. It certainly has not fluctuated much in the past month.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by gcmak

Thanks everyone. It's not impossible that it's condensation. I did leave the car parked with the windows closed. I am in San Francisco specifically and our temperatures and humidity really do not fluctuate much, especially inside the garage that remains mostly closed.

It was one of the colder nights yesterday and as usual the garage is around 60F. It rarely drops into the 50s and it rarely gets above 70F inside. It certainly has not fluctuated much in the past month.

Well unless you had a bucket of water in there while the car was sitting in the sun and then drove into the cooler garage I just don't see it being condensation. Weirder things have happened though.

[gcmak]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Well unless you had a bucket of water in there while the car was sitting in the sun and then drove into the cooler garage I just don't see it being condensation. Weirder things have happened though.

haha, no, the car is dry inside, though I'll hand touch all the floors/carpets/trunk today to double check. I have gotten into the car once or twice briefly in the past 3 weeks to grab something and to check if I need to put a charger on the battery, but the car continued to feel/smell normal. I have to walk past the car for laundry and for other tools and I certainly never saw any 'fogging' in the windows while parked inside.

historically we've parked other cars in the same spot before, in the same manner, for longer periods of time with no issues.

as you said though, weirder things have happened. i would have expected a rodent infestation of some sort instead of this, if im honest.

i have an appointment with the dealer on Wednesday now.

[pope]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Living in an area where we can get huge fluctuations in temperatures and humidity I am well familiar with condensation in cars. I have never ever seen it do anything like that.
I have a hard time believing that there was enough extreme temperature fluctuation in a garage, in California, to get that result.
On the other hand I have no better explanation.

Exactly, it doesn't make sense for a car in San Francisco to have a random condensation issue, but it seems like the least absurd option.


A windshield, antenna, or roof seam water leak in a closed garage?




If it was raining or foggy when you last drove the car it could be a leak that let water past the seals, on a basically new car. Or the floor mats got wet enough that the moisture evaporated and condensed above the visors for some reason.

Did the dealer shampoo the interior of a brand new car and the area above the visors didn't dry for almost 2k miles? Do you have kids that might have had a squirtgun fight in the car without telling you?

[JD001]

I'm wondering if the previous "careful" owner practiced deep cleansing..

[LimitedSlip]

Originally Posted by gcmak

Some have proposed that there's no water leak, but rather it's off-gassing.

I suspect there are those who have experienced stains as a result of off-gassing but may be reluctant to discuss the issue in a public forum. Just sayin'.

[gcmak]

Originally Posted by pope

Exactly, it doesn't make sense for a car in San Francisco to have a random condensation issue, but it seems like the least absurd option.


A windshield, antenna, or roof seam water leak in a closed garage?




If it was raining or foggy when you last drove the car it could be a leak that let water past the seals, on a basically new car. Or the floor mats got wet enough that the moisture evaporated and condensed above the visors for some reason.

Did the dealer shampoo the interior of a brand new car and the area above the visors didn't dry for almost 2k miles? Do you have kids that might have had a squirtgun fight in the car without telling you?

I washed the car hours before garaging it. So it's possible water got in at that time but I never noticed. It's hard to notice subtle water ingress in all-black interiors until there's other evidence present like stains. No children to speak of, and despite my desires to buy a fancy supersoaker to live out my childhood dreams that I never had, I have so far resisted the urge to splurge on one.

[gcmak]

Originally Posted by JD001

I'm wondering if the previous "careful" owner practiced deep cleansing..

LOL I've seen so many interior deep clean videos like this...somehow they never get old.

Originally Posted by LimitedSlip

I suspect there are those who have experienced stains as a result of off-gassing but may be reluctant to discuss the issue in a public forum. Just sayin'.

That's true, although now I've chatted with 2 other BRZ owners online, a 2017 and a 2019 with the same pattern on their visors. To me, the plot now thickens and I'll see what Subaru Service has to say on Wednesday.

[Decep]

I had a similar thing with my wife's Volvo, turns out the seal was terrible on the windshield and you could actually move it with your hand. Took me a long time to figure it out im embarrassed to say. It was bad from the factory according to the dealer.