Water in my 2012 Highlander - dealership telling me I have mold and mildew ...

[JoeM]

... and a $6,300 bill if they do the cleaning and repair.

I've been noticing some water on the drivers side floor for a while but thought it was coming from the sunroof drain. But every time I looked in the channel it was clear. I have weather tech liners in the car so I thought it was just winding up contained there until one day I looked under them and felt some dampness in the rug. I brought the car in to the dealer in October and they said I'd need to leave it for a few days but also said I should dry out the floor before I brought it in so they could troubleshoot faster. With the non-stop rain we've had I just recently was able to get it fully dry.

Brought the car in this week and they said I had a rock in the junction panel along with a ball of ice which clogged the drain tube and caused the leaking. They said I had mold and mildew which had to be removed and the rugs and pads needed to be replaced. Cost would be $6,300, mostly labor as the seats needed to be removed. I asked about damage to the car and frame and they said there's no rust so it's only the mold and mildew, pads, rugs and mostltly their labor that will be costly

I don't have collision and non collision damage insurance on the car as the wife decided to "save money" in January and removed it (sigh, that's another story) so I'm stuck with the bill. I think the dealership's labor charges are probably super high and I'm hoping costs will be considerably less if I bring it to my neighborhood repair shop.

Any advice or thoughts greatly appreciated.
TIA

[Speedy]

Move to Phoenix.

[gadje]

Since this happened in October when you HAD insurance, I wonder if you can still make a claim. Do you have any records of your discussion with the dealer about the issue in October? and would the insurance even talk to you about this, or hang up on you? I really have no idea how insurance companies reject or approve claims. I bet they will do anything to deny it.

[kj]

If you're feeling like that's too much, I am too. Incidentally, I don't need one yet, but I just read a company is offering a new battery made for the Fiat 500e for about that much, so it's nice to see big bills for other cars ;-)

[JoeM]

Speedy wrote:
Move to Phoenix.

miley-laughing001:

[sekker]

They know you are not going to pay that bill, so this is just their way to tell you they don't want to do the stinky job.

[JoeM]

gadje wrote:
Since this happened in October when you HAD insurance, I wonder if you can still make a claim. Do you have any records of your discussion with the dealer about the issue in October? and would the insurance even talk to you about this, or hang up on you? I really have no idea how insurance companies reject or approve claims. I bet they will do anything to deny it.

I already tried putting in a claim but gave them the date as being this week and they obviously denied it. I'm guessing I maybe picked up the rock back in late October when I was driving on the gravel roadway in Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge photographing the birds there. I don't have any way to prove I was at the dealership in October trying to get fixed.

[Wags]

Find someone, anyone, that’s not the dealership.

[Wags]

Like an auto detailer

[JoeM]

Wags wrote:
Find someone, anyone, that’s not the dealership.

That's what I'm planning. My local town guy is pretty reasonable and even better, honest.
Not sure what's involved in de-molding/de-mildewing the inside. Wondering if just using bleach is all that's needed.