Fiance put the car in a swamp...interior filled with water...

[Derrick1390]

Hey all! First time visiting this website so I hope you can help me out! I apologize in advance if this is in the wrong section. Anyway About 2 weeks back my Fiance was driving her 99 Malibu to work. Now I live in Wisconsin and even tho its April here we had gotten a big snow storm that morning and she was running late for work...well some slush got under the tires and into the ditch she went!

Now the car starts, runs and drives just fine(if not better then before the accident). She was smart about the situation and shut the car off as soon as it hit the water, but the interior flooded with water I'd say about up to the base of the seats. It sat there about 1.5 hours before the wrecker could come pull it out. The only issue we have now is we cannot get the swamp smell out of the car.I shop vaced it for a couple hours after getting it out of the water but the smell just wont come out and we don't have access to a Carpet Shampooer. I called the professionals in my area that said they could clean it up good for me however they said if the foam underneath is wet then it's basically pointless. I don't have the money to replace the interior of the car so I'm trying to figure out if I have any other options or if there is a way to get that foam underneath there to dry up. Thanks in advance for the help!

[Tech II]

The only option you have, is to remove the floor trim, the front seats, the rear seat, the center console.....

And then, remove the WHOLE carpet.....hang it in direct sunlight......when completely dry, then smell it .......if the smell is still bad, then try spraying with a disinfectant like Lysol.....if that doesn't work, then you will have to wash it with some powerful cleaning solution, hose it down and hang till dry....spray the Lysol on the metal flooring of the vehicle...make sure the seat cushions are not wet....

[SleepyHead98]

Yeah, Removal of interior then deep clean seems to be the best solution. Personally, I would use Lysol, vinegar, and Baking soda on it. I would also take it to the car wash and pressure wash it. They have car shampoo vacs at alot of car washes these days.