Car Puddle

For some time now my car has had a little problem with wetness. Not a big problem, mind you, just a damp patch on the floor when it rains really hard. It dries out quickly enough, and I've been lucky not to have any problems with mildew or stinky-ness. The odd bit is that there is no visible leak. The windshield is fine, the top seems sealed, and there is really no obvious way that the water is getting in. Three different mechanics have tried to find the problem without success. Mostly I've just lived with the problem, and been really glad that I had covered parking. Yesterday, however, things got quite a bit worse.

Washington may be the rainiest state in the U.S. (or is it Oregon?) but our rain is usually of the constant mist sort. It rarely pours for hours on end, but yesterday was special. I've never been in a proper monsoon, but I think it must be something like what we had. It was raining so hard that it was hard to see as you ran from building to building, and it did this for quite some time. Needless to say, when I went out to my car to go home I was not very happy. Instead of a little wet patch I found a two inch deep puddle of water on the driver's side. I sloshed my way home (even getting my cuffs wet in the process) and used beach towels to soak up the worst of the water.

Now I have accepted the need to do the unthinkable. I am taking my poor wet car TO THE DEALER! Normally I am loath to do this because I think they rip you off at every turn (I have many experiences to back this up) but I don't think I have a lot of choices at this point. Theoretically they will be able to find the leak because they know the ins and outs of this specific model of car. That or they will just spend 700 hours at $50 per hour inspecting each and every seam twice. Ouch, my wallet hurts already.