Friends have a 2003 Nissan 350 Z. Here are the Facts:
They store in winter in Old Tractor Barn—our house was built in 1854 so I assume the Tractor Barn is about the same.
Every year we stored it over in that Barn but the winter before last we did not take it out in spring. In fact I think we finally took it out in fall
Apparently that year there was a rain storm that partially flooded the concrete floor. However, the concrete floor had lots of cardboard and carpeting that got wet
We did not find this out until we removed the car which had a bad “moldy” smell
The leather seats had a coating of dust and/or mold
We bought various products to remove mold and smell and have left the car out with window open but the smell does not go away
Everything has been washed with a variety of products and we left containers of products we bought that are supposed to eliminate mold and smell
Nothing works
Any suggestions how we can get rid of the smell and any mold?
We do want to sell the car but not until we believe that it is mold free.
The padding underneath the carpet may have soaked up some of the moisture. The padding is a sponge-like material and will hold water for a LONG time. You may have to remove the carpet and the padding in order to dry it and clean it.
Have your friends abandoned this car? Why are you dealing with this problem if it’s not your car?
Just leaving the window open will not kill the mold. You are just going to equilibrate the interior of the car with the ambient humidity. If anything easy is going to work, you have to get it bone-dry. It might be better to park it in the sun and use the greenhouse effect of the windows help you out. You could put a mild heat source in it, but don’t burn down your barn, please.
think that this badly-molded car is going to require major work to bring back. If it is molded visibly, there is mold all through it. Someone is going to have to pull all the soft stuff out of it, carpet and its backing, upholstery and its padding and replace it or clean it with something EPA-rated for killing mold. While the soft stuff is out, everything hard will have to be scrubbed.
I once took a mildly molded car from the NE to Arizona for three years. The treatment worked and I took it back and had no further problem. I have a very sensitive nose for mold. I would probably smell your 350 from outside the barn. My mildly-molded car had a small leak under the dash and I fixed it. It was not nearly as molded as that vehicle that you describe.