I came out. The cupholders were half full of water. Shifting boot had puddles in it. Floor was puddled up with water.

I left the top down the rest of the day to air it out. Then I drove it around to get to air in it. I vacuumed it twice to suck the water out of the rug.

Any other ideas to prevent further damage?

 

I know you probably don't want to hear this, but you should really pull the carpet and let it dry out of the car. Otherwise, it's going to remain damp for long enough to start to mildew, and then you're never going to get rid of the smell. If you have a garage, I'd lay it in front of a couple of fans just to keep air moving over it. Since you'll have the front seats out too, you might as well put them in the air stream as well. I'd also put some fans in the interior of the car facing the dash and back seat. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Definitely suggest you remove the seats & carpet to let them dry outside the car and so that you can wipe down the floorpans and make sure that it's completely dry before you put it back together. Look at it as an "opportunity" to do a good interior detail job. Good luck!

 

I wish I did. I live in the city, in a condo. I've left it parked on the street
with the top down the last 2-3 days.

Should I take it to the dealer?

 

Would not hurt to call the dealer or a body shop that the dealer recommends.

 

They sale these packs that grab the water out of the air at hardware stores, they use them is basement and things with high moisture content. You also might put a small ceramic heater in there and move it around every few hours. If you can run a cord to it from your condo. Otherwise the best bet as mentioned is to strip it out. Good Luck

 

For anyone else...

Dealer said to just let problems come up with it, and worry about them then. Most people don't have issues. I probably won't have any problems.

 

You need to get it to a emergency water extraction service ASAP. they have the equipment to suck all of the water out of it and have industrial dehumidifiers to dry everything up. They will also spay a anti microbial solution down to keep mold and mildew from forming. Do not take this lightly only a professional service can restore the vehicle properly without incident.
My two cents. I am speaking from experience I left a sunroof open in a rainstorm

 

You can do it the poor mans way (i.e. the way we used to do) and leave the engine running with the heater on full blast, the top up and the windows cracked enough to let the air out. Heats it up something nasty on the inside but it will evaporate the water pretty quickly.

Sounds like you already missed the window on this... If it's dry and doesn't smell then I wouldn't worry about it...

 

I totally disagree with this answer. Bad advice my .02
You spoke to a rookie

 

 

I would rent a carpet shampoo machine. Give the carpet a cleaning and use the vacuum to extract the water. When you can't extract any more, THEN let it air out for a day or 2. It will dry fine.

If you have cloth seats, use it there too. Leather seats - make sure you let them dry, then condition with good leather cleaner/conditioner.

 

I think a body shop would be the place to contact for info or steered in the right direction. They replace & restore. It's what they specialize in.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...9004356AAg4UfK

 

I'd get it completely dried out before the smell and electrical gremlins start to strike from mildew and corrosion. Don't have your MINI end up in the scrapyard like this one.

 

 

 

Take an emergency road trip to Death Valley National Park. I think the humidity there is something like negative 50 percent! That ought to dry it out!

 

I did it with another convertible (2006 Miata MX5).

Put the top up and let it sit in the sun for several days. It gets REALLY hot inside a convertible left in the sun.

Mine took about a week to get completely dry. I think you'll find that things like the seats are not really very wet on the inside. The carpet is designed to survive an occasional period of wetness (Think about all of the melting snow that gets tracked in for a couple of months every winter). The few contacts that are near the floor were likely well protected from a soaking -- probably didn't even get too wet, or something in the car would be malfunctioning.

Rain water is very different from water that you might take on in something like a flood. Its pretty clean and odor free. It really doesn't seem to hurt much.

Nothing strange ever happened to the Miata. No rust or weird smells, no corroded contacts. Even the top mechanism worked without issue. The worst long-term impact was some water spots underneath some of the plastic faces on the radio. I took them apart and wiped them clean. No issues.

Really.

Forget it and let it dry out on its own. I'd recommend against leavaing it open. Use the sun's heat to your advantage. It'll dry.

(Then there was my 1964 MG Midget which never had a top in the first place -- great car.)

 

Hope it has and will dry out and be ok for you.
Sounds like your not the only one to have done this. Do you normally leave your car out with top down all night and or long periods of time??

Luckly I have a garage but never leave it out at the mall, resturants, etc with the top down.. Not so much for rain but theft, bird droppings, or kids wanting to try to toss a drink cup in as they ride by..
If just running in somewhere for a minute yeah I leave it down then..

 

I'm the car is fine by now. When the carpets in my basement got wet I found that using a dehumidifier was the easiest and quickest way to get them dry. Put the top up, close the windows, put a dehumidifier in the car and turn it up to max. Might be a challenge to fit one in the car. Many of the other suggestions would also work well.