Roof leak- concerns about unseen damage

[Dobbingtonio]

Could do with some advice.

Bought an approved used shuttle a few months back. After heavy rain, noticed a leak and water ingress behind the b-pillar on passenger side and the carpet. Had it investigated today and it looks like the roof bars are the cause.

Dealer will fix the issue (and I’m arguing they need to replace the carpet too as I’ve seen mold growing), but I’m concerned that there may be unseen damage as I don’t know how long it’s been leaking.

Do I need to push for a full strip out to prove there is no rust or other issues? Is there a risk that even if fixed and dried out that rust could develop later? Or is the interior sealed well enough that I don’t need to be conerned?

 

[Vinyl1210]

FWIW here’s my opinion. I’d not be ‘too’ concerned about internal corrosion if (and here’s the if) it’s stripped out in the vicinity of the leak, which in the area of the B pillar is fairly easy (I speak from experience having sound deadened and had ALL the interior out if my P/V to convert to a day van) and it’s dried out and looked at. The inside of the panels are protected to a certain degree. But….. if it’s not dried out this could lead to problems. Being a caravelle I’m sure yours will have a fair degree of factory ‘underlay’ under the carpets which will hold water like crazy. This needs to be dried out if wet ( will take a loooong time either with a dehumidifier or such like). Or if completely water logged I’d push for replacement. I had a similar issue a few years back when I bought a nearly new LWB Caddy PV from VW. The dealer valet guy jetwashed the interior rubber floor then mopped up the excess . The trouble was all the underlay was sodden with water and sloshed about under the seats. The dealer had it straight back and had to replace the underlay and rubber floor. It’s difficult to tell from a far how bad yours is but ball park if it can’t be FULLY dried out you need to push to replace what’s wet. Either way I’d be removing the front seats and possibly second row to get under the carpet to check it’s dry and go from there.