UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi all I've had the car week now and have noticed that in the mornings inside off the window screen is all fogged up with condensation and both side windows as well. Have checked the boot and carpets no water or damp , checked door seals all seem good. Any ideas? Does any one else suffer with this ?Thanks

The subject of the inside of car windows misting up comes up regularly on various forums at this time of year and unfortunately it’s a natural phenomenon. When the surface of the glass cools down and reaches dew point, warm(er) air inside the car that comes into contact with the cold glass = condensation. Unfortunately, VW’s (and VAG?) do seem more prone to this than some other car brands and IMHO the HAVC system in the Polo isn’t the most efficient for clearing condensation from the windows.

A few suggestions to help minimise condensation build up;

• Keeping the interior surfaces of your windows scrupulously clean can help reduce condensation build up as it’s more difficult for moisture to cling to a clean, slick surface. Also, any condensation should clear more easily / quickly with clean windows.

• Do you use your air con at this time of year? When I owned my 2020 Polo GTI+ I used to run the air con all year round (and have done in any car with air con I’ve owned) and rarely - if ever - had any issues with condensation on the windows. During the colder months, air con acts as a dehumidifier and helps to remove moisture from the air in the cabin. So if you don’t have your air con switched on, I’d recommend doing so and leaving it switched on.

• The pollen filter in a mk3 Vauxhall Astra I owned back in the early 1990’s had become blocked and water saturated and the inside surfaces of the widows were streaming with water! Changed the filter and the problem went away. So check your pollen filter to ensure it’s OK.

• Do you have a sunroof? If so, check the drain tubes aren’t blocked and causing water to drain into the car’s cabin rather than draining down the tubes to the outside of the car.

• You could try a Pingi moisture absorbing dehumidifying bag in your car. It absorbs excess moisture from the air and when it becomes saturated, the indicator on the bag changes colour. Heating the water saturated bag in the microwave restores the bag to its pre-saturated state. They’re sold on sites such as Amazon and eBay and aren’t expensive.
  
  https://pingi.com/shop/dehumidifiers-re ... 250-grams/

• For the last mile or so of your journey, you could try turning the heating down to the cold / cool setting and open the windows slightly to remove warm air from the cabin so there’s minimal warm air left in the car to condense on the glass surfaces overnight as they become cold.

Thanks for the reply , no don't have sunroof thankfully . Is there any other water drain holes I should be checking for to see if there blocked?

rm55mcc wrote: Mon Feb 16, 2026 6:41 pm Thanks for the reply , no don't have sunroof thankfully . Is there any other water drain holes I should be checking for to see if there blocked?

The drain tube from the handle on the tailgate is a known issue on the mk7 / mk7.5 Golf - the rubber grommet that the tube exits the bottom of the tailgate can perish on older cars. When this happens, the exit end of the tube drains water into the tailgate rather than to the outside of the car, and that water can find its way into the boot.

The Polo uses the same tailgate handle arrangement as the Golf but you’ve said you’ve checked the boot for water and there isn’t any so I’d say that’s not the cause of your condensation and your car hasn’t reached the age where this might happen.

How much condensation are you actually getting on your windows? Are they just heavily steamed up or is it more like larger water droplets that run down the glass? If the former, then I’d say it’s pretty normal for misted windows in a VW during the colder months and as I said in my previous post, it’s a natural phenomenon; lots of car owners affected by this - and not just VW or VAG car owners.

I've just had a check again and the floor under the mats is damp , mats on top fine but actual floor is damp . So must be a leak any ideas ? Back foot wells that's are damp

It’s a difficult one as although it’s the carpets in the rear passenger footwells that are damp, water will ‘travel’ and settle at the lowest point, so the water ingress point might not necessarily be at the rear. If it’s your windscreen and front side windows that are misting up, that does suggest water is getting into the front - even if the front carpets feel dry, the sound deadening underlay sandwiched between the carpet and the metal floor pan could be water saturated. Finding and stopping the water ingress is really important as left unresolved, the damp could develop into a breeding ground for mould and bacteria which is a health hazard and will also smell unpleasant.

If it could categorically be confirmed the only dampness is the carpet in the rear footwells, that might (but not necessarily) point to it being perished, deformed or faulty door seals or failed rear door speaker seals (leaking rear door speaker seals is a fairly common issue on the mk7 Golf).

Below is a list of possible water ingress points I’m aware of on the mk7 / mk7.5 Golf that have been discussed on forums over the years. Not all of these may be relevant to the Polo but many will. It might be worth working through the list narrowing it down to a shortlist of the most likely ingress points and then deal with those in turn.

Good luck - I hope you find the source of your problem quickly and you’re able to fix it without too much hassle or cost .

List below items in no particular order;
1. Blocked pollen filter.
2. Cars with sunroof - blocked sunroof drain pipes.
3. Damaged / broken rear door speaker seals, resulting in water draining into the foot wells.
4. Damaged / poor fitting door or window seals.
5. Damaged / perished grommet on the bottom of the drain pipe from the hatch release handle.
6. Damaged / cracked rubber sleeving covering the wiring from the car into the tailgate.
7. Poor seal between the tailgate hinges and where they’re attached to the body shell above the tailgate opening.
8. Damaged rubber washer between the roof and roof mounted aerial.
9. Damaged or perished seal(s) between the rear light clusters and the car body.
10. A/C drain tube becoming detached from the evaporator, draining into car interior rather than on the ground outside the car
11. Failed seals between the car bodywork and the air equalisation vents in the lower rear quarter panels either side of the boot behind rear bumper cover (requires bumper cover removal for easy access).
12. Replacement windscreen not bonded correctly to car body shell.
13. Blocked drainage holes in windscreen scuttle panel.

EDIT - just read your first post again where you said you’ve only had your car for a week. If you bought it from a dealership I’d be taking it back to them to fix as IMHO it’s almost certain the water ingress issue was present before you bought the car. You might want to also familiarise yourself with your rights under the Consumer Rights Act;

https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/rejecting-a-car/

Please keep this discussion topic updated with developments and the outcome for the benefit of other forum members.

Called the dealer today , says needs new door seals and seals around the speakers in the back so fingers crossed that fixes the issue an I can get to enjoy the car

Thanks for the update. Hopefully the remedy is as straightforward as replacing the rear door seals and speaker seals as water ingress points can be notoriously difficult to trace and fix.

Depending on how wet the rear footwell carpets - and the sound deadening material under the carpet - have become, you may also want to ask the dealer to confirm they’ll be dealing with drying these out thoroughly or replacing them if that’s deemed to be necessary. If not, you’re still left with wet carpets that’ll continue cause condensation to form on your windows for many weeks (maybe months?), along with the potential health risks associated with bacterial and mould growth happening under the carpet.

Worth bearing in mind though that not all dealers treat customers’ cars with the same care and respect that you and I would, so a dealer removing interior trim / carpets etc. does carry a risk of them damaging your interior. Over the years, I’ve read on various forums of dealers damaging interior trim pieces when removing and refitting them and then denying having caused the damage. With this in mind, I’d take photos of the rear door cards, interior trims around the door rear doors, carpets and rear seats as evidence of the condition of the interior before the dealer does the work, make the dealer aware you’ve done this so hopefully they’ll take a little more care and there’ll be no damage.

Hopefully everything goes to plan. Please provide an update once the work’s been done - hopefully you’ll have a nice dry interior and no more excessive condensation on the inside of your windows!

So got the car back today , did water tests etc in the car no leaks found , got car home gave it 1st wash and low and behold foot wells soaking wet . Had look round and put my hand up in behind the foot well in the front passenger side and the white foam behind that dash soaking wet ! So car is going back tommorw , absolutely fuming ! On hunt now for a new car !

That’s really disappointing, not to mention extremely frustrating.

Makes you wonder what the water tests were that the dealership did - I’d be tempted to ask them. I completely understand why you’re thinking of getting rid of the car; I’d feel the same way too if tomorrow’s attempt to fix doesn’t work.

Short lived romance with the polo gti , keys handed back and waiting for refund now

rm55mcc wrote: Thu Feb 26, 2026 2:00 pm Short lived romance with the polo gti , keys handed back and waiting for refund now

I think that’s a sensible decision.

What are you thinking of replacing the GTI with? Will it be another VW?

100% not a VW , this was my 3rd GTi I had a 6c GTi , GTi + and then the 2023 polo GTi and it will be my last VW . I30n or 135i xdrive on hunt for now .

Good luck with your search .