Hello, Been having an on-going issue with my '12 Mustang GT Premium Coupe. Began to get a really bad musty order in car this Spring.
I brought it in to dealer where I purchased it new. Car was in shop for 3 days. Service Mgr. called, told me problem with car was a dead animal in behind dash and it's not covered by new car warranty and would be approx. $2000 to tear apart dash and find vermin. Brought the car home, and started doing some searching, after I pulled the passenger front kick panel out and pulled carpet found nasty mold and water soaked pad under carpet. I immediately brought the car back to the same dealer to have him check for a water leak. Car was in for a week until a water "specialist" couldbe brought in, stated they found a loose/ill fittling gasket to repair leak, and used a horrible "ionizer" spray to cover up the smell, and never repalced the carpet. Smell and water came back and noticed the dampness under the carpet again. First stopped by the dealer and told them due to the mold needed to replace the carpet and pad and find the actual leak and repair. The car has been in the shop over 2 weeks, they removed the interior, but stated they ordered the wrong carpet. They are supposedly replacing all the plastic cowl covers with new updated peices, and sealing everything up to avaoid the water leak which they say has been fixed. Was finally able to get a rental car from them on Thursday. The service manager never returns my calls, and has been appologetic but failing miserably to have the car repaired in a timely manner. I love the car but hate the service.

 

Hello ajdieli,

Welcome to the forum! I’m happy to get this documented for you if you’d like. Please PM me with your VIN, dealer, mileage, full name, and best daytime number.

Deysha

 

Hello Daysha, went to pickup my Mustang from Tasca on Friday night. Met with the service mgr. They replaced carpet but it's the wrong color. Origally black now some charcoal gray, when I drove the car home noticed a series of dents on the drivers front fender. The mold smell is still there. Problems just keep mounting. I'm at the end of my rope. Bringing the car back this morning

 

Oh man! Thanks for the update, ajdieli. I’ve updated your case with this info as well.

Deysha

 

I just got rid of an '07 Shelby. The *only* reason I did this was because of the infamous 2005 - '09 water leak. I fixed the leak, but, lost my horn. I traded the Shelby in with a second set of horns, with a push-button on the side of the steering column. Couldn't even use the original horns - Ford had to put some strange plug on something that should be simple. The alarm still worked, normally, as did the button on the remote. Now, I'm reading about a water leak on a '12 Mustang GT. That would be what I traded the Shelby in on, three months ago. No leaks ... yet.

I registered, here, after seeing this thread. This may be my last Mustang. Hello, Camaro?

 

These cars have a cabin air filter, which if coated with garbage will have that odor. You may want to pull it and at least check it. I replace mine every ten thousand miles and have never had an odor.

I replaced one in a Subaru, belonging to a friend of my wife, and she had the "moldy" smell. It had never been replaced in 10 years! She didn't even know the car had an interior filter.

Hope this is helpful.

 

If a new cabin-air filter doesn't do it, I've cleaned out the mold odor from a few cars by running the air and fan on high while spraying Lysol into the external air intake. It doesn't seem to have any ill effects, and if you are generous with the Lysol, it's not likely to come back. Might even try that before doing the filter, as a less-expensive first step.

 

mines a 06- that said, they are all the same under the skin...

if you have a musty smell, odds are the filter is only part of it- the filters get moldy because cowl drains plug up- and when they do, water runs in thru the fan, down the wiring harness, under the carpet on the passenger toe board. kick panels/door sills are easy to remove, suggest taking pass side loose, lift the carpet and lift the plastic under it- if wet it will stink in the short term, rust in the long term... I propped mine up with doors open in the garage/ big dehumidifier(25 gallon a day industrial sized) blowing thru the car to dry it out...sprayed lysol under it, put back together, pulled the rubber cowl drains out and havent had a problem since... a yr prior, my a-pillar seals went- foam started protruding from the area above the mirrors, relaced that with hardware store self adhesive closed cell weatherstripping, stopped that source of water entry... also had one windshield grommet was leaking, pulled the cowl panel and reglued all of them with windoweld adhe$ive, so far they are holding too.

btw- heres a link to pics of the rubber drains- I finally pulled mine out and left them out- if you have trees/park outside they will clog at least once a year-
https://themustangsource.com/forums/...-clean-504787/