# How to stop rain from dripping into car when the window is down



## poor99 (Aug 14, 2012)

I know, I should close the window...

The rain season is finally coming to the town. And last night, for the first time I had to use drive through to order something. While I was waiting my food with window opened, a lot of water accumulated at the top flowed through the side window into my car. Normally, with the window closed, it should be fine to have the water flowed through side window. However, it's super bad for me because I had to open the window for drive through. Now I can see why a not tightly closed window can flood the whole car overnight. It seems that for other cars the car top would have a way to direct the water to the windshield window instead of side window.

Anyone has a good way to deal this? The rain guard does not seem to help unless it's big enough to make sure the water won't drip into the car.


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## GTINC (Jan 28, 2005)

Have you not looked at any new cars lately? You want old style rain gutters hanging on the side of the car?


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## ridgemanron (Sep 27, 2011)

Since no company, icluding Weathertech, does not offer plastic side window shields for
the Beetle, the only possible solution I was able to find is a product offered by 
www.brandsport.com - They refer to it as Trim-Gard Black Drip Rail Molding and it is 
sold by the foot. There are two sizes, one being 5/8" Tall with a 7/16" 'J shaped' channel
to catch water and one being 7/8" Tall with the same 7/16" 'J shaped' channel. 3M double
sided tape is already applied for easy application. After examining both sizes I decided to
order the smaller 5/8" version, which I will run along the full side length of the body that
encompasses the windows on both sides of the car. I've decided to center it in that 1"
'squared' extrusion that runs from the furthest front of the car.... to the end of the back
window area on either side of the car, directly above the existing upper window molding.
Since the product needs a flat surface to adhere to, it isn't possible to nestle it into the
existing upper window molding but perhaps with some form of permanent black 'waterproof'
adhesive it could be done? As stated, I will try applying it directly to that 1" channel and see
if it does the trick. The full length of the 1" channel (encompassing both the front and back
side windows) measures out to a bit more than 70 inches so a minimum of 12 ft of the 
product would be needed for both sides of the car. Since the price per foot is only $1.95, I
decided to order 14 feet. If you decide to only run it above the front side windows, the 
'length needs' will of course be much less. When you get to the site listed above, click on
the Black Molding section on the left....and then just scroll all the way down until you see the
two Drip Rail Moldings offered. I should have the product this week and will see how it turns
out?


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## Surreyboy (Jun 17, 2011)

The reason we cant have a ventshade is because you woukd have to roll the window up and down each time you open or close the door,unless you could program the windows to drop low enough during open/close


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## the beet (May 5, 2012)

... and never take your Beetle through a drive-through. There's no quicker way to stink up your car and quickly lose that new car smell (unless you smoke).


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## ridgemanron (Sep 27, 2011)

Surreyboy said:


> The reason we cant have a ventshade is because you woukd have to roll the window up and down each time you open or close the door,unless you could program the windows to drop low enough during open/close


Those are the 'in channel' ones you're talking about. Companies other than Weathertech do
offer the ones that use 3M double sided tape, similar to that which is applied to exterior
emblems and are waterproof, but none of these manufacturers offer any for the 2012 - 13
Beetles. Trim-Gard's also use the same 3M tape to keep it permanently secured. I like the
idea that the 5/8" version of the Trim-Gard product is better looking 'aesthetically' than the
7/8" high version. Both have the same 7/16" J-channel to collect the water that then runs 
through the channel and off the car but not in the area of the windows.


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## drtechy (Jun 3, 2009)

You just have to drive faster, 70+mph you're golden lol

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## djmatte (Sep 16, 2012)

Surprised VW doesnt offer a press on one. They had this for the last model.


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## GZB (Jul 14, 2014)

Ron - Not to resurrect an old thread, but how did that drip molding work out? I'm looking at solving this both on the windows and on the hatch where it drips from the end of the spoiler into the trunk area. 

And BTW - it gets cheaper the more you order. 14' would only be $1.05 per foot from what I see on their site. 


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## ridgemanron (Sep 27, 2011)

GZB said:


> Ron - Not to resurrect an old thread, but how did that drip molding work out? I'm looking at solving this both on the windows and on the hatch where it drips from the end of the spoiler into the trunk area.
> 
> And BTW - it gets cheaper the more you order. 14' would only be $1.05 per foot from what I see on their site.
> 
> ...


The model with the larger channel should undoubtedly catch more rain but I have the narrower channel version 
which I feel looks better. The depth of these channels are limited as to how much rain they can hold before 
overflowing but they have served to reduce a lot of the dripping into the front side window area for water 
cascading down from the roof. Spraying rain that hits the car from the sides will still be evident but at least I
avoid severe roof top dripping. The self stick tape on the molding has held up well.


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## Silver StarBug (May 13, 2015)

I've been struggling with the dripping problem since college, when I traded in my '76 Mercury Capri for an '85 Pontiac Firebird! The Capri had that rain channel that I so miss! Three Beetles later and I still get rain drip into my car when I open the door or trunk. 

So, any pictures of this channel stuff on a Beetle? Pretty please?


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## GZB (Jul 14, 2014)

No pics yet, but I ordered the drip edge Ron was talking about. I also ordered a different style to fix the drips from the hatch. I've got a temporary piece on just one side right now on the hatch and it seems to be working pretty well. When I get both on (doors and hatch) I'll let everyone know how it works. Maybe even some pics. 

Silver StarBug - I had a '74 Capri (dark green with black interior) for about 3-4 months back in '81 when I lived in Denver for short bit. It was a POS car. Bought it for $400, only drove it to/from work and then sold it for $400. Kept popping out of first gear. But it served its purpose at the time. 


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## Silver StarBug (May 13, 2015)

GZB said:


> Silver StarBug - I had a '74 Capri (dark green with black interior) for about 3-4 months back in '81 when I lived in Denver for short bit. It was a POS car. Bought it for $400, only drove it to/from work and then sold it for $400. Kept popping out of first gear. But it served its purpose at the time.


Ahhh, the memories of that Capri! I really loved that car; named her the USS Enterprise. Mine was silver and I drove it for three years. I was living in MN at the time and the car came from IN. After a while it developed a backfiring issue and that's when I found out that the former owner had removed the catalytic converter! So, I didn't need the air pump, I think it was, so, I had the belt removed and no more backfiring. Gosh, I can't believe I drove it like that for so long! Ack the carbon footprint that car left behind!!! :facepalm:


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## Silver StarBug (May 13, 2015)

I wrote to them at Brandsport about the Drip Rail Molding. I wanted to see pictures of this on a car, but they had none. Instead they offered to send me some samples. I am really curious about the look and feel of it in person. I asked if it could be panted to match my car. Will see what he says and what the samples look like...


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