Abnormally high fogging on inside of glass?

[cleveland97]

About 2 months and 5,000 miles into my LR AWD ownership and loving the car. Having said that it does have some quirks that I'm trying to decide how to remedy...

One of those quirks is what seems to be an abnormally high propensity to fog on the inside of the car - it's most annoying on the windshield and back glass, but it seems to be the case throughout all the glass. I do live in a cold weather area, and there has been a lot of moisture in the air lately, but I haven't had this issue (to this degree) with any car I've ever owned.

Are others experiencing this? If so, any theories as to why? Is it somehow related to the heating / ventilation in the car? At times it doesn't seem to go away unless I blast the windshield with the full-heat front defroster, which quickly makes the interior too hot.

Any suggestions for remedies?

Tomorrow I'm going to clean all the glass inside the car, hoping that perhaps its some kind of residue from manufacturing, but I'm skeptical that will help.

 

[BluestarE3]

Do you have air set to recirculate?

 

[cleveland97]

Do you have air set to recirculate?

I do not...

 

[ebmcs03]

That’s funny. I just hit 5100 miles and I had to do a complete wipe down of the inside of my front windshield today. It was getting so foggy it was hard to see through the glare at night.

 

[ngogas]

Likely residue. I live in a code climate and has no issue when the hvac is on.

 

[swaltner]

I have a bunch of microfiber cloths and a bottle of Maguire's PerfectClarity Glass Cleaner that I use to clean the windshield and other exterior windows on a somewhat regular basis. Use the same on the inside glass surfaces every 3-6 months, particularly soon after purchase to remove all the off-gassing trapped from the interior materials (the new car smell). Keeping the inside surface clean helps with reducing the amount of fog on cool mornings with high humidity. This is also nice for cleaning the bugs off the windshield when driving after dark in the summer. Wipe it down right away and it's a simple cleanup.

Any brand of glass cleaner should be fine. That's just what I had around the house.

 

[spaghetti]

I have found the following to work quite well with relatively minimal energy impact. Climate auto off, temperature at 68, AC on, air vent directed to windshield, fan speed on 1, air recirculation off. If I need to feel toasty, use the seat heater.

 

[mswlogo]

I notice what the OP says too.

For grins I tried recirculate the other day while it was cold out. Every window turned COMPKETELY fogged in like 30 seconds.

I’ve never seen a car so prone to digging up. You have to have enterbal air and you have to keep air blowing on windshield. Why?

No car has ever done this.

All I can think of is other cars don’t allow. 100% recirculate and/or zero airflow on windshield etc.

 

[mrau]

I would double check the Recirculate icon to make sure it stayed off. Windows tend to fog very quickly when Recirculate is on which does not allow enough fresh air into the cabin.
Similar climate as Cleveland here and I have not had any issue with fogging of the windows. I run with Auto off, AC off and Recirculate off in these 30° F temps. Fan speed at 2 or 3. I even have the warm air directed to the floor. Usually have seats on low when needed since they heat up pretty quick. This is what has worked for me so far.

 

[MarkS22]

I’ve noticed this as well. The windows are perfectly clean and recirculating is off, but they do seem to fog more than other cars, including the Model S.

Granted, we’ve had a lot of cold (40 degree), rainy days this year. This seems to be prime fog breeding weather.

 

[KeyFobsRule]

You need to have the AC on, most people don't know that the AC is often needed in winter to dry out the air...Also with the AC on you can recirculate the air no problem with fog.

 

[VT_EE]

Check and make sure you aren’t leaking water inside somewhere. Maybe the well in the trunk. Sounds like something is up. It could also be your air conditioning has ceased working and is not dehumidifying the air. I would take it in and have it looked at.

 

[HeatproofGenie]

I've noticed it too. I think that part of the equation is that the volume of air in the cabin is pretty small, so the water vapor from human respiration accumulates quickly. Potentially it could also be that the model 3 is well sealed so recirculation is truly recirculation with very little new air introduction.

 

[RayK]

Noticed it a little bit when I was coming back from LA last month. Usual advice to engage the A/C worked great (the defroster button on the screen). With the rains and colder temps here in the last week, it's become more of a problem. I keep the windows closed, recirculation off, temp at 68-70 and blowing at 3 on the floor. I generally to not direct any air up on the windshield as it tends to dry my contacts. In the evenings if the defrost is off, my windows fog up in about five minutes. I actually thought it would be great if there was an option to automatically turn on the defrost for a minute after every five minutes as I had to keep toggling the defroster on and off.

Then I had an ah-ha! moment. Turned off the climate control and dropped my window down about an inch. That kept the windows from fogging. Not really a solution if it's raining as the wipers would probably throw some water into the car.

 

[SSedan]

I think they try to minimize fresh air in cold temps because this takes so much energy to heat.
I have an S and have seen some extra likelihood to fog but the instant heat helps solve that.

 

[moonfresh]

Is it me or it is not possible to turn on the windshield defroster and direct heat to my feet?

 

[Triplaz]

My brand new Model X is fogging like crazy inside the cab. With the blower set to Highest level and A/C on. It’s getting dangerous to drive.

 

[ℬête Noire]

I had trouble with mine sometimes, and it was much worse because I had the 6-squares problem (known issue to Tesla, where supplier's packing material leaves residue in 6 locations on the inside of the windshield, visible only when it fogs). I got Tesla Service to get rid of those spots with a glass detailing pad (hey, it's hard work ) and that made a huge difference everywhere....except very low down, where I suspect the tech didn't get good pressure on it because it's a very long reach in there and tight on the dash. When it started to fog you could see exactly where they'd gotten to, obvious curves of their reach down about 2" off the bottom edge.

About a month later I'm back to a little fogging again, so it is time for me to re-clean w/micro-fiber and pick up a quality cleaner (Maguire's PerfectClarity Glass Cleaner mentioned about is a top candidate). At some point probably will use a glass polishing pad, again, too. But hopefully won't need that for a while if I keep on top of it.

 

[OptAdam]

This is actually pretty common on brand new cars. What is most likely the cause is that the plastics are off gassing and creating a residue on the windows causing them to attract moisture and fog up quicker. This effect will also become more noticeable if people use silicone based dressing to use on their interior which are EXTREMELY common.

To fix this issue temporarily until the plastics have fully off gassed you will want to clean the windows with a all purpose cleaner (or APC). I am going to recommend Optimum Power Clean because that is what I use every day. Dilute it down 10:1 and using a damp ONR towel spray the Power Clean onto the towel and then wipe down the windows. Follow it up with a dry towel and finally use a window cleaner of your choice.

 

[trm2]

@cleveland97 I can't be too far from you (lake county) and I had this happen one year when I had my second Volt. I finally got rid of it by first cleaning the inside windows well, and then using this:
Adam's Brilliant Glaze 16oz | The Best Car Glaze

It has a bit of a solvent in it that cut the film that was causing the problem for me.