A South Carolina TikToker opened the driver’s door of her 2020 Toyota Corolla, pulled the rubber plug at the bottom of the door panel, and watched what she said sounded like a gallon of milk slosh out onto her driveway. The 30-second clip has drawn more than 1.2 million views, and a long thread of car owners who said the same thing has been happening inside their own doors—and not just with Toyotas.
Sami Ray Keown (@s.keown23), a South Carolina mom whose channel covers assorted incidents and thoughts from her life at home, posted the clip on May 2. “Need to know if anybody else with the Toyota Corolla has experienced this,” she narrates in the video. “There are plugs down here, and if it rains heavily, you have to take the plug out and drain the door. Look at all that water.”
Why There’s Water Inside Your Door
Car doors are not, and never have been, watertight. The window has to be able to move up and down, which means the rubber seals along the top of the door cannot fully seal against the glass without burning out the window motor. Some water gets past the seal every time it rains hard or every time the car goes through a wash. The bottom of the door panel collects it.
Manufacturers solve the problem by drilling holes in the bottom of each door for the water to escape. As Cars.com explains, "Water can get past window seals and inside the doors when it rains or when you wash your car, and the water is supposed to exit through drain holes at the bottom.” When those holes clog with road dirt, gravel, or leaves, water accumulates inside the door, and the steel rusts from the inside out.
