Tonight as I was returning a visiting friend back to his hotel in the S5, he announced he wasn't feeling well. I wasn't surprised, since he had been ill since we had eaten dinner at Chipotle. Since it was only 2 more miles until his exit and we were going about 75mph, I didn't worry.
As we neared the 1 mile mark, he yelped "Oh shi" and proceeded to vomit without warning. The first batch went only on his shirt, and he immediately rolled down the window and stuck his head out, letting it all go, and sending his glasses flying behind us never to be seen again. It was already too late to stop on the shoulder, so I decided to just make it to the hotel post-haste and survey the scene, which I assumed only affected the exterior.
Unfortunately, I was wrong. While there was a good amount vomit down the side of my car, some of it didn't make it out. A fair bit was around the seat belt, with a nice spray on the passenger side of the back seat. Some liquid dotted the headliner above. It's times like this I realize why people shouldn't own guns.
So it's 7am and I've been cleaning the S5 for nearly 7 hours. Luckily, I was able to act fast, cleaning off most of it while in the parking lot of the hotel as guests simultaneously gawked at the car and shared my pain.
An immediate trip to a touchless wash (gas station was dark, but the wash was on thankfully) cleaned the outside beautifully, and I returned home to begin work on the interior, buckets and cloths in hand. At 5am, I made a trip over to the grocery store to pick up some organic enzyme cleaner (which neutralizes the vomit and kills the odor, very handy).
Thankfully, it could have been worse. The back seat just needed a wipedown (thank you Zaino leather stuff) and while it was a hassle, the back window and headliner weren't too difficult to clean. No vomit hit the carpets, and the front seat was largely untouched except for a small dribble on the side. Most ended up on the headliner by the seatbelt and the plastic area on the door, making cleanup fairly easy with the right tools (primarily enzyme cleaner). I'm lucky the seats and floor were just fine. It doesn't even smell at all at the moment (although I'm worried about when it hits 100F today).
The bad side? Some vomit leaked down the inside of the door, since the window was down. I cleaned it as well as I could, but I'm going to schedule a service appointment Monday and have the dealer take apart the door to make sure absolutely no reside remains. I'm also going to replace the piece of the headliner around the seatbelt, and may have the dealer dismantle the seatbelt and clean it in the process. I'm considering replacing the entire roof headliner if it's not too expensive, just for piece of mind.
So, in the end, the S5 should be good as new. I'm not happy, but it could have been worse (vomit on the dash, MMI, etc.). And I learned my lesson: when someone says they are feeling sick, immediately stop and kick them out of the car. Oh, and never to eat Chipotle again.
One thing I should add: almost everyone I mentioned this to so far has responded with "Ewww." Normally, I would probably agree. But when your S5 (or A5) is in trouble, the thought never crosses your mind. The last thing I was thinking about was what I was cleaning or how gross the situation was, I just focused on what needed to get done.
Anyone find themselves in a similar situation and have any tips?
As we neared the 1 mile mark, he yelped "Oh shi" and proceeded to vomit without warning. The first batch went only on his shirt, and he immediately rolled down the window and stuck his head out, letting it all go, and sending his glasses flying behind us never to be seen again. It was already too late to stop on the shoulder, so I decided to just make it to the hotel post-haste and survey the scene, which I assumed only affected the exterior.
Unfortunately, I was wrong. While there was a good amount vomit down the side of my car, some of it didn't make it out. A fair bit was around the seat belt, with a nice spray on the passenger side of the back seat. Some liquid dotted the headliner above. It's times like this I realize why people shouldn't own guns.
So it's 7am and I've been cleaning the S5 for nearly 7 hours. Luckily, I was able to act fast, cleaning off most of it while in the parking lot of the hotel as guests simultaneously gawked at the car and shared my pain.
An immediate trip to a touchless wash (gas station was dark, but the wash was on thankfully) cleaned the outside beautifully, and I returned home to begin work on the interior, buckets and cloths in hand. At 5am, I made a trip over to the grocery store to pick up some organic enzyme cleaner (which neutralizes the vomit and kills the odor, very handy).
Thankfully, it could have been worse. The back seat just needed a wipedown (thank you Zaino leather stuff) and while it was a hassle, the back window and headliner weren't too difficult to clean. No vomit hit the carpets, and the front seat was largely untouched except for a small dribble on the side. Most ended up on the headliner by the seatbelt and the plastic area on the door, making cleanup fairly easy with the right tools (primarily enzyme cleaner). I'm lucky the seats and floor were just fine. It doesn't even smell at all at the moment (although I'm worried about when it hits 100F today).
The bad side? Some vomit leaked down the inside of the door, since the window was down. I cleaned it as well as I could, but I'm going to schedule a service appointment Monday and have the dealer take apart the door to make sure absolutely no reside remains. I'm also going to replace the piece of the headliner around the seatbelt, and may have the dealer dismantle the seatbelt and clean it in the process. I'm considering replacing the entire roof headliner if it's not too expensive, just for piece of mind.
So, in the end, the S5 should be good as new. I'm not happy, but it could have been worse (vomit on the dash, MMI, etc.). And I learned my lesson: when someone says they are feeling sick, immediately stop and kick them out of the car. Oh, and never to eat Chipotle again.
One thing I should add: almost everyone I mentioned this to so far has responded with "Ewww." Normally, I would probably agree. But when your S5 (or A5) is in trouble, the thought never crosses your mind. The last thing I was thinking about was what I was cleaning or how gross the situation was, I just focused on what needed to get done.
Anyone find themselves in a similar situation and have any tips?
