So I'm having an odd issue that has cropped up with my car recently. The driver's side footwell seems to get soaked through with water (I hope its water?) every few days around the foot pad. Any ideas? It doesn't seem to be anywhere else except there.

Trade it in for clunkers for cash??!!

Is it raining where you live?

Do you have a sunroof? The drain on that could be clogged.

No sunroof Kelraz, a friend suggested that there could be debris under the hood somewhere. And yes Kanyli, its been raining constantly, pretty much every day for at least some time.

I only ask because it's dry here. :) If you told me your floorboard was wet in Phoenix, that would be a very different problem. Check to make sure it is water first, if at all possible.

My wife's old Mazda developed a leak on the passenger side floor, up in the front. There was a gap in the frame behind the engine, so when she drove on the highway it was spraying water with enough force to leak into the cab.

I'd suggest crawling in with a flashlight, if you haven't already. Look under the dash and around all of the edges - see if you can spot where it might be coming in, or dripping in.

Have you checked the water level on your car? Is it low? It might have a leak or bad heater core depending on the model.

Most likely your car is leaking either from the windshield, or the weather stripping on the door. Might get someone to put a hose on the car with you inside and look for drips. If it is not those, id check the floor boards for holes or seems with gaps etc, like Kanyli suggested.

I was listening to Car Talk yesterday on NPR, and there was another driver who had similar issues. (Was it you?) They basically said get inside with a flashlight and try to find a leak while a friend is spraying it with a hose, like Chanur said.

Also, does it happen when you are driving or will it also happen when you are at rest. Because the tires could be kicking the water in from below opposed to it dripping in from above.

It seems to be happening periodically, even when the car is parked. I'll try the windshield idea though.

Could be coming in from your outside vents, leaking through your heater blower and dripping onto the floor. I have a truck that it does this in all the time, its old so I dont care. Usually caused by pine needles or some other tree debri thats causing water to path into the vents rather than take the gutters built to trail water away.

Its an option.

Nothing from the windshield. I guess next I'll try popping the hood and checking for debris that might be causing that stuff. Thanks for all the suggestions folks.

So when I was parked today, I saw some liquid dripping out underneath my car. When I got home, it started up again - its sort of a brownish tinted liquid, but when I smelled it, it didn't really have a distinctly chemical smell to it that would make me think it was oil, gasoline or anything else. Could this be water that got built up somewhere underneath my hood, or should I be worried?

That color it could be a bunch of things ... brake fluid turns a muddy brown without a chemical odor. Also it could be transmission or power steering fluid or oil or maybe just dirty water. I have to guess the fluid is coming from the front of the car, not the back? This could also be what is leaking on your mats - not water.

Long story short, if you haven't figured this one out on your own it may be time to call in a professional.

Have you checked the water in your radiator? Does your heater work?

Heater/AC does work Chanur. My boss suggested that it might be a radiator leak mixed with stop leak (this is all greek to me at this point, my knowledge if cars is fairly basic).

AC is completely differant system than heater and uses no water. If it was an underdash heater core leaking you would know by the distintive smell from the anti-freeze.
Most likely is a bad seal or at worst a cracked body seam.

Except it sounds like it might be rusty water.

Since its been a week (probably longer) and you haven't figured it out, you really should take it in. If its power steering fluid or something, and you suddenly can't steer your car, that's a big problem. If its brake fluid, and you suddenly can't break fast enough, that's another big problem. I'd go take it in as soon as possible - and let us know what it ends up being :)

Hopefully its nothing, but since we can't rule the serious stuff out ... better safe than sorry.

Turned out to be a clogged drain in the AC unit, which was causing the spills inside the car, as well as underneath on the outside. I guess that explains why it was pretty dirty liquid, but didn't have any distinct chemical smells to it. Weird.

Glad to hear it wasn't a big problem!

Thanks for everyone's help. :) Sorry for not being very car literate. >_>

So it was the water discharge from the AC. Atleast I got the liquid right!