Another technique to help mitigate mold is to turn the A/C compressor OFF but leave the fan running for the last few minutes of your drive. Basically have the fan dry out the evaporator assembly before you park the vehicle. Works in pretty much any car, not just the Genesis. Recirculate or fresh air works for this but recirculate prevents the introduction of outside humidity/moisture as Gunkk posted.
For folks that have chronic mold buildup issues I'd check:
1: the area underneath the windshield wipers has drains to the ground. Leaves and other debris often collect in these drain tubes leading to standing water in the grill area. This is where many cars draw in fresh air. A thin wire stuffed up the drain holes (from underneath the car... often they're just openings in the sheet metal instead of actual hoses) to poke out crud makes a world of difference.
2: The evaporator assembly (the box underneath the dash on many cars, or attached to the engine-side firewall on others, it's the actual part that cools the airflow and thus makes excess humidity/moisture condense back to water) has a drain tube through the floor of the vehicle or through the firewall at the base of the evaporator box. This is another area that gets plugged with leaves and debris (you'd be amazed at how much leaf-like crud collects in car ducting!). When this drain hose is plugged, water just sits in the evaporator housing like a bucket promoting mold/mildew growth. Eventually the water depth gets high enough that it finds seams/joints in the plastic housing and leaks onto the passenger side carpet. Messy. Again, a wire poked through the drain hose can make a world of difference. If you crawl under the dash and pull the carpet back you can often find the drain hose... unplug it and have a bucket ready to catch the water that'll pour from the evaporator box and then use a "J" hooked shaped piece of wire to fish around the drain hole in the box.
An easy way to test these drain lines on many cars is to get a fresh piece of hose that'll fit snugly over or snugly into the drain hose. Then blow air INTO this hose. If air flows fairly easily the drains are clear - great. Hear bubbles? Something is blocked and you've got standing water. Can't blow air at all? Really plugged... Be ready for a sudden water flow if you happen to "unplug" the lines while blowing... that water will probably taste horrible! A small tire inflator, air mattress foot pump, etc. might be a more hygienic method. Use no more than 10psi pressure. (healthy lungs can generate up to 2psi for most folks)
In addition to water drain holes in the wiper cowling area, car doors also have drain openings along the bottom edge. This lets any water that gets in via the window openings drain out. Hardly anybody ever checks/cleans these which is why older cars often have lines of rust along the bottom edge of the doors. The area behind the front fender (between the
wheel and front door opening) is another area that frequently has leaves and dirt buildup on cars... this crud holds moisture against the sheet metal promoting rust/rot from the inside. A vacuum with a crevice tool/nozzle gets a lot of this crud out. The 1G Genesis sedan has some sealant material in this area to minimize this crud accumulation. Keeping these drain holes clean will prevent rust and minimizes moisture in the doors, bodywork, etc. that can also breed mold.
mike c.
