This morning my 2000 Octavia estate had a puddle in the rear drivers side footwell.

The drivers footwell was also very wet.

The car was on a slope, so I assume the water came in at the front and drained to the back.

Had both doorcards off, and both membranes are in tact.

Now, the top of the A pillar was damp and the headlining around the top of the A pillar plastics and grab handle too. Any ideas what could be causing this?

The car has no sunroof, and up until last night has been water tight

I believe I have heard of the water moving up the drivers side on the bonnet cable. The other obvious items but not quite your symptoms are the inner arch liners on the fronts. Other than that, maybe get in the car and have someone pour a watering can over it, with some of the interior plastics stripped off.

Bowders had a similar issue which turned out to be a break in the seal/paint under the roof rails, may be worth inspecting under here too.

Cheers for the pointers

I heard about the roof rail thing. Was that under the plastic covers that run the length of the roof? How do they come off?

The amount of water in there was like a window had been left open. The front (under the pedals) of the footwell was dry, but from the heel mat onwards it was wet

I believe I have heard of the water moving up the drivers side on the bonnet cable. The other obvious items but not quite your symptoms are the inner arch liners on the fronts. Other than that, maybe get in the car and have someone pour a watering can over it, with some of the interior plastics stripped off.

Bowders had a similar issue which turned out to be a break in the seal/paint under the roof rails, may be worth inspecting under here too.

I would think the problem the OP has is more to do with either blocked drainage at the bulkhead from where the water runs down the inner wing inside the wheel arch liner and to the floor. If those get blocked with leaves and crud it can back up the water on the top of the scuttle panel and then drop down into the footwells.

pic of the arch liner removed for where to clean

Also you could have maybe a broken door skin that is letting water drop through door onto footwell or a compressed door rubber that lets water seep through the bottom between door and rubber into carpet or even both of these.

Those are the main ones to go check

I doubt you have a roof leak like i did as that dropped water into my boot near the mesh basket. But can't rule anything out to be sure.

My roof holes was minute crack I could not see but enough to flood the boot badly so you never know.

Few pics of mine where i checked and fixed .

The actual leak was to the lower edge of in the trim channel just below the last white trim clip. I mastic'd and repainted

I put mine through a car wash the other day and water ****ed in onto my feet. Checked with a hose last week and seems to be coming in from where the loom comes into the car behind the wiper linkage and into the fuse boxes etc. Had no luck finding if it had a seal with skoda and was about to put a post on here.

Btw when I got the car last month the water drains and skuttle panel were blocked and full of leaves

Check/remove the arch liner too.

I am going to go for a range of options. Main sources of water are caused by water coming in on the passenger side, under the scuttle panel. Next to the pollen filter there is a gromet, which all water on the passenger side of the windscreen drains over. On the drivers side, I believe a similar thing can happen with the bonnet release cable.

As for the dampness at the top of the A pillar / near to the grab handle - has the car had a replacement windscreen fitted?

The car may have had a new windscreen, I don't really know. The headlining was damp again this morning. I removed the A pillar trim and sat inside whilst the other half hosed the car down, and I couldn't see anything coming in around the windscreen, or anywhere else for that matter.

I had the scuttle tray off yesterday and the drain hole is clear with water running out behind the wing freely and quickly.

Ok, the footwells appear to be drying out, and I've cleared all the drain holes etc, but the damp headlining still persists.

It appears to be coming in at the top of the A pillar as that's where the dampness is. The windscreen seal appears fine though!

Any more ideas guys, this is driving me nuts!

Car has no sunroof or roof rails