we went into the car wash to get my car all prettied up. one thing we noticed as we pulled out of the car wash [in addition to the suds all over the back of my car, which the guy cleaned up], was a water leak.

there are two. one at the front bottom of both front doors. just a small thread of water coming into the car and getting absorbed by the carpet. this gave me the conclusion i need new door seals -- was i correct?

if i was correct, what can i expect to pay for these seals? any tips?

If the seals are soft and dont have any tears or blemishes. You can lift them out a bit and apply tape to the backing so they push out and seal a bit tighter.
I did this on the upper door seal and its still working 2 years later.
You can test the seal with a piece of paper closed into the door jam and try sliding it along.

the seals look fine. so i just need to apply tape to close the cap? what kind of tape?

Instead of moving the seal out couldn't you bring the door latch in a little? i think it takes a T40 or 45 torx. I had to do that awhile back and haven't had leakage issues since.

Does the water appear to be coming from behind the interior door panel? Just beneath the area where the speaker is located? If so, it sounds as if the water deflector seal is leaking.

ill try to get a pic tomorrow to illustrate the issue.

heres a pic, i shot in some green showing the path of the water, where it came in.

That looks like water deflector failure. You will have to remove the passenger door interior trim panel to have a closer look. When you have the panel removed, shut the door. From the outside have someone pour water (small glass) on the window glass to get water flowing through the door. Open the driver door, look across at the passenger door, you'll be able to pin point where the water is coming.

okay. thanks for all the replies so far.

first i will try to go with the door seals, as it only leaked in the car wash. what should i use to push the seals out? or is that the best way to go about it? then i will check it with the hose (me on the outside, just spray it over the door and check to see if its leaking. if its still leaking, then ill tear the panel off and check the water deflector. the bonus is that once someone tells me (at their leisure, no one sits around waiting for me to ask a question) what to use to push it out, ill have a bit longer to figure out how to get the door panel off without causing damage to the panel.

Jeff, actually you want to use a small controlled amount of water like a 1 liter bottle for example. Leave the passenger door interior panel in place for now. Gently pour some water directly on the passenger window, walk around to the driver door, open the driver door, get down low with a bright light shining on the area of the passenger door where the water is coming in. What do you see? There are threads in the forums to help with removal of interior door panels on the 00+'*, I'll check around. But for now, do the water trick.