OT - interior smell

If you can track down the cause of the smell you can probably rid it of the smell. Did it smell like maybe a mouse curled up and died in it ?

Randy

The best solution I have used many times in the past when my kids have purchased older, yard rescued vehicles is buy a bag of charcoal brickets and spread them on the floor of the car, in the trunk, and strategically placed in the engine compartment(for easy retrieval), and let sit for about a week.The brickets absorb all odors. Check air intake-heater outlets too ascertain no carcasses left behind(been there -done that).Not sure if I remember using them again on the BBQ....Being a skin flint I probably did, but still alive today in my 70's Cheers, Lord Pacal

74 VW Standard Type 1-37.5k miles(...barn rescue)

Did you happen to watch the MythBusters episode where they let a pig's body decay inside a Corvette?

I guess at the worst, you'd have to remove all upholstery and padding. I've heard using various things like Febreeze or even bowls of vinegar will remove or neutralize a lot of different bad odors.

. . .

Of course, that won't remove the ghost.

Well finding out WHY it smells is important. Need to stop the odor creation. ;-) Might be, like someone else said, a mouse curled up and died in it. Or mold and mildew on the floor due to water inside of car, or in the a/c system. Hard to tell what it could be unless someone perfects Smell-O-Vision! lol YOU have to smell areas with your nose, or borrow someone else's nose.

I like all of those ideas....ozone fogging.....charcoal.....since they will remove the odors providing that the odors are not constantly being created.

8^) There is also Lava Dust/Rocks usually sold at some hardware stores AND can be reusable. The dust is usually sprinkled onto the carpet and then vacuumed up, so it is kinda hard to "reuse". It works for me! :-) Fabreeze might work too, but I have my doubts that it is long term.

I have heard of air cleaners/purifiers that create ozone or something like it. Usually for a room in a house but I don't see why it would not work in your case. Some spray very diluted Lysol into the a/c vents to kill mold/mildew in that system. Also run the air through the system without the a/c on to dry up any moisture from using the a/c.

Maybe shampooing the carpet, headliner and cleaning the seats and dash will help.

Make sure the charcoal isn't the match light type. I'd go with the charcoal and a couple of boxes of baking soda. Open the baking soda and set the boxes on the floor, maybe pour some onto paper plates and scatter 'em all over the car, along with the charcoal.

Any lingering smell, Fabreeze should help cover it, and isn't something that's over-powering.

Les

They do what's called "ozone treatment" in Finland, the car is covered and sealed in plastic, and a small "smoke machine" blows ozone gas or something inside, which neutralizes all smell for a long time, if not forever. I hear it works great, not sure how expensive it is though.

You could also try some home remedies:

1) Split a fresh apple or two, and leave the halves on the floorboard. Remove before they go bad and start to rot :D

2) Spray the interior fabrics with a mild solution of vinegar and water. Tested by my wife with her baja, great results!

Jan

It smelled like someone who sweats a lot and doesn't wash his ass.

Great information. Thanks, everyone.

Doc mentioned carpet which reminds me that there are no carpets in the foot area.

I will presume the smell is curable. It doesn't smell like death.

Oh, it is a black, 2006 Crossfire. 24K miles. One owner. I will offer $9K and see what happens.

Or that car scared the crap out of him! lol

Then simple Baking Soda should do it, like Project Magnet #1 suggested!

Probably smells like my shorts do this morning. Was out working fences this morning and a couple of the wolf dogs start howling close by. I shit everytime I have to deal with them as they would just love to eat me.

Randy

In stinks?

Pungent odours in cars are notoriously hard to remove, the most known up here are tobaco(as in cigarettes) and Dog(as in four legged animal). All aside from a rotting corpse, they are all almost impossible to remove(The rotting corpse, you cant..).

So, unless you can adjust your nostrils to the newfound aroma, I would say let it go, life is to short.

Posting here, I take it you are American, there are more than 330 Million of you, so the likeliness of you coming across another great buy is significant.

Your milage may vary.

J.

John, i can't believe no one suggested this surefire, guaranteed meathod...

You're welcome!!

Call me STUPID. Thanks for that.

So I consulted a few car freaks at the local bar. It cost me a few bucks. Good folks there. I asked the question regarding the stink and got a friggin chorus from the whole bar, "IT'S A FLOOD-MOBILE".

See, we had a couple major flash floods here. Even killed a few people and ruined a lot of homes and naturally took away a lot of cars and trucks.

So the bar mavens informed me that some rich folks get only liability insurance on their spendy toys and if the cars are ruined, they can trade them in on a cash basis and the title does not reflect the insurance note indicating it was flooded.

So that's the thesis so far. To get the truth a guy would have to put the sales manager under some kind of truth drug.

Check up under the dash, inside the tail lights, and other hard to get to places. Flood vehicles usually still show signs of it. Check the oil for any signs of water.

Very few, if any, people can detail a car well enough to rid it of all signs of a flood.

Any sign it's a flood vehicle, I'd drop a 0 from the offer...

Les

One thing I'd do is check the car over very carefully for signs it's been in a flood (such as rust and sand in odd places). Flood water can be nasty and if it soaked into the carpeting and padding of the seats you may need to gut the interior to get rid of it, never mind whatever other damage may have been done.

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We had killer flash-floods here. I consulted with some local motor heads and they knew of two Crossfires (his and her thing) belonging to a wealthy family. Seems they get only liability insurance and sold the cars to the local dealer. By going that route the title won't show that there was a totaling insurance claim.

Both are gone, maybe sent to another dealer farther from the flooded area. I'm concerned now about other cars that went through the same.

(It was a horrible flood that killed several people and wiped out a lot of property.)