Need help getting smoke smell out of used vehicle we bought

[Kellydelly]

My husband found a used SUV that I thought was a good deal (and it's pretty!). I trusted him to get in it, smell it, and drive it before we bought it (I work nights and was too tired to check it out with him). I have allergies and asthma and cigarette smoke bothers me, so does pet dander. Darned if the guy didn't totally obliviously buy us a truck that smells like an ashtray and was full of dog hair . It smells just like my dad's car, and he smokes like a chimney. My husband took the truck and had it cleaned out the week we bought it (detailers promised no trace of dog would be left). Came back with dog hair still present . I am guessing it was a terrier because it doesn't bother my allergies too much. But the cigarette smell needs to go. The seats are leather. Dh has used conditioners and cleaners but that didn't help. He put some of those air freshner clips in the vent, I threw them out as soon as I got a whif (think cheap cologne, although he swears the scent was supposed to be "new car"). How do we purge the truck of the smoke smell, or is it even possible? Our neighbor lent us his air ionizer cleaner thingy but that was useless. I want my new (2 yr old) truck to smell nice . Can anyone help?

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

I think you are stuck. But the smell will diminish over time and you will get used to it.

 

[wdwiala]

Big D Fogger. DH runs a janitorial company. It's what car dealerships use. You can buy it at Jon Don.com. It is around $3 a can. You will need a couple.

 

[sandramaac]

Well, first I would go and have it professionally detailed. That should help get the smell out of the exposed rugs and cloth in the car, as well as any residue on the leather seating and the dashboads. For the smell that is inside the leather seats, I think you are out of luck. Try to leave the windows, as often and for as long as possible, when the car is not in use. Next I would take it to the car dealer and see if they can service the blower system in the car, and any filters connected with it. You have to remember the smoke smell is all the the ac/heating system too. Next I would leave a ton of baking soda boxes in the car, and perhaps some charcoal in the car to absorb the smell for a few months. Sprays and deodorizers only mask the smell, they don't absorb it. I have severe allergies too, and cigarette smell will send them into a tail spin. Dh bought a car that must have been a smokers car, and even two yeas later there is still a slight smell in the car if its been closed up for any length of time. Good luck!!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

You can replace the carpeting and headliner and that will help.

 

[Angelhalo]

Well for home remedies you could first try leaving a bowl of vinegar in the car overnight, or an open bag of charcoal. If neither of these work and you want to purchase something that will help....go to your local auto detailing store or possibly even autozone etc and purchase an Odor Bomb. You turn your car on and turn the air conditioning on to full blast then you spray a few spritzes of the odor bomb into the vehicle and quickly shut the door. I forget how long you let it run, it should say on the can. The bomb gets circulated through the vents, where a lot of the smell comes from because as you can imagine, the smoke travelled through the vents as well.

 

[dawson5]

I'm going to subscribe to this. We lent a friend a pair of lazy boy recliners (granted they are 30 yrs old but were in good condition), he and his girlfriend smoked and since they broke up, he brought them back and they stink of cigarettes. I've got them sitting in the basement because we cannot use them smelling like that. It wasn't my idea to lend them to him, hubby did. It's going to cost a small fortune I think to reupholster them and probably need new padding.

It might be expensive but what about going to a salvage yard and seeing if you can find seats there? I know that they sell the carpeting in one large piece. (Hubby bought a wrecked Mustang, needed new carpeting. I think it was $65--great price, definitely not normal from what I understand.)

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Many years ago I had been a smoker. When I quit, it took about six months for the smoke order to clear out of the car.

 

[Kellydelly]

I'm wondering if the dealership didn't already "bomb" the car when it was turned in, therefore giving it a temporary smell fix, because I know the smell wasn't as bad when we actually bought it. Seems to have eeked back in . I wish it smelled like leather and new car instead of cigarettes, oh well . Replacing the headliner and carpet would not be cost effective. We already had the truck professionally cleaned, so not going that route again. Thanks for all the suggestions, I will give some of them a try and see if they help .

 

[Angelhalo]

I'm wondering if the dealership didn't already "bomb" the car when it was turned in, therefore giving it a temporary smell fix, because I know the smell wasn't as bad when we actually bought it. Seems to have eeked back in . I wish it smelled like leather and new car instead of cigarettes, oh well . Replacing the headliner and carpet would not be cost effective. We already had the truck professionally cleaned, so not going that route again. Thanks for all the suggestions, I will give some of them a try and see if they help .

You might want to change out the air filters if it hasn't already been done. This would help too. I've also heard of putting an apple sliced in half in the car and leave it until it's shriveled up. You can also put coffee grounds under the seats and leave them for a couple of days and vacuum them back up.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

With it being leather. The odds are the smell is in the headliner. Have it profesionaly cleaned then you fabreeze it. If that doesnt get it out purchase a new headliner. Also have them remove the center console and clean out all the ashes that have fallen through the cracks. next time no matter how tired you are go look at the car yourself so this wont happen again. I wish you good luck in getting this solved. I know what you mean. Im the same way with the smoke smell. Get some meguires car products too. Supreme shine for all the plactic including the dash. It has coconut smell to it. Then Meguires rich leather for the seats. I recomond the spreay over the wipes as its cheaper for the spray and lasts longer. I actually use both. One wipe with the spray for several uses. That should help mask it for you.

 

[FireDancer]

You can replace the carpeting and headliner and that will help.

This is probably your only bet. Since you have leather seats instead of cloth the smell will leave those much more quickly. Cloth seats hold the smells for a while.

Replacing the carpeting and headliner is pretty inexpensive and isn't all that difficult but recovering seats is usually both expensive and difficult. I would take the advice above and have the seats professionally cleaned and hope for the best.

 

[Kellydelly]

This is probably your only bet. Since you have leather seats instead of cloth the smell will leave those much more quickly. Cloth seats hold the smells for a while.

Replacing the carpeting and headliner is pretty inexpensive and isn't all that difficult but recovering seats is usually both expensive and difficult. I would take the advice above and have the seats professionally cleaned and hope for the best.

Replacing the carpet and headliner would be affordable? This is a 2008 Chrysler Aspen. I am going to guess the headliner is the culprit. My husband didn't have the detailers clean it because he works in automotive material handling and has dealt with headliners being "delicate" and easy to soil. He didn't want anyone to mess it up.

 

[C.Ann]

My Dson-in-law quit smoking a year and 5 months ago.. He has a truck - with extended cab - and leather seats.. When he was still a smoker, he never noticed the smell.. After he quit, he said it nearly knocked him over - LOL..

So - he cleaned the dickens out of that truck - and I do mean cleaned.. (He tends to be very OCD-ish with whatever task is at hand..) He was able to totally remove the odor without replacing anything - verified by both of his parents who have never smoked and can detect a whiff a mile away..

It doesn't sound like the place you had the vehicle detailed at did a very good job - considering they couldn't even manage to get all the pet hair out.. I would insist they do it over - and then follow some of the cleaning suggestions on this thread.. It can be done without a huge amount of expense..

Good luck!

 

[bumbershoot]

I think you are stuck. But the smell will diminish over time and you will get used to it.

As someone who is very sensitive....no she won't.

I'm wondering if the dealership didn't already "bomb" the car when it was turned in, therefore giving it a temporary smell fix, because I know the smell wasn't as bad when we actually bought it. Seems to have eeked back in .

Same situation...DH was trusted to get a car. DH brought home a stinky car. 3 years ago. Yesterday I was driving it on a warm day, and b/c of the steering wheel, my hands smelled like cigarettes. Yuck.

My BIL works at the dealership where we bought it, and to get it ready for us they ozoned it *several* times. Was great for about a week. And then it all came back.

The smell is worst on hot days and on cold drizzly days. I live in western WA. Not a lot of the hot days, but you can imagine how fun it is the rest of the year!

Good luck!

 

[paintnolish]

My sister bought a car from an old lady. Of course, that meant low miles, but the lady was a smoker and wore a lot of perfume! They had the car detailed first- make sure to clean the seat belt straps. They also left open boxes of baking soda in the car almost every night. Whenever possible, they leave the windows open, too. The smell will diminish AND you will get used to it. She swears it doesn't smell (it's not horrible), but I can still tell.

 

[KathyTX]

Best $150 I ever spent was having DS's car (bought 1 year old, from a smoker) professionally detailed and "desmoked" at our full-service car wash. They cleaned everything, including the headliner, and used something miraculous that truly did rid it of the smoke smell.

It looks and smells better than I thought possible!

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

Please everyone dont take this the wrong way but bringing your car to a dealer for profesional cleaning is not right. The person in the cleaning bays are usually kids with no extensive cleaning training or abilities over a quick clean job. When you really need to get a good clean like in this case you need to take it to a company whos sole purpose is cleaning cars. I do agree when you say cleaning a headliner is not smart as it usually ends up seperating the material from the backing at a earlier stage. It wont happen right away but years down the road. With that being said if you plan on keeping the car for more than 5 to 8 years you might see the problem then. But if your the type who has a car for a few years then trades it in for a newer model I say get it done odds are you wont see any problems other than a clean headliner. Plus keep a eye out at the local junkers for when one comes in you can get a head liner from them cheap. Just make sure it dont smell. Again good luck I hope you get it fixed up so you can enjoy your new ride.

 

[FireDancer]

Replacing the carpet and headliner would be affordable? This is a 2008 Chrysler Aspen. I am going to guess the headliner is the culprit. My husband didn't have the detailers clean it because he works in automotive material handling and has dealt with headliners being "delicate" and easy to soil. He didn't want anyone to mess it up.

I would guess if you were willing to do the carpet yourself it would be about $200 to $300. My brother got a pre-molded carpet for his truck and we did it in a couple of hours. You just remove all the seats and some trim. Not hard at all. Back in the late 90's when I worked at a shop that did aftermarket accesories I believe headliners were about $200 - $300. Almost all of that is labor since the material is cheap but those are a little harder to do yourself especially if you have a sunroof.

 

[dzorn]

As someone who is very sensitive....no she won't.



Same situation...DH was trusted to get a car. DH brought home a stinky car. 3 years ago. Yesterday I was driving it on a warm day, and b/c of the steering wheel, my hands smelled like cigarettes. Yuck.

My BIL works at the dealership where we bought it, and to get it ready for us they ozoned it *several* times. Was great for about a week. And then it all came back.

The smell is worst on hot days and on cold drizzly days. I live in western WA. Not a lot of the hot days, but you can imagine how fun it is the rest of the year!

Good luck!

I don't know if I would be madder at BIL or DH for getting a car that stinks.

I would suggest baking soda box for the car and charcoal and let it sit.

Time may be the only thing that helps.

Denise in MI