Interior Car smell - How do I get rid of it?

So when I purchased my car it had some kind of old/wet interior kinda smell. I have tried Fab Breeze in the carpets with no luck. I roll windows down inside garage but the smell seems to be there once I drive it and parked it in the sun with windows down, etc. My CTT I just got owner kept so clean it smells like fresh leather and has the new car smell still after 7 years. Not sure if anyone of you cares about the smell but wondered if there is an effective way to get rid of the smell. I know my car is 12 years old but would love to have some type of "new car" smell in it. I know the easiest way will be buy new car... TIA

my old car never smelled...that would bother me, the new one smells.... like oil something is getting wet maybe... have you cleaned the drains? Check cabin air filter, remove mats and feel the floor, remove seats look for food or other things. If its musty the SUN Uv rays should kill it...unless its coming back due to continued leaking....

Drains? (I should know where they are but what do you mean?) Cabin filter - checked Mats and floor - checked (long time ago when I bought) no evidence of dampness Under seats - checked Car is dry IMO. Not sure if previous owner kept car outside with windows up and water got in.

The best method I have come across for ridding a car of a smell is a multi-step process: 1) Thoroughly clean every surface on the interior of the car. This includes the headliner. 2) Apply appropriate protectants and let them sit overnight before wiping off the excess. 3) Leave the car in a very COLD environment with the windows down overnight. Don't know what it is, but the cold temperature seems to remove a lot of odors. 4) Use Ozium air freshener inside the car, spraying several times over the course of a week or so. 5) Place a scented dryer sheet under each seat. My wife's car picked up a nasty cigar odor when a mechanic smoked one near her car in the service bay when it was being worked on. (She's extremely sensitive to cigar smells.) The steps above worked to completely rid the car of the odor. Good luck!

The battery compartment area has a couple of drains. Review the PET diagram for where they are and make sure the tubes are there and draining. Those drains wont always get all the water out. Could even be a smell from an a/c leak possibly. At least I think the oil in the refrigerant smells a bit.

Stop the "Bean Diet"?

I roll windows down when I drive...

As a professional show car/exotic detailer, I can vouch for and say get this product: http://www.autogeek.net/so2pure-air-purifier.html . You really need to find the source of the water first. Stop the source then treat. So2 is magic stuff and I havent come across any smell it cant kill. Dont forget to also change the cabin air filter.

I put one of these in the car for the weekend. And it actually worked. This was my trailblazer.. Not porsche. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=330557922679

look for block drainage...

If it really is damp inside, you can try one of the moisture absorbing bags or buckets. I use the bags in my boat and used the bucket in a previous car after leaving a window open during a rain storm. (But first try to find and fix the source of the problem) A tip that I read about but haven't tried, is to place a sheet of new leather under each seat.

Buy Wizards brand odor eliminator and spray the crap out of the interior and then let it bake in the sun for a good day or two. This stuff took away a pig farm smell from the interior of my truck. You might have to do a couple of times before it goes away but it will work.

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Thanks for the image showing the location of the various drains. It's helpful. I'm curious - how exactly do you check these? Do you just blow compressed air through them? Can you even get to them without a massive disassembly effort? I've thought about this with my 996, but I'm not sure where to start ... Cheers, -- Mike

I'd have to agree with the blocked drain comments. My car is 9 years old, and it smells like a saddle shop inside. Pure, wonderful leather smells...

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Maybe you can do a controlled test with a garden hose and see if you can see where the dampness is coming from.

I started checking the interior and looks like comes from vents I think. I will look into it and look at those drains (Thanks Ferd) The interior leather does not smell, the mats/carpet don't either. I hardly use the AC or Heater but still if the vents or the drains are plugged that might be the issue

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If it is coming from the vents then you may have a mild case of mold or mildew from the AC/heater system. One thing that you never want to do is leave your interior fan turned off all the time. By leaving the fan at least on low you will always be moving the air and thus keeping things dry and free from dampness. Go to NAPA and buy a can of AC spray that attacks the mildew. You will have to spray it in the fresh intake vents and into the vents inside. I can't remember the name right now but they sell it in a small spray can and it is in the AC/Temp control catalog.

I was listening to a local radio car show and one experts said that used cars come into their shop and have a foul smell (such as milk ) they get treated with pet stain/smell remover. As most of the smells are enzyme-based, these liquids kill at the source, rather than just mask the odor. I think Frebeeze does that as well but it's not as concentrated/intense. Worth a shot.

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You've gotten some good advice on what to look into, check for. I can add that even if you find the cabin dry and the drains ok/clear that the smell can come from the cabin filter. Even though you checked it I have found that in order to eliminate what I experienced a couple of times as a sour or 'off' smell, the cabin filter has to be replaced. It didn't look that bad but it smelled. Also, check that someone didn't drop some kind of food (even a french fry) and it ended up under the seat. I entered a BMW once that was owned by a couple that had a baby and I guess the baby liked to throw food around (or the parents lost a dirty diaper in the car...). The car's cabin smell amost knocked me out. The parents were I guess used to it. But oh my did that car stink. Sincerely, Macster.

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It is amazing what one FF will do

Dump untreated charcol in a box,store it the car when home for a few weeks.

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Jeep Cherokees had this problem. I think there must have been a fault in the design of the ducts that allowed moisture to pool. There was a fault in the design of the entire vehicle, but that's another story. Anyway, I worked at Enterprise in the 90s. We had to buy aerosol AC deodorant and spray it through the systems of the POCs. It's pretty potent stuff and it worked. Once you solve the problem, always turn off your AC a mile or so from home so it can dry out a little before you park it.

How about this?

The best product I have ever used is called Auto Shocker. It's an odor eliminator, so it doesn't mask odors, it actually gets the smell out of the upholstery. It has worked on smoke, barf, food, & dog odors so it has to work for you. Find it at http://www.biocidesystems.com/auto3hslanding.html .

For what it's worth, I pulled the seats and carpet out of the car and used my carpet cleaner and let the carpet dry in the sun for 1/2 day.

Your problem is one of the reasons why I wouldn't buy a car remotely. I would avoid the use of scents to cover the odor--that's like putting on more cologne instead of showering. Is the odor in your ducts? Is the odor stronger when you run the interior fan? You might try a duct deodorizer like the one from IDQ, available at NAPA or O"Reilly. People who park their car after running the a/c on "max" or recirculate without drying the system first will almost surely experience smelly car syndrome.

Following this thread with interest. My car never had any odours until I installed some pre-owned sport seats. They've got this 'old car' smell to them that becomes worse when the interior is sun-warmed. I'd love to get rid of it...

My company makes a chlorine dioxide generating system that is EPA registered and is extremely effective at eliminating odor. The trick is to eliminate the cause of the odor and not just mask it. One of the customers who buys it uses it to sanitize/deodorize cop cars being converted for use as cabs.

I've detailed over 300 cars. Remove seats, shampoo carpet, use carpet extractor with high heat. While allowing to dry use an ozone generator to sterilize interior compartment. Ozone will remove a number of pollutants & replace cabin filter. Or, Take her to a serious detail shop and pay someone EXPERIENCED with the proper tools and patience to sort it out.

Wiped my ride inside completelyclean, but still had a little smokers odor of the former owner. The dealer was kindly to put something in the AC compartiment and let it recirculate for 20 minutes. They have a really concentrated chemical suff for that. Now I dont smell anything anymore. Maybe they have the smae solution in the USA. I live in The Netherlands...

clean the number 5 drains, and this means running water through them until it comes out clear with no funk and put in a new cabin air filter afterwards, these things pick up the clogged drain smell and hold it

Some of the solutions used for this purpose, mostly A/C mold/mildew odor, in the past have now been outlawed, detrimental to human health.

Use a product called Freshana Organic Solutions. Miracle worker I tell ya. Miracle worker!! Use it in all my cars. Stuff rocks.

Odour Bombs are amazing. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sprayway-Tot...item23318e1db3 You put the can in the car and the entire contents is sprayed inside, leave doors closed for 2 hours, the odour bomb goes right inside everywhere in the car, carpets, inside air vents and kills all bacteria etc and leaves a nice scent. I can't find it in lemon on the US ebay, but i'm sure you can get it there. Easily available in the UK

Try a bowl with fresh coffee grounds in it, front and rear for a couple of days.

Buy some whole vanilla beans. They look like dried up string beans. Break in half and hide under your seats. Zaino Z10 is good too.

You can also try baking soda. Arm and Hammer have a flow through box for the fridge that works well.

Wow there have been a lot of interesting suggestions! A "real" detailer with a hot water extractor is the best way. Post this in the Perf. & Comp forum under Concours...all of the detailing genius in the world frequents there. There are all sorts of products for this sort of stuff, and most of the good ones I feel like are closely guarded secrets. Phil at Detailer's Domain is on here all the time, gives a discount (code RENNLIST) and stocks all sorts of good stuff: http://www.detailersdomain.com/HVAC-Cleaner_c_81.html

I put refrigerator charcoal smell eliminators under both front seats and one in each rear footwell. Smoke smell gone in two days. I thought if those things can keep the smell of fresh fish away they should take out the smoke smell. Worked great and super cheap.

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+ 1 here. I bought 3 boxes. 1 of them I sprinkled on all the carpeted areas and let sit for a while. Then I vacuumed it all up. I took the remaining two boxes, opened them (there is a screen that prevents spillage) and placed one behind each of the seats. After a couple weeks I noticed all the smells mostly gone. Very cheap and easy fix BUT - you must take care of the source of the stinkage first or it will never go away. Cheers!