Dealer Perfume Smell in Car HELP!!

[Slothman]

I bought a used car with leather seats from Carmax. The interior of the car smells like the perfume spray they put on public transit to cover up the stink. I can smell it even when I walk by the car a few feet away. Driving it guarantees a headache. I have fumigated and wiped down every surface including all AC ducts (replaced cabin air filter) and have run an ozone generator for hours on end and for the life of me I cannot get the perfume smell to go away. I checked in every nook and cranny to see if there was some sort of scent wafer hidden somewhere and couldn`t find a thing. I have been all over this car and cannot find a source for the smell. The car has also been aired out with all doors and windows open for many many hours. How do I get this smell out of my car? I am desperate at this point. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all.

[Setec Astronomy]

Stokdgs is going to be the guy to answer this.

[Stokdgs]

I bought a used car with leather seats from Carmax. The interior of the car smells like the perfume spray they put on public transit to cover up the stink. I can smell it even when I walk by the car a few feet away. Driving it guarantees a headache. I have fumigated and wiped down every surface including all AC ducts (replaced cabin air filter) and have run an ozone generator for hours on end and for the life of me I cannot get the perfume smell to go away. I checked in every nook and cranny to see if there was some sort of scent wafer hidden somewhere and couldn`t find a thing. I have been all over this car and cannot find a source for the smell. The car has also been aired out with all doors and windows open for many many hours. How do I get this smell out of my car? I am desperate at this point. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all.

Slothman 2189756 ---
Sorry this had to happen to you..

I have seen this before, when they put one of those "bomb" things in a really nice BMW M5, because it was a Smoker Car... Only way to "cover" up the Nicotine smell... The owner had the same reaction - made him dizzy, sick, etc., to even drive it.. He let it sit for a year, and it still had that awful cover up smell..

No vehicle should ever have an extra strong smell like that...

All the vehicles I have ever Detailed (hundreds) come out smelling "Clean" inside, and it does not go away after a few days, like those cheap perfume things do... It is Clean...No dirt, etc., anywhere inside..

I could not find any one "location" of the smell, just like you, so I could eliminate the source..

So, I carefully, went over Every Square Inch of the entire Interior with great cleaners that I used with my Steamer and Extractor.. It took a lot of hours as you can imagine..

What I found in the Interior - especially on all the inside of all the glass, the entire Dashboard, was a sticky layer of Nicotine, all over... Everything... A lot more Nicotine on the Driver Side Glass and the Rear Side of the Glass, so I guess this person smoked and drove with the window open, but the smoke still made it to the back glass and a lot was stuck on that side too...

If you decide to keep this car, I cannot think of another way to get rid of the masking smell that is covering the Nicotine smell...
It is on Everything... Yes, they cleaned it, before the bombed it, but they did not clean it enough to remove the Nicotine which is the smell they had to cover, to sell the car..

Hopefully it is not some other bad smell like a skunk went off in there or something...

If you decide to go to this level of cleaning, I would not try to do it with some stuff and a rag, etc., you need great cleaners and steam, and a big Extractor, to help you loosen all that stuff off, in my experiences...

And a LOT of hours, and a respirator so you don`t have to inhale that smell..

Or, I would consider seriously calling those people and tell them the awful cover up smell is damaging your health...No one should have to put up with that.

Good luck with this !
Dan F

[Slothman]

Slothman 2189756 ---
Sorry this had to happen to you..

I have seen this before, when they put one of those "bomb" things in a really nice BMW M5, because it was a Smoker Car... Only way to "cover" up the Nicotine smell... The owner had the same reaction - made him dizzy, sick, etc., to even drive it.. He let it sit for a year, and it still had that awful cover up smell..

No vehicle should ever have an extra strong smell like that...

All the vehicles I have ever Detailed (hundreds) come out smelling "Clean" inside, and it does not go away after a few days, like those cheap perfume things do... It is Clean...No dirt, etc., anywhere inside..

I could not find any one "location" of the smell, just like you, so I could eliminate the source..

So, I carefully, went over Every Square Inch of the entire Interior with great cleaners that I used with my Steamer and Extractor.. It took a lot of hours as you can imagine..

What I found in the Interior - especially on all the inside of all the glass, the entire Dashboard, was a sticky layer of Nicotine, all over... Everything... A lot more Nicotine on the Driver Side Glass and the Rear Side of the Glass, so I guess this person smoked and drove with the window open, but the smoke still made it to the back glass and a lot was stuck on that side too...

If you decide to keep this car, I cannot think of another way to get rid of the masking smell that is covering the Nicotine smell...
It is on Everything... Yes, they cleaned it, before the bombed it, but they did not clean it enough to remove the Nicotine which is the smell they had to cover, to sell the car..

Hopefully it is not some other bad smell like a skunk went off in there or something...

If you decide to go to this level of cleaning, I would not try to do it with some stuff and a rag, etc., you need great cleaners and steam, and a big Extractor, to help you loosen all that stuff off, in my experiences...

And a LOT of hours, and a respirator so you don`t have to inhale that smell..

Or, I would consider seriously calling those people and tell them the awful cover up smell is damaging your health...No one should have to put up with that.

Good luck with this !
Dan F

Thank you for the tips here. Do you have any recommendations as far as great cleaners that would be able to accomplish this?

[Bobh591]

I think you`re going to need to clean/disinfect what you can`t see. Those bombs get everywhere just like smoke does, i.e. behind door cards, dash, console, undersides of seats etc. So instead of focusing on cleaning products I would look into a quality trim removal tool kit ($15-20) and something like this from Griot`s - Detailing Swabs Variety Pack, 250 Count - Griot`'`s Garage. I`d start with the door cards and see what lies behind them.

[Lonnie]

Slothman:
I think you are the victim of a common misconception on vehicle odor elimination/mitigation: masking an offensive odor with a less-invasive odor. Spraying something like Lysol spray in a smoker`s vehicle is a good example.
The question I have is what odor EXACTLY was the CarMax company trying to cover-up and mask? Tobacco smoke? Pet or human body fluid odor? Some organic spill, like dairy liquids or meat blood that will spoil over time?

I ask because like Stokdgs states, unless you actually CLEAN and remove the source of this/these odor/odors, all the ozone generation and airing out won`t avail the final odor elimination you so much desire. Thorough scrubbing and extraction are a key component of this process. And if they organic in nature like pet fluids or dairy fluids, you will need an enzyme-specific cleaner to neutralize those fluids and the bacteria-sourced odors they are generating.

It`s a time-consuming, expensive process, especially if you currently do not have or own a professional-grade extractor and necessary chemicals/products to do this.
SO, my first suggestion is to find a local professional detailer who has such equipment and chemical AND is willing to try to start this cleaning process.

if you think that you can do this cleaning on your own, renting a pro-grade extractor may be in order. As far as enzyme cleaners, as stated that depends on the TYPE of organic odor. Poorboy`s World and P&S both make enzyme-base fabric/carpet pre-treaters. Another is Meg`s Pro Detailer D116 Pro Fiber Rinse and Tannin Stain Remover.
If its tobacco smells, Megs Detailer D101 All-Purpose Cleaner (APC) diluted 4:1 might be a good starting point to use on hard surfaces and the fore- mentioned D116 for use on carpet fabrics.
The leather seats presents a different challenge. The "problem" being the seat foam material may have absorbed the offending fluids and getting to them is next to impossible. Also the leather material itself should be cleaned with a leather-care specific cleaner, like Meg`s Detailer D181 Leather Cleaner or Griot`s Garage Odor-Neutralizing Leather Cleaner.. Since you did not mention the make and model of the vehicle you purchases, if it is a higher-end vehicle like a Lexus or BMW, its leather needs leather-specific cleaners to avoid any possible damage to the leathers. If the vehicle is more "pedestrian" and has coated leather, you might be able to clean it with a highly-diluted (8:1 to 10:1) cleaner like the fore-mentioned Megs D101 APC.

It`s more than good luck that you will need to eliminate these odors. Keep us informed as to what you find out about the odors and how you are going about to eliminate them.

If you think you have an odor problem, here`s a link to a past thread about a milk spill odor by Shane B. It wasn`t easy to find and solve. It`s in post #25!:
Crying over spilled milk

[Stokdgs]

Slothman2189756 --
Thanks for your reply.. There is a lot of great advice up there already.. Thanks, Good Men !

Perhaps to Start, , determine first if you have a smoker car... Try cleaning the inside Driver Door Glass and see if you are removing a layer of Nicotine there, and that will help you figure out what might be on there, or in there, and what to do next..

For the entire vehicle, where I could use it, I used my VX5000 Steamer, with the Triangular Brush head, and wrapped a small, Clean, White Towel over it and used the fasteners on the top of the Brush Head to hold the towel in place.

For all the plastic door parts, the area behind the C pillar inside, some of the lower dash plastic parts, etc., I sprayed some Nextzett Deep Plastic Cleaner on a Clean Microfiber Towel, (only on the towel, no overspray,etc..), carefully scrubbed a section, while its still wet, carefully go over it with the Brush Head/Towel, so the Steam came through the towel, and it got a Lot of light brown product off all the plastic parts easily..

This product does not need to be rinsed off, but of course as you wipe of off, you are removing it anyway... I have never had any problems with this product either.. It always works great..

After a little bit, that white towel will also become full of whatever is coming off, so you have to change it often... You need to see what came off, then go over again and see if more is coming, off, stop when nothing more is on the white towel... (This is why I only use clean white towels, I need to see what progress is being made, or not..

Be really careful around the Dash, especially all the clear plastic gauge faces, etc... Do NOT use this Deep Plastic Cleaner on them...

For all the delicate clear plastic gauge faces, l used Nextzett Cockpit Premium, a more mild cleaner made for those delicate clear plastic places with very careful application of steam - Always through the Clean White Plastic Towel, and even more carefully, just touch them with the softest, clean, microfiber you have, to dry them, and again, the Clean White Towel, is telling you if something or nothing is coming off...

For all the Leather areas, I only ever used Zaino Leather Soft Z-9 Spray Cleaner. Carefully spray a section, use a nice, small, soft bristle Leather Cleaning Brush, and carefully brush an area. Then while still wet, carefully go over the section with the Steam through the Triangular Brush with a Clean White Towel over it, and just touch the leather, going back and forth, not too long, not too much downward pressure, and see what comes off on it... Take additional white towels to finish wiping if needed and see what they say to you..

Then when all is done and dry, apply some Leather conditioner over all the Leather..

For the Headliner, all of it, I used Meguiars APC+ which is no longer sold...They have sold another product that works great, Meguiars Citrus Power Cleaner Plus D107, which is also great... I only use it at 10:1 Ratio = 3.25 oz. of Product to 32oz of water in the Spray Bottle.. You can make it a little stronger, but I usually don`t need it stronger, especially if using Steam with it..

Again, Headliner, very, very, delicate unless its one of those hard plastic things; Depending on how dirty it looks,smells, I might spray a small section, let it sit for a minute, then CAREFULLY with very little pressure, go back and forth on it with the Steam/Brush/Towel/ configuration, and move to the next spot...

Do not ever soak a Headliner, you risk loosening the whatever is holding it up, and it might not want to reattach...I do not recommend using anything with vacuum on a cloth headliner, because you do not want to detach it from the ceiling metal of the vehicle... Be really careful up there... I have been extremely Blessed to have never hurt a Headliner... Have to go over All of It... Think smoke... Where does it go? Easiest?? Yeah, it goes up...

Seatbelts, especially front Driver Seat Belt -- I pulled it out as far as it will go, clipped it so it would not retract, and sprayed with the Meguiars D107 Cleaner, let it soak a bit, scrubbed a section with a small soft brush, then applied Steam config. to the seatbelt, and wiped with the CWT(Clean White Towel) a lot, both sides, again until the CWT did not remove anything that was still showing up on the towel.. Let them dry clipped, for a long time, or use fans to blow air, etc., to dry them before retracting them...
You will be Amazed at what color and how much comes off of seat belts!

But, when they are clean.....Ahhhhh.... So nice again ! Dirtiest area is right where the belt goes over your shoulder and across your body.... Of course, if someone spills a lot of Latte`s etc., over the rest of the lower belt, there will be a lot of extra dirt there too.. I always get a lot of hidden gunk off of Seat Belts, especially the front ones... If they had kids in back, then those can also be very dirty..

Carpets- Have to so thoroughly vacuumed, they look perfect before you start cleaning them... Remember, smoke also goes down...

Spray a little Meguiars D107 mixed at 10:1 on a section, using a different carpet type brush, scrub it carefully into the fiber, then Steam it a little more aggressively with the same configuration of the Steamer, then I use my MyteeHP60 Extractor to rinse and extract that spot... Careful on how much water you inject when you pull the trigger, because you have to get as much of it back out...

All the mats outside on the concrete, same thing... get them all really clean and perfectly extracted... There is a lot of dirt in all carpets because that is what carpets are designed to do - separate dirt from our shoes, and hold it all...At the bottom... Enter Extractor for the win !

I took out all the carpeting in the trunk, did the same thing to it outside the vehicle, wiped down the entire area of the trunk with same Meguiars D107 cleaner and looked for clean white towels after wiping it and not done until I got clean white towels after wiping...

I did Not take off all the door panels, seats, etc., and would have if I needed to.. But this vehicle, after all the Cleaning, drying, now had the "Clean" smell and no more nasty cover up Bomb smell...

Owner was ecstatic, was so happy to have his BMW M5 and be able to drive it!!! I never heard back from him again, so I know he was happy...

If you get this far into the Cleaning and the smell is gone ( and you will know because you know that smell), then you will be good...

If you have an Extractor, a big one, that has a lot of Water Lift, you will be amazed at what comes out of the Recovery Tank when you drain it..
It will Always (Unless the vehicle is brand new, off the Truck), drain the several gallons of water that will be dark brown to almost black..
Then you Know, those carpeted areas are absolutely free of dirt...

For all the inside Glass I used Meguiars Glass Cleaner D120 mixed a little stronger, believe at 6:1 or 4:1 in a tall 32oz spray bottle..

Get the cleaner on the glass and scrub, keeping it wet, hit it with steam config., as best you can, and continue the scrub and you should see a difference in clarity of the glass as the Nicotine (if that is what is on there), will start coming off... Again, a lot of work, if you indeed, have Nicotine inside this vehicle..

Don`t forget to open the Sunroof, and clean that glass too..

Leather -- Leather comes from hides that are treated carefully to make them into Leather for Seats, etc.., The best, strongest, leather is always the outside layer.. They trim that hide into several layers and of course, the thinner it gets the less strong it is..

Some Leather is just thin and delicate to begin with if it comes from younger cows too...More pliable? Yes.. Softer? Yes.. Easier to damage? Yes..

Ventilated seats even more delicate, all those holes are actually making that hide less strong; there is no leather there anymore... Be careful if this is what you have..

Think that`s about it !! Come back if you have any questions, comments, etc.. We are All here to help !

Dan F