Is new carpet the answer?

S

spielnicht

New member
I bought an ~18 month old car with only 12K back in November that was in perfect condition in and out. It was obviously detailed inside and out and came with that horrid automotive carpet cleaner smell. I figured that it would eventually go away but that never happened. When summer came around, a slight mildew like smell was there as well. I throughly cleaned the leather seats and replaced the carpeted floor mats with original all-weather floor mats and that changed nothing. I then cleaned the carpet twice with a hot water extraction machine using 1z Einszett Blitz and other professional products but that horrid carpet cleaner and mildew smell came back within a week.

I love this car and I want to enjoy it, considering that I'm going to keep it for at least 5+ years. With that said, I don't mind spending a little $$ to be comfortable riding it. I am now thinking of completely replacing the carpet in the car. I have a quote from the dealer and it's bad, but not as bad as I actually first thought. I'd be doing the swap myself.

Before actually doing this, I wanted to check with the pros here in that the carpet is the likely case of the smell and by changing it, I'd get rid of the smells and actually gain a new car smell in the process.
 
To be honest, I've never heard of auto carpet cleaners with such a bad smell and I'm surprised that extraction didn't do the trick. If there's a mold/mildew smell too, and cleaning/extraction does not remove, you may need to replace the carpet.
I'm wondering if the bad smell is the result of someone trying to eliminate the mold/mildew smell - perhaps the result of a bad leak or flood?! (I had a problem once with a sunroof drain issue that caused water to collect in the passenger side carpet anytime it rained.)

If you're going to swap the carpet yourself, you might purchase indoor/outdoor carpet, use the old carpet as a template and cut your own to save $. Then again, may be easier to just pay the piper his due.
 
Have you tried steaming the whole interior? My car had a rusty windshield flange,so every time it rained, water would slowly leak through the roof onto the headliner and drip down on my seat and floor carpet. It eventually developed some mold on the carpet and the seat just smelled bad.

I had a body shop repair the rust and i had no more leaks, but the mildew/wet smell was still there especially during humid days so right after i bought my Mcculloch steamer, i thoroughly steamed all the fabric inside the car (including headliner) and did one of those Meguiars "New Car Smell" bombs (used the entire can) and the smell has not returned after 3+ months .

My carpet on the driver's side was just nasty,you could see where the small patch of Mold was so i just hit that area hard with the Steamer to where the carpet was actually quite damp from it, but not soaked, so it dried after a day or so. I never used any carpet extraction in the car(don't own any type of extractor either).
 
Before you get to the point of actually replacing the carpet, have you considered pulling the carpet and padding (assuming it has typical padding) from the car, cleaning and letting it dry outside? I've done this on a couple of occassions and I believe it saved the carpet. Of course there is the thought that if you're into it that far why not just replace it. Depending upon the age and the popularity of the vehicle some carpet kits aren't surprisingly expensive. Definitely would not try to recarpet with a flat piece of carpet. Get something that is made specifically for the vehicle.
 
I'd try a Mold Remediation product first, and yeah you'll have to get to the source of the problem so plan on pulling seats and otherwise taking the interior apart,

My attempts to recarpet with bulk carpeting were unsuccessful (to put it politely); so many vehicles seem to have "molded" carpeting that can't be easily replaced with regular flat stuff.
 
I would check very thoroughly for a water leak or the possibility that you have a flood car. Word to the wise, MOLD CAN KILL and that is no joke. Find a water authority who can check the situation out. I had a friend who almost died because of a moldy car. He was sick for years. I wont get into the car type but it was much like yours.
 
I would definitely quit wetting everything, and plan on removing everything out of the inside of the car starting with the seats..
You may have purchased a car that was flooded - :(
Sorry this had to happen to you..
Hope you can get this worked out..
Dan F
 
Here is an example of a "really bad smell" in a very nice newer Audi Wagon, that could not be killed by 100 little Trees, and all sorts of things inside the car --

2012 Audi Wagon low mileage, pretty good condition, lived on a ranch, horses, cattle, etc. in Issaquah, WA..
Smelled really bad and Client was literally getting sick from the smell..

I started with the middle seat because the smell seemed to be stronger there..

Upon removing the seat bottom, I was astounded to see this huge, black, ugly flower like mold plant growing in the middle of a nest of hay, and food, that I traced back to the seat belt hole in the middle of the seat..

Apparently, one of their little ones had been routinely stuffing food down the hole for quite some time, and that food and a lot of loose hay coming from the back of the vehicle down the back of the seats, combined to make an incredibly toxic, black, very healthy, mold plant that had grown all the way from the floor onto the bottom of the foam of the seat..

I had to use a serious mold killer chemical to wash the spot after I removed that nasty plant and all the debris from the floor, and then another serious mold disinfectant to keep this thing from coming back ever..
Took the entire inside of the vehicle out to make sure there were no more little toxic brews going, and once all cleaned and put back together - there was absolutely no more smell or sickening feeling after being in this car for a few minutes..
Client was beyond ecstatic, and of course the little one who unknowingly helped start this toxic mess was appropriately dealt with, and last I heard, no more problems in that Audi...

My point as it has always been, is that you have to absolutely find the source of the smell and remove the source, or the smell will never go away...

I also hate all those bomb things that claim to remove the smell but actually just cover it and replace it with another smell that sometimes is also sickening to people..

Same thing with smoker vehicles - have to get every speck of nicotine off the surfaces of the entire vehicle before it will ever really be gone...

Hope your vehicle comes out ok !
Dan F
 
To answer your question, maybe yes. Instead of a dealership have you tried an auto carpet restoration specialist? They are less expensive when it comes to fixing/replacing carpets.
 
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