My wife and I test drove a 2 year old Prius today. Lovely car but very bad smell coming from passenger side, where my wife sat.


Neither I nor the salesman could smell anything. We bought another Prius, slightly newer and better specification.

I have now searched the internet and have found discussions concerning this same smell, particularly in the US. No apparent cure and Toyota don't want to know. Smell seems to become apparent at around 5k miles and so I am now having second thoughts on the purchase.