I was reading an Honest John answer to a query about air con smell; he said that some cars are worse than others.

I have only owned two cars: 1, A 2000 reg Polo. 2, A 2007 used Prius. The former had no air con and thus gave me no such smell for 10 years of use. However I bought the Prius from a Toyota dealer last year and they bought it back from me 9 months later because they could not get rid of the smell. They had it cleaned out multiple times and it did reduce the smell but the mould and bacteria remained in the system. I got it tested by a mould expert who said that the levels were near dangerous. This is why the dealer took it back.

Now I didn’t mind the smell but it was causing me major breathing problems. I have Asthma and even when the smell was very slight I couldnt breathe. I tried many many of the solutions that were recommended to me but nothing worked to remove the mould.

So now I want to buy a car again. I liked the Prius but I fear that I will get the same problems. One garage told me that ALL modern cars have these problems and you have to keep cleaning them out. This is not something that my health can deal with.

So what are my options? Should I buy a car with no air con? Or was I just unlucky with that Pruis?

Can you recommend any cars that have less air con smells than others?