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return or keep car with lingering smell? - pete2000

Hello again.

I recently purchased a used approved vehicle, and whilst now everything seems great, there's one lingering issue which is frustrating me a little.

Post valeting the car had this lingering smell, and since I had the car back to sort out the windscreen, they've deep cleaned it again and apparently used antibac treatment and fragrance bombs.

They're offering a refund if I'm not happy with the smell as I'm giving it a few days to see if it disappears.

The problem is I've never had a pet so don't know if it is a dog smell that from reading is tough to get rid of.

Essentially the best way I can describe the smell is that smell you get after a changing room has been cleaned. Sort of slightly wet/bleachy.

There's zero evidence of any moisture and the dealer has checked everything and is happy to refund.

I've driven down the motorway with windows open, I've tried febreeze spray and an interior air freshener pot and the smell is still there. Maybe due to the constant rain I haven't had a proper chance for it to air out.

Should I return the car? is it a dog smell or is that standard for a valet in this weather and it should fade in the coming days/weeks?

Feels like a stupid question but I guess if I have to return it, better to do it sooner than later and experiment.

EDIT- Just to add to the fact there isn't any moisture, there also isn't any apparent source of the smell, nothing from the vents etc. Don't know if it is something below the upholstery that creates it or simply the products they use.

Thanks!

Edited by pete2000 on 15/03/2020 at 11:09

return or keep car with lingering smell? - SLO76
Most likely coming from the air conditioning system. Bacteria builds up on the moisture and causes a smell. Best thing to do once you’ve had the system on is to run it at high temperature for a few mins before turning it off to dry it out. My Polo gets a bit smelly if I don’t do this during the summer months. You can also get a treatment for it to kill off the bacteria. The dealer should try this or you can buy it at Halfords
return or keep car with lingering smell? - pete2000

Hi, thanks for the quick response.

As mentioned the dealer tried an antibac clean of the system. Does it not sound like a dog smell?

return or keep car with lingering smell? - Glaikit Wee Scunner {P}

Wet/bleachy is not a dog smell imho. Ask for the pollen filter to be changed. Use Neutradol original (good in my experience) with system on recirculate. Sniff around the car closely to determine if its from the upholstery or carpets. If on the upholstery or carpets then try Febreze fabric spray(there are two kinds of Febreze).

The smell will go away if it's from the valeting.

Edited by Glaikit Wee Scunner {P} on 15/03/2020 at 12:39

return or keep car with lingering smell? - JoeB

Wet/bleachy is not a dog smell imho. Ask for the pollen filter to be changed. Use Neutradol original (good in my experience) with system on recirculate. Sniff around the car closely to determine if its from the upholstery or carpets. If on the upholstery or carpets then try Febreze fabric spray(there are two kinds of Febreze).

The smell will go away if it's from the valeting.

Change pollen filter and also put an ozone generator in the car for an hour or so.

return or keep car with lingering smell? - Ethan Edwards

Trust me that's not a dog smell. There really is nothing on earth like the smell of Damp dog. Never forgotten.

return or keep car with lingering smell? - Old.Roverboy

Trust me that's not a dog smell. There really is nothing on earth like the smell of Damp dog. Never forgotten.

Our friends who bought the Kia venga a couple of years ago hve a golden labrador who didn't like the car smell so wee'd in it. 3 years on I refuse to get in their car.

And no, their dog will not be travelling in my new car.

Eau de Pooch is vile smelling.

return or keep car with lingering smell? - Ethan Edwards

Our dog has his issues but has never wee'd in the car. I bought a proper boot liner for the Vitara in case he did. .

return or keep car with lingering smell? - Old.Roverboy

Blodwen is very good in the car, but, in case, she has a blanket which is on top of a waterproof hammock and she has a doggy car harness that fits into the seat belts.

return or keep car with lingering smell? - gordonbennet

Out of all the smells a car can get, the smell of dogs is far from the worse, something homely about it, assuming you don't actually have an aversion to animals i suppose...not wee though obviously.

It might be interesting to borrow a friends dog (one with a good nose) and put it in the car, it may well zoom in the source of the strongest smell for you giving you a better chance of sorting it.

The worse smell of all is spilled milk, once its left too long the smell is unbelievable, no amount of washing will do, only throwing out the affected things will work.

Previous fairly useless colleague spilled latte in my lorry, he cleaned up but a small patch of the liquid found its way under a tray which had a rubber mat inside, as the weeks went by the smell grew to unbearable, eventually i removed the mat and found the stain, no mistaking this was the source, a patch about the size of a £2 coin.

I washed it, bleached it, put it through the dishwasher cycle, scrubbed it, treated it with every chemical known to man and after all that the smell hadn't diminshed one fraction, eventually gave up and dumped the rubber mat, the plastic tray was no bother that washed down easily.

The worse smell though of all is Poison and similar perfumes, if someone is nearby using it i am choking to the point of vomiting.

Edited by gordonbennet on 15/03/2020 at 18:31

return or keep car with lingering smell? - bathtub tom
The worse smell of all is spilled milk

An old work colleague's car suffered from this, added to his daughter's car sickness. I refused to travel in it.

return or keep car with lingering smell? - Steveieb
Went fishing on holiday and my son insisted on taking the fish home in a seaside bucket , which tipped over on the carpet.
Tried everything to get rid of the smell but it was still evident when I sold the car
return or keep car with lingering smell? - pete2000

Thanks for the responses.

I guess it doesn't sound like a dog smell, thanks for the descriptions but there must've been something there.

I have sprayed febreeze and also the dettol odour eliminating spray. I tried the heating on for a while and also ac for a while . Will see if the next couple of days are bearable or not.

Totally agree milk or yoghurt are horrific things as I've been in cars with that issue. (Don't even want to imagine the fish)

Incense burners or candles have gone through my mind but that's probably going to mask things let alone the risk of burning some upholstery :) . In my time spent overseas some car washes used an arabian oud incense on a burner to finish off the car wash (5 pounds for a full wash/vacuum/dash and tyre polish by a team of people)

return or keep car with lingering smell? - gordonbennet

At present you're disguising it, you need it to be bad and not masked by any one of a dozen fragrances, so you (and i wasn't joking about borrowing a decent sniffer dog) can pinpoint the source.

return or keep car with lingering smell? - JoeB

As I stated earlier, use an ozone generator. Hire a commercial car one or contact a valeter who has one. Run it in the car for 30 - 60 minutes. Kills bacteria viruses and stops odours. I used one with great success.

return or keep car with lingering smell? - pete2000

Just thought I'd revisit this thread as I finally managed to remove the car smell. I think it may well have been a pet smell, but seeing as the smell has gone now (or at least for a while) I'll put what I used in case anyone has a similar issue.

1) I tried zoflora and varius fabric sprays which didn't really work and just mixed in with the smell. A little like when in school some kids spray deodorant over their sweat and you end up worse.

2) I went for an ozone treatment. That definitely neutralised the smell, but it did return after a couple of months exactly like before. Perhaps multiple treatments would've worked, so I was about to buy a machine myself, until I found a solution. Note I think Ozone might well be good for cigarette smells, but pet or random crappy smells in the upholstery could well return.

3) As a final solution when googling, I found some chlorine based treatment called airvidox. I have no relationship with the company but I simply found it on amazon then just got it from their site. Was around 20 quid. There are a few alternatives online which likely do the same thing. You mix a couple of ingredients to activate and then stick it in the vehicle for a few hours (I left it overnight, as I didn't want to do it half a***d). Next day the car just reeked of bleach, which whilst not 'neutral', it definitely destroyed the smell that was there before. Happy with the result and its been around 3 months, so updating my thread for completion. The smell lingered for 3 weeks and even now there's a slight hint, but it smells 'clean' as opposed to the previous stench.

Thanks again to everyone for your responses, and I guess don't buy a car that smells to avoid the hassle :)

return or keep car with lingering smell? - _

Thanks for coming back and telling us.

ORB

return or keep car with lingering smell? - FoxyJukebox
Unknown to me until I sniffed it-my wife dropped a carton of cream all over the back carpet. She washed it out and about 10 days later the smell was truly appalling.
We traded the car in.
return or keep car with lingering smell? - akbar Hussain

hi go on amazon and buy a product called Airvidox

Have a look at the reviews and thank me later :)

return or keep car with lingering smell? - movilogo

My kid once vomited inside the car. It took me whole month to get rid of the smell. I had to drive with windows down (even in winter) during this whole period.

return or keep car with lingering smell? - MGspannerman

I have been associated with a car dealer business for many years, and sometimes even bought on their behalf at auction when you could personally attend. We would never buy a car that had any pet/smoke or other smell far too difficult to get rid of and not worth the hassle however good other aspects of the car.

return or keep car with lingering smell? - bathtub tom

My kid once vomited inside the car. It took me whole month to get rid of the smell.

I refused to travel in a colleague's car because of this. It also had appalling brakes that pulled to one side due to seized calipers and shonky rear axle bushes. I thought it was a death trap. It was a MK3 cortina that he'd asked me to look over at the time, as I already had one. I told him about the brakes and the back axle bushes (It'd dive to one side on acceleration and the other on braking), but he then informed me he'd left a deposit on it. I told him to walk away and lose the deposit, but he didn't. I later heard another colleague was with him in that car when it had total brake failure. I suspect a caliper had seized with the pad against a disc and boiled the brake fluid, because the brakes were 'perfectly OK' after a few minutes.

return or keep car with lingering smell? - RT

My kid once vomited inside the car. It took me whole month to get rid of the smell.

I refused to travel in a colleague's car because of this. It also had appalling brakes that pulled to one side due to seized calipers and shonky rear axle bushes. I thought it was a death trap. It was a MK3 cortina that he'd asked me to look over at the time, as I already had one. I told him about the brakes and the back axle bushes (It'd dive to one side on acceleration and the other on braking), but he then informed me he'd left a deposit on it. I told him to walk away and lose the deposit, but he didn't. I later heard another colleague was with him in that car when it had total brake failure. I suspect a caliper had seized with the pad against a disc and boiled the brake fluid, because the brakes were 'perfectly OK' after a few minutes.

The mk3 Cortina was renowned for "rear-end steer" once the rear axle bushes started to wear, which was inevitable because of the imperfect linkage geometry which relied on movement in the bushes!

return or keep car with lingering smell? - Will deBeast

The mk3 Cortina was renowned for "rear-end steer" once the rear axle bushes started to wear, which was inevitable because of the imperfect linkage geometry which relied on movement in the bushes!

As a student, I was pulled over by a traffic policeman, who had noticed something awry on my cortina. Just a gentle advisement to get it checked.

A new set of void bushes the next day transformed the car.

return or keep car with lingering smell? - Xileno

Someone I know had a pint of milk leak in his SAAB, he never got rid of that smell despite lifting the carpet out and thoroughly cleaning with one of those carpet washers. It was much better but on a hot day there was a distinct whiff. Must be something particularly bad in dairy.

return or keep car with lingering smell? - bathtub tom

Must be something particularly bad in dairy.

The WW2 Mosquito suffered similar problems in the East, due to bacteria eating the glue. I understand this is what lead to modern epoxy adhesives.

Edited by bathtub tom on 25/11/2021 at 22:45

return or k eep car with lingering smell? - galileo

Must be something particularly bad in dairy.

The WW2 Mosquito suffered similar problems in the East, due to bacteria eating the glue. I understand this is what lead to modern epoxy adhesives.

J E Gordon, a founder of materials science (author of "Structures, or why things don't fall down") worked on the Mosquito during the war and confirmed that the original casein glue was prone to turning to a liquid goo when aircraft were parked outdoors, particularly in warm countries with heavy rainfall and high humidity. Casein glue once damp becomes very like cheese.

return or keep car with lingering smell? - up north

Are you sure it hasn't had a water leak ingress under carpets?

return or keep car with lingering smell? - pete2000

Hi thanks as per my update I fixed the issue after trying fragrances/antibacs and Ozone. The fix was done using a chlorine type product Airvidox which another bloke mentioned too after my post. May be a sledgehammer to crack a nut for some smells but it is powerful stuff and the only thing that worked and has lasted the longest thus far.

Car has been checked over many times, interior shampooed twice by the dealer. When I bought it from the showroom initially it wasn't detectable due to their cleaning and it came as an unpleasant surprise later. The smell would've been set into the upholstery.

I even changed the cabin filter too. I can only assume pet smell but really it's a mystery that will only cause anxiety if I think about it :)