Much has been said in the past about the distinct "New car" smell.
Having recently turned seven I have noticed my car has started to aquire the aroma of all the bangers I drove years ago. Hard to put your finger on what causes it but it seems to be a smell consisting of burnt electrics/rubber mixed with damp, anyone else experience this?
|
You're very well-spoken for a seven year old.
My current car is around 7 years old and still smells pretty new though I think that might be because of the leather interior. Other cars I've had that have been older have developed their own distinct smells that I'd immediately associate with that car if I ever smelt them again. Just the smells of use, really.
The most I've ever experienced this was my friend's dad's Morris Minor. It smelled of the industrial revolution.
|
|
Get a dog. they very quickly all smell like dogs.
|
> > Get a dog. they very quickly all smell like dogs.
I'm sure you're quite correct, RF.
The previous occupiers of my previous house, if you're with me, had a hound of some description that has its basket in the hallway.
Six years after I moved in, and after the hall had been fully decorated twice, with underlay and carpet replaced once, it was still D O G that greeted you on walking through the front door. Urgh.
|
My house smelled of dog when I moved in. Decorated, it stil smelled of dog. When my other half moved in, (with dog) it stopped smelling of dog (According to visitors)
Maybe one sort of dog cancels out another?
|
|
|
|
"The most I've ever experienced this was my friend's dad's Morris Minor. It smelled of the industrial revolution."
Funny you should say that, whenever anyone mentions cars and smells I think of the Morris Traveller my parents had 35 years ago. I can only remember being in it once but I?ll never, ever forget the smell. All cars should smell like that.
|
|
|
>>You're very well-spoken for a seven year old.
Hey, RF, how can I upgrade to an internet browser that allows me to hear how somebody speaks?
|
£200 consultation fee and its yours.
(not on that boat anchor tho!)
|
This phenomenon is something which affects some quite new cars with climate control. My wife has an 18 month old Focus which is clean and tidy generally, but has a smelly socks aroma which is impossible to get rid of.
I am led to believe that this is symtomatic of bacteria living in the air-con ducts moisture thus giving off the smell whenever the ventilation system is in use.
I understand that the only way to fix the problem is to put the system on full and spray a can of special bio-cleanser into wherever the ventilation system intake is.
|
There are much cheape ways of doing it.
Step 1:
Replace the pollen filter. Generally very easy DIY job, supposed to be done at every service, but in my own experience and from what I've heard almost never done. (Just replaced mine on a 5 year old car. I'd be willing to bet it'd never been done before. It was BLACK, with bits of insect and rotting vegitation in it. Nice.)
Step 2:
Get a can of Neutradol, Oust, whatever. Turn air-con on full and recirculate. Spray LOTS of can into footwells, close doors (while you're outside obviously) and leave it runniong in there for a good ten minutes (I found while I was washing the car to be a good time to do this) (Thanks to StuartLi for the initial Neutradol suggestion)
Step 3:
Use your air-con, even if it's not too hot, for a few minutes every week or two. Stops the build up of bacteria, and more importantly stops the seals from drying up and cracking, meaning an expensive repair.
|
Having not used the aircon AT ALL since last year, I started using it this week. Horrible smell for a week. Now, fine. Just have it on permanently for a week or so.
May as well try the cheapest option first.
--
Adam
|
Having not used the aircon AT ALL since last year, I started using it this week.
You're missing out on some terrific demisting properties there!
|
>> Having not used the aircon AT ALL since last year, I >> started using it this week. You're missing out on some terrific demisting properties there!
I agree that using the aircon can aid demisting. However I find that when you turn it off the problem can be even greater in cool weather than it was before due to the residual moisture in the aircon unit evaporating and coming back into the car.
In my experience it's far better to turn on the heated front screen and set the heater to give lots of airflow through the car.
--
L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
|
|
|
|
Although I leave the climate control on my V70 permanently switched on, a feature I especially like is that the system dries itself out after usage; sometimes, I'll be in the garage half an hour or so after pakting the car, and the blower kicks in and runs for a while.
It thus never has the pong that previous cars of mine sometimes had, even though I left the a/c permanently switched on with them, too.
I must admit, I'm surprised that all a/c equipped cars don't have this feature (though of course it ain't gonna help if you switch it off anyway!)
|
I reckon if blindfolded you could recognise a taxi by smell alone. mmm that aromatic melange of hundreds of different people..
Also the very nostalgic smell I remember from playing in old cars on my friends farm - Austin A55, Anglia etc. a sort of smell of old leather seats, damp, lack of air circulation and general lack of use. all the better when hot and sunny.
35 years on I can stil recall my dads van, as above with the added smell of old cigars and Radio Spares switch cleaning fluid. Always had a pack of stimorol chewing gum in the ashtray .
|
When I got my 9yr old 1st car it reeked of Cancer sticks and while I was down Halfords I picked up one of those "forest fresh" air thingies which was called New Car smell and I must admit that after leaving it overnight it neutralised the odour and I think its a very close match to the real thing. Even some of my friends who got a lift commented that the car smelt good.
The Ciggie smell went too and the Scent thingy lasted about 6 months.
|
|
|
My favourite "old car" smell is that of my grandfather's Jaguar MK11 3.4. Absolutely exquisite, though probably enhanced by the wonderful aesthetics and tactile nature of this gorgeous Old Girl enhancing the experience. The car was sold twenty five years ago now, but this experience is still fresh in my mind.
If we're talking "old machinery" smells though, rather than specifically cars, you can't beat the in-cockpit smell of fifties and sixties aviation. My favourites are Vulcan and VC10. Electric valves, old wiring, age-worn rubbers and plastics, and the dust of a thousand places visited... All come together as dishes in a most distinctive menu.
|
|
Apparently the 'new car' smell is toxic as its just the plastic fumes. But you probably would die unless you sit in it for hours on end with the vents turned off.
|
|
Much of the "old car" smell in the old Morris minors and such are down to the Horse hair stuffing they used to use in the upholstery.
|
Ah! old car smells. Like Bisto:-)
From old Rovers:
faded varnish.leather, decaying carpet. Damp headlining.
From A30s: warm bakelite, decaying leathercloth. Decaying carpet.
From Minis:
engine oil, antifreeze and rubber. (and Waxoil applied in a vain attempt to keep rust at bay - unsuccessfully.
The smell of new plastics in a car is objectionable..
Funnily enough, modern (post 1980s cars)tend not to rust or leak water so the smell of musty carpets is usually absent...
madf
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
