OT - interior smell

This ain't about ACVW but you folks are straight shooters so I'm asking.

Oh, and it ain't a Seinfeld joke, either.

I'm looking at a sporty car. Looks most excellent. Low miles (< 30K).
Seems the owner will let it go cheap enough.

It is all black and was sitting in the sun, locked and closed all day
when I went to see it at 5PM. The sales guy opened the driver's door and
I slid in and WHEW! It stunk like when you get caught going up the
stairs behind someone with monkey-butt.

He admitted it smelled like "something" and guessed it was from the heat.

I might make a low-ball offer (well, I hope it's low-ball) with the
condition that they have the interior freaking PURGED of that smell.

My question - is it hopeless? Are some smell impossible to remove? I
swear some are invulnerable to all but a nuclear cleansing.

Tilting on saying No. God, I hate that smell.

John Boy in MinneSnowta

On Jul 9, 5:22*pm, John > wrote:
> This ain't about ACVW but you folks are straight shooters so I'm asking.
>
> Oh, and it ain't a Seinfeld joke, either.
>
> I'm looking at a sporty car. Looks most excellent. Low miles (< 30K).
> Seems the owner will let it go cheap enough.
>
> It is all black and was sitting in the sun, locked and closed all day
> when I went to see it at 5PM. The sales guy opened the driver's door and
> I slid in and WHEW! It stunk like when you get caught going up the
> stairs behind someone with monkey-butt.
>
> He admitted it smelled like "something" and guessed it was from the heat.
>
> I might make a low-ball offer (well, I hope it's low-ball) with the
> condition that they have the interior freaking PURGED of that smell.
>
> My question - is it hopeless? Are some smell impossible to remove? I
> swear some are invulnerable to all but a nuclear cleansing.
>
> Tilting on saying No. God, I hate that smell.
>
> John Boy in MinneSnowta

If you can track down the cause of the smell you can probably rid it
of
the smell. Did it smell like maybe a mouse curled up and died in it ?

Randy

John wrote:
> This ain't about ACVW but you folks are straight shooters so I'm asking.
>
> Oh, and it ain't a Seinfeld joke, either.
>
> I'm looking at a sporty car. Looks most excellent. Low miles (< 30K).
> Seems the owner will let it go cheap enough.
>
> It is all black and was sitting in the sun, locked and closed all day
> when I went to see it at 5PM. The sales guy opened the driver's door and
> I slid in and WHEW! It stunk like when you get caught going up the
> stairs behind someone with monkey-butt.
>
> He admitted it smelled like "something" and guessed it was from the heat.
>
> I might make a low-ball offer (well, I hope it's low-ball) with the
> condition that they have the interior freaking PURGED of that smell.
>
> My question - is it hopeless? Are some smell impossible to remove? I
> swear some are invulnerable to all but a nuclear cleansing.
>
> Tilting on saying No. God, I hate that smell.
>
> John Boy in MinneSnowta


The best solution I have used many times in the past when my kids have
purchased older, yard rescued vehicles is buy a bag of charcoal brickets
and spread them on the floor of the car, in the trunk, and strategically
placed in the engine compartment(for easy retrieval), and let sit for
about a week.The brickets absorb all odors. Check air intake-heater
outlets too ascertain no carcasses left behind(been there -done
that).Not sure if I remember using them again on the BBQ....Being a skin
flint I probably did, but still alive today in my 70's
Cheers,
Lord Pacal
74 VW Standard Type 1-37.5k miles(...barn rescue)

On Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:22:23 -0500, John > wrote:

>This ain't about ACVW but you folks are straight shooters so I'm asking.
>
>Oh, and it ain't a Seinfeld joke, either.
>
>I'm looking at a sporty car. Looks most excellent. Low miles (< 30K).
>Seems the owner will let it go cheap enough.
>
>It is all black and was sitting in the sun, locked and closed all day
>when I went to see it at 5PM. The sales guy opened the driver's door and
>I slid in and WHEW! It stunk like when you get caught going up the
>stairs behind someone with monkey-butt.
>
>He admitted it smelled like "something" and guessed it was from the heat.
>
>I might make a low-ball offer (well, I hope it's low-ball) with the
>condition that they have the interior freaking PURGED of that smell.
>
>My question - is it hopeless? Are some smell impossible to remove? I
>swear some are invulnerable to all but a nuclear cleansing.
>
>Tilting on saying No. God, I hate that smell.
>
>John Boy in MinneSnowta

Did you happen to watch the MythBusters episode where they let a pig's
body decay inside a Corvette?

I guess at the worst, you'd have to remove all upholstery and padding.
I've heard using various things like Febreeze or even bowls of vinegar
will remove or neutralize a lot of different bad odors.

..
..
..

Of course, that won't remove the ghost.
--
Michael Cecil
http://macecil.googlepages.com/index.htm
1970 VW Beetle "Millennium Sparrow"

Well finding out WHY it smells is important. Need to stop the odor
creation. ;-)
Might be, like someone else said, a mouse curled up and died in it.
Or mold and mildew on the floor due to water inside of car, or in the a/c
system.
Hard to tell what it could be unless someone perfects Smell-O-Vision! lol
YOU have to smell areas with your nose, or borrow someone else's nose.

I like all of those ideas....ozone fogging.....charcoal.....since they will
remove the odors providing that the odors are not constantly being created.
8^)
There is also Lava Dust/Rocks usually sold at some hardware stores AND can
be reusable. The dust is usually sprinkled onto the carpet and then
vacuumed up, so it is kinda hard to "reuse". It works for me! :-)
Fabreeze might work too, but I have my doubts that it is long term.

I have heard of air cleaners/purifiers that create ozone or something like
it. Usually for a room in a house but I don't see why it would not work in
your case.
Some spray very diluted Lysol into the a/c vents to kill mold/mildew in that
system. Also run the air through the system without the a/c on to dry up
any moisture from using the a/c.

Maybe shampooing the carpet, headliner and cleaning the seats and dash will
help.
--
later,
(One out of many daves)

"LordPacal" > wrote in message
...
> John wrote:
>> This ain't about ACVW but you folks are straight shooters so I'm asking.
>>
>> Oh, and it ain't a Seinfeld joke, either.
>>
>> I'm looking at a sporty car. Looks most excellent. Low miles (< 30K).
>> Seems the owner will let it go cheap enough.
>>
>> It is all black and was sitting in the sun, locked and closed all day
>> when I went to see it at 5PM. The sales guy opened the driver's door and
>> I slid in and WHEW! It stunk like when you get caught going up the stairs
>> behind someone with monkey-butt.
>>
>> He admitted it smelled like "something" and guessed it was from the heat.
>>
>> I might make a low-ball offer (well, I hope it's low-ball) with the
>> condition that they have the interior freaking PURGED of that smell.
>>
>> My question - is it hopeless? Are some smell impossible to remove? I
>> swear some are invulnerable to all but a nuclear cleansing.
>>
>> Tilting on saying No. God, I hate that smell.
>>
>> John Boy in MinneSnowta
>
>
> The best solution I have used many times in the past when my kids have
> purchased older, yard rescued vehicles is buy a bag of charcoal brickets
> and spread them on the floor of the car, in the trunk, and strategically
> placed in the engine compartment(for easy retrieval), and let sit for
> about a week.The brickets absorb all odors. Check air intake-heater
> outlets too ascertain no carcasses left behind(been there -done that).Not
> sure if I remember using them again on the BBQ....Being a skin flint I
> probably did, but still alive today in my 70's
> Cheers,
> Lord Pacal
> 74 VW Standard Type 1-37.5k miles(...barn rescue)

LordPacal wrote:
> John wrote:
>> This ain't about ACVW but you folks are straight shooters so I'm asking.
>>
>> Oh, and it ain't a Seinfeld joke, either.
>>
>> I'm looking at a sporty car. Looks most excellent. Low miles (< 30K).
>> Seems the owner will let it go cheap enough.
>>
>> It is all black and was sitting in the sun, locked and closed all day
>> when I went to see it at 5PM. The sales guy opened the driver's door
>> and I slid in and WHEW! It stunk like when you get caught going up the
>> stairs behind someone with monkey-butt.
>>
>> He admitted it smelled like "something" and guessed it was from the heat.
>>
>> I might make a low-ball offer (well, I hope it's low-ball) with the
>> condition that they have the interior freaking PURGED of that smell.
>>
>> My question - is it hopeless? Are some smell impossible to remove? I
>> swear some are invulnerable to all but a nuclear cleansing.
>>
>> Tilting on saying No. God, I hate that smell.
>>
>> John Boy in MinneSnowta
>
>
> The best solution I have used many times in the past when my kids have
> purchased older, yard rescued vehicles is buy a bag of charcoal brickets
> and spread them on the floor of the car, in the trunk, and strategically
> placed in the engine compartment(for easy retrieval), and let sit for
> about a week.The brickets absorb all odors. Check air intake-heater
> outlets too ascertain no carcasses left behind(been there -done
> that).Not sure if I remember using them again on the BBQ....Being a skin
> flint I probably did, but still alive today in my 70's

Make sure the charcoal isn't the match light type. I'd go with the
charcoal and a couple of boxes of baking soda. Open the baking soda and
set the boxes on the floor, maybe pour some onto paper plates and
scatter 'em all over the car, along with the charcoal.

Any lingering smell, Fabreeze should help cover it, and isn't something
that's over-powering.

Les

They do what's called "ozone treatment" in Finland, the car is covered
and sealed in plastic, and a small "smoke machine" blows ozone gas or
something inside, which neutralizes all smell for a long time, if not
forever. I hear it works great, not sure how expensive it is though.

You could also try some home remedies:

1) Split a fresh apple or two, and leave the halves on the floorboard.
Remove before they go bad and start to rot

2) Spray the interior fabrics with a mild solution of vinegar and water.
Tested by my wife with her baja, great results!

Jan

wrote:

> If you can track down the cause of the smell you can probably rid it
> of
> the smell. Did it smell like maybe a mouse curled up and died in it ?

It smelled like someone who sweats a lot and doesn't wash his ass.

Great information. Thanks, everyone.

Doc mentioned carpet which reminds me that there are no carpets in the
foot area.

I will presume the smell is curable. It doesn't smell like death.

Oh, it is a black, 2006 Crossfire. 24K miles. One owner. I will offer
$9K and see what happens.

Or that car scared the crap out of him! lol

Then simple Baking Soda should do it, like Project Magnet #1 suggested!


"John" > wrote in message
m...
> wrote:
>
>> If you can track down the cause of the smell you can probably rid it
>> of
>> the smell. Did it smell like maybe a mouse curled up and died in it ?
>
> It smelled like someone who sweats a lot and doesn't wash his ass.