smells bad

i went to a nissan dealer today - looking at pre-owned

when i opened up 3 of the cars surprisingly the interiors smelled bad - stale light smoke smell plus seats (cloth) dirty

bit like a cheap hotel room before the smoking ban

question - how is it possible to get rid of smoke smell and make the whole interior clean and fragrant ?

p

An ozone machine might do the trick with a long enough exposure. I use those in apartments with good success.

Some might suggest Febreeze (sp?), but all that stuff does is make the area stink of Febreeze instead.

LeftieBiker said:

Some might suggest Febreeze (sp?), but all that stuff does is make the area stink of Febreeze instead.

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It depends upon your sensitivity to Febreeze. Years ago (soon after Febreeze first became available) we had a car at work with cloth interior. A temporary employee used it for 3 or 4 months and smoked in it even though we told him not to. After he left, neither my boss nor I (both non-smokers) could stand to drive it long distance. In desperation, I bought several bottles of Febreeze and sprayed it liberally on all of the cloth surfaces and in the air. I also wiped down the plastic with plastic cleaner (and thoroughly cleaned the ash tray). It took a couple of treatments, but it was like a new car after that.

Heh. New cars smell pretty awful to me too...

I rented a car once that had a faint smell of cigarettes. I stopped by a grocery store and bought two boxes of baking soda (about a buck total for two). I opened them up and left them inside the car. They were the "Fridge & Freezer" kind where the sides open up. It was much better the next day, and we couldn't detect any cigarette smell at all by the end of the week.