Chigga

Hi all, it's being a while since I had a Lexus, but recently I picked up an LS for winter duty and give it to the kid.

Car needed brakes and bunch of other small stuff, but can't complain as price was more than fair, BUT, the car stinks on the inside, the previous owner was a smoker, how do I get rid of this disgusting smell? I've tried washing carpets, air freshener, and still comes back.

Tom57

Ozium in the container is a great deodorizer. Try a few of these, it works very well on eliminating odors.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/23746157?w...419112&veh=sem

Sweatshop

iTrader: (11)

If its safe to do so in your area, leave the windows down for as long as you can. Changing cabin filters may be an option too. Putting a couple of plates/bowls of ammonia on the floor (windows up) absorbs a lot of odors too.

redkingjoe

1 changing the internal air filter is a must, but its quite expensive.
2 cleaning the external air filter will help
3 after that, talk to the pro for a deep treatment of the car's interior for smell
4 add a inoizer, so far i find the "sharp" is nice, but expensive
5 put a few pineapples inside the car, they will help to intake the air

KING

iTrader: (1)

Also,
You can try Ozium. It's a spray that has chemicals that targets odor emitting smells. Couple of sprays, and then letting it sit overnight, you'll see the difference almost immediately depending on how much odor there was.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

I would definitely clean the carpets with a real carpet cleaning machine depending on what you used. Then use a fan to dry the carpet. If you remove the front seats this will be better. Also, clean the headliner. Make sure to replace the cabin filter.

NickTee

That smell is embedded in every permeable surface on the car. That includes the carpet, seats, headline, any cloth pillar covers, maybe even the cloth sound deadening materials.
Your best option is to clean all the carpets with a hot water extractor(with enzyme cleaner), deep clean the leather, change the cabin air filter, and run an ozone generator inside the car for several hours. Then run the car on circulate for another 15-30 minutes after using the ozone generator. You can also use ozium or Dakota Odor Bomb. Then you can follow it up with something like , which will both remove scents and give your car a nice scent. But sure to give it plenty of time to air out, otherwise you're in for an extremely strong smell.

Yes, it's a pain.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

I had bought a smokers car and went through this. The smell was deeply embedded and I wound up gutting the car to rid the smell or so I thought. Carper, headliner, seat recover took care of most of it. Some remained that was coming from inside the dash and door panels. Drove great but the smell was still strong for us. Sold the car after a month.

Reminds me that a family member bought a house that had been owned by smokers who had lived there for some 50 years. They did extensive remodel and once the drywall and insulation was removed, the place finally aired out. Tobacco smoke after all those years really penetrates.

jfelbab

Along with the other tips, this will help remove lingering odors over time. Buy a couple Arm&Hammer Fridge and Freezer packs and place them under the seats. Also sprinkle some of the baking soda on the carpet, brush it in and then vacuum. The packs extract odors, not just cover them up, over about a months time.

CTFSportSE

Find someone with an ionizer or odor eliminating machine. I use to work at an auto auction and if a high-end vehicle came in that had been a smoker's vehicle, the purchasing dealership would almost always send it out to have the interior ionized.

dicer

The most penetrating stink there is, not even a good paint respirator will keep it out of your nose.
Airing it out and years it will slowly dissipate, for plastics a good scrubbing with soap and water, for carpet etc. you would probably have to remove it and wash real good a couple of times and hang dry it outside. And like mentioned above I suppose it gets under the dash and into sound insulating materials too. Another stink that sticks good in cars is a dirty dog smell, we passed one up years ago at a car lot, smelled like it had a bunch of wet dogs that lived in it.

UDel

Try putting baking soda all over the car in every nook and cranny and let it sit, the headliner will be the hardest part to clean as you can't really put baking soda on it. Vacuum the baking soda after a day or so. Thoroughly wash off the floor mats, steam clean them and parts of the interior if you can. Spray the interior with a odor neutralizer. Wash the leather/plastics with woolite/water solution. Let the car sit outside with the windows down to air out. If you still smell it then find a cologne/scent from a scent diff user you really like and spray some of that in the car, let the odor from the diffuser permeate into the car, this will likely cause the interior to smell like the cologne/diffuser but that will be better then cig smoke. I only did this to one car I detailed so I don't know if it will work with all cars but it did work with the car I tried.

For mold mildew odor a water/vinegar spray can work, very cold temps or very high temps can work

SonicMotor

iTrader: (19)

I smoke in my personal vehicle as I don't plan to get rid of it till it's in the ground. My girlfriend, who is a past smoker who no longer does (a few years w/ no smoking), loved the Ozium spray. I'd spray it in my truck nightly, and she was almost never able to smell it. This is in my truck which is full carpet/cloth everything. Highly recommend the baking soda packs + ozium based off of my friends and GF's answers.

Lucky for me, I just can't smell it /sarcasm.

Lexi66

Where can you get the baking soda packs and ozium?

SonicMotor

iTrader: (19)

I picked up Ozium from a local smoke shop I get my cigarettes from, but have also seen it at gas stations / auto parts stores.

The baking soda packs are the ones you can get at any department / grocery store that go in your fridges to help keep moisture/odors at bay. Otherwise baking soda by itself can be found at the same places.

Personally, I was pretty heavy on the ozium too... as soon as I got out of my truck to part it for the night, i'd spray a bunch, then shut the doors and let it work overnight.