Can You Tell What Make You're In By Smell?
 

I've been in countless cars of all makes, models and years, and over time I've found that some smells correlate to certain makes (probably their assembly and materials if I had to venture a guess). Are there certain Makes you can sit in and know off the bat who makes it?

Here's a few standout ones for me:

Ford
Honda
Lexus
Mercedes-Benz
Volvo

I can tell these car smells apart: Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Lexus, and most GM. One new car smell that I'll never forget that is unmatched today is the 1982 Datsun 200SX my dad had. Very distinct pleasant (for me) plastic and velour smell which wreaked quality for its time. :D

I consider myself a car enthusiast but I would never imagine being able to differentiate car brands based soley on smell; that is impressive.

The only smell I can recognize is BMW. Their new car smell have a sorta crayon-ish scent IMO

VW's have a distinct windshield washer fluid smell when you spray it...

My 1994 Acura legend had a distinct smell in the garage. I noticed the same smell in other peoples garages that owned Acuras of the similar year.:uh:

Loved that melted crayon smell VW used in many of their cars...

Brand-new Hyundais used to have what Consumer Reports called an unpleasant odor....but I don't remember having any real problems with my nostrils while reviewing or test-driving them.

They typical new-car smell is usually given off from the molecule-aeration of compounds used with vinyls, plastics, fabrics, and leather/imitation leather.

Most people have no problem to these compounds. But certain combinations of them, in certain vehicles, can cause some people to have headaches or other negative reactions to them. There has been some talk on in Congress and DOT about regulating their formulas and intensity, but little has actually come of it.

All Supras smell the same! Never been in another car that smells like it and as soon as you sit in a Supra you're immediately brought back to the last time you sat in one.

I can tell if I'm in an older(pre 2008ish) model Jag from the smell of the leather. Same thing with older Cadillacs if they treated the leather and kept it nice.

I think you're looking a little too far into it Mike. I'm sure given your vast experience with cars over the years you've noticed that each Make has a slight 'essence' when you enter the cabin, distinct to that brand.

True to an extent, but I didn't really notice that much difference between vehicles.....with one big exception. True genuine Leather usually has a different smell than other interior materials....and lasts longer after the car is sold and put into service. I've also been fortunate, that I never had any headaches or negative reactions to the smells.

BTW, at some auto parts-stores, and in some regular department stores like Walmart's you can get those little cheap air-freshners that hang off the inside mirror that "supposedly" mimic the average new-car smell. It also comes in liquid-bottles.

http://images.caraselledirect.com/50...windscreen.jpg

http://www.autoscentsinc.com/xcart/i...r-scent-05.jpg

Toyota's have a distinct smell to them from my experience. I got familiar with it years ago when i had a 92 Camry. My aunt had the same car and smell. Fast forward to present day, i still can smell that distinctive aroma in my 05 LS. Similar plastics i suppose.

My 2008 535i smelled just like the 2013 335i loaner I had. All older Lexus have the same smell which I love. Toyota leather smells almost the same but thats not surprising. I think Mercedes has the most distinct smell, if I open the door to my sisters CLK320 it just hits me lol. I sat in a 2014 Jaguar XJ the other day and it smelled just like my aunts 2004 XJ8 just stronger.


Lol we know we're car guys if we talk about smells. What about sounds thats a lot easier.

I can tell certain BMW's! :D

Newer Audis have a somewhat distinct smell. When we were shopping last year the sales person said Audi stopped treating their leather a certain chemical. Forgot what it was and what it did, but he said they stopped using it; this followed a comment my wife made about some of the interiors almost (literally) stinking.