About to purchase a very clean 2004 GX, all maint. records, etc but dealer mentioned it has “that old car smell”. I have noticed this in other GX’s of similar age…the car is for my daughter who is very aware of how things smell. Any idea where this smell originates and what is the best way to address?

I’m purchasing long distance and wanting to make sure I have a plan to address.

 

Clean it? Shampoo carpets and dry properly. Leather protectant on seats.

I mean, it's pretty tough to troubleshoot an unknown odor over the internet, if it's been smoked in you're never going to get rid of it.

 

Thanks IanB2 and agree regarding smoke. The smell I’m trying to mitigate is the smell common to older cars when they’ve been in the sun for too many years…that’s the best way I can describe it. Almost an stale baked adhesive smell.

It could be something they get from sitting undriven for too long…not sure. Might just need to be back in daily driver routine with an air freshener.

 

Any odor can be reduced by using an ionizer. You can get one on amazon for $100. It may not completely eliminate the odor but it will reduce it a great deal.

 

What it is is the plastics aging. There isn't much to be done about it. Mine will do it when I park in the sun.

Go ahead and clean the carpets. If the previous owner had kids or pets, pull the seats out and clean underneath them to get any spilled kid-beverages out (milk, juice, etc). Use an enzyme based cleaner so that it eats any organics.

Chip H.