Smoke Smell help

[PetitPimousse]

So I picked up a car owned by a smoker (great deal, couldn't pass it up). I tried every trick in the book to get the smell out but nothing worked. Finally decided to take it to a shop to have it ozoned. Had that done 5 days ago, the problem is that the car now smells of ozone. I've tried to ventilate the car, I've driven it with windows open etc but there is still a smell....
Any thoughts? I figured I'd ask the forum since there is so much knowledge on here.
Thanks!

[kmarei]

I used to have an 88 M3 i bought used
previous owner was a gym fanatic and drove the car to and from the gym
so you can imagine the stench
and he used to smoke!
i bought a cheap steam machine from Kmart for $40
steamed all the leather seats
first of all it disolves all oils and grease on the seats
you see the dirty water run down (make sure you have a lot of microfiber or cotton towels to wipe it)
steam makes them look brand new
and it makes the leather dry, so you can apply your leather conditioner of choice, and it just sucks it up
leave for a day in the sun, then wipe all seats to rub off excess conditioner
and the seats look as good as new, and no smell

[tibra1]

Get it professionally detailed (shampoo rugs, clean and condition headliner, door cards, seats, pillar arms)..explain to them that it was a smokers car..they work miracles now a days...may cost you a bit though

[j2m]

Originally Posted by username11

Sell it.

I'm not being facetious. You will never get the smell out. When it's cold, you will think its gone. Get in a few months later on a humid day and it will take your breath away.

If you're sensitive to the smell of smoke you will never be able to enjoy the car and you will always be thinking of a new way to get the smell out. It's a lost cause.

+1 sorry dude but that smell just doesn't go away

[SchnellM3]

Originally Posted by username11

I wouldn't take a M3 at a 25K discount that was smoked in. Some things just aren't worth it. Kind of like getting an easy score with a woman who announces up front that she has herpes. Pass.

It will always be there, in the vents and everywhere else.

[shendrick]

Burn it.

[tibra1]

I am sensing some anti-smoking seniments here ..obviously non-smokers are more sensitive to the smell..but to those saying they cant get the smell out..I dont think this entirely true..time goes on..smell will fade especially after proper detail

[Hurricane]

Originally Posted by username11

Sell it.

I'm not being facetious. You will never get the smell out. When it's cold, you will think its gone. Get in a few months later on a humid day and it will take your breath away.

If you're sensitive to the smell of smoke you will never be able to enjoy the car and you will always be thinking of a new way to get the smell out. It's a lost cause.

I wouldn't take a M3 at a 25K discount that was smoked in. Some things just aren't worth it. Kind of like getting an easy score with a woman who announces up front that she has herpes. Pass.

I know you don't want to hear this but the above mentioned quote is true. My wife's car was a smoker car. I bought it because it was a good deal and was convinced I could get the smell out. 4 professional details and 2 ozone cleans later the smell is still there. The smell is brutal in the summer and tolerable in the winter. We plan on selling it soon. Good luck.

[tibra1]

Originally Posted by username11

Are you a smoker? If so, it won't be for a while after you quit that you truly realize how pervasive the smell is. Every surface inside the car is coated and saturated with the stuff. It's inside all of the upholstery. It's in the roof liner. It's under the seats, all over the inside of the windshield. It's in the steering wheel where you've rubbed it in to the leather and the stitching with your hands and it's even permeated the padding inside. BMW's "soft touch plastic" has lots of microscopic holes where it's now settled in to. The list goes on. There's only so much a detail can do.

You'd have to replace everything inside the car to get the smell completely out, and that doesn't even touch the HVAC system.

I have seen numerous people buy smoked in cars for a discounted price and spend years trying to get the smell out. On a warm humid day with the windows up it's back to square one.

Believe me I am with you on this point unfortunatly I do smoke occassionally but never in any of my cars...for just this reason..resale ends up in the toilet.

I just cant believe with all the car care products out there that time and some elbow grease couldnt get it to the point where it maybe tolerable to the OP.

[PetitPimousse]

Well... This seems like bad news then.

[templarklimek]

1st they came for the homosexuals, I said nothing. Then they came for the Jews, I said nothing. Then they came for the Catholics, I said nothing. Then they came for me, no one was left to speak for me.

While I don't smoke, it seems as if we have vilified them to the point of supression of liberty which ultimately will be the suppression of all of our liberties as the next habit deemed to be a "public hazard" could be one we enjoy. "dangerous overpowered cars anyone?"....

As to the smell. Perhaps start with a few days of the orange/baking soda based oder eliminating compounds. I used it on some spoiled food and it worked wonders. Then do the full detail, then one more time with bakingsoda compound.

[Trevor .:R]

Who the f*** smokes in a m3? !?!?!?!

[THE TECH]

No way to get rid of it aside from a monster deep down cleaning and removal of the entire interior for cleaning.

[Foodle]

Originally Posted by templarklimek

1st they came for the homosexuals, I said nothing. Then they came for the Jews, I said nothing. Then they came for the Catholics, I said nothing. Then they came for me, no one was left to speak for me.

While I don't smoke, it seems as if we have vilified them to the point of supression of liberty which ultimately will be the suppression of all of our liberties as the next habit deemed to be a "public hazard" could be one we enjoy. "dangerous overpowered cars anyone?"....

Yeah, because murdering people wholesale for their religion or sexual orientation is exactly like regulating where people can and cannot generate toxic fumes.

[Krozi]

Originally Posted by username11

Sell it. Take it to CarMax on a cold day and hopefully get more than you paid.

I'm not being facetious. You will never get the smell out. When it's cold, you will think its gone. Get in a few months later on a humid day and it will take your breath away.

If you're sensitive to the smell of smoke you will never be able to enjoy the car and you will always be thinking of a new way to get the smell out. It's a lost cause.

Wrong wrong wrong.

OP...give it time. The ozone smell will fade.

[templarklimek]

Originally Posted by Foodle

Yeah, because murdering people wholesale for their religion or sexual orientation is exactly like regulating where people can and cannot generate toxic fumes.

Read your history Sir, these things don't begin with gas chambers, Gulags, or concentration camps. They END with them.

[THE TECH]

How did we even get this far OT??

[Redcapote]

Originally Posted by THE TECH

How did we even get this far OT??

I dunno, but it's amusing.


I once ordered an incredibly gorgeous Dainese motorcycle jacket off eBay. Italian leather; black, red, and white. Expensive. Did I mention Italian leather? Well, when it arrived, it smelled like someone had spent their final hours in an airtight chamber chain-smoking themselves to death in sumptuous riding leather. I can appreciate the going away party, but the smell was, oh God. Just reeked of smoke. What bastard would do that and then sell it to you like that? It was pristine, not even used, but somehow it reeked.

So I took a ziploc full of ground coffee beans, and a ziploc full of baking soda, and I placed them carefully within a garbage bag. I put the jacket inside the garbage bag with the ziploc bags open, closed it up nice and tight, and waited a few days. This reduced the odor by about 90%. After some riding, the smell continued to dissipate. I did it once more overnight, and at that point, the smell wasn't bad enough to turn me off, only enough to wonder if I had just been at a bar for a few minutes.

Moral of the story? Don't buy your car from a smoker, and if you do, have a big damn trash bag.

[ottoblotto]

Originally Posted by Trevor .:R

Who the f*** smokes in a m3? !?!?!?!

+1. Enjoy the drive...

[Foodle]

Originally Posted by templarklimek

Read your history Sir, these things don't begin with gas chambers, Gulags, or concentration camps. They END with them.

Yeah, ok. Smoking regulations are the first step to putting all smokers in concentration camps.

It's time for your Lithium, tin foil hat, and some quality time in your panic room stroking your assault rifle collection.

[Foodle]

Originally Posted by THE TECH

How did we even get this far OT??

Originally Posted by Redcapote

I dunno, but it's amusing.

Absolutely

[M3rob]

Just start smoking your self and you will not smell it.