my BMW dealer has '25 M3 they can't sell for months because of owner was heavy smoker

[jaffles]

Originally Posted by FrankL

Years ago, I had an older gent do some work on office walls that had wallpaper. For some reason he talked about odors. A guy he knew, worked over in Iraq during the war doing renovations.

He said a bag of coffee beans is the best odor absorbers. These houses had dead bodies in there. Awful and I hate wars.

Cigarettes and tar are a tough one. I once bought old PC on eBay because I needed that exact model. It was like $100. The guy must have used it as an ash tray. I tried cleaning it with 90% alcohol carefully. I got the worst headaches and had to throw it away.

Now I'm thinking coffee, leather, and just need some sweet perfume now. Let your mind wonder on that.

Yeh I have no idea really. Be interesting to talk to Undertakers who clean up after humanities failure. There must be some methods better than others, but I suspect time, sunlight, and fresh air could be strong contenders.

[c1pher]

Ozone machine will fix this. I bought a truck and it was heavily scented by the dealer to hide the smoke stink. So I detailed the truck, revealing the smoking smell. After two treatments with the ozone machine, and of course cleaning everything, it smells normal now.

[tcphoto]

Surely they work with a competent detailer that knows how to neutralize cigarette smells, I've seen tutorials on doing the project by thoroughly cleaning and using an ozone machine.

[STi from DSM]

Myth Busters did an episode about would someone buy a collector car after something died in it. Granted it was a C4 Corvette which I think is dogshit personally, They put two fresh hogs in the car and sealed everything up. They even taped the outside door jambs etc. After a few months they went back and after the opened up the jambs the smell was so bad that people like 20 ft away from the car were throwing up. They eventually cleaned up the car and removed the interior. Everyone who came to look at the car commented on it but they did eventually sell it for parts. Certain smells you can never get out once they are in.

[wrongmark]

I bought a smokers car once. The dealer did a great job of covering it up (well cleaned and doors wide open on the forecourt). A couple of days after I bought it the smell came back and got worse and worse. I spent months cleaning and trying pretty much everything I could find on the internet forums. Eventually almost got rid of the smell but it came back in when the weather warmed up. I would never buy a smokers car again.

[freakystyly]

Have a work truck that was cigar smoked in by a former employee over a year or two. It took a good week with the ozone machine, off and on. Then you need to worry about plastic degradation from the ozone...

At least some cigars smell "good". It definitely still smells but it's usable.

[25 V8 IS]

Originally Posted by STi from DSM

Myth Busters did an episode about would someone buy a collector car after something died in it. Granted it was a C4 Corvette which I think is dogshit personally, They put two fresh hogs in the car and sealed everything up. They even taped the outside door jambs etc. After a few months they went back and after the opened up the jambs the smell was so bad that people like 20 ft away from the car were throwing up. They eventually cleaned up the car and removed the interior. Everyone who came to look at the car commented on it but they did eventually sell it for parts. Certain smells you can never get out once they are in.

Da fuq?

They put two animals in a car and left them there to die? I can't be reading that right. Ok, yeah...It was just the meat.

[jzeiler4]

Originally Posted by 25 V8 IS

Da fuq?

They put two animals in a car and left them there to die? I can't be reading that right. Ok, yeah...It was just the meat.

They put two freshly KILLED pigs in the car and let them decompose.

[Phillies8008]

A lot of this depends on how sensitive to the smell of cigarette smoke you are. My wife is extremely attuned to it and can smell it in instances that I can't (but that I know for sure cigarette smoke had been present). I have serious doubts that the smell could ever be eliminated to a great enough degree that she wouldn't smell it. I'd never buy anything that had been smoked in – car, house, whatever. That shit permeates and embeds itself in everything.