Hello all,

recently I have purchased a 03 with 88k miles and there is a very... distinct smell to the car.

At first it smelled like cat piss, made for a long drive home.

Got the car home and pulled the seats out, gave them a good cleaning, and then went after the carpet with the Rug Doctor. Next I pulled out the cabin air filter and replaced it with one of those "odor eliminator" filters from rock auto. The smell still persists with the top up and the interior has been cleaned excessively.

This weekend I have recruited some help and the center console will come out and give that a deep cleaning. Will keep you guys update.

Suggestions on what else to clean would be highly appreciated.


Thank you all

 

You stripped out the trunk too? Seals leak and mold loved dark damp places.

-- Chuck

 

heater/AC vents. there are fogger products that can help there. detailing suppliers carry it.
metal surfaces can also harbor mold. pull the door sill trim. and check for mold under the carpet. Pay close attention to any light black powder, which would indicate mold.
if mold is found, treat with Concrobium. then, pull carpet and treat carpet and metal surfaces.
If the problem doesn't go away, consider ozone treatment.

 

I had not thought about the drains, I will be checking the trunk soon.

I will be checking for mold as as well.

Thank you guys

 

Hopefully it's not in the soft top.

 

 

get hold of a ozone device it will take the smell out as I have used it on a house where cat piss was terrible as well on skunk spray , another house had the oil furnace back up and soot smell through entire house took care of that too . Plug it in leave your windows down inch or so and mine is on a timer runs for about 30 min then you restart but they work . The name of mine is Alpine and there are different sizes you don't require a big one hopefully you can contact a dealer and have him give you a free test as they are not cheep . Good Luck

 

Yes they seem to be pretty pricey.

Cleaned out the entire car again, seems to be a lot better. I suppose it was just in the carpet and seats. I will be looking into the drains regardless though

 

Glad to hear that you're seeing/smelling some improvement.

For future reference, ozone generators can often be rented, from tool rental shops.

 

There might have been a mouse infestation somewhere in the car, the little bastards piss everywhere. Keep cleaning keep airing it out, Fabreze every carpet surface you can find. Lightly steam the seats and then condition them with the leather conditioner of your choice. Take the trunk panels out and look underneath them and inside the open area where the fuel pump access panel is, deodourize everything you can reach.