That smelly secondhand car

Somebody sent me a query asking about how to eliminate the bad odor that came with his secondhand car.  Here is his problem:

Dear Sir,

Need some help with this.

I bought a secondhand Toyota Avanza from a car display in the south.  I am fairly happy with the purchase except that after a few days my car’s interior smells like cigarettes.  Apparently the previous owner smoked in the car. It was smelling okay when I first drove it as I was probably overwhelmed with the new air fresheners in the car and maybe because it was newly cleaned. Besides the usual Ambi-Pur at the aircon vents, there were air fresheners placed in the rear passenger pocket.

The scent is now mixed with the strong cigarette smell whenever I come to the car and open the door, but the smell feels stronger when I switch on the airconditioning - I'd feel that cold, wind blowing smell in my face.

What can I do to remove the smell? Would sending the car for aircon evaporator coil cleaning help? If so, who should I send the car to for this?

Someone said to use soap on the seats and the dashboards but I don’t think that’s a good idea. My other friends think an airconditioning cleaning service will eliminate the odor.

Regards,

Anton

Hi Anton! That problem, I would say is pretty common. Your friends are correct although I’d leave soaping the interior to the auto cleaning experts.

Well, first, I would try to change the airconditioning cabin filter first and see if it works.  Maybe wash the floor mats and wipe the whole dashboard, consoles and door sidings with a damp cloth mix with a bit of detergent and fabric softener. A bit of sunshine would help too.  Open all the windows and park the car under the sun for at least an hour with the airconditioning blowing at the strongest speed with the fan setting at fresh air mode. Charcoal also helps as it absorbs the bad smell. Leave it in the car overnight and change it after two days.

If smell persists, then you will need some professional help with this problem.  An airconditioning cleaning service is probably what I will do first.  Just make sure you go to a trusted service center as this usually is a pain in the neck if done wrong.

After the airconditioning service, I would want to go to an auto detailing shop. There are so many shops offering this kind of service but only a few really know what they are doing.  Go to a reputable professional in this field. You can browse in Facebook and check out their works.

If you plan to do a DIY job, Youtube is the best source on learning how to detail your car.  How about the Aircon? It’s safer to leave it to the experts.