Bought my car about 6 weeks ago now and the smell of smoking from the previous owner still hasnt gone. I expect it is in the heater system, seats and carpets. Is there any product which I can use to try to remove the stink.
Cheer.
…saw a “Wheeler Dealer” episode the other day and they used a steam cleaner, ie the small ones you can get for home use. They pushed the hose into the various vents, and then used an upholstery attachment for the seats and fabric…
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In all likelihood, the smell will be in the fabrics, not the heater system.
In my experience, you need to wash and vac the carpets, seats, headlining and any other fabric surface.
I have done this in the past with an industrial steam cleaner and professional vacuum, although that’s not recommended. It is however frightening to see the yellow nicotine streaks running down the inside of the windows.
I would recommend a professional wash and vac plus fabric cleaner. It might take 2 or 3 thorough soakings.
Drying is easy… Park on the drive with engine running, heater on full, windows almost fully up (small gap) and then lock the doors. Another car parked behind it and locked is clearly advisable. Normally takes the whole weekend depending on outside temperature.
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You could try an air con bomb. They do an anti tobacco smell one.
With one otherwise immaculate car I sold, the only cure after washing the seats, trim, controls and carpets was to remove the micro-perforated headlining, wash the inside of the roof and fit new headlining. It stunk of bleach for days, but at least that went away completely.
What a pain with a car that big, but it looked fantastic afterwards.
I still remember the reg, EFB 10 E, a PC Cresta that looked just like this pic off the web.
Aircon bombs don’t last long.
If it’s in the fabric, then I’d suggest leaving it until summer.
Taking the seats out (assuming they are cloth), and wash them to within an inch of their lives, maybe using lenor etc for a fresh fragrance.
While the seats are out do the carpet, and seat belts.
If it’s a soft top, then the smell is going to be deep in the hood, and I’ve no idea how you’ll get that out.
If the seats are leather, then something like autoglym leather care may help.
In July, we went to look at a new daily for the wife, 6 month old car.
I opened the door, the car stunk like an ashtray, so we closed the door and walked away.
Didn’t even bother looking at the rest of the car.
I bought a small cheap runaround quite a few years ago, it was really filthy inside but cleaned up ok. The only problem was the last owner was a smoker, I thought I could clean away the smell and that woul be it. Nope, the missus refused to go in it in the end, even I had had enough of it, got rid.
Febreze???
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Febreeze everything, Air con bomb, blower on recirculate, until complete. Then without letting to much air out switch off and leave closed up for a few days. Clean the inside of the car. Then vent the car well.
It worked for my old company car.
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Slightly off topic, but thirty years ago, my boss got his first ever company car, a Sierra LX. He was so chuffed. First week he went to the shop and bought a pint of milk. The lid burst and emptied into the passenger footwell. Three days later the stench was unbearable. It never went away…
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Yes Sierra’s are difficult to get rid of… 
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Some years ago I bought a BMW 5 series estate. It was all beautifully valeted when I bought it. After a few days the ashtray like stench hit me every time I opened the door. Worse still when it had been standing in the hot sun.
I tried giving it a normal interior clean a couple of times, but it always came back. What did work for me though was to spend a good long time on it cleaning every square inch thoroughly. Including the carpets right carpets under the seats, everything. With especially thorough attention to the roof lining. It had fabric seats, not leather.
I think I did the roof lining twice. Everything really thoroughly. I used ordinary Autoglym interior shampoo. I still do.
And old type pink Windolene on the windows. I doubt that I used any other products.
It was quite a lot of work, but it worked for me, completely; the smell went and never came back.
I think I kept that car for two or three years, I wouldn’t have done if I couldn’t have got rid of the smell.
I hope this helps!
Brian.
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I’ll never understand why people smoke in cars. Surely you can wait half hour!
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If all else fails, take up smoking King Edwards cigars
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Funnily enough when I attended Grand Prix’s years ago, I did smoke King Eddies, always lit one on the pace lap and it would last until just after half way through the GP.
Erm, I think that might have been me… I had a Sierra LX company car thirty years ago and broke a bottle of milk in the passenger footwell. Yes the smell was pretty disgusting. You didn’t live in Nottingham by any chance?
My next company car was a Peugeot 405. I managed to tip a full bait tin of maggots over in the boot of that one. For weeks, every time I opened the boot a swarm of bluebottles used to fly out.
You wouldn’t have wanted to get allocated one of my ex company cars! I am a lot more careful with my MX5 needless to say.
A lot of pro valeters use an Ozone machine to clear these smells after wet vaccing seats and carpets also.
Yes the Ozone generator is the one we use for smelly cars.
For smoked cars we clean everything down with G101 (including seats etc) and then cover the upholstery (and carpets) in a sprinkling of bicabonate of soda and then plug an ozone generator in the car for a couple of days and walk away.
we use ones like these…
Why did you buy it in the first place?
The car is sound, it was ÂŁ3,000 and had one area of rust to be repaired which I will do. Everything else was minor things which needed doing, spent about ÂŁ150 in doing the bits, new seatbelt, trim clips, drain cleaner, new spare key. Then fully serviced for ÂŁ200.
Car is an NC with 83,000 on the clock and looking around it was about ÂŁ750 to ÂŁ1,000 cheaper than others I saw and in much better condition.