bigs

What does the interior of your shark smell like?

Both of my more recent 928's have had a similar interior odor. I noticed it since day one of ownership of both cars. I've almost come to accept it as "older car smell." It's more noticeable as the weather gets hotter. It's not entirely offensive, but it sure ain't that New Car Smell either.

It's kind of a combination of:

Faint bouquet of motor oil,
Small dash of stale sweat,
Kinda old plastic aroma,
Old leather - this is quite nice - could stand more of this fragrance
Just a bit of musty air duct - like the first day you turn on your home's furnace,
And a wee hint of hot engine.

Does anyone know of a way to more or less permanently freshen up the interior aroma of a car?

heinrich

My 928's all smell like leather.

justin

Yea, re-do the interior.

bigs

I have all new carpeting, and brand new front leather. The car smelled like new for a couple months or so each time, then back to "older car smell."

SeanR

Mine smells like new german leather.

Wife thinks it smells like new car scent you buy at the 7/11.

I like the way it smells.

macreel

I dunno, Bigs, see an E-N-T specialist ??

or, shampoo all carpeting with an enzyme cleaner?

clean-wash all air ducting?


G'luck

DANdeMAN

Bigs, mine also smells like that it's called "Cheval #928"

I'm used to it now, it kind of grown on me (not literaly)

Ron_H

Bigs, there are certain aspects of life on this Earth that need to be accepted. One of them is the odor of used Porsches. And more specifically, dead animals in older Porsches. It seems to be not a great shock that a used auto interior has odors resembling: oil, and perspiration, and electrical wiring, and dust, and dirt/dust, and yes, also old leather. This is particularly true when the auto is composed of these substances and occupied by an animal that perspires. So you see, the odors you encounter are not unusual, and you should put your mind at ease. Drive it faster, and you will not notice such odors as much. Rest assured that other Porsches have similar odors. Be thankful that you do not own an early 911 because they all leak oil from the lower cam covers on to the heat exchangers and then into the car when the heater is used. Awful. And it leaves a spot of oil on the garage floor in all cases. There is a fix, but it would mean losing part of P car-itis. That is part of Porsche ownership.

Just thought I'd pass that bit of information on to you.

Brian B

Mine used to be really musty smelling, like an old basement. I pulled up the front carpets to check the fuses and found that the backing of the carpets was all rotted out. A new carpet set later, and my Shark smells like a really overpriced German rug!

bigmac

Bigs, Mine smelled like that when I got it from 2nd owner last year. Suggest you get a bottle of Febreze and spray it under dash and seats with all fans on high while driving around with windows open. After about two small bottles over a couple of months, car smells neutral.

ROG100

Bigs,
My 93 GTS has the same problem whereas my other cars dont.
I've tried a number of things without success.
Could be a GTS problem.
Roger

Marine Blue

Mine had a musty, engine, sweaty, old leather smell to it when I got it. I've since scrubbed the vinyl, cleaned the carpet, treated the leather and the dominant smell is now the leather.

Have you tried cleaning the vinyl, it's amazing how much dirt/grime/human oils the vinyl and plastic bits of the car can hold. Areas I focused on were the door pulls and skins, the turn signal switches and other frequently used switches, shifter ****, steering wheel and the entire center console. I also noted a significant amount of buildup on the rear quarter leather.

Chris

Mine used to smell musty and horrible too, re-doing the interior helped and like others have mentioned the new carpet was a big step forward too. I used Fabreeze on the foam like insulation too.

Chris

AO

Bigs... You wouldn't be bringing your work home with you, would you?

johnf95111

I have to agree with the carpeting and padding. It seems that every piece of foam in the car, whether it is a seal or padding, deteriorates over time. The out-gasing during the process smells like musty Black Forest funk.

I'm going for the new carpet/padding treatment and an interior scrub down.

Cheers,
John Fagerlund
'89 GT.