Is is possible to completely remove cigarette smell from interior?
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Instructor
Joined: Aug 2011
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From: Saint Clairsville, OH
Is is possible to completely remove cigarette smell from interior?
I have my eye on a '96 993 with most of what I'm looking for. I do have a few things that concern me though. The previous owner was a smoker (before the flames start, I'm not putting down smokers, it's just not for me and the smell is not pleasant to a non-smokers). My question is this, is is possible to completely remove cigarette smell from the interior? Has anyone tried a product that really works? Fabreeze?
Thanks in advance...
Thanks in advance...
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Sure. Gut the interior and replace all the parts.
Cigarette smoke gets in every nook and cranny and cannot really ever be completely removed, or would take a very, very long time. You might have better luck in a cab versus a coupe, but keep in mind that oily cigarette smoke is in every facet of the carpet and any other porous/semi-porous surface.
Personally, I'd pass. There are many, many great cars that don't come with the stink factor.
Cigarette smoke gets in every nook and cranny and cannot really ever be completely removed, or would take a very, very long time. You might have better luck in a cab versus a coupe, but keep in mind that oily cigarette smoke is in every facet of the carpet and any other porous/semi-porous surface.
Personally, I'd pass. There are many, many great cars that don't come with the stink factor.
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There you have it. I'm sure some will come on and recommend magic elixers, but the bottom line is you will never get it all. Headliner too is saturated. I once looked at a car with a beige headliner, not a P-car, that was smoked in. The liner was turning yellow.
Racer
Joined: Feb 2010
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From: Denver, CO
you can get most of it out if you hook up an ionizer in there, you may be able to rent one from a professional cleaning company. Run the cable out to the wall and try to close the car door if possible, leave it on for several weeks.
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There was a fellow who made his first acoustic guitar ever and sent it around to a bunch of us lefty players earlier this year for feedback, everyone kept it for a week or two then sent it on. Someone before me was a heavy smoker, and my God, even though I left the case and shipping box in the garage, the instrument literally stunk up the entire house and I couldn't stand to be around it for more than twenty minutes at a time -- I kept it locked up in an upstairs bedroom, gave up after two days and shipped it to the next guy. The smell lingered in that room for weeks. I would never buy a car that's been smoked in ... you'll just never get rid of the smell. Let it go to another smoker who will be perfectly happy with it. Plus you'll hopefully save another 993 from being smoked in.
Ironically, the aroma of someone smoking a cigar at a ballgame or something is one of my favorites, but cigarettes ... fughedaboutit!
Ironically, the aroma of someone smoking a cigar at a ballgame or something is one of my favorites, but cigarettes ... fughedaboutit!
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Many dealers take in high line cars and need to rid the smoke smell using ionizer equipment. It can be done. Call a few upscale dealers and speak to their used car manager. You will get a name or two of recommended detailers that can make the smell go away. Of course, use the smoke smell as a major price negotiation issue. Worth a thousand or two reduction .
Mark
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Burning Brakes
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From: BALTIMORE MD
Ionize overnight. Full interior detail. Ionize again. Full interior detail again.
Repeat if necessary.
I bought a my Jag XJ8 and it smelled like smoke. (I almost did not buy it because of that)
I had it detailed and Ionized twice. Still slight smoke smell. Six months later re ionize and detail.
Smoke smell completely gone. And no odors at all. Run the ac on recurc for a while with the ionizer. The temporary side effect is that the ionizer smells like chlorine for a while but dissipates so you wont have your car smell like a swimming pool. With how rare 993s are I would still get the car and clean it and invest in a small ionizer $150.
Repeat if necessary.
I bought a my Jag XJ8 and it smelled like smoke. (I almost did not buy it because of that)
I had it detailed and Ionized twice. Still slight smoke smell. Six months later re ionize and detail.
Smoke smell completely gone. And no odors at all. Run the ac on recurc for a while with the ionizer. The temporary side effect is that the ionizer smells like chlorine for a while but dissipates so you wont have your car smell like a swimming pool. With how rare 993s are I would still get the car and clean it and invest in a small ionizer $150.
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You guys have it all wrong. The smell of old stale cigarette smoke is refreshing. And, smoking is not bad for you. If it was, would a doctor recommend it?? 
Last edited by Chuck W.; Sep 3, 2011 at 08:00 PM.
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A lot of nonsense in this thread. Buy the car, shampoo the carpets and clean the interior, air it out in your garage, and the smell will soon be gone.
The original owner of my car was a smoker, and you'd never, ever, ever know it. Not even the slightest hint. Cigarette smoke is not Plutonium-239. It's just smoke. The smell goes away.
The original owner of my car was a smoker, and you'd never, ever, ever know it. Not even the slightest hint. Cigarette smoke is not Plutonium-239. It's just smoke. The smell goes away.
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May I ask what actual experience you have with this issue that qualifies you to opine so arrogantly? The OP asked if cigarette smell goes away. I know it does, because the original owner of my car smoked, yet my car doesn't smell. You appear to have no actual knowledge of this, but are spouting off and claiming that people who do (such as myself) are delusional.
Go and kick your cat if you're having a bad day.
Go and kick your cat if you're having a bad day.
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May I ask what actual experience you have with this issue that qualifies you to opine so arrogantly? The OP asked if cigarette smell goes away. I know it does, because the original owner of my car smoked, yet my car doesn't smell. You appear to have no actual knowledge of this, but are spouting off and claiming that people who do (such as myself) are delusional.
Go and kick your cat if you're having a bad day.
Go and kick your cat if you're having a bad day.
As posted above, headliners don't turn yellow because you're eating bananas in the car. It's a sign of the pollutants and oils in the smoke, specifically the tar, that turns the headliner that foul color.
Smoke goes everywhere. EVERYWHERE. There is just no way to get rid of the tar accumulation in, say, the vents, as someone else posted above.
Nothing personal, but I would start to question the judgement of someone who chooses to buy a car with a problem that would require time, expense and labor to resolve, when one could buy another car without that problem.
I don't know your age, or your sensitivity to smoke, or if you're a previous smoker, all of which might mitigate your ability to actually smell the residual smoke in your car. Since you bought a smoked in car, I cannot consider you an objective source, either.
Finally, I realized that you're not someone who's judgement I could count on, because I don't have a cat. So you're wrong there, too.
To the OP, you can listen to everyone else who gave you solid advice, or the one person who seems overly defensive about the subject who bought a smoked in car. Misery loves company. Perhaps you and NP993 could plan a road trip to the La Brea Tar Pits here in Los Angeles and we could have a blind smell test. Bring your cars and a gas mask. I'll pay the admission for both of you.
Personally, I'd go for a Porsche without tar accumulation, but I'm crazy like that. The choice is yours.
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I have had good experience using a small ozone generator, which may be the same as the ionizer others have talked about. I used a Crystal Air PRO 36R on an old boat, and in a couple of cars. It does take time (days to weeks). Here is their web site http://www.ozone.ca/products/index.html - I have no affiliation other than being Canadian. You will need to clean the ozone generator plate every now and again, which is simple.
Good luck!
Philip
Good luck!
Philip
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I'm with Goofball on this one.
People who think they've gotten rid of tobacco smoke only think they have. It's still there. It may get masked by whatever method you've used to try to get rid of it, but there will still be an unusual smell. And it's a masked tobacco smell.
I have an acute sense of smell that is a burden in my life (I can smell the slightest things everyone else cannot.) Bring me anything that's been even near tobacco smoke and I can tell immediately. I'll even put big money on it.
And anybody who has smoked at all in their life have diminished their sense of smell. And current smokers can't smell anything as it is.
Buy a car that hasn't been smoked in. Why compromise?
People who think they've gotten rid of tobacco smoke only think they have. It's still there. It may get masked by whatever method you've used to try to get rid of it, but there will still be an unusual smell. And it's a masked tobacco smell.
I have an acute sense of smell that is a burden in my life (I can smell the slightest things everyone else cannot.) Bring me anything that's been even near tobacco smoke and I can tell immediately. I'll even put big money on it.
And anybody who has smoked at all in their life have diminished their sense of smell. And current smokers can't smell anything as it is.
Buy a car that hasn't been smoked in. Why compromise?