A long time ago on a weekly car show, the inimitable Pat Goss was giving guidance on buying used cars. His advice on a smoker's car: walk away. His reasoning was that the smoke gets under that dash and messes with the electrical connections. I can't vouch for this one way or another but it's common practice to forbid smoking in computer rooms for the same reason.

 

Interesting point. As a hobby, I restore high-end audio equipment, and every so often I get something from a smoking environment. The tar/nicotine residue affects grounding and capacitance values since it appears to be ever so slightly conductive. This has not been an issue with power electronics and line-level signals, but low-level signals from tuners and phono preamps can be affected. My gut feeling is that most of the electronics in a car are fairly robust. On the other hand, the computer related connections could be a problem - and, yes, they are all under the dash. So radio, CD player, all the various digital displays, instrument cluster, etc. might have to be pulled and cleaned to be absolutely safe. Definitely food for thought.

 

The smoke residue is primarily organic. I'm looking at possibly breaking down the residue into non-odor producing inorganics with a thermal fogger or ozone shock - including the stuff under the dash, in the headliner, seating, etc. This is what they use to restore houses that have smoke damage (and odor) from fires, mold problems and so on. It won't get rid of the residue, but it might permanently knock out the odor.

Does anyone have any experience with thermal foggers or ozone treatment?

 

When I bought my '04, I clipped and lit an Opus X as I was pulling the car off the lot. I turned to my wife and said: "Honey, this is my first $10,000 cigar!"
I figured the first one killed 50% of the buyers, and each subsequent one kills off another 1-2%. Pretty soon my market will be down to the boys at the cigar shop where I hang on Friday afternoons. Price of admission, I guess.

 

wknopf: Good for you.

others: This may bug you as I disagree with the majority opinion of the thread. This is what a forum is for so here I go:

I'm not a smoker but I am always surprised by the extreme vilification of smoking in this country. It's like the bubonic plague or something. Seeping cigarette smoke affecting electronics? Compared to heat, vibration and yes pollution on the roadway that gets in there anyway... Give me a break. Allergy to the smell? That sounds like a dislike and not an allergy. Allergy to smoke itself is understandable. I do not know of medical allergies to scents.

Anyway, thanks to the extreme views, I can buy the ex-smokers car, clean it up and profit from the arbitrage.

 

Equ, I am a smoker, and I know that the tar in cigarette smoke (not necessarily tobacco smoke, as cigarettes have lots of chemicals put into them) is very sticky. It creates a film on windows, dashboards, etc. It can be removed. I've never heard of it messing up electronics. Never happened in either of the 2 previous cars I've owned/smoked in.

I agree with the vilification of smoking that you brought up, but that's a different thread.

I do NOT smoke cigarettes in my car, but I do enjoy cigars in it on a weekly basis. I smoked cigarettes in my previous cars, and burned the interior, and did not want that to happen again. Cigar smoke does NOT linger. I've smoked one about every week for the past year in my car, and nobody can smell it. I leave the windows down and sunroof open for an hour, and the cigar stink is GONE.

It is possible to remove cigarette stink from a car. I've done it. follow my procedure, don't pass up a great deal such as this one, and enjoy motoring in your brand spankin new to you 996. It'll be a lot of work, but worth it.

 

I have been able to eliminate the odor from a heavily smoked-in car. It took several steps.
1. Total carpet wash and total interior scrub, including all hard surfaces
2. Griot's odor remover liberally on a sponge ina plastic tray under the front seat
3. Cigarette-lighter deodorizer (seems to create ozone which is somewhat noxious but effective)
4.It still wasn't perfect. What then ended the problem was liberal use of spray stain repellant on the carpeting. It appeared that the process of stopping stains from getting in also stops odors from getting out.
In the end, it was worth it. Ultimately, non-smokers detected nothing AS

 

Been there done that in a land rover. I even used a dealer's 400 dollar "ozone machine" , and every scent and bacteria killer etc. imaginable. IT WILL GO AWAY TEMPORARILY AND WILL ALWAYS COME BACK
That being said, if it is a good enough deal, it may be worth it. Just be prepared to deal with the same issue all over again when you go to sell it.

 

If my car had even the slightest hint of cigarette smoke I probably would have chewed my arm off during the first year I quit. For me, the "thing" that finally eliminated the odor was Ozium.

 

Midnight Rider - did the odor come back a little or a lot? Did you clean the interior as well (all surfaces, rugs, etc.)?

 

End of saga... we are passing on the car. This car is going to be sold to a dealer in the next 12 hours for $44k. If someone wants to jump on the deal of the year, contact me and I will give you information on how to reach the seller - but you are going to have to be really really fast. The owner will take $46k. I just hate seeing this car go to a dealer and resold with a $10k premium, when it could go to a real P-car addict on a budget.

Here's the description again:

2002 C2 coupe
25,200 miles
arctic silver/black
power seats with memory
heated seats
Technics Package (Xenons, CD changer, Bose, in-dash CD)
18-inch 5-spoke wheels
brand new Michelin Pilot Sport tires
minor nick on shift **** from finger ring
very small dent (dime size) on quarter panel (can be removed using dentless removal)
one wheel has a small curb scrape
Virginia plates
Car is located in So Cal

I never actually saw the car - the owner was going to drive it up from the LA area to San Jose for us to check it out. But we were going to only do that if we felt there was a better than 50/50 chance of the wife giving it the "nose up" if you will (ie. if she can't smell the smoke after the interior detail). Given her sense of smell, and the comments above (masking the smell with fragrance like Ozium or cedar chips would not be acceptable) - I couldn't honestly tell the seller that I thought we had a solid chance at closing the deal.

Mind you, the smoke issue was the ONLY issue. I was pretty confident that the PPI was going to pass with flying colors. The owner has never driven the car over 100 MPH. He's not a Porsche guy, he's not even a car guy.

I am BUMMED. I have spent three months searching across the nation for a car with these features. I wanted this car - it was carnal. This was it - this was going to be THE CAR, MY CAR.

So if anyone knows of another P-car optioned just like the one above for sale for <$50k (except a non-smoker car) - let me know.

I'm gettin' out the Scotch right now - and a CIGAR.

 

use the above advice on cleaning. I also used citrus orange. but I have had issues with the hvac still smelling. I do not know how to get rid of this. if the person smoked with the windows up you will have more work in removing. goodluck!!

 

rdsii - thanks! Did you replace the recirculating air filter? A few folks have recommended the Automagic fogger ($4). "Bomb" the interior with the fogger and keep the recirculating air fan running (remove any HVAC filters) to treat the HVAC. I've heard good things about the ozone generators as well. But I have no first-hand experience with either the fogger or the ozone - but they make sense to me since they in theory break down the organic residue that is the source of the odor. The fogger breaks the residue down chemically, and the ozone generator oxidizes it.

In fact, I think a smoked in cabriolet would be easier to clean up since you could let UV do the work. But I'm looking for a coupe.

 

I had this problem a couple of months ago, My brother borrowed my Black Beauty for a long weekend, against my better judgment I agreed (I used his M5) he smokes and promised me he wouldn't smoke in my baby. Well when I got the car back, it smelled like my old college dorm. Pot smell and butts throughout.

I had him pay for a complete detail and the smell was completely gone. I got even; I left his M5 door open and let BruiseR in for a couple of minutes. Bull dogs can do major damage in a couple of minutes :-)

 

my 911 was non smoker. i had in the past had a vette that was a x smoker's car. The air filter is used for cleaning outside air. The smoke would never reach that. I have read about people having the mold smell when the ac is on. I think there is a process to clean that out of the ducts.
The car is a good buy and it is what you want. If I was you I would go for it. After all there are worse things that can happen with a used car.
with my vette after a few good cleanings I was ok. Except for the AC once in a while. I also picked up the car for a good price.
if you pick it up best of luck with your new ride