And yes. Asked the son in-law. He put the groceries in the passenger footwell. But he's a good guy and loves my daughter so he's more important than Porsche carpeting. For now.

 

If nothing you've done has worked, it's time to just put the top down and drive faster.

 

Nature's Miracle works with long contact time. Talking about days here. Sometimes a week or two depending on how bad it is.

Completely soak it in Natures Miracle then put a plastic garbage bag over it to really slow down the evaporation and drying out. Check it ever couple of days. Keep adding more as needed to ensure it stays wet for 7 days. Then remove the bag and let it slowly evaporate on its own.

If that fails, I'd pull and replace the carpet and padding.

 

Been there, done that. I was helping my Dad transport some food dishes from a Chinese restaurant to their house in my 4 door Tacoma. The party trays were those foil trays with tin foil to cover the top. During the short trip, one of the trays spilled onto my seat, down through the seams and onto the carpet since the seats are raked. Out of all of the dishes, it was salmon with shrimp tray that had fish and shrimp sauce . My whole truck smelled like fish and it was utterly disgusting.

I searched around and found that baking soda and vinegar was a good solution to help remove the smell and the stain I mixed both until a paste type consistency. I rubbed it on the seats and on the carpet and let it sit for 15 mins. It turned the paste from a white/gray to a orange/red because it was absorbing the fish sauce and shrimp sauce. I vacuumed it and then applied the paste several more times until the paste was no longer colored. I noticed the smell was starting to go away and finished it off by steam cleaning the areas. Fish smell... gone.

 

Lol! This is the best RL quote I've read!

 

 

Maybe the son in law had some sexy time in the car with a not so hygienic lady friend. Had a friend in my Yout who had a girlfriend that was a real go'er but stunk like a fish market .... We still laugh about it

 

You might look into ozone treatment. No personal experience but I’ve read it can be very effective in dealing with persistent odors in cars.

 

You do realize the son-in-law is married to the OP's daughter, right?

 

Anyway...

So I failed. Let everything dry. Put seats back in. Air bag light. Yeah.

Started drive with top down. No problems. Put top up. Maybe a faint smell. Sniffed all the vents. Not coming from there. Got home. Left top up.

An hour later went to check on car. back to square one. It now smells like a garage can filled with trash and left out in the sun after a rainstorm when the lid was open and then closed.

Carpet coming out. Purchasing ozone thing and a boroscope to check the vents.

Any other ideas?

 

 

Had non P-car, back in the day (Escort GT). Carried my sail boat rudder home to work on it. Didn’t notice that maybe 1 or 2 barnacles were attached. Of course the weight smashed barnacles into carpet. No amount of cleaning removed that smell! Always returned when parked in sun.

 

Can you remove the carpet where the smell is coming from? If so, you can power wash it and leave it to dry in the sun before reinstalling.

I'm surprised steam didn't work. What kind of steamer are you using?

 

I've had this problem before with cat ****. WIth cat urine, not only do you want to burn the carpet, but you have the feeling of burning the car too.

IMHO, the liquid stank has puddled underneath the carpet. Every time you try to clean the carpet, the smell will return especially if you turn on the heater. Stanky evap! lol

Obviously, cleaning the carpet is only half of the job; therefore, you must remove the source of the smell.

Plan to remove the carpet and have it steam cleaned. (You can rent carpet steamers or hire a pro) Then, using a strong cleaner and clean the area in question and all metal surfaces. Let it dry overnight, then smell check in the morning BEFORE putting the carpet and seats back in the car. If you smell more stank, then investigate further. Let the nose be your radar!

Good luck!

 

Did you see my post about the specific method to use Natures Miracle which prevents it from evaporating and gives it the time it needs to work? It will resolve your issue and is likely the only way to do so, short of replacing the whole carpet and padding.