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Unpleasant 2007 Prius New Car Smell

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by pn2543, Mar 7, 2007.

  1. pn2543

    pn2543 New Member

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    Just got a 2007 Seaside Pearl Blue Prius pkg #5 with a tan interior, fresh off the lot with 8 miles on the odo. The interior smell is quite unpleasant, a strong acrid chemical type smell, like new synthetic carpet maybe. I have left the windows open the last few nights in the garage but it is still unpleasant when I first get in the car. Other people complain about it too. Makes one wonder what with the huge carcinogen warning sticker on the driver's side window that maybe they are really seriously warning us! I am wondering if anyone else has had the same experience with this unpleasant new-car smell? Did the dealer maybe miss a step in prepping the car? Or is it something to do with the tan colored upholstery?
     
  2. Skwyre7

    Skwyre7 What's the catch?

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    Mine was a little stinky too. I cracked the windows at night and drove with them open. The smell was not noticeable after a week or two. I'm sure the dealer didn't miss a step, at least in terms of the smell.

    Although, maybe the dealer added extra stink to your car. I hope they didn't charge you for it. :p
     
  3. Jimtak

    Jimtak New Member

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    My 2007 touring in Seaside Pearl, purchased last Saturday, smells like a new car - plastic degassing. It sits outside, windows cracked, and the smell is diminishing.
     
  4. Prius The First

    Prius The First New Member

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    Just spill a quart of milk on the carpet, or leave a pound of hamburger in the trunk for a two week period. That bad new car smell will be but a fresh memory!
     
  5. moxiequz

    moxiequz Weirdo Social Outcast

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    My 2007 had a strong "new car" smell as well. I don't care for "new car" smell in general. My Prius' smell didn't seem particularly bad though. Actually, my friends and coworkers seem to like it. :huh: Plus it certainly beats the smells my '91 Camry was putting out. :p
     
  6. Jimtak

    Jimtak New Member

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    Hey! That's what my wife tried to do the first day - but with a fermenting bottle of lemon/echinacea tea. She also solved the new care smell the first week we owned our 4Runner (85) - left the baby's bottle in the car while we had lunch in Modesto in August - boom!

    I think I'll try the ventilation route this time.

    And to think that some folks buy and spray the "new car smell" into their vehicles... :D
     
  7. Macomb

    Macomb Junior Member

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  8. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    Search the archives for "sniff your duct". See if the odor is
    stronger right around that vent next to the right end of the rear
    seatback. The plastic cases of the HV battery modules do tend to
    continue outgassing a bit longer than the other interior parts;
    the battery goes through a few more thermal cycles down there. It
    shouldn't have any toxic components, though -- it's not electrolyte
    or anything like that, just the plastic [unsure what type] cases.
    .
    _H*
     
  9. emaad

    emaad New Member

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    you guys dont like new car smell? lol
     
  10. Bill Merchant

    Bill Merchant absit invidia

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    We don't like the new ca
    what? Sorry, I'm a little dizzy.
     
  11. liverbomb88

    liverbomb88 Push the Button!

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    Errr....'cuse me? :blink:


    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ Mar 7 2007, 07:07 PM) [snapback]402024[/snapback]</div>
     
  12. jrb_nw

    jrb_nw New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pn2543 @ Mar 7 2007, 11:14 AM) [snapback]401770[/snapback]</div>
    I also dislike the new smell and find the best approach is to leave the car in the sun during the day with the windows down about 1" all the way around. The car gets warm enough that way to heat the plastics and do the "outgassing" but the cracked windows allow it to vent away. The worst thing is to have it all closed up in the sun - it has to vent off or it builds up on the interior surfaces. I have had mine only a week but the smell is significantly diminished already. Also make sure to open the windows when you first get in to drive so you don't breath that stuff, and do not drive with the RECIRC button on - you want the fresh air going through.
     
  13. electricblue

    electricblue Junior Member

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    This is good advise. It is funny my Prius is a Seaside Peal Blue. 07 package #6. Not that color has anything to do with it. I bought it at a dealer by the ocean were it never realy gets that hot. When sitting in the car before purchase it didn't have a strong smell but when I picked it up it had new car smell.

    Some people like the stuff they spray in the car when you buy a new car. It is toxic and not neccesary. I wish I remembered to ask them not to spray.
     
  14. JamieS

    JamieS New Member

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    Ughh I hate the new car smell, and everytime I get out of our new Prius I smell like it forever [like right now]. My parents both like it, but it's just...icky.

    I didn't know it was toxic. =O
     
  15. mrjpaterson

    mrjpaterson New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rainydysandmondys @ Mar 12 2007, 03:34 PM) [snapback]404324[/snapback]</div>

    For me I didn't mind the new car smell at all. That is, until we decided to go to a potluck dinner at some friends and bring herb roasted winter vegetables. Now who would've thought that the combination of new car smell and basil or rosemary or oregano or the vegetables themselves would've produced an almost vomit inducing combination of smells? Unbelievable.


    Don't try this at home, kids. Or better yet, do. Just not in the car.
     
  16. patrickindallas

    patrickindallas Shire rat

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    What happens if you wake up with an extra arm
    poking out of your forehead? :blink:

    Is that covered by the extended warranty?


    The degassing smell has never really bothered
    me though. I just don't like cleaning the residue
    off the windows. <_<
     
  17. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    I'll trade you my 2004. 20,000 miles, like new, all baked out and odorless. Free delivery.
     
  18. auricchio

    auricchio Member

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    What finally worked (after the airing and the Febreze soak) was putting an electric space heater on the center console and having the windows cracked just 1/2 inch for just over six days.

    When they build a new office building, they usually run a several-day "bake-out" to force carpets, furniture, and other materials to outgass as much as possible before people begin moving in. They crank the heat to about 90F and let it bake.
     
  19. RPryke

    RPryke New Member

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    Ya, the new car smell sucks, after I test drove my car I felt so nauseous and had a headache for 6 hours.
    I have always been sensitive to that though, perfume, cologne, rental cars, they all give me headaches and severe nausea.

    I will have to try leaving the windows cracked to get rid of the smell, just reading this forum made my head hurt thinking about it.
     
  20. adam1991

    adam1991 New Member

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    Huh. My car came off the truck a week ago yesterday, with 0 miles on it. I picked it up within 24 hours and have been driving it all week, and--because of this thread--paid very close attention to the "new car smell" thing.

    It's remarkable in that it doesn't have the "new car smell" anymore, and didn't as of being about 3-4 days old. Right now, there's no smell in the car whatsoever.