Cigarette smell

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco\";p=\"99650)</div>

My sympathies to both. I second the recommendation for "Ozium".

By no means use "osmium" instead, it being the famously worst-smelling element.

 

I've been a mechanic for 39 years now, and have never smoke in a customers vehicle........ever. I smoke in my own and sometimes in my house but then most times I went outside. I gave up the disgusting habit 22 years ago but if I was still smoking I'd never do it in a customers vehicle. Our shop is smoke free at work. Not even in the welding bay are you allowed to smoke. Smoking in a customers car................. how tacky.
davids_rv pull the A/C filter and spray it with Lysol or some other Air Freshener. That will help but it's in the upholstery and headliner.

 

I would be so enraged if a tech smoked in my Prius!! That appalls me that the techs are allowed to smoke in and around the vehicle. I wouldn't go anywhere near the dealership again; I would report them the better business bureau too. I can't stand smoking... :guns: :guns:

I know this isn't as bad as someone smoking in a customer's car, but it's pretty bad: I worked at a VW dealership and the owner drove around in a demo Phaeton. The guy would smoke like a chimney in the unsold Phaeton. The Phaeton is VW's $65000+ flagship sedan; I almost died when I heard what he was doing. No one said anything because he owned the place; how tacky!!! Whenever a prospective buyer wanted to look at the car, he would come over and tell me to make it ready for them....are you kidding me? It was nearly impossible to make the car presentable and not smell like an ash tray....unbelievable.

 

Yuck. I would be really upset, as would my husband. He quit less than a year ago and still struggles with it on occasion. He actually replaced his old car partly to get away from the cigarette smell.

I have never seen a tech smoking in a car. While working under the hood, yes. Some places will allow this. I believe the dealer where he works will not allow smoking in the shop, because people have to take "smoke breaks" in order to get their nicotine fix.

If you go back there, specify that you don't want anyone smoking in your vehicle when the service writer is getting the ticket ready. And if you like, you can throw something in there about "having asthma and being allergic to smoke." (sure, it may be a little white lie...) That'll make them pay attention...

If you post your location there may be local PriusChatters who can recommend a good place for you to go.

 

davids_rv: If you don't mind my asking, where did you buy your Prius? I live in North Richland Hills. I went to TX Toyota of Grapevine and they were asking 4k above MSRP!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GreenLady\";p=\"99688)</div>

Just think of the nice vacation you and your S.O. can take elsewhere in the 48 states for that $4,000.

Pick a place you would like to go. Call a dealer in that area that sells at MSRP and plan your vacation around the car’s arrival. Fly there, see the sights, then drive your new Prius home as part of your vacation. You should come out way ahead on the money side, and it will be a vacation you won’t soon forget!

I would love to gig the stealership with a snotty, and loud enough for the benefit of other customers, “I hear Seattle is nice this time of year . . . I think I’ll pick up a Prius there at MSRP while on a lavish vacation that will be paid for with the $4,000 you aren’t trying to blackmail out of me.â€

Fortunately my dealer sells at MSRP . . . unfortunately now I have to pay for that lavish vacation without any justifications!~ :? ~

.

 

LOL

I wasn't quite ready to buy when I went in for that test drive, but I did respond loudly to the quintessential question, "What will make you buy this car today?" with, "Well, for starters, I won't pay 4k over MSRP!!!"

I have considered buying from an out of state dealer and having it shipped, but taking a vacation does sound like a good idea. My parents have offered to pick one up in their area and drive it down here.

I'm still a few months away from buying (have to pay off other car first), but it's nice to know I have options.

 

David...if the dealership service manager tells you that the tech didn't smoke in your car, I don't think he's being 100% honest with you. If you can still smell it to this day, that tech smoked in your car. I've had passengers ride with me in my cars that smoke, never in my car, but when they get in, I can smell it on their clothes. The smell may be around on the fabric for just a few minutes after they leave, but never for more than that. It's like people who don't smoke and are in a bar filled with smokers. Second hand smoke on clothing smells much different than smoke on clothing of the person who actually smokes. I'd raise more hell if I were you. Sorry to hear about that.

Dave.

 

I am absolutely the most sensitive person to cigarette smoke. Many smokers have damaged their sense of smell so badly that they think they don't STINK, but they do. They try to tell you they weren't smoking, but you know better.

If this happened with my Prius I would raise holy hell. As far as I'm concerned, someone smoked in the car (or just before getting in) and ruined the car. You can never get that nasty smoke smell out of the cracks and crevices of a car.

Honestly, I would approach the owner of the dealership about swapping out the car. Let him file an insurance claim for whatever it costs him, or take it out on the offending employee via wage garnishment or whatever. If he had scratched the paint, cracked a tailight or whatever, wouldn't he be responsible for that as well? It's a similar devaluation of the car, and it's not fair to you to have to suffer.

By the way, who the hell smokes these days? It's kind of like sporting a mullet or something! It's kind of like, "Do you think he doesn't KNOW?"

Nate

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(naterprius\";p=\"99760)</div>

Well, that's one way to handle it, though it would be the toughest battle to get anything out of. I can understand having the car professionally cleaned on the inside (steamcleaned, scrubbed, etc..) then handing the dealership the bill for it...but I serioulsy doubt they will switch out the car. An insurance company would not cover that for anyone because the car isn't a loss as a totalled vehicle or defective. Plenty of used cars on lots and by private sellers have been smoked in. Hell, even demos and dealer owner vehicles are smoked in, and sometimes worse (scratched, abused, etc...) and they sell 'em, people buy 'em, and for a discount at that. But, that's neither here nor there I guess. It was wrong for it to happen, but it has to be cleaned, and deoderized, that's about all you can do. The smell will go away in time, but it's a shame it had to be there in the first place.

Dave.

 

UGH! That totally sux. A similar thing ALMOST happened to my wife's Infiniti. I went to the dealership (the world's worst dealership) in Santa Monica and after a ton of problems with these idiots, I finally agreed to take my car somewhere else, and the guy who was going to drive it to me was smoking. He was standing by the open driver's side door and he took a big puff and was about to get in when I stopped him. I had to drive home with the window's open! Some people are just plane rude....

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GreenLady\";p=\"99688)</div>

GreenLady:

I'm in Euless and ended up going over to Don Davis Toyota in Arlington. Don Davis is selling the Prius at MSRP. I'm dealing with John Rowe. I "ordered" my Prius on April 28th and was told that i'd have the car in 60 to 75 days. If all goes well, i'll pick up my Prius this week, slightly ahead of schedule.

Don Davis does maintain a waiting list. I was in position #9 when i placed my order, by May 24, i'd moved to #3. John can tell you how they maintain the list.

Hope this helps.

 

It absolutely should not have happened and they should consider themselves lucky you're not allergic. Some people don't go quite anaphalactic but I've known people who's airways really close up when exposed to smoke. Total laryngitus too.

I had cigarette smoke in my classroom once (long story) and complained to the district and they brought out an industrial HEPA filter and it was run in that room for a week. The smell was finally gone. The only 'fabric' in that room was a wool rug (mine) that I had to air out for weeks. What shocked me about the entire thing was they weren't concerned with the health of the young children breathing it in, as *I* was. They were concerned about *my* health and that I was going to sue their a$$es.

No one smokes in my car. (My Dad is a cigar smoker and knows better.) I can tell. He did it once in my very first car and I nailed him in a lie so he's never done it again. Anyone who doesn't smoke can tell. And no, your car doesn't get that stink just from it being on someone's clothes. They smoked, the smoke was in your car, they exhaled, it got soaked into all of the fabric. It will eventually go away if you drive with all the windows open, but it will take a long time.

You'll have to replace all of the A/C filters (at dealer's expense) of course. It would be nice if you could find a HEPA filter and run it in your closed car for a few days.

But you need to let the service department know they are opening themselves for a lawsuit if they allow the employees to smoke in the cars. Even aside from the allergy issue. What if they burn a hole in something? They burn a hole in *my* car...they just bought it. For the full price I paid plus all of the improvements I did to it. Even swap won't do it since I'd have to pay for the invisible bra, decals, et al.

 

True, someone will always buy a car that's been smoked in, or banged up, or in rough condition, and yes, they get a discount, but that's entirely my point. Smoking in a car devalues it as drastically as crashing it. It happens instantaneously, and repair requires an intense amount of work and expense, and the car is never the same, so even when all of the work has been done, it has still been devalued.

There are certain people that driving around a car with one side or the trunk smashed in is no big deal. There are also certain people that driving around a car that has the foul odor of cigarettes inside it is no big deal. Both of these types of cars tend to have very little resale value, and the person who paid for it in the new condition and then has the damage happen to them (by collision or contamination) incurs the loss.

The dealership should compensate a person for the loss they cause the owner.

Nate