Mold Smell...2012

Just bought the Prius 2012-3 Sunday. It's a certified Pre Owned with 9,000 miles. One owner purchased in July of 2011. When I test drove it I told the salesman it had a strong odor. Stunk like smelly socks combined with bad BO. I seriously thought it was coming from him, although he had on a thick layer of cheap cologne to mask it.
He told me he didn't smell anything..typical. Meanwhile he said to just out some air freshener in it and febreeze it, and that should take care of it.
Got the car home, totally aired it out, sprayed the seats, dusted, detailed and left windows open in my garage overnight.
The following day I noticed the smell got worse with the air on, fresh air ode or circulating mode....and really bad when the fan blew with air off...
Went online and found hundreds of complaints regarding smells in several models of Toyotas and tons regarding the Prius, but mainly in older models....
Took car in and demanded a new cabin filter...still smells....
I'm very sensitive to mold, mites and mildew. This smell is atrocious. It actually rubs off on my clothes and hair too.
The front seats stink of the odor, but the back doesn't.

I have a open case right now after I called Corporate with the issue. Will update this when I find out what they will do for me. As far as I'm concerned the fixes won't work now that the mold has effected the cushions. They can try to mask it all with flowery scents and they can wash coils etc, but the smell will more than likely return.
I want another car and feel should get one. I'm very disillusioned with Toyota currently having just lost a ton of money trading in my Prius-C after 3 weeks when I realized it was way too small and had no power. This second prius cost me a fortune with the loss of the other. The thought of having it for the next 7 years while I pay it off is anxiety producing not to mention as source of danger to my health.

Any thoughts or similar experiences? I'm not a complainer by nature, but this is some serious bad Car-ma.

On a last note, I'm much happier with the larger car and realize my biggest mistake was buying the small C on an impulse.

 

Thanks for the reply, yes I've read them all....just concerned that the smell has effected the fabric....Worried the fixes are temporary and will need constant attention. This just doesn't seem right.
I've had plenty of cars, but this issue never came up...it seems pretty well known and doesn't seem like it's with every car....I paid too much money to have this reoccurring every few months...

 

Will take your advices, thank you so much. I have only been using outside air but semi resent that I have to. I'm inhaling fumes, cigarettes and every other smell that enters...yesterday that was cow dung from newly planted golf course greens!
I will ask for everything I get in hopes it gets resolved, but like you, I fear they will claim there's nothing they detect.
By the way, how do you like your plug in? Would have loved one myself but out of my price range....no smell in that car? Lucky you!

 

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I think you're right on about the recirc mode. The previous owner must have ran it on that the majority of the time she drove it. We live in the desert. I will be sure to write updates as they happen
Glad you're enjoying your plug in. Smart buy. We can all be sure gas prices are not going down anytime soon, or if ever. I drove the Prius C in Eco mode but it definitely cut into the power ....that little car had some nice features I will miss, but others not much. The steering was a lot nicer than the larger prius, and it took turns nicely...but it lagged and was hard to get in and out. Perfect student car though and/or second car for local driving.

 

No, I don't think it's dog I'm smelling....it's a mold scent, like a wet old towel. Will post after I hear back from the Customer Relations woman. I'm sure they'll have me bring it in for inspection..

 

Thanks everyone for such helpful replies and advice. The car is at the mechanic now. At first they just wanted to deodorize-bomb it...but I told the manager I thought that was backwards and to please inspect it first to see what's causing the smell..he agreed. Naturally he could not smell anything, but admitted to having a bad sense of smell.
I will definitely mention to have the car tested for mold too. This is interesting now that I'm thinking about it....the day I bought the car when I got it home there were a few rust stains on the interior, two in the very back trunk area, one on the passenger side on the ceiling...wonder if I should mention that too....

The Customer relations woman looked up the service on the prior owner...nothing unusual, but that means nothing really. The problem could have just started which would have been a reason perhaps she traded it back in to Toyota.

Updates as they come. I'm driving a Camry rental..not too shabby.

 

Lol, yeah, stop with the catastrophe stories! Actually, prior owner lived in Santa Monica, CA. Maybe the car was a surfer?

 

Update :

As expected, Toyota did the very minimum to try to rectify this issue. They did not do any inspection at all. They simply replaced the cabin filter with a charcoal one and bombed-deodorized the cabin through the AC. It smells worse now of a strong serious flowery scent, which I'm sure will air out, and I'm certain it's only temporarily masking the dirty sock smell. I can honestly still smell the odor even through this sickening smelling bomb.
I'm not done with this. In fact, I will be continuing with it until I am satisfied....

I sat in a few other used prius's today, none had this same odor. A few stunk like old cars, a few smelled like leather, but none had this horrendous moldy BO smell.
I'm beyond frustrated.
Sigh.