Topic: Can "Ozone" or other treatments get cigarette smoke smell out of a used car?

[Zoo]

Hi All,

 As some of you may know from my various and sundry posts lately my wife and I are hunting for a used car to add to the Zoo fleet. Some of the examples we have driven have had smoke smell in them. One dealer told me today that they can pretty much eradicate that with some kind of Ozone treatment they use. Can this really work?

Years ago I bought a 1993 Sunbird from my Mother-In-Law and this thing just reaked of smoke. I cleaned every surface of the car (I like my cars clean anyways) and used Febreeze on the seats, headliner, carpeting etc. I managed to get the odour down to about 10% of what it was but I could always tell that it had been smoked in.

Is there technology now that can eradicate smells like this or are cars doomed to keep their odours like Seinfeld's car that had the "B.O." smell?

Just wondering what your experiences were with these sort of detailing techniques and how effective they were/are.

[barrie1]

There used to be a commercial deodourizer at Home Hardware that had a Rose Fragrance which only a drop or 2 would totally hide virtually anything. We once had a Refrigerator that had not been opened for about 5 years. We were cleaning out a estate home and this was a totally sold frozen mass with all the food and everything still inside. Once it was unplugged the odour was totally unbelieavablely bad. The lawyer in charge of the home called a cleaning company who specialized in these type of problems and after they had finished upchucking themselves they used this product.  After a steam cleaning at a carwash we were able to salvage this fridge afterall. 

[Careener]

There's a product available at pet stores to get rid of cat pee. I've read that it works wonders...unfortunately I can't remember the name (don't have a cat so no need ;-) )

[rrocket]

An ozone generator certainly can remove the smell.  I've seen demonstrations where a woman sprayed strong perfume on her wrist (we were all allowed to smell the wrist) and then shot the ozone generator on her wrist for 5 seconds.  The smell was gone...and the smell that was there reminded me of the odour after a srping shower.  Ozone can be bad for rubber and plastics if used excessively though..and can be poisonous in excessive amounts, so you have to be cautious if you use them daily, especially indoors.  But they do work, and work well.

[sportsgeek]

I've never tried 'Ozone' myself but i've been in a car after it had been used (it stunk horribly before hand) and it was like a new car smell.

[Zoo]

I've never tried 'Ozone' myself but i've been in a car after it had been used (it stunk horribly before hand) and it was like a new car smell.

Cool! It sounds like this treatment really works! I am going out to check out some more Yaris Hatchbacks today so maybe I can find one that has never been smoked in. Just the same though it is nice to know that this treatment will probably work to get the smell out of the one example that my wife and I really loved.

It looks like we will have a 2007 Yaris Hatch soon!

Man, if my wife would go for it I would love the one owner 2003 Corolla LE I drove on Saturday. Just 50800 kms, all the service records accounted for, paint in immaculate condition and overall a wonderful car. The funny thing is that the Yaris Hatch would not get that much better milleage than the Corolla from what I can tell and both cars have reliable chain drive 4s backed up by 4 speed autos. If I had my way I would snag a manual trannie but ideally we want both of us to be able to use either car for when one is in the shop etc. My wife hates driving manual so (sigh) it will be a two auto family.

[safristi]

..just MAKE SURE thete's NO HOLE in the Ozone Spray............

[Careener]

Perhaps it's the same treatment they use to clean hockey equipment. If so, that works.

[ktm525]

Smoke a pipe or cigar in the car. That will get rid of the cigarette smell.

[safristi]

...can we revive the "Do U fart in the Car Thread???!!!!".........

[Wetson]

...can we revive the "Do U fart in the Car Thread???!!!!".........

LMAO. 

I looked at a used BMW at Toronto BMW and it reeked of smoke.  The sales buy said it'd been cleaned once.  Not sure if it was with ozone.  I wonder if they'd be willing to knock some off the price because of the smoke smell.

[ktm525]

...can we revive the "Do U fart in the Car Thread???!!!!".........

I fart in my truck and on my bike but rarely in the car...

[safristi]

ktm yer a glandular anomaly.....donate yer *R***O** to science.....

[barrie1]

Apparently they figure a car is worth on the average $400.00 less after it has been smoked in as the smell can actually stay there forever. We had folks turn down new cars that had been smoked in only once as we had one lady who could smell it so well that her word was golden. She worked in payroll and I worked out of vehicle distribution for a no. of years. When in doubt we just brought her in to sit in a car for a minute. She was that allergic to it that we could see her face start to turn red in secs and knew the truth. At one time it was legal to smoke in the Company Cars but in the last 5-10 years or so they changed all of these rules as it was costing them too much on loss's per car if they had been smoked in. 

[Zoo]

That's very interesting Barrie. I always wondered what smoking did to the value of a vehicle. Now I know!

Wow, your co-worker must have been really allergic to react that strongly from sitting in a car for a minute or less and getting symptoms like that. Imagine what it must have been like for her to fly back in the days when smoking was allowed on flights (I am feeling a little sick just thinking about it ).

[tpl]

Bah, I can smell a smoker at ten paces...I gag when I am in an elevator with them.
(ex-smoker, going on 22yrs now) which probably makes me worse. Just came back from my favorite coffee shop and even the smell from the coffee in my clothing smells like tobacco...

I am also ex at 22 years ( in December 2008)   It doesn't bother me anymore.
 But those "country stores" full of perfumed candles and the perfume/makeup dept of the department stores still make my nose block up instantly... which only started happening after I gave up smoking.