Tips for getting cigarette smell out of vehicle?
 

I might have mentioned somewhere here that my PU trucks was stolen 2 months ago. On Saturday morning, I got a call from the LAPD telling me that they had found/recovered it. I went and fetched it out of impound immediately.

It is in surprisingly undamaged conditon other than the ignition and drivers side door lock being punched-out. Also, everything that was inside of the truck and large bed mounted tool box is gone. All of that is fixable/replaceable.

The worst damage, TBH, is that it smells like someone smoked 200 packs of cigarettes inside of it with the windows rolled up. Who the fk does that?? No need to answer...

I've already started airing it out and plan on a good interior shampoo. Any other tips that actually work for eliminating that awful smell are appreciated. It's weird...I smoked for decades and my cars never stunk like that. And yes, my sense of smell works just fine. I never, ever smoked with the windows fully closed, even if it was 10 below zero in the winter.

TIA for any help! :cool:

Start smoking and you won't even notice

I do not have anything to add on the smoke smell, that used to be a huge problem in my work vehicles, but great news on your truck!

that was my 1st thought.

You need to clean every inch of the truck including the headliner, and then it'll still be in the ventilation system. I've heard of machines that do something- ionize the air or something, but never had one that worked well. I'd check with some high end detail shops and see if they know.

Clean the crap out of it (or pay a detailer to REALLY clean the crap out of it) and that'll be a big start. Then over time, the smell will eventually decrease until it's gone.

Doesn’t an ozone machine work to remove the smell?

Otherwise, kill it with fire!

Could have been much worse! :D

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Buy or rent a serious ozone machine and use that, but only after the extremely thorough surface clean... The nicotine/tar really does attach itself to everything. Consider also using some ozium.

But even after all of this, especially on a hot day, you will still catch a whiff sometimes.

Meticulous cleaning

Replace the filters and clean out the housing for it, obviously. There is stuff you can fog the ventilations system with, would steam work?

I used one of those rug doctor things on one of my best friend's many Hondas that he had used as a commuter. He smoked at the time. Did the carpets, the seats, the headliner. Got some stains out that were pretty bad, also helped out a lot on the smoke smell, pretty much eliminated it from the stuff I used it on, but the smell was still there. He had some stuff he sprayed into the ventilation system that actually worked pretty well, not sure where he got it. It smelled fine when we were done, like freshly cleaned carpets, but I don't know how long that lasted. Replacing stuff works best.

My brother bought a house that people smoked in for like 50 years. It was amazing. That oily crap soaked through the first few things they tried, eventually had to use some nasty primer that you needed to use a respirator with in the living room. I told them when they bought the place they should have pulled out all the sheetrock. Probably would have saved time and money.

It's amazing to me how anyone can live like that. It might sound like BS but my dad smoked for decades and he never smelled like anything but aftershave to me. I inherited his old 450 SL Mercedes and it smelled like leather, nothing else. You would have to hot box cig after cig with the windows rolled-up to create this damage! :eek:

I'm going to clean the crap out of it, including my Bissell carpet extractor/cleaner and leave the windows down for days, then I will update this thread. It's parked in a very secure lot downtown with armed guards right now because it's not lockable and is started with a screwdriver. No rain predicted for a week.

Thank you all for the responses, really appreciate it.

I'd try white vinegar mixed 50-50 with hot water in a spray bottle on everything. Spray it on, let it set 10 minutes then wipe it down. It will smell like a pickle for a day or 2 but then the vinegar smell and hopefully the tobacco smell will be gone with it.

Lol but even when I smoked, I would have been able to smell this. It's like the inside of an enclosed ashtray.

It is good news, I guess. I have put a lot of work and maintenance into this rig and it would have been mucho expensive to replace. That said, the insurance company was prepared to give me very fair settlement for it and I had written it off in my head. The contents of the truck will be difficult and expensive to replace.

Thanks. It does have a factory leather interior so I can only seriously shampoo the carpet and headliner. I dread doing the headliner because it will probably cause it to sag. :(

That is the kicker Denis, you know the maintenance and the truck very well, there is a value to that.

I had a '95 Mustang GT that had the drivers door punched as well back in '98 when I lived in MN. It ended up ruining the paint around the lock and was a bigger deal to fix than swapping the ruined lock part out. Hopefully it is dry enough in CA that does not happen.

Febreeze helps. So does fresh air and sunshine.

One of the automotive shops I worked in many years ago used Ozium spray for eliminating odors in the heating/AC systems in cars. Not even sure if it is around anymore.

You could try the white vinegar/water solution on an inconspicuous spot of the leather and see how it does. I've knocked down light mildew on the leather seats in one of my cars without any harm to them. As for the carpet I'd just spray it down and leave it to evaporate. I think you would be pleasantly surprised.

Denis, I'm pretty sure you and I smoked one or two cigarettes in your 996 once or twice. I know that's not the same smell as what you're dealing with now, but surely you're used to it. In my job I'm so enveloped in second hand smoke on a regular, I barely notice it anymore.