Advice on removing smoke odor in a used vehicle

Looking for advice on removing smoke odor:

First let me get this out of the way. 1) On a scale of 1-10 obnoxiousness, this cigarette smoke odor is a 3. 2.) yes I fully knew what I was getting myself into when I bought it. 3.) I prefer to work on this myself than go to a pro - the car is spotless except the smell. And 4.) I have heard the old school remedies: Baking soda, vinegar, change the cabin air filter.

What I would like help with are commercial products people have had good luck with including Bombs, Shampoos, Ozone generators. Even better if you include the product name and a link.

Thanks for any advice you can share!

 

Best you can do is remove everything you possibly can, especially textiles (headliner carpets seats seatbelts) and pressure wash them or use a steam extractor on them and then wash everything else with something like dawn dish soap and a rag or scrub brush. Wipe down every surface imaginable front and back with hot soapy water and replace the thicker pourus items like the foam cushions and anything else if you can etc.

You can try and ozium fogger in the vehicle with the windows rolled up and AC on full blast but results are moderate at best and can leave an odd chemical smell that will linger for a few weeks.

Honestly cigarette smoke smell is one thing best left to professional removal somebody with a steam powered carpet extractor if you want any kind of lasting meaningful improvement.

 

Axe body spray. Every day.

Actually what was stated above is pretty much all you can do. It's a chemical odor that finds its way into everything.

 

Sorry man. It’s not coming out with any over the counter products. Take it a professional and have them ozone the interior.

 

I know someone who had the same thing and all of the professional treatments in the world didnt work. Sorry, just preparing you.

 

I always liked this stuff

 

Yea, avoid cig smoke cars at all costs.

Had family buy a sedan that obviously had a smoker owner and even after cleaning they got rid of it.

 

I think you may be beyond help
https://youtu.be/-pEhqiCD27E

 

Try ammonia (be careful not to spill) in a small jar or cup and leave in your console cup holder. Do it when your not in your car for several hours then open your Windows to ventilate before driving

 

At my dealer the detail dept has good luck with an ozone machine but if its really bad there is still a trace of smoke it just can't get out. The trade in cars that were obviously heavy smokers just get sent to auction, sales decided it wasn't worth paying to get most the smell out then having the future owner complain about the smell.
Sorry and best of luck.

 

I have had some luck with Febreeze for pets. Close windows run ac on high, fresh air, not recirculating and raise hood and spray into ac intake for several seconds and let car and ac run a few minutes. Doesn’t get rid of it all at once but do this about every two week, Oder gets less noticeable and I can’t smell it at all now in mine. Good luck

 

A dealer I used to work for would pay to have someone come out with an ozone machine. Then we would leave all the windows rolled down for several hours until it had a chance to vent out. You don't want to breath any of it as it's very toxic. You can pick one up from Amazon...

$67 Home Sanitizer Solutions Ozone Generator for Home and Commercial Use - Sterilizes Air with Sanitizing Effect - 10000mg/h, O3 Air Purifier and Ionizer Machine

https://www.amazon.com/Commercial-G...rds=ozone+machine&qid=1629429573&sr=8-1-spons

$80 Enerzen Ozone Generator 40000mg Industrial O3 Air Purifier Deodorizer (40000mg - Black)

https://www.amazon.com/Enerzen-Comm...&keywords=ozone+machine&qid=1629429573&sr=8-3

Also, charcoal bags and odor neutralizers that encapsulate work well...
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=charcoal+bags+odor+absorber&crid=27MH8LFAL6PFB&sprefix=charcoal%2Caps%2C230&ref=nb_sb_ss_midas-iss-sm_1_8
https://www.amazon.com/Ozium-Air-Sanitizer-Spray-Glycolized/dp/B07RFNSQCF?crid=3QQNKQGXKERBC&dchild=1&keywords=ozium+odor+neutralizer&qid=1629429764&sprefix=odor+neutralizer+ozium%2Caps%2C236&sr=8-4-spons

$15 Adam's Polishes odor Neutralizer (Fresh Scent (Original), 16 fl. oz) - Car Air Freshener Spray That Eliminates Harmful Odors from Car Interior Accessories, Leather, Carpet, Upholstery & Pet Odors

https://www.amazon.com/Adams-Odor-N...=Adams+odor+neutralizer&qid=1629429799&sr=8-5

Beyond that, change the cabin air filter often, perhaps one with charcoal and possibly have the interior shampoo'd by a professional dealer. I'd always cringe when we sold a new car to smoker. They're never really the same. Good Luck!

 

when I bought my used '14 just a month ago or so, it was an obvious pre-owned by a smoker. The smell of smoke was obvious to me, as a non-smoker. That was a major concern for me and wanted to make sure that the odor could be removed before I bought it. The dealer used a product called 3213 BIOCIDE system over night before I came to pick up the vehicle the following day. Well, I can say that I couldn't smell smoke any more but for a while I certainly could smell the odor that the BIOCIDE left behind. SO I then bought some of those little "Refresh" auto vent sticks and put them in the cab. Now a month later, I can't smell the 3213 any more and actually the vehicle smells fresh.

SO I guess the 3213 worked to remove the smoke smell. Just took a while before the cab smelled of something other than "chemical".

 

I have an odd suggestion that worked for me many years ago in a 1991 Mazda Protege. Buy a bag of apples and slice them in half, leave them in there for a day or two with the windows up. The longer, the better. It's cheap and worth a shot.
That POS smelled like smoke and cats. Apples helped a ton.

 

Here is my experience. My mom is a heavy smoker, so her minivan always smelled pretty strongly of smoke. Anyway, one summer a couple years back, she went to the grocery store and bought some chicken. This may not sound like it would be effective, but here is the trick. You need to forget to take the chicken inside with the rest of the groceries. After a week or so in a hot summer car, you will never smell the smoke again. Just rotten chicken. Years later, and that is still all I smell….

 

yum, rotten chicken....NOT!!!

May I suggest using fish next time, can't help to think it would be even MORE effective

 

Just catch covid. I haven't smelt anything in months.

 

@openstage18 did you have any success? I just got a 2020 tacoma that was smoked in so I’m the in the same boat. I’m probably going to bite the bullet and have a detail shop do the works. I’m also looking at getting Katzkin leather out because the previous owner left a couple cigarette burns and it looks like their dog lived in the back seat.

 

Try this first...