richsurf

I just bought this. Thanks for the recommendation.
The former owner put in a sweet smelling air freshener smell I can’t get out. My wife who is smell sensitive and has bad allergies instantly gets ill in the car so we use our Forester anytime we go anywhere over 20 miles. I have non fragrance Smells Begone and it helps a bit. I hope this does it.

BW5

old thread I know, but these things work pretty well. I've not personally used for cigarette odors though. It leaves a very nicely clean chlorine smell. Not that chlorine is good, but this is just sorta like a sanitized smell, that dissipates eventually to....well...nothing.
I would do as thorough of a cleaning as I could, then close one of these up inside with the AC fan running on recirc for a long while.
https://www.biocidesystems.com/produ...RoCUV0QAvD_BwE

AscariBlue

Old thread, but I need to ask: how did a smoker's car pass the CPO inspection?

huntpsu1

Not sure--but my Q8 was a CPO with a cigar smell. Price accounted for the smell, and included full ozone treatment and interior detail by a reputable detailing company. Not perfect, but significantly reduced.

Aerfally

Has that continued to work or have you needed to do anything else to the car since then?

Opic0

I would inquire at local pro detail shops, especially ones with solid google reviews with pictures.

Gazabw

Has anyone ever successfully eliminated cigarette smoke smell from a car?

huntpsu1

you will never return a new car smell but you can greatly mitigate it with effort and time. Start with the obvious to remove any dirt and debris. Clean all surface areas with appropriate products. Leather cleaner for seats, and even vinyl. Vinegar and water solution (be very light on vinegar) to clean carpets and headliners and glass. It may take more than one application. Change your cabin air filter. Try an odor spray (Ozium) by spraying into your intake plenum (by windshield) to clean out vents. Overnight let a solution of vinegar sit in a bowl or two, or even baking soda to absorb smells.

this should greatly help but may not get you all the way on the first attempt. After this, if it is not working for you, take it to a detailer that can run an ozone machine. Make sure they have experience, and make sure you don’t sit in the car immediately after treatment.

it’s not easy but it can be done. Good luck.

Aerfally

It is possible. In my case it cost ~$900 all in. A full detail focused on removing smoke residue and applying bioenzyme, a few ozone treatments with those ozone machines from Amazon for <$100, learning that they have little impact, doing tons of research, hiring BioSweep to do an advanced ozone+hydrogen peroxide treatment, doing another detail, replacing a few rubber parts where the tobacco/smoking materials were stored, removing the cabin air filter, spraying 2 cans of foaming AC cleaner into the intake fan, having BioSweep do another treatment, installing new air filter. It worked, nothing short of this did. Completely worth it.

Len Ferrara

After you deep clean the carpets and vents, change the filter - place bags of activated charcoal under the seats, replenish as directed. worked well for my son's Jetta purchased used.