Team-BHP - Beware of that new car smell

Quote:

Originally Posted by amit

Recent research in Japan has shown that the new car smell that majority of us love is actually toxic and could trigger headaches, nausea, drowsiness, sore throats and prolonged exposure could probably even lead to cancer! (ouch!). Frankly the cancer part sounds a bit far fetched to me. Car makers are working to reduce the gases and chemicals that lead to the new car smell. Maybe one day we may get a new car with none of that lovely new car smell.

That smell gives me a headache. I take delivery only after they've ripped off all those plastic seat covers, left the car open for at least an hour and then liberally sprayed Nivia's neutral-smell deo throughout the insides.

Quote:

Originally Posted by amit

Agree to you, but i think this should only worry those who are working in Car showrooms, Otherwise how often will most of us buy a new car... and when we buy one I would love to have the smell atleast for few days

I have just bought my dream car a Ford Fiesta (now Classic) Petrol in Sep 14 and have been able to drive it only about 550 kms till date!

This is because the smell of the plastics is giving me constant sore throats and infection. I had to go on a course of antibiotics a month back as it had become really bad.

I managed through the winter months by keeping the vents shut but now in Summer when I start the blower and a/c I am down again. I know most people are unaffected by these smells but it seems I am more sensitive.

I have tried to let the blower run with heat up in the garage for several minutes every day but there is no end to the smell. I have tried masking the smell with My Shaldan but that make it worse. I was suggested keeping the car in the sun with windows slightly open but this is making the smell stronger as it is being absorbed by the seats and carpets. Driving with windows open is not an option either as Kolkata streets are heavily polluted.

I am at my wit's end as I can't drive my new car even after 6 months.I don't know what quality of plastics Ford is using it seems to be highly toxic. I never had such problem with my Alto, Aveo or Vento.

If I sell the car now I will lose depreciation and foreclosure charges. But if I can't drive then what is the use of keeping the car.

Does anyone have any further suggestions to remove the smell completely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deepak K Gupta (Post 3652417)

May be you'd want to first get rid of the seat covers, carpets foot mats etc and let the car and these covers etc soak sun for minimum 2-3 Hrs, separately.
Even if this doesn't help, consider changing the upholstery and foot mats in toto. May its them and not the car.

Hope this helps!!!

Thanks Guys,

The upholstery is fabric and I've even that I have covered with towelled cotton seat covers. Already removed the carpet floor mats supplied and put old rubber mats.

The smell is emanating from the dash. After six months of airing and wiping the external dash, the smell is tolerable. Now it is coming from the blowers-you can smell the same smell in the blower air. It seems that the inner dash surfaces are emanating the smell.

Blowing heater air makes it worse. I read somewhere most of the new car smell dies down in the first 2 months but if exposed to sun or heat they can again increase upto 80%.

The new car smell is something the automakers are very particular about. research has shown that new car smell is very enticing for new car buyers. I personally love that new car smell. So much so, some dealers here in the US sell used cars after detailing it really good and they then use a new car scent/spray !

What causes the new car smell is the new car interior contents - plastic, leather/fabric seats, car mats , etc . Some folks prefer to buy as new car just for the new car smell !

Really sorry Dipak that the new car smell is causing you health issues - hope you get it sorted out quickly.

As I was composing my new car ownership thread whenever I get time, all of sudden another issue cropped up out of the blue and thought of asking the fellow bhpians. Mods please move it to relevant location as I don't know which category this should fall in and also couldn't find any other thread like this.

I never thought my dream machine will give me a headache in totally unexpected direction. Yes, this is not about the headache by any issues in the car. The experience of new car itself a reason for headache. :Frustrati

I recently acquired my dream machine Fiat Punto Evo 1.3 Multijet and happily driving it and always trying to find a reason to sit behind that wheel as much as possible. But from the day one, I started getting mild headache which sometime reaching a peak. I thought of several other reasons which could be the reason. But today morning from home to office drive was a usual normal drive with euphoric effect of new car and ended up with headache by the time I reached office. Out of curiosity, just googled about this and found lot of articles explaining about the headache from brand new car.

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_car_smell

Small part of that article as below:

Quote:

A two-year study[6] released in 2001 by the CSIRO in Australia found several health problems associated with these chemicals. CSIRO research scientist, Dr Stephen Brown, reported anecdotal accounts of disorientation, headache, and irritation in some drivers of new cars. He measured pollutant levels in new cars that were sufficient to cause similar effects within minutes in controlled experiments by other researchers. Chemicals found in the cars included the carcinogen benzene, two other possible carcinogens cyclohexanone and styrene, and several other toxic chemicals.

Those articles are talking about some chemical effect and smell of a new car and health hazards. Though that article mentions clearly about "some drivers" and not all. Probably I'm part of those some drivers I think. Some more inputs for your suggestions.

- Only perfume in the car is given by the dealer which is kind of candy smell which I don't like. Hence it's always in closed condition.
- New car smell is there which I feel uncomfortable at times, though not irritating level.
- My usual level of audio volume is medium (level 20 and below in Punto touch screen ICE). And even I tried switching of the music due to headache.
- Like the above article explains, I do feel some chemical / rubber smell along with new car smell. Could be false sensation, I'm just thinking all possible ways.
- New car rubber mats provided by the dealer is really smelly. Not sure this is a reason for the headache.

Any of you guys experienced this issue before? what did you do to get rid of this headache / smell? Is this due to the new car smell? or totally something else and I'm looking at a wrong reason?

Please help. please:

I hope you have removed all the plastic sheets that wrap the seats, etc. The smell from those sheets, especially with the AC on can be irritating and even nauseating to some people.

Also try to keep the glasses rolled down whenever possible and also let outside air circulation into the cabin. The new car odour should be gone in a couple of months usually.

Surprisingly, some people actually like the new car smell and there are even some car air fresheners/perfumes with the new car fragrance!!

*I hate those Ambipur type car perfumes that are fitted to air vents, they typically give me a headache so I suspected that could be a possible reason in your case but you say that the perfume is kept closed and you're not using it so it should be something else.

I have a very old and working solution to this. Although, we did not get headache, my wife used to say, there is some odd plastic smell in the car which she was not comfortable with. We used a simple trick. For almost 6 months, We kept Camphor tied in a white cloth inside the car. The diffusion of Camphor inside the car Subsides all other smells.

My suggestion would be to use the same technique if you are OK with Camphor Smell. By the way, Camphor also serves as an agent to remove head-ache to certain extent

Another advantage of using camphor is, it keeps all rats and other rodents away ! !