I bought a used 17' JCW hardtop with lounge leather seats from Carmax. The interior of the car smells like the perfume spray they put on public transit to cover up the stink. I can smell it even when I walk by the car a few feet away. Driving it guarantees a headache. I have fumigated every surface including all AC ducts (replaced cabin air filter) and have run an ozone generator for hours on end and for the life of me I cannot get the perfume smell to go away. I checked in every nook and cranny to see if there was some sort of scent wafer hidden somewhere and couldn't find a thing. The car has also been aired out with all doors and windows open for many many hours. How do I get this smell out of my car? I am desperate at this point. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all.

 

Baking soda is good for absorbing odors. Maybe lay down some newspaper on the back seat and floors then spread a healthy layer of soda.

 

...or keep the windows up, the AC off and don't take a shower for a week or so. Nothing could survive that.

 

Consider trying an ozone machine. If you aren’t familiar with it, ozone is basically oxygen with an extra atom (O3 instead of O2). O3 is extremely unstable and recombines with pretty much anything. It’s perfect for breaking down the kinds of molecules we can smell. Ozone machines are used by both detailing shops and fire/accident clean-up companies like Servpro for this purpose.

While high-capacity ones that Servepro would use for entire houses or buildings are pricey, a small one costs $50–70 on eBay or Amazon and is more than capable of doing a car or mid-sized room.

Put it in the back, set the time for half an hour, shut the doors. Come back later and open all the doors. If the stink is persistent it may take a couple cycles, but probably one will do the job.

Ozone will irritate your lungs, so don’t breathe any more of than you can avoid. The smell of ozone is quite distinct, you’ll know when it’s gone.

I bought this specific one last year, it works well, and the plates are replaceable if you manage to wear them out (If, like me, you are just doing your car, garage and basement, you won’t wear it out.).
Enerzen Ozone Generator 11,000mg - Don’t buy from Amazon,though. Amazon has the highest price around now, $70. (I paid $60 last year.)
Same make & model is only $50–60 on eBay (here’s a link to eBay listings).

Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

Perhaps former owner was a chain smoker, with sticky sweet stuff sprayed liberally in attempt to hide. If so, hopefully after the perfume smell is gone, stale cigarette stench doesn't pervade...

For fabrics and even carpeting, I like to use a mild solution of Woolite and warm water. If it makes wool sweaters smell nice and fresh, likewise will for car fabrics (but not leather of course)...

 

I will give the baking soda a shot and leave it for a few days. The body odor won't touch it haha. I have already tried that approach.

 

I appreciate the response. I already tried the ozone generator. It didn't touch the smell at all.

 

You didn't mention replacing the cabin filter......

 

I did replace it.

 

I would definitely try the ozone machine first. I have seen where some have to do it a few times to get things to go away.

Do you have a steamer? If so, I would start cleaning with that and use it in the vents as well. Maybe clean the carpets and mats with a shampoo machine.

Don't know who to point the finger at on this one (CarMax or previous owner). When you test drove the vehicle, was the smell there then?

 

I hate when they clean them and make it smell like a rental car.

I clean the carpets and wipe it all down with Windex, Wait a day and air out, then come back over it with chemical guys leather cleaner/conditions.

Some guys like this stuff.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-chemical.../air10116~chg/

I think it smells ok. The MINI has a scent from the factory as i remember it new and its a mix of leather and fine carpet,

 

There's a spray product OZIUM, used by private, corporate and commercial aircraft. If it will do away with the odor of "barf", maybe it will do the trick for you. Worth a try.

 

I was in a very similar situation and concluded that is how the leather smell in our cars... if it were perfume I don't think it can last that long after everything you have done.

 

Second the idea of Ozium. Also, put some coffee grounds in a open container and leave it in the car for a few days.

 

+1 on coffee grounds. I always leave some in the bottom of the kitchen trash bin.

 

Wasn’t a Mini, but I bought a used Olds Cutlass Supreme convertible many years ago. From one of those small independent car sales places. Anyway, I bought the car and had that perfume smell I couldn’t get rid of. I even left the top down in my garage and it still lingered.
I finally yanked out the seats to shampoo the carpet. When I had everything out, I noticed something in the rocker panel. It turned out that a mouse had built a nest and died there. It must have reeked with a decaying mouse!!
Cleaned that out, shampooed the carpet. No more smell.
Moral of the story, if there is that much “perfume” smell, it might just be covering up a dead mouse!!

 

Coffee grounds have worked fairly well for me. Front and back and of course....close off the venting for a few days so as not to disapate the coffee odor.

 

Did you run the A/C and heat in recirc mode with the ozone generator?
Pulling out the seat belts and securing them in extended position while running the generator also helps.

 

I got rid of literally caked on weed smell by using Detail Garage “Nonsense” interior cleaner. All three minis had it, worst was JCW where you could literally see the tar residue on surfaces.


clean all the surfaces, pull the rear seats and side panels, clean behind and below them. keep using new cloths (box of like 40-50 microfiber at walmart was about $10 last year, I think $14 now in the household cleaning, not auto section)

Do NOT try to scrub the headliner, but you can spray it on till it is fully damp and gentle wipe it down/in like it’s the most fragile thing on earth.

also with AC on but NOT in recirculate, spray it in the air intake vent on the exterior passenger side.


you can also spray down the carpets and rub it in vigorously, amd probably get some gunk out of the carpet while you are at it.

if it has carpet mats, take em out and pressure wash them after hosing down with (no) Nonsense cleaner.
My wife bought me The gallon size last time, because I was going thru 1.5-2 bottles truly cleaning every “new” car we get.

all three minis s et lt of marijuana when i bought them, but it was like a whiff on the parts car and PW, the JCW… reeked. Like hope I don’t drive by a cop cause I’ll get pulled over for drugs and I might get a contact high Cheech n Chong levels of reek.


if that still hasn’t completely gotten rid of it, I’ve actually had good luck with those “set it off in the car” smell things to at least change it to something nicer… and I’ve used Oxonium in that style as well, but didn’t find it all that effective in comparison.