Smokers cars

[KrisZ]

They simply get used to the smell.
A friend of mine worked at a coffee roasting place as a summer job for few summers and if he had to stop someplace after work, people would always comment of a sudden nice coffee smell. He knew it was from him, but he didn’t smell a thing.

 

[AdmiralYoda]

I was at the shop one day where my father the mechanic had to work on a car like this. Had to get on the floor to get up underneath the dash. He came out with two used Jolly Ranchers and a bunch of cigarette ash stuck to his hair. He wanted to puke!

Another story.... a customer came in with a recently purchased used car. It was very clean but they could not figure out why it stunk like an ash tray. Turns out the previous owner stuck the cigarette buts inside the center console. As in, every time they were done smoking they would pull out the cup holder insert and stick the buts inside console.

When my dad took the console out there must have hundreds of butts!

 

[Kira]

I was selling dear Mom's 1991 Ford Taurus GL as she had purchased a 1999 Saab.
A neighbor (2 streets away) saw the FOR SALE sign and test drove it for 45 minutes.
I can't remember why I didn't go along; nice old geezer-same age as Mom- same civic stuff etc.
Finally he drove by as calmly as can be, smoking a cigarette. I wanted to hit the guy with a baseball bat.
When he got back, he got out and said, "I'll take it".
OK

edit: A pal's sons referred to his car as "The Rolling Ashtray" because it was so vile.

 

[scoot]

I was selling dear Mom's 1991 Ford Taurus GL as she had purchased a 1999 Saab.
A neighbor (2 streets away) saw the FOR SALE sign and test drove it for 45 minutes.
I can't remember why I didn't go along; nice old geezer-same age as Mom- same civic stuff etc.
Finally he drove by as calmly as can be, smoking a cigarette. I wanted to hit the guy with a baseball bat.
When he got back, he got out and said, "I'll take it".
OK

edit: A pal's sons referred to his car as "The Rolling Ashtray" because it was so vile.

I chuckled reading this , he just lit one up lol

 

[Kruse]

I had a cousin who saw some heavy, heavy action over in Vietnam. He came back...lets just say...mentally different than when he went over.
(Not directly related to my story, but...) Anyway, when he came back, he was a heavy chain smoker. He disappeared for a couple of decades and was living on the streets a thousand miles from his family, but when he finally decided he could live in the same vicinity as them, he got subsidized housing, an unlimited supply of smokes and managed to get a plain-jane '98 Ford Ranger. When he wasn't chain-smoking his cigs at home, he was chain-smoking his cigs in his Ranger.
I actually saw him about 10 minutes before he dropped dead from a heart attack about 15 years ago.
ANYWAY, his siblings parked the Ranger and it sat in a shed for about a year. I happened to see it and inquired about it and I got it for a song. Even though it had been sitting that long, when you opened the door, it reeked. My wife quickly reacquainted herself with a stick-shift on a deserted gravel road and drove it about six miles to our house. She got home and reeked of the smell. The next day was really windy here in the country and I parked the truck sideways, opened the doors, and I blew out several thousand cigarette butts. The smell was still there, so I gutted the falling head liner and hit it with as much deodorizer and neutralizer as I could.
It actually took months before you wouldn't be overpowered with the smell. Still, because we live in a rural area and my wife likes driving a manual transmission, it was one of her favorite vehicles, despite the frame eventually succumbing to rust.
I now own an electronic ozone generator. I wish I had it back then.

 

[Kira]

I now own an electronic ozone generator. I wish I had it back then.

So you're saying they work? That's good.

 

[Kruse]

So you're saying they work? That's good.

Yea, but there's all kinds of warnings NOT to use it around humans or animals because it can be a health hazard. (Written in very bad Chinenglish.)

 

[PF52]

We always had a fleet of Ford Rangers for our field staff to use. Some of the guys kept them clean. Others.... Not so much. One guy went through a phase where he was using chewing tobacco. He kept a little cup in the center console to spit in, but often he missed. Eventually there was a crusty buildup of chewed tobacco all over and around the center console, including on the seats. That guy left and the truck was assigned to our heaviest smoker. He kept the truck for several years before inheriting one of the new Chevy Colorados. The old Rangers were sold and the tobocco/smoked-in one wound up purchased by a guy who works at a popular local restaurant. It's always there, visible when I use the drive-thru. I am so tempted to peek in the window.

 

[wavinwayne]

I grew up in a small trailer with parents that smoked 2 packs a day. I didn't realize how bad I stunk until I moved out.

On a related tangent, have you ever opened the computer tower case of a smoker? You want to talk about nasty!!!

 

[Pew]

It's like passing a cow farm by the highway that stinks. By the time the smell reaches the car, it's already too late.

 

[Chris142]

I was at the shop one day where my father the mechanic had to work on a car like this. Had to get on the floor to get up underneath the dash. He came out with two used Jolly Ranchers and a bunch of cigarette ash stuck to his hair. He wanted to puke!

Another story.... a customer came in with a recently purchased used car. It was very clean but they could not figure out why it stunk like an ash tray. Turns out the previous owner stuck the cigarette buts inside the center console. As in, every time they were done smoking they would pull out the cup holder insert and stick the buts inside console.

When my dad took the console out there must have hundreds of butts!

I bought a scout about 30 years ago. The drivers window would stop about 4 inches from the bottom. One-day I decided to fix that and found 4 inches of butts that had been dropped down the door by a previous owner.

Funny is that it didn't stink.

 

[Kira]

have you ever opened the computer tower case of a smoker? You want to talk about nasty!!!

OMG, yes. My cousin married a guy who is a cigarette smoking machine. The door to his office-room in the house is closed at all times.
There are smoke drips running down the window on the inside!
Seriously, I wonder what I'd clean the walls/ceiling with before a paint job.

 

[Nick1994]

My mom and grandma always chain smoked in their cars.

My grandma had a brand new 2012 Jeep Patriot, less than a week old and I went outside to help her carry something in and there she was, smoking in it.

I don’t get it.

 

[Hall]

I can be on the motorcycle and tell if someone is smoking with the windows down, in the car in front of me.

I can be inside my car with windows up and if the wind is blowing in the right direction, I will smell it (unless I have the AC on).

 

[Hall]

My grandma had a brand new 2012 Jeep Patriot, less than a week old and I went outside to help her carry something in and there she was, smoking in it.

Neighbor across the street from us has a very new, very nice 5.0 Mustang (sounds amazing) but won't or isn't allowed to smoke in their house, so he sits in the car dozens of times a day with it idling, while he smokes. He'll be out there at 5:30am even ! I'm not a Ford or Mustang fan, but it's still a nice car, but I can't imagine how bad it is inside already. Anyone ID this model ? Sorry for image quality - it's zoomed in from our Ring.

 

[shortyb]

So you're saying they work? That's good.

About the only thing that will give any kind of lasting effect. My son works at a local cigar lounge and after work, he smells just like the inside of the place. While he doesn't smoke in his car, his clothing leaves the lingering scent inside. When he comes by, I throw my Alpine Air inside and run it for about an hour or so. When he is ready to go, I open all the windows for about 15 minutes and it's good to go. Zero smoke smell.

 

[Number_35]

I worked with a woman who was a chain smoker.

I had to go on a road trip for several days. Even though it was forbidden, she smoked all the way in the pool car. (The bosses knew this was happening, but were afraid of her, and so turned a blind eye.)

When I got home, my wife, quite justifiably, threw out all the clothes I'd taken on the trip.

 

[AdmiralYoda]

What I find the nastiest is when people perpetually chain smoke in their car with the windows up. Don't want to waste any of it! But you can pick them out because their windows look like they have a bad tint job on them.....but its all smoke and nicotine!

 

[PF52]

I can be inside my car with windows up and if the wind is blowing in the right direction, I will smell it (unless I have the AC on).

+2

Same here. I think the "flow-thru" ventilation blows the smell out of the other car and into ours. Having the windows up doesn't stop the smell.

 

[circuitsmith]

On a related tangent, have you ever opened the computer tower case of a smoker? You want to talk about nasty!!!

In the late '70s, while in HS, I worked in a couple TV repair shops.
When a TV came in with a gradient tinted screen, clear in the middle to brown at the edges, you know right away it was a smoke box.
The static charge on the CRT screen attracted the smoke, and I suppose cleaned the air ever so slightly.

Funny how there's this thread and another about cigars.
Has anyone posted on both?