VW..BMW..Benz Special interior Smell
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The crayon smell? I can't stand it. No idea what it is, but glue is a good guess.
I remember when my 02 VW Jetta (non leather interior) was new it had the so called new car smell. I don't really notice it anymore, maybe got used to it or something. Its interesting that every car has it own smell. Probably from the carpet, seats or the plastic interior trim pieces.
my dad's 70 bug has been In our garage for 30 years and still has the smell
My '95 Grand Marquis bought used has always smelled strongly of cigar smoke, even after five years of ownership and nobody smoking in it. Rental cars often have nasty cleaning chemical smells that permeate all of your clothing, luggage, etc. I hate spending an entire vacation smelling like the rental car!
I always liked that ozone-like smell the big Ford cars get if the owner smokes cigarettes and runs the AC all the time. As a smoker myself, I hardly notice the cigarette smell, but that ozone-like smell is always a pleasant surprise. I wish I could get that smell into my own cars, but I'm not into the Fords and have no idea what creates it. My cars always smell like a mix of ashtray and bacon.
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There was an article published recently about the air quality inside new cars on a warm day and it was very scary. Lots of -zenes and -xyls. Its mostly from the dash and carpeting, but some manufacturers go so far as to keep the smells the same throughout the model line. We had an 93 e400 that smelled exactly like an 01 e430.
Our CR-V doesn't have much of a smell, but our Acura still smells today like it did with half as many miles. I think it's the better quality leather in that car.
The new car smell is very unhealthy since it's VOC, Volatile organic compounds. Its the stuff that collect on your interior windows. Gas from new materials.
Horse hair pads in the seats and real leather.
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Real leather smells great in German cars.
Japanese leather for some reason doesn't.
It is interesting how many distinct interior smells can be remembered. I think of all the 60's and 70's american cars smelling very similarly inside, kind of like moldy vinyl.
Chryslers/Dodges have had a distinct smell from the 80's to current.
Nissan products all seem to develop a particular smell as they age.
In some cars that 'new car smell' never really goes away, others barely have any when new.
Japanese leather for some reason doesn't.
It is interesting how many distinct interior smells can be remembered. I think of all the 60's and 70's american cars smelling very similarly inside, kind of like moldy vinyl.
Chryslers/Dodges have had a distinct smell from the 80's to current.
Nissan products all seem to develop a particular smell as they age.
In some cars that 'new car smell' never really goes away, others barely have any when new.
My leather smell went away a few years ago, now it smells like dead skunk as I had the normal (not max) a/c on, drawing air from the outside as I drover near one. OZNIUM time!
The absolute WORST smell was in some GM cars of the 1980's. Honestly, they smelled of really bad BO. I would estimate at least 45 Hobo-Power.
My '94 C220 still smells like a Mercedes. A couple of years ago I was working at a classic Merc workshop, there was an old Finny in the yard, and it still smelled like a Finny did over 30 years ago.
I love those smells. What amazes me is how they don't change! I had a friend who bought a brand new Infiniti G35 coupe a few years back and the first time I sat in it, I was instantly transported back to my brother's 1986 Nissan Sentra. It was the exact same smell!
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