My 96 XJ was previously owned by a smoker and the interior has that ashtray smell. Hey nothing agianst smokers (to each his own vice) but I was wondering if anyone else has had to deal with this. I have tried febreeze and air freshners but the smell is still there. O f course after I have driven my XJ for a few months it will smell like, mud, dog & coffee anyway. Any suggestion or ideas are appreciated.

 

they make specialty products for the smoky smell, i dont know what they are called though.

 

Brother, I totally feel your pain. When I bought my 91 XJ it was emmaculate other than ciggy smell. So, of course, I bought but, getting rid of that smell took me forever. I tried all the normal methods like you. Febreeze, Lysol, you name it. I even put dishes of white vineger all over in my Jeep and let it sit for a few days. This was an old wives remedy that my wife had heard of. After using all of the cleaners and smell removers all over inside, I ripped my center console apart to replace lightbulbs one day and found the "under center console" area full of ciggy butts and ashes. Apparently this scum bag (PO) previous owner, had let the ashtray overflow many times while he owned it. I vacuumed out the center console area and cleaned and sprayed febreeze in there and the smell was gone for good. I hope this helps.

 

i also heard that charcoal supposedly works?

 

I was about ready to pour 90W gear oil all over inside my Jeep because even that smell is better than ciggy smell inside a vehicle. Glad I got the smell out.

 

I just got my hands on my very own XJ too and I wish cigs were the worst of hte smells. I have cigs, dog ****, and young children messes to contend with the slob PO (I actually got physicially ill in the 2 hour drive home after buying it). Since I was fighting a losing battle, I decided to do it right the first time and never have to worry about it again. I started with steam cleaners with enzymes to kill the odor causes, but it only got me so deep. The charcoal and such is great and all, but I don't think it kills the source in my opinion. So I just went full tilt.

What you do is you pull all cloth from your vehicle, seats, carpet, etc and you douse it in simple green and drive all of your goodies to a car wash and pressure wash the simple green into the cloth until the water runs clear (I also pressure washed all plastic parts that I pulled while getting the carpet out. My XJ is literally showroom clean now. It has come a long long way). You'll get all of the dirt out and the stains dissapear too. I'm still letting the seats dry in the sun as the main con to this operation is that you won't have a functioning car until all is dry. Drying in the sun is best because of the cleaning properties of sunlight.

I must be honest that I think I may still have a bit of a smell in the rear carpet, but that is due to a lot of dog ****. That and with all my stuff layed out, the rear carpet wasn't able to be draped or on a slope so that the stuff I pulled up didn't just run off and out. I'll spray again and be done with it.

While the carpet is out, vacuum and disinfect the floor and all accessible areas. Then get some bedliner and coat the floor after fixing all rust issues. You should never have another problem again.

s

 

The smoke residue will be in the heating and A/C ducts as well. Give this stuff a try.
http://www.carbrite.com/servlet/net....018A-E&lb=none we use it at the dealership I work at. Spray it the vents as well

 

I hadn't thought of the air vents. Where might I find this stuff. The website doesn't really give much info about it or where to get it.

s

 

2 words ozone generator. find one and it will fix it for good thats what i used and ive seen it work in proly 50 different cars

 

Try leaving a little dish of baking soda or cat litter under the seat or a place where it won't dump all over the place. Baking soda is a miracle product, so many uses.

 

Have to check with a detail shop and see if they can get you some. Carbrite won't sell to the public

 

Or it can kill you . Don't take my word for it. I guess there is this agency called the EPA that thinks ozone generators are harmul in enclosed occupied spaces, like vehicles I'd imagine. Course I've never seen them operate before, so I don't know.

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html

s