QuestionQUESTION: I bought my brand new 2007 toyota camry in January of this year. About a month into the purchase we started to smell bad odor in the car. Smell is definitely coming from the inside because you do not smell anything whenever the AC is turned on. Strange thing is the smell seem to come and go. Sometimes you'd smell it right away as soon as you pull out of the garage in the morning. Sometimes it is not there for DAYS! However, the odor is stronger when car is warm.
I have brought it to the dealer on 3 separate occasions and they have approached the problem in three different ways: First, The gave the catr a Full OZONE treatment. The smell was gone for about 3 weeks, but came back after. Brought it in for the second time, and this time they detailed the car, shampooo the carpet etc... again smell went away, this time for about a month! the last time I bought it for the same issue, by the afternoon, they called saying they did not smell anything but change the AC filter anyway - it 2 days!
I have not brought the car nor called them. I cannot afford to be bringing it to the shop everynow and then. We really did not experience that new car smell. My bro-in-laws 2 year-old SUV smells better.
Please Advise. Can I still return the car? It is 8 months old.
Sincerely, Conrad Patrick
ANSWER: I need more info- can you describe the odor? Is it a musty smell, or is it chemically- based? Does it smell like a dead animal?
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QUESTION: a dead animal!
ANSWER: It sounds to me that there is a dead animal trapped somewhere in the car. I have to assume a few things:
1) Since the odor didn't start until a month AFTER you purchased it, it's most likely the animal got into the car after you took delivery. In that case, it's not Toyota's (or the dealer's) fault. You also state that you don't get the odor if the A/C is turned on. Do you run the A/C in recirculate (or MAX) mode? On Toyotas, this is a lever moved left or right and is usually indicated by the little symbol of a car with an arrow turning 180 degrees inside the car (as opposed to fresh-air A/C, which has the arrow flowing over the hood and into the car below the windshield). If you're running it on recirculate, then you need to start searching under the hood. In recirculate mode, you're not taking in any air from the outside, so I doubt the animal is actually inside the car. It's beyond the interior and/or trunk compartment, but in another part of the car. You say you picked up the car in January; it's not unusual for animals to crawl up under the hood area of a recently-parked car, looking for warmth from the engine. A small animal (chipmunk, squirrel) could crawl on top of the motor, and underneath the cover for the air intake of the engine. I imagine one got trapped somewhere in an area where it detected heat, and then couldn't get out.
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QUESTION: First of all, thank you for the advise. However, I would like to point out that this car has been to the dealership 3 TIMES and all this time they have done different inspections and found nothing. They have OZONED the car twice for 8 Hours each time - and this was suppose to rid it of any smell including the ones attached to the carpeting or the seat fabric etc... . They have detailed the car too...and yes inspected in-and-out for dead animal and found none. Your advice, again, would be greatly appreciated and Thanks.
Answer1) The "ozoning" can eliminate odors in carpet or fabric WITHIN the vehicle; from what you said about the smell not occurring while the A/C is on, I still think that the odor is emanating from OUTSIDE the vehicle's cabin, but somewhere from the rest of the car. You'd be amazed how many places a small animal can get into and not be detected readily.
The only thing against the smell being cause by a dead animal is the length of time we're talking about- I believe you said the smell started in February, and here it is September. I hate to be crude, but the odor of a decaying animal really shouldn't linger this long. Nonetheless, I think it's time you took the car to a top-quality body shop that could help in tracking down this odor. Not the body-shop department of your dealership, but an independent repair facility, one that performs only body work. If there's a dead animal in the car, they'll find it.
