Foul Odor in Your Car – Where is It Coming From? Foul Odor in Your Car – Where is It Coming From?

One of the factors that lower the resale value of a car is if it has a foul odor. Even your new car will smell bad, if you don’t pay attention to good preventive maintenance. Of course, you can always use an air freshener to cover up the smell. But that is not really solving the root cause of your problem

Don’t Get Used to It

What usually happens is that you get used to the odor of your car, and you will only notice that there’s a problem if a passenger comes in and notices the foul smell.

Isn’t that what often happens when you allow a dog to stay inside the house. If you are not diligent in washing his coat, his smell will penetrate every corner of your house. And you will only notice that the smell is offensive if a visitor calls your attention to it.

Foul Smell is a Difficult Problem

Foul smell inside a car is a more difficult condition to eradicate because of the small space, and the many nooks and crannies that foul odor could come from. Oftentimes, it would take auto mechanics from Jiffy Lube or Meineke to find the source.

There are many sections of a car that could potentially be the place where the foul smell originate. And inspecting them will take a lot of time and effort.

Possible Causes of a Car’s Foul Smell

There are myriads of causes why a car will smell bad. You need to know these reasons so that you can take the necessary precautions. Here are some of the most common ones.

1. Parking your car out in the open for too long.

If your car is out there unattended for extended periods of time, the elements will work on it, and small critters could also make it their sleeping and eating place. Thus, all kinds of things will enter your car, causing all kinds of odors to build up inside.

2. Someone spilled his soda, or beer or any kind of liquid and did not clean it properly.

If the spilled liquid is not completely cleaned and thoroughly dried, its smell will be left on the car’s carpet or floor. You might not notice it but the smell will persist. And if you are not in the habit of cleaning liquid spills, pretty soon, all kinds of smell will permeate your car which will collectively manifest as foul odor.

3. Food that is left under the seat.

Any unfinished food, especially those with sauce or liquid, left inside the car for a long time, will adversely affect the neutral odor inside your car. A smell of spoiled food is something that is hard to extricate from a closed compartment, such as that of a car.

4. Smoking inside your car.

If you persist in smoking inside your car, then the smell of smoke will be glued to everything inside your car. Smoke is also one of the hardest smells to take out inside a small space.

You might be already sensitized to the smell of cigarette smoke, but a passenger who just enters your car will readily notice the foul smell.

5. Water logged under the car carpet or matting.

If you or your car washer is too generous in using water while shampooing your car, the oversupply of water could cause water logging under the carpet or matting.

You must thoroughly dry these areas before covering them with the carpet or the matting. If not, the water will become stale, and you will have foul smell, since all kinds of things can lodge on the water.

What You Can Do

Thankfully, there are many remedies to a foul smelling car. Here are some of the things that you can do to get rid of that foul odor inside your car.

1. Get to the cause of the foul odor and fix it.

Inspect all the possible areas in your car where the foul smell might be coming from. Once you find the cause of the problem, fix it right away. If the odor persists, there may be some other areas where the bad smell is coming from.

Repeat this process until you the foul smell is gone.

There are cleaning products available in the market that can clean and eliminate the foul smell at the same time. Choose a cleaning product that is made of organic materials. You don’t want to get hazardous fumes inside your car after you have eliminated the foul smell.

2. Practice cleanliness inside your car.

Regular cleaning and vacuuming of your car will prevent any kind of foul odor from entering or developing in your car. See to it that no amount of water will be left after you’ve cleaned your car’s interior. Everything should be dried so there will be no chances of molds developing inside the car.

3. Avoid smoking inside your car.

Pretty obvious what this means so no need to explain.

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