Sudden Perfume Smell

[The Butcher]

Is that the same one where Elaine and Jerry are in his car, he asks her if she smells "that" and she replies, "what am I, hard of smelling?" LOL one of my favorite lines.

That's the one!

 

[dosjockey]

Has the dealership confirmed they sense the same smell you do?

I've said they have several times.

Several techs at the dealership, the service manager, and the person that dropped me off confirmed it. This is not just some minor mystery odor. It's powerful.

Imagine that clapped-out 1992 Caprice with those overbearing "air freshers" attached to the vents. That's what it smells like in there.

Man, what it takes to get a smell like that out in a reasonable amount of time without simply introducing another... I hope this is solved quickly enough to prevent the sort of work that takes.

 

[The Butcher]

There was this one time when a local cop who messed around too much with a guy at my high school who later had fish fertilizer (liquid fish crap) poured into his cowl vents in the middle of a Midwest August near me. I'm not saying I know anything about it, but if someone did that to you, your vents and dash probably need to be replaced.

Just saying.

 

[jimlloyd40]

There was this one time when a local cop who messed around too much with a guy at my high school who later had fish fertilizer (liquid fish crap) poured into his cowl vents in the middle of a Midwest August near me. I'm not saying I know anything about it, but if someone did that to you, your vents and dash probably need to be replaced.

Just saying.

Good thing he has a perfume smell then.

 

[dosjockey]

There was this one time when a local cop who messed around too much with a guy at my high school who later had fish fertilizer (liquid fish crap) poured into his cowl vents in the middle of a Midwest August near me. I'm not saying I know anything about it, but if someone did that to you, your vents and dash probably need to be replaced.

Just saying.

I don't really see how someone could have got me, but in events like that, you're right. It can absolutely be that much work or more.

 

[Strange Mud]

cleansing fire?



poor impulse control.

weird part is Jockey was in parking lot with car running when it started. ? was it shortly after starting car/AC? Still wondering about the pranking possibility. stinks either way . I've had rentals that they used something similar but that you could tell from the moment you got in car. I assume you've done sniff tests of coolant/windshield wash for comparo.

Mud

 

[dosjockey]

cleansing fire?



poor impulse control.

weird part is Jockey was in parking lot with car running when it started. ? was it shortly after starting car/AC? Still wondering about the pranking possibility. stinks either way . I've had rentals that they used something similar but that you could tell from the moment you got in car. I assume you've done sniff tests of coolant/windshield wash for comparo.

Mud

The A/C had been running the entire errand run with the windows both up and down. It happened after parking, while the engine was idling, while I was in the car, with nobody near it.

I pulled the parking brake at the bank, and was deciding whether or not I wanted to bother going inside or just using the ATM, and then Bam!

The car is at the dealership, and they've already looked over it. To be sure they can identify the smells produced by common fluids in the vehicle.

I haven't even seen it since I dropped it off. They're waiting for VW to call them, it seems; which means I'm waiting for them to call me after VW calls them. The insurance fellow who's on a different mission may call in first, as I asked him to have a sniff and speak with them while he was there today. He's just going down for shipping damage, but the results of this little search may mandate his further participation.

There are certainly possibilities still on the table, but the timeline doesn't make sense.

The selling dealer may have used detailing agents in conflict with my direct requirement to avoid them... But how the hell did it take this long to show up? Over three weeks and 400 miles? That's what this dealer suspects, but they can't answer the question of why it suddenly popped out of nowhere anymore than I can. Let's say the delivery driver was particularly vengeful, and he just came by my house and squirted something in there... Well, same problem. Even if it was that very morning, I'd still spent over an hour in the car. I'd have smelled it the second I got in.

This is indeed a powerful odor to everyone who's smelled it, but I also happen to have an incredibly keen sense of smell, and I hate air fresheners and perfume so much... There's no way I could have missed it. It's simply not possible.

 

[dosjockey]

My communications in regard to detailing materials before shipment:

"One thing I’d like to request is a complete and total lack of Armorall or anything similar. I prefer finishes to be as the factory intended, and that stuff never really comes off. The silicon gets into polymer and causes all manner of issues later. It also just looks nasty, to me.

Everything’s fine the way VW made it. I don’t need “wet” tires, a glossy dash, or a snotty engine. LOL

Just figured I’d point it out in case anyone decided to wash or detail it. I don’t know if you bother to do that, but I figured it’s best to mention it ahead of time just in case."

They responded for clarification, and I replied:

"Yup. No Armorall or any similar substance whatsoever, anywhere. No tire shine, no engine shine; nothing like that. Clean is enough; which leaves it looking like it did when it rolled out of assembly. I can’t have any air freshener, either. I doubt you guys do that sort of thing, though.

Those processes are actually damaging to polymers in the long term, and they look horrid to me. It’s probably had some of that stuff on it from being on the lot for a while, but normal pre-delivery detailing and cleaning should bring it back to sensibility."

I believe this was a clear enough exchange to land me in a good position if it's somehow traced back that way.

 

[The Butcher]

 

[mk7_bk]

i see so this aint no one and done type smell we got a real issue on hands, ya if you just got the car and it smells like some serious scent (besides new car smell) send it back ez

 

[dosjockey]

i see so this aint no one and done type smell we got a real issue on hands, ya if you just got the car and it smells like some serious scent (besides new car smell) send it back ez

That may be what happens. It all depends on many factors.

If they can't get it out or don't feel like it and would rather trade, I'll do it. I'm not exactly attached to it yet. Can't drive it with that smell in it, though. I'm game for any solution that doesn't have me driving a smelly car.

Here's a good description: Imagine if someone put several of those horrid, yet slightly fruity air freshers directly on the cabin air filter.

I keep a bottle of unscented hand cleaner in my cars because of smelly hand lotion some people have around here. I don't want it on the steering wheel, because it won't go away. I hate perfume so damned much I wipe my hands off before I get in a car. Any such smell is intolerably onerous, to me. If I go to pick someone up, and they're wearing strong perfume, I don't pick them up.

This ain't just me, though. Everyone can smell it; even quite far from the vehicle if the windows are down. Now, there are people who like this; I get that, but I'm not one of them. Smelled like a new car until this happened.

 

[mk7_bk]

That may be what happens. It all depends on many factors.

If they can't get it out or don't feel like it and would rather trade, I'll do it. I'm not exactly attached to it yet. Can't drive it with that smell in it, though. I'm game for any solution that doesn't have me driving a smelly car.

Here's a good description: Imagine if someone put several of those horrid, yet slightly fruity air freshers directly on the cabin air filter.

I keep a bottle of unscented hand cleaner in my cars because of smelly hand lotion some people have around here. I don't want it on the steering wheel, because it won't go away. I hate perfume so damned much I wipe my hands off before I get in a car. Any such smell is intolerably onerous, to me. If I go to pick someone up, and they're wearing strong perfume, I don't pick them up.

This ain't just me, though. Everyone can smell it; even quite far from the vehicle if the windows are down. Now, there are people who like this; I get that, but I'm not one of them. Smelled like a new car until this happened.

ya big nope, like i thought it was like a quick wiff of something but ya if u just got it factory delivered and it smells like some strong shit, nope nope nope, they gonna fix it or send you a new one, and dont settle for them throwing an air fresh in there, could be something serious

 

[dosjockey]

I'm keeping this going so I can document my experiences as this is going on; but also because there is a slight possibility some production issue caused it. I also just like typing on the webernets.

If it's a production issue, someone may find the information useful.

Heh. You know it's messed up when I can get in a musty old Land Rover and breath deep; but not in a new VW.

 

[dosjockey]

ya big nope, like i thought it was like a quick wiff of something but ya if u just got it factory delivered and it smells like some strong shit, nope nope nope, they gonna fix it or send you a new one, and dont settle for them throwing an air fresh in there, could be something serious

There was a delay of around three weeks before it appeared, but it's manner of appearance is inexplicable.

It doesn't really make sense unless it's from production, given how thoroughly the dealer said they looked for a source. That comes down to how hard they actually looked, but that's their business; not mine. I would assume it's in their best interest to search as thoroughly as possible, and that this is what they've done. I can't know for sure how thorough they've been, or their reasons for choosing that level of thoroughness.

That's between VW, the local dealership, and the selling dealership.

If someone does find a foreign source not related to production, it becomes an insurance issue, I suppose. We'll see. So far as I'm aware, it's still pumping out those vents.

 

[tonipepperoni77]

to me your smelling the washer fluid it smells great