So how can I get rid of the leather smell in my new car?

DustinLC · 10-15-2003, 02:12 PM

My wife and I just bought a Honda Pilot with leather seats. I always thought I liked leather smell until I started driving the car. At first I thought it was motion sickness but later concluded that it was the strong leather smell that was getting me nausea. My wife had the same problem too.

I suppose over time, the new leather smell will slowly go away. In the meantime, we were thinking of getting a car air-freshener to overcome the smell. What do you think?

Chris Shelly · 10-15-2003, 03:12 PM

I am not sure of a way to get rid of the leather smell. Leather usually does not smell that bad.

It might be something else in the car that is making you nauseated. New cars are assembled with all sorts of nasty glue and many interior parts are lubed with grease. When brand new these things can flood the passenger compartment with all sorts of odd smells. Also the brand new plastic pieces are outgassing all sorts of plasticisers. It is this that contributes to the new car smell. Many people love the smell but it has been proven to cause problems with some people.

If you have a garage it might not be a bad idea to leave the windows open. This will help the new car smell go away faster.

Chris Shelly · 10-15-2003, 03:16 PM

I was also going to say that many new Japanese cars are shipped with a special coating on the bottom and on the engines. This helps prevent corrosion when they are transported on the ships.

When brand new this stuff will burn off and it is very smelly and nauseating. It kind of smells like burning crayons.

This should quickly go away after driving a few hundred miles or a couple of weeks.

DaveF · 10-15-2003, 04:15 PM

Put it in a vacuum chamber and pump it down to 1e-6 Torr and leave it for three days. That should get those volatiles to outgas.

Using air fresheners may not help -- they may just mingle with the smell and still leave you feeling nauseous. Keeping the windows open and getting as much fresh air through it seems like the best bet.

MarkHastings · 10-15-2003, 04:20 PM

I'll second Chris's reply about the coating on the engines. I don't even think it's only Japanese either. I had a '96 Dodge that had the engine coating. It funkified the garage up pretty bad. I can definitely see it giving you a headache.

But if it really is the leather, definitely leave all the windows opened in the garage. I can't see how an air-freshener would make your headaches any better. I would assume they'd make 'em worse.

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Jay H · 10-15-2003, 06:04 PM

That protective stuff you smell is "cosmoline", put on the underbody and engine bay... Heat will eventually burn it off but it may smell because of it...

Jay

DustinLC · 10-15-2003, 07:27 PM

You guys have brought up some good points. However, a few months ago, we also bought another new car, Honda CRV. Didn't have the problem. 3 years before, we bought a new Honda Accord, also no problem.

Either way, I guess I'm opening the windows when it's in the garage and two, if it's cosmoline, it'll go away over time.

MarkHastings · 10-15-2003, 09:22 PM

The last car I got had a LOT of this cosmoline on it. My first new car smelled, but it wasn't bad, this latest new car smelled so bad, I wanted to puke. There was so much cosmoline, I actually got worried because there'd be lots of drips under the car in the garage. I thought it was oil, but the guy at the service area said it just had an over abundance of the coating.

Steve_Tk · 10-15-2003, 10:39 PM

I had the same problem once. I hated the smell. Then when summer came around and the seats were 100 degrees I swore I'd never buy it again.

Dennis Nicholls · 10-15-2003, 11:14 PM

Take the car to your local PETA meeting: you won't smell the leather anymore.....:p)