[hayseed]

Hi all,

EVer since receiving my shiny new i30, my beloved parents and sibling have been harassing me to do something about the 'New Car Smell', going on and on about how toxic it is and that it will end up giving me cancer or something.

I'm at the point where I don't notice it anymore, but they're QQing about it every time they hop on. (Easy solution would be to not let them get in, right? If family were that simple!)

My dad has suggested that I turn the A/C up to hot and let it blast merrily for about 10-15 mins to 'burn' the new smell out while the car sits there and I go off and do other things.

Would be good to have people's opinions on this!

Also another question I have is whether or not I have to put some special windshield wiper fluid in or whether or not water will do. (I've already topped it up with water, sooo, I'm hoping everyone's just going to tell me water is ok.  )

I put water in mine with (only) a few drops of green dish washing detergent.

[snowcherry]

don't most people want to keep the new car smell? 

[Shambles]

I'd buy that new car smell if it came in a spray

(also put a drop of Fairy Liquid in my washer bottle)

[2i30s]

you can try an auto air freshener[hung on rear view mirror] or ignor your rellys.my father in laws car sells new still after two years.

It wont take long for the smell to go away if you drive regularly and maybe keep the windows down a little bit. There are washer liquids you can buy but I usually just have water and if I get something that wont come off I'll clean it when I get home.

[bumpkin]

I'd buy that new car smell if it came in a spray

(also put a drop of Fairy Liquid in my washer bottle)

Hmmmm, careful with washing up detergent it is quite corrosive to water based paints, I can remember on my Toyota and Nissan (which had the nozzles on the bonnet) getting a faded paint squirt backwards from the nozzles where the washer fluid had sprayed the paintwork

Hmmmm, careful with washing up detergent it is quite corrosive to water based paints, I can remember on my Toyota and Nissan (which had the nozzles on the bonnet) getting a faded paint squirt backwards from the nozzles where the washer fluid had sprayed the paintwork

Interesting, I've always washed my cars in it and it's one of the few things that gets bug guts off.  Maybe it's good that I decided to use a proper car wash for this one.    I still trot out the dish washer stuff for the bugs though. 

[Dazzler]

Those window washer additives vary quite a bit in value and effectiveness. I put bars bugs in a car washer bottle once and it went all rusty and stopped working ....

Some need about 100ml per fill (which works out fairly dear) while others only need maybe 20 mls per fill so check out the side of the bottle before buying just what's on special..

I'm with Bumpkin good old dish washing liquid can also promote rust in some conditions...

[Doggie 1]

Be careful using household detergents on automotive paints as they will cause damage & dulling over time, as they are just not designed for that purpose.
It would be best to only ever use quality car-specific products which would also provide some level of warranty protection too if anything ever did go wrong (unlikely).
Meguiar's is the best one in my humble opinion but any of the leading brand products would definitely be preferable to any general purpose household cleaning products.

[Dazzler]

As far as the new car smell goes I believe it's basically fumes from the plasticizes they use to keep the plastic from going brittle....

I like the smell too but I don't suppose it is good for you..

only way to avoid it is to buy well used 2nd hand cars which exposes you to other risks like less safety features...

[Shambles]

only way to avoid it is to buy well used 2nd hand cars...

Or get the leather trim

[eye30]

Just plain water.

Smell - Old wivies trick - cut an onion in half and put it in and the "new" smell will disappear.

[Lakes]

Now it's our turn
Fairy water? & a cut onion for air freashener?
I agree new i30 have the worst smell of any new car i have owned. but thankfully it goes away.

[hayseed]

Thanks for all the responses folks.

Will investigate the wiper fluid later down the track.

Happy driving.

[Homer]

Just plain water.

Smell - Old wivies trick - cut an onion in half and put it in and the "new" smell will disappear.

I've heard the exact same thing. The old onion trick works very well. What I've done is slice some onion and place in a bucket of water and it absorbs the smells.

Dishing washing liquid is abrasive. When I was a kid by old man painted our old family car with a paintbrush. As you could imagine there were brush marks everywhere. Being the kid that I was I was so excited that we had a car and did all I could to make it look 'cool' which included very regular washing. Always used dishwashing liquid(did I tell you my parents were always broke!) and it wasn't long before the duco started to look pretty good because the brush marks were going away!

[Dazzler]

Dishing washing liquid is abrasive. When I was a kid by old man painted our old family car with a paintbrush. As you could imagine there were brush marks everywhere. Being the kid that I was I was so excited that we had a car and did all I could to make it look 'cool' which included very regular washing. Always used dishwashing liquid(did I tell you my parents were always broke!) and it wasn't long before the duco started to look pretty good because the brush marks were going away!

   

That story is a classic.. I can tell it's true (no one could make something like that up...)

[Homer]

My first car I had to paint before I got it registered and had to do it with a brush(father was in hospital and a family friend had given me an old Triumph to fix and register so we could visit my dad). This time round when I painted it I heated the paint in a saucepan of water which was sitting on a gas cooker. Helped with the brushmarks but again the good old dishwasher liquid(I also used clothes washing powder this time) worked wonders!

Someone I knew used to wash his cars with warm water and a splash of kero. His car always looked great.

Personally I use proper car cleaning stuff these days.

[bumpkin]

My first car was a 79 Toyota Corolla which had, to be fair, seen the best of its days prior to my father giving it to me for my 17th birthday (cos he got a bigger discount on his new car without trying to trade.)

It was in dire need of some body attention so I set to work with the filler and sandpaper and I bought an electric spraygun and some Smoothrite paint (like Hammerite but no hammer effect) and sprayed her in the carpark outside my folks house.

My birthday is October and traditionally heralds the first of the winter frosts, so by the time I was painting the car it was beautiful sunshine but freezing cold. 

Smoothrite goes on and dries with a hammered, dimpled effect if you do it in November in a car park with an electric gun folks!!

I tried polishing that thing with every automotive product known to man, but it just got duller and duller, then I discovered Mr Pledge household aerosol polish made it shine like never before

Even better, I sold it to some guy for £75

[Shambles]

That's a fair price for a can of Mr Pledge

[Dazzler]

That's a fair price for a can of Mr Pledge

 

D**m.. I wish I'd said that 

[tiny]

I'd buy that new car smell if it came in a spray

GUESS WHAT, in some supermarkets here in romania, you can actually buy that in a can do you want me to take a picture and send it to you ???

and as far for the new car smell, you are the first one i've heard who doesn't like it..try eating for a week fast food junk in the car,mcdonalds and other things like that, just be careful not to stain anything...or buy some of that bubblegum odorizer used in nike shops

[hayseed]

and as far for the new car smell, you are the first one i've heard who doesn't like it..try eating for a week fast food junk in the car,mcdonalds and other things like that, just be careful not to stain anything...or buy some of that bubblegum odorizer used in nike shops

Hehe. I have no problem with the smell - I can't even tell it's there anymore. It's my family who're complaining about it.

[Dazzler]

GUESS WHAT, in some supermarkets here in romania, you can actually buy that in a can do you want me to take a picture and send it to you ???

 

That would be great but is the label in English?