Bad interior odor in used car bought from dealership

bobman2bobman2 Member Posts: 1
edited March 2016 in Toyota
My son bought a 4 runner and noticed the odor after driving the car for a while. Went to dealer and got no assistance. Posted bad yelp review and got their attention. Several trips now to dealer and outside company dealer paid for. They provided a loaner. Cleaned carpet several times. Took seats out and lifted carpet and cleaned. Dealer willing to put in new seat cushions in front. My son wants his money back and return the car. What are his options? Dealer said no but will take car back and he can buy a replacement but they have none that he is interested in.
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  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Sounds like the dealer has been pretty accommodating, so maybe your son should wait until the dealer gets in a car he likes. I don't see many other options here except legal, and that could be expensive and may not produce any results.

    An experienced auto detail shop might get better results. Do you smell it, too? Can't anyone locate the source? Is it like mildew, or dead animal, or smoke, or dog, or ???
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 256,359
    Are you sure the car doesn't have flood damage?

    It seems the dealer is very accomodating. So much so, it makes me suspicious..

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  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    One way to check for flood damage is to pop off the door panel and look for mud or gravel in the bottom of the doors.
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,823
    Mr_Shiftright said:


    Do you smell it, too? Can't anyone locate the source? Is it like mildew, or dead animal, or smoke, or dog, or ???

    Those are the right questions. Reminds me of the Mythbusters episode where they put dead pigs in a Corvette.....
    It also reminds me of a car that had a speaker amplifier fail (still gag a little thinking about it) and what it took to locate where the odor was coming from. I had most of the interior, and trunk linings out of the car with fans pushing fresh air through the interior before the area that the smell was coming from could be narrowed down and then finally located.

    I also have to wonder what "after driving it for a while" really means. An hour or two? A few days? Weeks, ????



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