Not to be Cavalier about it or anything . . .

[richardf8]

But I have acquired another car.

1993 Chevy Cavalier Station Wagon with a 3.1 litre V6 (Which I am afraid will eat me out of house and home), cruise control, power door locks, ABS, AT, AM/FM (No cassette/CD - That must change) AC (Converted in 2005 to Politically Correct refrigerant), a Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker, and, last but alas not least a musty odor that I cannot localize, but which must be abated. (Advice is welcome).

It came from Bob's Auto Ranch. I had gone up there to look at an $800.00 Volvo wagon, and as I pulled in my eyes fell on this Cavalier, and I looked it over. It was being driven by Bob himself, and had been for a few weeks. I never even drove the Volvo - it's been on the lot for at least 6 weeks, detained by the fact that it will not go into overdrive and is no good for the highway. Bob asked me if I was bent on a Volvo. No, I was bent on a 4 cylinder wagon. Bob said the Cavalier had six cylinders. I test drove it. It has pep, a tight turning radius, and . . . that smell. He let me have it for significantly less than his asking price without any bargaining from me.

The car's a good performer, so far. The smell does not seem to be coming from the vents. But I don't smell it on the upholstery either. The carpets maybe?

Anyway, any ideas for carpet/upholstery cleaning/chemicals that could help would be appreciated. I normally would not have purchased the car with this odor, but there was just this je ne sais quoi that made it seem right, so I'm hoping I can get it out.

Comments

[parilous.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the car! My grandmother drove a Cavalier for years for all of the reasons you touched on above.

As for the smell, there's a product called Ozium that works the best (IMO). It's like $5 for a small bottle, but it really really works to remove odors from car interiors. I've used it on many a car-thats-new-to-me to remove body odor smells as well as cigarette smoke smells.

The original smell works the best. You can find Ozium at drugstores (like Walgreens) in the auto aisle. Auto stores may have it, too, in the air freshener aisle.



It can't hurt to spray Lysol on the carpeted areas to disinfect and deodorize, too. Ozium is really primarily for the air. I had a friend that was Fabreeze crazy and sprayed it all over her upholstry, but I found the scents to be overpowering. If you don't want to smell the Lysol, leave your windows cracked to let the smell out.

If it's a moldy smell and you suspect that it's coming from the vents, open the hood and spray Lysol into the intake vents (usually they're under your hood or right by your windshield wipers) while you are running the vents. The Lysol will kill any mold that may be in there.

[grassyneal.livejournal.com]

Congrats on your new car! I hope it proves reliable and easy to de-mustify.

Any idea on its mpg?

[davidfcooper.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the Cavalier. My brother drives one and is pleased with it.

[lordrunningclam.livejournal.com]

At the risk of stating the obvious, there's always Febreeze. Also, Bissell Pet Stain and Odor Remover works quite well when my dog has an "accident." If you have a wet vac you could use that to shampoo the carpets, a bucket and a sponge to rinse them and a wet vac to suck up the excess water.