What's that smell?
 

My new Crossfire Limited roadster ('05 with 5200 miles) has a fairly strong aroma in the interior. It doesn't bother me, but my wife say that it makes her cough. My first thought was that it was "new car smell," caused by the off-gassing of various plastic parts and maybe the leather seats. Then I recalled a 25,000 base model roadster that we drove a couple of weeks ago, that had exactly the same aroma. That would eliminate the leather as the source of the problem, and also the "new car smell" idea.

We both thought that the smell was kind of "waxy," and were wondering if it was some kind of cleaning product. The thing that makes me doubt this is that I could imagine the car dealer cleaning the interior of the 25,000 mile car with something, but I doubt that the guy who owned my Crossfire would have needed to do anything to it.

My car is parked in my garage with the windows down. I'm hoping that airing it out does the trick, and that it will be okay in a week or two. Has anyone else experienced this problem, and do you know what causes it?

Re: What's that smell?
 

Some people think it smells like Crayola crayons.
Others think German beer.
It is an odd smell, no definitive answer that I have heard.

Re: What's that smell?
 

My car also got it.

I suspect it's coming from the plastic (like the dashboard).

I cured it some what by when I store it at night in the garage, I leave both windows open a few inches to air it out.

I also bought one of those lemon air fresheners (that little pine tree in wrap), which helps.

It doesn't bother me, I kinda like it, but my wife was also not too fond of it.

I was gonna tell her to dummy up, but then I thought twice about it...lol...

Re: What's that smell?
 

I bought my 2005 Crossfire Limited used. It was a lease car and was owned by a woman owner before me.

I figured the smell seemed similar to cosmetics or makeup. I jokingly call it a "MaxFactor" smell. Its not bad though a new car smell would be better.

What I thought was a cool feature of the Crossfire was that in the Summer the AC smells like a museum of fine art; must be a HEPA filter of some sort. And in the Winter you get the faintest smell of a roaring wood fire. I really like it. Its not a result of any car issues but I've always wondered how they achieved it.

Re: What's that smell?
 

theres a cabin filter under the glove box. change it. wont cure it but will help

Re: What's that smell?
 

I changed the cabin filter and sprayed mildew/mold killer in the air vents by using a straw to get it inside and it took care of the problem. Spraying Febreze inside the car helped also.

Re: What's that smell?
 

Thanks. I sprayed the interior with Febreeze and Lysol "Clean Linen" spray, and sprayed the Lysol though the air intake while the air conditioning was running. I didn't change the cabin filter. The smell is completely gone.

Re: What's that smell?
 

My 07 still smells like a brand new car sitting in the showroom. I love the smell. The only strange smell is after I get into it (the throttle that is), almost like an anti-freeze leak. I searched here and found that is fairly normal.

Re: What's that smell?
 

Re: What's that smell?
 

changed the cabin filter with the better charcoal one did the trick for us !!!

Re: What's that smell?
 

I see this is a really old thread but there is now plenty of information on this.
the melted crayon smell is from German sourced materials that use paraffin wax.
in this case the culprit is apparently the insulation under the carpets and in the trunk.

while products like Pooph are like magic for biological odor sources they won’t do anything for a chemical smell like this.

a thorough cleaning and treatments with an Ozone machine will work but the use of Ozone treatment needs to be limited because it can degrade plastics, rubber. Adhesives etc…

It can be managed with Ozone, deep cleaning, carbon filters and airing the car out.
But based on what I’ve read these things will be most effective only after the insulation is removed and replaced.

Re: What's that smell?
 

I've had my 07 Limited Roadster for almost 3 years. At some point over the past summer I noticed the smell was gone. I drive top-down a lot and the sun here is always intense as we are at around 6000 feet ... great big skies, bright sun. I don't know that sun and fresh air purged, "the smell," but it's gone.

Re: What's that smell?
 

Several factors are in play regarding the Crossfire's unique smell. Just like a 'new car' smell diminishes with age so does any smell. Also, your body adapts to prolonged exposure to smells (nose blindness) The Crossfire has had over twenty years for the inherent smell to fadeaway.