My husbands car smells like Mildew! It's so gross. His clothes stink from just being in the car.?

Question

My husband bought a used car back in December & the car didn't have any odors except smoke. Summer rolled along and now the car stinks, bad. He keeps his car clean and I even detailed it for Fathers day. I scrubbed the carpets & seats with a carpet cleaner, vacuumed every nook & cranny in the car it was a very detailed job that I did seriously professionally done I spent hours on it. I cleaned the interior immaculately as well as outer. I thought after such a thorough job that the stench would be out but now with the heat its worse. I refuse to get in that car to go anywhere. I always want to take mine but when he takes his drives to anywhere and gets out his clothes smell!!! I can't take the odor of mildew. I ask him to strip off his clothes and shower up each time he steps back in the house. I know his co-workers have to smell it too and I don't want them to think that he has poor hygiene. It's almost like that Seinfeld episode of when Jerry bought the car that smelled like B.O...LOL

Answer 1

Maybe your husband should shower BEFORE he gets in the car!

Just kidding. Your carpets are probably wet underneath from some kind of leak that's allowing rain water to get in. You'll have to find and fix the leak, and then replace the carpets.

Check around the windshield first. That's the most common source of leaks. It won't be easy because the leak could be behind your dash. Worst case is that you would have to remove the entire dash.

Answer 2

My Car Smells Like Mildew

Answer 3

As you mentioned earlier in the e-mail the car smelled like smoke when your husband first bought it so it's a pretty good guess that the previous owner was a smoker. Cigarette smoke gets into the vents and the air conditioning system and is much more noticeable during the warm months. It is also possible that the previous owner didn't roll the window down when smoking so all of his second hand smoke recirculated throughout the vehicle. This is why non-smokers usually advertise that the vehicle has never been smoked in or is a non-smoking car in the first line or two.

Answer 4

The smell could be caused from the air conditioner. The condensate tube becomes clogged and the water backs up inside the car causing a bad mildew smell, this tube is under the hood passenger side firewall. also if this car came from where it snows, the snow that melts from your shoes and soaks into the carpet after time this will cause a mildew smell. in both cases the summer months make the smell more intense.

Answer 5

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RE:
My husbands car smells like Mildew! It's so gross. His clothes stink from just being in the car.?
My husband bought a used car back in December & the car didn't have any odors except smoke. Summer rolled along and now the car stinks, bad. He keeps his car clean and I even detailed it for Fathers day. I scrubbed the carpets & seats with a carpet cleaner, vacuumed every nook & cranny in the...

Answer 6

There is a lot of cars that were sold from New Orleans & Florida after the hurricanes they went under water lift up the carperting an see if it's wet & sand or rust .If so than take it back to the dealer as there is fraud on the car.Or the A/c is leaking water on the passenenger side floor check that the drain might be pluged.Best get it fixed or you can get very sick from the mold spors.

Answer 7

The reason is he is using the air conditioner right? Tell him before he hits his destination to release the air conditioner to dry out for a few then turn off. the wetness turns into mildew and that the smell. Also in process use a vent deoderizor tryb this first before spending unnecessary $

Answer 8

If it smells like mildew then you have moisture coming in from somewhere, Look under the seats, under the floor mats, in the trunk for a wet carpet. If the floor is rusted through anywhere there lies your problem. Another common cause is the condensation drain from the evaporator core for your air conditioning may be clogged and leaking on the front floorboard. I hope this helps

Answer 9

Turn on the a/c and then spray Lysol unscented under the passenger side of the dash and after a few times of doing this, the smell will go away. Also spray the seats down too. The a/c drain may be plugged up too. Get it cleaned.

Answer 10

Change the cabin air filter.....It's located on the passenger side behind the glove box. New ones run from $12.00 to $85.00 depending on the vehicle. This will cure the bad smell problem.