No "New Car Smell?"

[Harry Ford]

I just remembered something, and I'm curious to know if anybody else had the same reaction when they took delivery of their new Fiesta. Namely, the day we got our car it had no "new car smell" to the interior, whatsoever. The clock said the car had 24 miles on it when we took delivery, but that distinctive interior odor would take a lot longer than 24 miles to completely dissipate. In our '05 Focus (a ZX3 SES), by contrast, the fragrant odor lingered for about two months of driving before it went completely away.

I don't think our car was on one of the stalled trains that got stranded/soaked during last summer's hurricane down in Mexico, but I do know that a car interior that has gotten wet will tend to adopt a musty odor even after it's been dried out. And that smell wasn't present in our new Fiesta either, fwiw, so I don't think water damage was responsible for the "no new car smell" we experienced.

Thoughts?

Harry

[Flagstang]

my fiesta had a new car smell.

I have heard that "new car smells" isnt that healthy anyway. I heard that its all the plastics and glues used while making the car and its never good to be stuck in a small non vented space with that stuff.

[Bobby]

Originally Posted by Flagstang

my fiesta had a new car smell.

I have heard that "new car smells" isnt that healthy anyway. I heard that its all the plastics and glues used while making the car and its never good to be stuck in a small non vented space with that stuff.

^This.

First, "Smell" is determined by vaporization, which is increased in warmer weather. So, your car will smell less when it's colder out.

Second, the "New car smell" is largely the result of "VOC"'s, "Volatile organic compounds"...the adhesives and paints and various liquids ans semi solids used in the manufacturing process..and the gases they naturally give off when new. These have been linked to (else?) cancer, so manufacturers have been working to reduce these, thereby reducing the "New car smell". My Fiesta had a whiff of that, but not nearly as strong as cars past..and pretty non existent now that it's cold outside.

[Reddog99]

My Fiesta had a slight odor when new, but I don't notice it now (thank heaven). When I sold my two year old Yaris, it still had that "new car smell". Good riddance to that.

[BondiBlue]

Out of the 5 new cars I have purchased, I'd say the smell in the Fiesta was the least potent and lasted the shortest amount of time.

[Lunacy]

My "new car smell" lasted for about 1 month

[Tony]

Losing the "New Car Smell", going on week two. Driving with windows down & already spraying some dollar tree air freshener might be why... (knock-off febreeze)

I love the dollar tree... Anyways, worst case you could go buy a "new car smell" air freshener. My guess is your just like most of us here who are losing that smell quickly.

[Flagstang]

I have taken part most of the fiesta now and have to say it have very little glue or tape on the car. I also found that most things fit well and pop in with a little click.

[AD1CTV]

Ugh, the new car smell in my lil fiesta was potent~ it gave me headaches that I HAD to go buy an overpowering vanilla tree scent thingy to get rid of it. Now it's a mix of both, which is somewhat tolerable

[will13476]

Bought on August 4th, last summer, i had plenty of New car smell!