How to get rid of vape and chew smell in my crewmax

I have had my truck worked on quite a bit recently. When I got it back most recently, my crewmax cabin reeked of vape. My floor mats smelled like someone spilled a dip cup from tobacco pouches. I had the vehicle detailed but my crewmax still doesn't smell anything like the beautiful new cabin I had before the techs worked on it.

I have been going through a lot of anger regarding this issue, some techs seriously disrespected my truck and I have been working on staying calm. I am actually incredibly furious about this. I am having the floor mats replaced, but I am still not happy with the smell after the detail even without the floor mats. I have a full open bag of charcoal in the cab right now.

I would be very grateful for any recommendations for how I can get rid of this smell and restore my cabin. Thank you in advance for any advice you can share.

 

Ozone machine?

 

I'd make them fix it.

 

Thanks so much mattyc and texasrho83. After I complained the shop already had my truck detailed and ozoned. And I’m having them replace my mats. I feel like that’s all I can ask for at this time. I thought that would take care of the situation but it hasn’t. I tried bowls of vinegar overnight, and Armorall FreshFx fogger (whole can shoots out while A/C runs). It smelled better for a while but the dip stench remains. I was thinking charcoal might work. If there are any other products or techniques I hope to learn about them and try them.

 

Was this a dealership? You aren't limited to what they've done, FYI. Those smells decrease your value, so asking them to make it right isn't overstepping.

 

Did they tell you what happened?

 

Replace the cabin air filter too. Ozone is what I found to work the best, got a 40$ unit on Amazon and have the car running with the air on recirculate and max fan, with the air cabin filter removed. It’s recommended to start with the machine running for 15-20mins and then let air out a few hours then if that doesn’t work double the time until the smell is gone. Used this method on a Rav4 that had been smoked in for 100k miles and no one could detect the smell after, which made me gag in the before state.

 

It was a dealership. I left my vehicle there for 5 days. When I returned the smell was really bad. The service manager didn’t know what happened. I pieced together the situation from the smell and my dashcam. I believe it was vape and Zyn pouches. My vehicle was also driven a whole lot while it was at the dealership, including running errands etc. Much, much more than simply test driving. Lots of revving the vehicle, seems like joyriding in some cases to me.

The service manager has since gone out of his way to make things right with a full interior and exterior detail and ozone for two sessions. They also replaced my cabin filter, and I have asked them to cover my replacement floor mats and Autozone expenses where I bought the anti-smoke deodorizers. They said they would.

I respect and appreciate the service manager, he has worked hard with my install requests and this wasn’t his fault. He has also accommodated all of my cleaning requests, but it still smells bad. I feel the techs or staff completely disrespected my vehicle not only by vaping in the truck, but by driving in it way more than should ever have happened while I was away. And the way it was driven I didn’t like either.

I have dashcam footage but I don’t really have a desire to take this further or take legal action. It puts such a bad taste in my mouth that any of this happened. I just want my crewmax cabin like new as it was when I dropped it off.

Ponderosa I appreciate your ozone suggestion. Even though they already used this, I wonder if I should buy one and try it again. I feel a mix of great anger and disappointment about all of this, coupled with disbelief that a customer’s brand new truck could ever be treated this way. If I can get the smell gone I will be OK. I don’t see any damage on my truck but it feels sullied to me.

 

Seems like the smell may be in your headliner and/or carpet.

 

Thanks Tex, I think the carpet is pretty good (the mats seems to have protected against the worst of it). I also think you may be right re the headliner. The smell seems higher up in the vehicle. I tried rubbing with laundry dryer sheets but that only worked temporarily. How are headliners generally cleaned

 

If you plan on cleaning the headliner, its very important not to oversaturate it or the glue that holds the liner will soften, and the liner will separate and sag. Lots of great vids on YouTube to steer you in the right direction on how to do it. Good luck.

 

For spot cleaning and stuff like water stains I've had good luck with Adam's Upholstery Cleaner. I don't know about smells and to do the entire headliner would be "fun"

 

FeBreeze.

The power of corn.

 

I'd get in touch with them and let them know you appreciate it, but it's not good enough. They need to cover professional cleaning and deodorizing from somebody that deals with this or fire damage scenarios. You aren't asking too much to have it resolved to your satisfaction.

@Ckatz53 your skills and insight might be of great help here.

 

Upholstery seats? Was it shampooed and extracted (carpet too)?

 

This would bother me far more than the smell. Joyriding, drag racing, "Let's see how fast she'll run", "Let's see how far she'll smoke the tires", and other mistreatment will take years off the life of the engine and transmission. If I had evidence that happened, my first stop would be the top executive at the dealership and my next stop would be a lawyer's office.

 

Thanks so much everyone for your thoughts here. I took the Tundra to a “real” detailer yesterday and am having the entire interior redone today. He’s confident that he’ll be able to get everything taken care of beautifully. I’ll be forwarding the invoice to the dealership. The whole situation puts an incredibly bad taste in my mouth. I deeply resent the fact that a significant amount of my time and effort has gone into addressing this matter that occurred while I was paying dealership rates.

 

How much did it cost to clean?

 

This tracks for vape/chew in particular.

Detailers that make their living detailing are definitely the best at it. Not oil-change-tire-rotation techs that have extra duties between jobs. Here's hoping you get the results you deserve!

 

Thanks everyone for your help with this thread. My truck is super clean and there is no continued source of vape smell. But it is in the vents. I have washed every single surface space of the truck including inside doors, along all surfaces, floors, upholstery, the works. Amount of time I have spent is astronomical. I’ve replaced the mats and the smell continues every time I turn on recirculate or external air. I bought and used an ozone machine with the truck on recirculate for 30min and then 1 hour. The smell is better than before but still evident. How can I literally clean the inside of the vents and get rid of this? I can’t express how much this has impacted my enjoyment of my truck. I am so furious at the dealership, at this point beyond what I have already asked for, it’s difficult to know what do to. I feel as if my truck were seriously mistreated there should NEVER be a time when a customer’s truck should be vaped or smoked in. Smell is so subjective, I overheard them saying that they think it’s fine. I appreciate this opportunity to vent my furious rage at this entire situation. What if any action do you think I could take? Thanks all, T

 

Pressurized steam fired into the vents might do the trick, you can generally disassemble a lot of the dash to get down into it. I'm no detailer - but I do work with a lot of sensitive hepa filtration with cell culture hoods and such. You should see the gear we use when sterilizing a cell culture hood, great stuff.

 

I would try blasting some of this into the vents before having to disassemble the dash to get rid of the smell. Good luck.

 

Have them replace the ductwork. You have them on tape using your vehicle in very dubious circumstances in addition to whatever they did inside the vehicle.

You have done good faith remediation that took enormous amounts of your time and finances up at great inconvenience to you. Even if they are paying you back, it is coming out of your pocket first and is using your time; not to mention the loss of the vehicle when the remediations occur.

The business also used your vehicle for work related business or allowed technicians to use it for personal business and has not compensated you for it.

At some point, you need to be upset about this. You don’t need to be a dick to the service manager, but you need to draw a line that they need to take the vehicle and remedy the problem. While they do so, you need to have a comparable loaner at their expense.

This is a shit situation for all involved, but the dealership should be taking the biggest hit, and right now, I’m not sure they are.

 

if the floor smells like dip , I'd venture a guess someone spilled a dip cup. I'd try to bomb that thing with some ozium. You can get it at Walmart or auto parts stores. When I buy old crappy used cars with funky smells , I empty a whole can of that into it , then close all the doors and windows and leave it overnight. It's what they use in the coroner vans when I was in the police dept .

 

deafjam, I really appreciate your text. This has been such a challenge for me. The fact that it’s smell makes it “subjective”. I have a lot of video footage from the entire time my truck was there that I’ve compiled. Every time I drive the truck it starts off ok and I think I’m good. Then I turn on the recirculate and am hit with smell of tobacco vape. I have misted chemical brothers (many types) below my intake in the hopes this would clear it out. I bought an ozonator and ran it on passenger and driver’s sides for 30 min and then an hour each. I have absolutely SCOURED every surface including inside doors, all dash and seating and touch spaces. The smell is in the headliner and vents.

The experience of my truck has changed because of this and I deeply resent it. I have been struggling with what to do and how to address this. I am thinking of reaching out to the owner of the dealership chain rather than just the service manager. Also wondering what to do with, and who to show the dashcam footage to. I can also reach out to the purchasing dealership for their thoughts.
(I bought out of state). I can reach out to Toyota as needed. I don’t want to make any more requests, I want the matter fixed and not just with half measures.

Another challenge is that I live in a small town. This is the only Toyota dealership within at least a 2 hour drive. I have been trying to build/salvage a relationship with them. I have been hoping that the fixes they provided would fix the issue. I am just absolutely unwilling to simply “let it go” in my brand new truck I paid more than MSRP for and has less than 3k miles. I view the techs as the challenge here not the dealership. They clearly consider the vehicles in their repair bay to be theirs to do as they want with. I should never have left it with them so long while I was away on travel.

 

A bag of lump charcoal (real hardwood lump, not briquettes)in the backseat for a few days will absorb pretty much anything. Give it a try.

 

When you ran the ozone machine, did you have the cabin air filter in place? If so, remove it, and repeat the process. Also the ductwork is not that long. A flexible rod for duct cleaning should easily reach the interior of the ductwork. This sounds more like something has been left behind, maybe on purpose in the vehicle. Would run the entirety of the AC duct system and visually inspect. I also would stay on the dealer for a solution.

 

I’m in sales management, granted it is an entirely different type of sales, but the basics are the same. The goal is to do what is right while watching cost. Sometimes this works out great and everyone wins. Sometimes it does not. Those does nots are when I need my customer to step up for me to help them. This would be one of those times Id be asking you to help me so that I could make a case for you.

I would kindly state your case in writing as to what is still wrong, acknowledge that the steps done to alleviate the issues have been helpful but they have not resulted in a full remedy. Propose the end result you want (no smells) and how to get there (new vent ducting, cleaning the blower unit, new carpet, insulation, etc.). Ask that they have someone review this to make sure that they agree that this will provide full remedy. If it won’t, what else is required? At that point, you want them to make a decision on if they will make it right. Ask the service manager that if he feels uncomfortable, you would like this elevated. State that you are frustrated and that you don’t want to have to pursue other venues to be made whole.

You have a decent small claims court case, and depending on your jurisdiction, it should be enough to cover full remediation should it come to that. The company damaged your truck, it is now up to the company to make it right.

This is also a health issue. People are allergic to nicotine. I was horribly allergic as a child. What happened in your vehicle would probably have prevented me from riding in it when I was younger.

 

https://youtu.be/-pEhqiCD27E

 

You mentioned that service manager is trying to work with you but my first question is have any heads rolled, ie has he taken action, at least fired a few so called techs? If not, he is continuing to condone what they did. The vaping is bad, the joy riding leaves a less obvious mark on your truck.

You've been extraordinarily accommodating but I fear you are being robbed.

I'd be listing out costs, now and future, including potential hit on future sell or trade value, and including a detailed service check of engine, tranny, driveline by third party. From that steep bill, I'd be presenting them with an easier way out - a significant trade value in your favor for your truck toward a new replacement. Let them deal with the mess they made.