Interested in buying a Smoker truck (cig smoke)

Tacojedbob

MAN BEAR PIG
Apr 22, 2007
82
0
0
Let me rephrase...not interested in buying a 2012 smoked in truck, but found a mint truck exactly what I'm looking for and for a great price...but previous single owner was a smoker.

He claims he detailed annually and doesn't smell to bad right now, and even offered to find a stranger to ask their opinion while on video chat with me.

Guy sounds honest, but in the event that there is a smell, are there any professional solutions that deodorize a smoked in truck forever (I don't want Christmas trees dangling from five spots in the truck. Thoughts??

Does anyone live near Mount Clemens, Michigan? I would pay a member (whatever we decide is fair) to meet up with guy look and smell truck as funny as that sounds before I make any deposits. Let me know what you guys think.
 
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OregonDMAX

NOT IN OREGON, NO DURAMAX
Apr 28, 2013
3,964
8
38
35
Goodyear, AZ
When I was a dealer tech we had a guy do interior cleaning. He used an industrial ozone air purifier in the cars for an average of 24-48 hours and you could still smell evidence that the car was cleaned of cigarettes smoke. Unfortunately it gets into every single type of material and just cannot be removed. If it smeels OK a month after its been cleaned it will only smell better over time but will never be the same.
 

Tacojedbob

MAN BEAR PIG
Apr 22, 2007
82
0
0
It's a Denali...so leather/plastic seats, not sure if that helps?

Why spend $67k on a truck then ruin it with smoke, but to each their own! At least my skoal doesn't affect my trucks value :thumb:
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
21,550
5,610
113
Phoenix Az
It's in the carpets, plastics, head liner, and leather. People think those hard parts or leather won't hold a smell but they are wrong. Soon as any of the parts see heat, they open up a bit and the smell sticks to it and is trapped in there. Same reason the white numbers and edging in a smokers truck turns yellow and won't come out.

It's cold out right now so you won't smell much of anything. As soon as the truck is in the heat this summer and moisture gets in there from humidity, you will be smelling it big time no matter how much you clean it.
 

Tacojedbob

MAN BEAR PIG
Apr 22, 2007
82
0
0
Damnit...ad never mentioned smoker, I only asked because it sounded too good to be true. Unless someone who cleans smoke for a profession chimes in with good news I may have to pass.

THE TRUCK IS MINT, what an idiot. I guess he has to find another smoker to buy it.
 

rockman18

New member
Nov 5, 2015
1
0
0
I have bought smoked in vehicles before and while shampooing and other cleaning products helped some what really worked the best was tossing a bar of original Zest soap under one of the seats. Open one side of the box it comes in and once you can't smell the soap anymore, which could take a few weeks or a month, then toss another one in. I have never had to put more than two bars in to completely remove the smoke smell and my wife, who's very sensitive to smells like that, couldn't even tell that it had been smoked in before.
 

Tacojedbob

MAN BEAR PIG
Apr 22, 2007
82
0
0
Haha I could start smoking...

Thanks for all the input guys, been very helpful. Makes me feel more confident with negotiations. regardless if I want smoke smell; how much should he be willing to knock off price? It's a 2012 GMC LML Denali...FULLY loaded (every option possible at the time) with 99k miles and it's literally mint, minus smoke damage. He has it listed at $36.9k and I haven't tried negotiating yet.
 

PureHybrid

Isuzu Shakes IT
Feb 15, 2012
3,439
444
83
Central OH
I'm not in Michigan or I'd help you out.

x2 on the ozone generator, I've seen (or smelled) it work.

I think it also depends how much it was smoked in. Did he light up every day to/from work? Just a few times on the weekends? Also helps if he never left ashes sit inside. My truck has been smoked in, but I'm not a smoker and it smells like a regular leather truck.
 

TheBac

Why do I keep doing this?
Staff member
Apr 19, 2008
15,528
1,802
113
Mid Michigan
My wife smokes in her Traverse. No matter how well she cleans it (and she's OCD about cleaning), I can still smell it. I wish she'd quit.

Another thing, smoking leaves a film on the insides of the windows that is extremely difficult to remove. You notice it on days you'd need the defroster.
 

Dozerboy

Well-known member
Jun 23, 2009
4,892
470
83
TX of course
Its your personal biased towards the smoke smell that should decide the value of the truck to you. So what your asking is pretty subjective. IMO you said the truck was already a good deal, so I doubt he will move much on the price. There are plenty of smokers out there that would take a good deal on a truck and not try an negotiate a lower price over that.
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
21,550
5,610
113
Phoenix Az
Its your personal biased towards the smoke smell that should decide the value of the truck to you. So what your asking is pretty subjective. IMO you said the truck was already a good deal, so I doubt he will move much on the price. There are plenty of smokers out there that would take a good deal on a truck and not try an negotiate a lower price over that.

yup. i absolutely hate the smell of smoke in a vehicle. when you sit in one for hours on end for a trip and thats all you smell as a non smoker, you get a decent head ache.
 

duratothemax

<--- slippery roads
Aug 28, 2006
7,139
10
0
Wyoming
x2 on the smell seeping back especially on warm days.

My old S4, the previous owner smoked, but he said he never smoked in it. BS, even a smoker just SITTING in the car for a while can make the smell from their clothes get into the leather/interior eventually.

I bought the car in the winter, and it had just been detailed...it didnt smell that bad to me, and Im extremely picky/sensitive about smoke smell. When I was going for a test drive, I just assumed whatever smell there was, was coming off of him sitting in the passenger seat. Fell in love with the car on the test drive and said "it'll be fine and whatever traces are left will go away" and impulse-bought it.

Then spring/summer came, the car warmed up, and the smell came back with a vengeance! Jed, you've driven the car so you know.

One of the reasons I sold it at a pretty decent loss. It just annoyed me too much, among a few other things.

Never again...IDGAF if they "only smoked in it sometimes, and only with the window down" or they "smoke, but dont smoke in the vehicle", that shit gets everywhere and you'll never get it out.
 

duratothemax

<--- slippery roads
Aug 28, 2006
7,139
10
0
Wyoming
He claims he detailed annually and doesn't smell to bad right now, and even offered to find a stranger to ask their opinion while on video chat with me.

If he says it "doesnt smell TOO bad", run. Smoking kills your sense of smell/taste (among a million other things obviously lol), so if a smoker can actually smell "a little smoke smell" in the truck, then it probably would literally smell like the bottom of an ashtry to a non-smoker.
 

DMAXchris

It’s only temporary!
Apr 28, 2009
2,273
2
38
43
Natrona Heights PA
If he says it "doesnt smell TOO bad", run. Smoking kills your sense of smell/taste (among a million other things obviously lol), so if a smoker can actually smell "a little smoke smell" in the truck, then it probably would literally smell like the bottom of an ashtry to a non-smoker.

As a former smoker I was thinking the same thing. Its probably pretty bad if the current owner can smell it.

When I worked at BMW we used a very powerful ozone machine to clean the interiors. It would be put in through the window and let sit for 24 hrs. The smell would only come out if EVERYTHING was cleaned. That included shampooing the carpets, then allowing the vehicle to air dry with the windows down for 2-3 days. We couldnt put a car back on the lot if there was any odor left.
 

C.bowles2

2005 lly duramax
Nov 16, 2013
489
0
16
Ohio
I used to be a pretty heavy smoker and people dont notice my truck smelling, it depends how he smoked in it, i always had my one driver window open and would hold my hand by it and blow the smoke towards it, opening one window always vacuum sucked the smoke out. And always after detailing for me people never smelled it. And j would never ash the cig jn my truck always out the window and butt out too. Just my input. Best thing you could do is go check it out and see if it smells. But on the contrary my brother smokes in his car and it smells terribke but I believe its because he ashes in it and doesnt mind where and how his smoke is going.




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