I cleaned out the car this weekend. I should have known better. I think all those cheerios and hay bits were forming a protective layer because when they were all gone the car began to stink. Like garbage stink. Like someone left a potato-to-rot-under-the-seat stink. We’ve checked pretty much everything. Under the seats (no potato), under the hood (no cat), in the glove compartment and the spare tire area (no mice). Nothing.
This morning when we went to get into the car, the smell was even worse than yesterday. We rolled down the windows and went on our way because what else was there to do, really. After a few miles we got used to the smell, and it wasn’t so bad anymore.
Then Andy drove over a very freshly-dead skunk.
Anyone know a car wash place that uses tomato juice instead of soap?
To make things even worse, the skunk smell snuck into the car and saturated us with its rottenness all the way into work. Luckily we have some air freshener in the office, and after running through a few bursts of it, I am somewhat linen fresh.
Hmmm…try looking in the crack between the seat back and the seat. Maybe Anya pushed something in there.
Maybe a car wash that also cleans the underside of the car will help with the skunk smell!
I once had that experience, and finally found a bag of broccoli (!?!?!) tucked way back in the corner of the trunk. Must have rolled out of a shopping bag (thought it was those dodgy baggers at the grocery store. Wrong!). You can’t believe how bad a rotten head of broccoli smells! Plus, it gets all brown and mushy.
Still, hope it’s something organic like that, instead of organic, as in, something that had a hearbeat. Good luck.
This evening I took the car seat out and searched high and low, and even stuck the crevice tool from the vacuum in all the, er, crevices. Nothing seemed to rear its head. I left the car seat out overnight…it doesn’t seem to smell to me, but if the car only smells of skunk tomorrow morning, we’ll have narrowed it down significantly.
I rinsed off the car as best I could this evening, figuring at least if the bits of skunk are removed, the scent will dissipate faster.
Sounds like an adventure of the stinky kind. Sorry you had to endure it. Was there anything in the the straw that had been the culprit? It is possible that there was a dead bird or something that got into the car and passed away, but was hidden in the onl hay. Have you tried spraying FABRI or what ever that stuf is that you spray on furniture that makes stuff smell better?
If you can’t get rid of it, have it detailed and ask them to remove the bad smell.
Good luck and don’t have a stinky “fit”.