Help! New car smells like old smoke

[willa]

Is there any way I can get the smell of cigarette smoke out of my (new) used car?

Last week I bought a 2003 Toyotal Corolla - great price, great shape, low mileage. The thorn is that the interior smells of cigarette smoke, and it grates on me more and more every day. I've had the interior shampooed and detailed and have sprayed copious amounts of Febreeze, all with little/short-term relief.

I've Googled and read about people putting cups of coffee grounds, citrus peels, baking soda and white vinegar in the car to absorb odors. Has anyone here had success with any of these? Anything else work for you? TIA

[skyep]

willa - If you can stand the smell of Dettol, make up a weak solution of Dettol mixed with warm water & when you get some time, wipe over all the interior of your car, it's obviously clinging to the upholstory ect.. You may need to repeat this a few times, also let some fresh air in as often as possible, it can't last forever!!

[hannah333]

febreeze works wonders!

also, we had a broken bottle of red wine in the boot of our car once which stank of stale alcohol for ages. Eventually after the millionth clean didnt improve the smell we just bought one of those air fresheners that taxi drivers have hanging from the mirror. It worked wonders, and now the car doesnt smell even though we threw out the air freshener when it ran out and didnt replace it.

[WendyS]

You can now buy little plastic disks containing a powerful lavender smell which you hang in your wardrobes to discourage moths. They last for about 8 weeks and if you buy a couple of these and leave them in your car this may solve the problem.

[willa]

Thanks for the good ideas. I'm getting used to the fact that it's going to take more than one go to air things out, but at least now I've got more ammunition. When the toxic cloud dissipates from over New Jersey, you'll know the smell is gone!