My girlfriend and I went to a porsche dealer today to check out the new 997 4S
PDK. She said the interior had a strong smell and I told her it was the new car
smell. She said no it is stronger than a new car smell, so I sat in the car
again and she was right the smell was very strong. We have owned both porsches
and ferraris and never have smelled a new car interior like that before.We sat
in two other new 997's and they had the same smell. Immediately after, she felt
her sinuses and throat burning. I would be very interested to know if anyone has
experienced this or has information about the smell. Especially anyone who has
bought a new 997.

 

haha no way??! I'll have to go check that out for myself

 

Doubt it's "Toxic" - it may just be irritating to her sinuses.

I work at a Porsche dealership, we haven't had any such complaints about the new 997's interior smell. Not yet at least, haha. I've been in a ton of them, they just smell like new car, that's about it.

 

It's called leather . . . . . .

 

Actually, my wife test drove a Boxster and she found that she couldn't sit in it because of the smell. Same for an SLK. I too am sure it's not toxic, but for some people, specific 'new car smells' are very irritating. My wife has a few brands of cars that really affect her. Others don't. I bought my 997 used, and she now has no problem with it.
To me, it just smells fabulous.

 

I had a 993 Turbo which got mold in the A/C unit during a hot rainy summer . If I recall correctly -didn't it rain in So Cal recently? It may be the same . At the time (latw 1990's) they sprayed my vents and it cleared up .

It's kinda hard to know the smell you are describing because it might not be the same.

 

My wife is super sensitive to new car smells also. I guess I will just buy her used cars from now on and save the cash.

 

Thank you very much for your quick response to my thread about toxic smell in new porsches. I actually had information about the smell when I sent the thread but I wanted to see if I could get some conformation on this forum. I know this forum is well INFORMED about porsches. I talked to a friend of mine today who owns a ferrari, porsche and a corvette zo6. He said that he saw a special on the history channel about ferraris and ferrari was saying that they refuse to use formaldehyde in their leather.Porsche and other manufactures use formaldehyde in their leather.If you want more information on formaldehyde in porsche leather, just google formaldehyde in porsche leather. very,very interesting.

 

Larry, the mold build up would not happen during one rain storm, it is caused by prolonged usage of the AC system. The condenser creates moisture, and that moisture will eventually turn to a mold. The best way to avoid the problem from to turn the AC off and use the fan for a minute before you shut your car off and allow the moisture to dry before you turn your car off. If you do this, you will notice that the air that blows from your vents is a little more humid then the dry cool air that the AC system blows.

Dealers use a mold removing solution to get rid of the odor (which smells like a wet dog), I googled and found a product that will get rid of the smell, there are many of them, and are typically found at automotive parts stores.

http://www.igotmold.net/mold-remover...killers-2.html

 

Not unusual at all. That "new car smell" is a combination of the leather, plastics, and an applied chemical to evoke positive emotion when buying a new car. There's been a lot of press on this over the last several years. Wikipedia has a decent entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_car_smell

Bad stuff. Most of my exotic purchases are used (fortunately).

 

this made me LOL!

 

When my mom used to lease Mercedes' 190E's in the 80's/early 90's I could never get over the smell. One day I actually threw up in her car. I remember it clearly too; I bought a pack of Topps baseball cards with the cement-hard pink bubble gum and was chewing it right before it happened... so you can imagine the color

 

My wife noticed the smell also...............I asked her "doesnt it smell alittle like last nights adventures" whhhhttiissshhh........sick, sick I say

 

That materials (plastic, vinyl, leather, pvc, paint) off-gassing that happens on a new car has never been something I really like, but I guess I prefer it to the sickly-sweet stank that is the airfreshener/frenchfry smell most used cars pick up after some driving (based on what I smelled the last time I was at the junk yard looking for parts).

The 2009 997 had a particularly strong smell, stronger than my previoius new car purchases (VWs) or other new cars I've been in (Daimler, Audi, Opel, Ford)... so the smell is stronger.

My guess, its new materials rules that came into effect (so babies that lick the inside don't get sick) or a new additive that allows things to stand up to UV and ozone better over time.

 

I kinda like the smell and got addicted to it. It's gives me the "high" while driving.

PS. Also love the smell of the car in my garage after driving. Is that smell coming from the exhaust?

Vic