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Crayon smell

34751 Views 24 Replies 20 Participants Last post by  ddolan
Hello all,
Just bought my daughter a 2005 convertible she loves.
The cab just absolutely reeks of a crayon like smell. It is very strong. We cant seem to nail it down. I wonder if a previous owner had a crayon go down a vent and get stuck next to the heater core. Any ideas?
Thanks guys
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Welcome to the crayon club, I mean, welcome to the org and Congrats to your daughter on the newbee.

No crayon accident is to be blamed for the stench in your car, but rather a material used by vw as a sound deadener which is under the carpet.
She'll get get used to it, just like the aircooled vw's had that unique smell our newbees have one too.

You can search the forum and the web and you'll find the same info.

BTW, let us see some pics of that bug;)
Welcome, and congrats on making your daughter very happy.
The Search is your friend.
Enter Crayon and you'll get 10 pages full of threads.
None of them will lead you to a melted crayola, and sadly none of them will provide you with a solution as we have yet to determine the cause (carpet, interior glue,etc).
But feel some comfort in that thousands smell the same thing, some consider it VW cologne.
And don't be discouraged, we have lots of answers for the Real problems when they eventually occur:)
Most NBs smell like crayons. It's unique to our cars. :lol:


It's nothing to worry about, and something to laugh about. My 2002 NB Turbo S didn't smell like crayons, but my 2003 did. Go figure. :p
Some of them smell strongly of crayon. Normally my '04 doesn't put off the odor at all but occasionally when you roll down a window at highway speed you'll get a faint whiff but only for a second before it's gone. I've heard specualation it comes from the sound proofing insulation but who knows. You'll find lots of folks who have NBs that smell like a box of crayons. Just all part of the NB love. :D
BTW, if you search the web you'll find out its not just beetles but jettas too.

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Thanks for the responses!

Has anyone tried to remove and replace the sound deadening material and carpet?
Maybe I should do a search........
Where are you guys located? Is it my understanding that heat makes it worse and cold temps make it better, our NBC does not smell that strong but then again we have not had it for more than a couple of winter months.

Of all the things I've read only one person has stated to have removed the material out of a Jetta. There are a lot of folks here that have had their cars for a long time and I guess they don't mind it, I don't think its that bad. It sort of gives character to the little bugger:)
I have an 05 and I never had a crayon smell until I changed the pollen filter. I got the stock replacement from ECS and I got crayon smell. It was not real bad on the first one I did at 20k but the next one was stronger at 40k same filter. It's not bad, it's more like a really strong whiff every now and then. dunno :eek:
:roflmao: Ive had my 2001 NB for almost a year and when I 1st got her in July, it was STRONG! I smoke, so it calmed down a bit, but when I clean her, like all out detail, it comes back for about a week, and people still tell me it smells like a box of Crayola's when they get in. Its a character thing, the smell will eventually calm down, but always be there, its in the sounding material and the adhesives. Soon, she wont even smell it anymore, except for every so often. :D
One poster even pinned it down to Crayola Crayon Blue, several others agreed. Never noticed it in my '00 NBT, don't have it in my '02 NBT (Arizona car, so the heat thing?...) and don't have it in my '05 NBC (Florida car now in Texas). I feel short changed! (lol)

MORAV
MORAV

You poor thing... Here are some virtual crayons to ease the pain! Also, talk about having an inner child an enjoying this smell - check out this website!

PerpetualKid.com: SCENTED CRAYON SOAP SET - YUMMY SMELLING CRAYON SHAPED SOAP

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I'm not sure, but somewhere on the Org, I remember reading that they spray the inside of the metal surfaces with bees wax. This maybe where the smell comes from.

I've had it on my rocker panels and side windows during the summer.

I hope it was bees wax!:)
Ha ha!

I just bought a NBC 04 and I thought the same thing - that crayons must have been melted inside! Good to know it is just Eau de VW!
I never smelled crayons in my 07 beetle till one of my friends get in my beetle she sayed It smelled like crayons?? Now in my 2010 beetle I dont smell anything?? But I do have an air freshener that I got for bath and body works :) :)
Cobalt has the crayon smell, but it comes and goes. Blends nicely with my Lemon air freshener. :D
I absolutely adore the smell. Jettas too huh? My daughter is driving her dads Jetta atm and I hear how it reeks but not smells like crayons. The beetle she had been driving does indeed smell like crayons.
My 2005 GL didn't smell of crayons when I got it (I didn't even know crayons had a scent!), but it did have a musky earthy smell. We finally narrowed it down to the custom sheepskin seats.

We tried to spray them down with Febreeze, but it only made the musky smell stronger. It doesn't bother me too much since I have a horrible sense of smell anyways, but it's still a strange scent. x)
As I was driving my car from the shop stopped at a red light I started to think about the crayon smell and who/how the original person, from all things to compare the small to... chose a crayon? :p
My 2001 still smells like crayons after 250k miles! I got in him last week and I immediately felt I was home :)
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