Funny smell

11890 Views 54 Replies 36 Participants Last post by S1990, Oct 14, 2021

sourmash

Discussion Starter · Mar 23, 2007

There is a funny smell in my 2001 NB GLS TDI that has been there since practically new. When you first get in the car it kind of smells like melted crayola crayons....and no there haven't been any crayons in the car. Does anyone elses NB have this same mystery smell...and where might it be coming from? Just wanted to see if mine was normal

1 - 20 of 55 Posts

Beetlemania

· #2 · Mar 23, 2007

No fair!

You are most definitely not the first one whose car smells like crayons. I'm just upset that mine never did!

Enjoy it while you can! I think it might only last another year or 2.

Breez

· #3 · Mar 23, 2007

Many VWs smell like crayons!!! Its the BEST SMELL EVER!!!

niki

· #4 · Mar 23, 2007

I do not have the infamous Crayon smell but many people do and I have smelled it before... it's wonderful but I can see how it would get annoying! Bree even has a crazyon pillow in the back of her Bug!

callisto9

· #5 · Mar 23, 2007

i have the crayon smell. it never goes away! it's worse on hot days, too. but, i don't mind the smell, esp when i figured out what it was.

kaiser

· #6 · Mar 23, 2007

monster mats smell like crayons.

gilligan

· #7 · Mar 23, 2007

I put crayons down my heater just to keep that smell fresh.

Breez

· #8 · Mar 23, 2007

My crayon smell kinda went away when I switched out my seats

I really miss it.

The crayon smell just comes from the materials they used... .some beetles REALLY have a STRONG smell and others dont.

And yeah, I have a crayon pillow

marvins_dad

· #9 · Mar 23, 2007

There is a HUGE thread on this somewhere else.
I believe it is the insulation used on the firewall...on the ?inside?...

Breez

· #10 · Mar 23, 2007

marvins_dad said:
There is a HUGE thread on this somewhere else.
I believe it is the insulation used on the firewall...on the ?inside?...

There is more then one thread. If you do a search, quite a few come up.

Odd thing is... when I switched my seats a few months ago my crayon smell went practically BYE BYE

so it might not just be the firewall.

missruby

· #11 · Mar 23, 2007

I've never smelled anything like crayons in my car

but . . .

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Beetlemania

· #12 · Mar 24, 2007

Today I bought a box of crayons. They smelled like a new car.

:crazy:

str8upchillin843

· #13 · Mar 24, 2007

The crayola smell

Hrrrm..Okay the crayola thing..it's not just a new car smell particular to VW Beetles I bought my Beetle back in February. When I first got the car it didn't have that smell. But I smoke..and I've smoked a few ciggies in there...No I don't smoke all the time in there and I'm trying to quit. but I acquired that crayola smell when the air conditioner gets cut on. It's the smell of those air filters that sit in the heat all day long and when you first start up the vent or the air you smell it horribly. The leather on the seats or cloth on the seats would also pick that smell up thus adding to it. I've smelled this smell in nearly every car that someone has smoked a cigarette in. I could be wrong. But that's my guess...It could also be some of the materials or just regular impurities that filter through those filters all the time....

Beetlemania

· #14 · Mar 24, 2007

I don't think that's it, really. I'm pretty sure some non-smokers have had the odor too, even on cars they'd bought new.

Weird that yours took a while to activate, though.

Breez

· #15 · Mar 24, 2007

str8upchillin843 said:
Hrrrm..Okay the crayola thing..it's not just a new car smell particular to VW Beetles I bought my Beetle back in February. When I first got the car it didn't have that smell. But I smoke..and I've smoked a few ciggies in there...No I don't smoke all the time in there and I'm trying to quit. but I acquired that crayola smell when the air conditioner gets cut on. It's the smell of those air filters that sit in the heat all day long and when you first start up the vent or the air you smell it horribly. The leather on the seats or cloth on the seats would also pick that smell up thus adding to it. I've smelled this smell in nearly every car that someone has smoked a cigarette in. I could be wrong. But that's my guess...It could also be some of the materials or just regular impurities that filter through those filters all the time....

Yeah, its a VW NB smell, not a smokers smell.

ghostRder1

· #16 · Mar 25, 2007

gilligan said:
I put crayons down my heater just to keep that smell fresh.

How did you put the crayons down the heater. I'd like to try that.

niki

· #17 · Mar 25, 2007

/me wishes Bugzzi smelled of Crayola...

The steering wheel smells like the lady who owned it before me. I know this is gross, but bear with me. It's the leather wrapped wheel and that smell takes me back to the day I first bought her. After almost 3 years now it STILL smells like that 1st day! And the smell I get when I turn on the heater for the 1st time... ahh... they all remind me of smiling in my lil buggy!

sourmash

Discussion Starter · #18 · Mar 26, 2007

Thanks everyone. I'll tell "BB" that it's normal to smell like a crayon and not to worry about it.

BB is happy to be clean again after a weeks worth of pollen accumulation. Those of you that don't live in the south may not know what it's like to wash your car and come back out 15 minutes later to have a thick yellow dust layer on it...but that's just another reason for me to wash it again.

chelsie

· #19 · Apr 11, 2007

hate the crayon smell!

I bought my 01 GLS new in 2001 then got hit head on and thus totaled. The totaled one never smelled like anything but 'new car.' I had to take what was left of the 01 model year and the one I got smells like crayon. I C A N ' T S T A N D I T! I know, I know, why do i still own it if I hate it that much. Because its paid off and it gets great gas mileage. Oh, and its cute!
Anyway, its smelled like it from day 1. Its like bar smell, If I drive the car, I smell like it for the rest of the day. I've heard some people say its the firewall and other say its the lubricant they use for the seats rails, and even the insulation under the carpet. I almost dread summer because it becomes that much worse. If replacing the seats got rid of it, mabye I'll try that
For all of those who wish their car had it...let me tell you...you really don't. Its not just a mild aroma, everything in the car smells like it. Until its either washed or hung out in fresh air. Gym clothes, pets, homework, backpacks...you name it. Very, very, very annoying. The other important thing to note is that it doesn't come from the vents. It doesn't matter if you have the heater or the a/c on. Its always there.

...ok, ill step off my soapbox now... ;-)

if anyone knows a fix, I'd love to hear it!

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gilligan

· #20 · Apr 11, 2007

pour some skunk urine down the heater vents..... you won't smell crayons anymore.

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