[ArcticLyn]

A suggestion....there is a wonderful product out there manufactured by Dustbane called Disappear. It's very, VERY concentrated so you only need a little bit. Put a small amount (capful) into a dish and place one in the front seat and one in the back. Close up the vehicle and by morning that smell will be gone. If it's in your garage, put a bit in an empty margerine or similar container in the garage. Repeat this process until the "new car" smell has worked itself out of the vehicle.

We had a fire in the insulation under our house one year, not bad but enough to stain everything with soot. We cleaned up with a mixture of Disappear and water and the smoke smell was completely gone immediately. This stuff works for everything.

 

[Ruffnredi]

My girl got a brand new Jeep Cherokee a couple months ago. The first time I was in it, within seconds, I had a bad taste in my mouth and got nauseous with a bad headache. Two months later it still happens like clock work, I get in the car, and within seconds/minutes I have a bad taste in my mouth and do not feel well. A few moments after I exit and get fresh air, the taste is gone and I feel better although the headache sometimes lingers. I've been in about 10 new cars in the past month or so and this does NOT happen in any of them (no Jeeps, other manufacturers). This is making me worried that the car is emitting some sort of toxic odor. It does not smell like a typical "new car" smell that I've been used to in the past (my parents always leased Jeeps so I've been in quite a few brand new jeeps over the years, never had an issue or got sick from them).

I'm also very sensitive to smells. They trigger migraines which are not fun. I noticed the new Jeep smell would linger on my clothes and in my hair after having gone for a ride. I left the windows open (mine is garaged) and let it air out some. That seems to have helped. It has that new car smell but it's not as overpowering.

 

[COJeep303]

I was getting headaches for the first few weeks as well. I bought in February, which meant using the heat which made it worse. I ended up driving with all four windows cracked open, and also kept them cracked open when I parked at home (in a garage, thankfully).

Try having the windows open for awhile, it should go away.

 

[Toy]

I was getting headaches for the first few weeks as well.

Me too. My Cherokee is now 8 months in use and it still smells. I think, it´s coming from the rubber floor mats, which came with the cold weather group.

 

[TeeHawk]

Me too. My Cherokee is now 8 months in use and it still smells. I think, it´s coming from the rubber floor mats, which came with the cold weather group.

^this, my jeep wrangler did the same thing..in that case it was the storage bag for the hardtop pieces
I put that thing outside for days and it still smelled...just threw it out...it seemed to be a rubber coated bag..
Maybe its there floor mats?

 

[taatmk]

Weird. I wonder why this is seemingly intermittent? We have a 2015 TH, never smelled anything since we've had it. That's coming up on a year in Sept.

 

[Gurgle]

All news cars do this, gas off. It's a problem for those who are very sensitive. New buildings do it, some new furniture; new carpet of synthetics is very bad for some. Search for Sick Building Syndrome, it's the same thing.

Your best bet is to leave all the windows completely down as much as you can. Keep cleaning your windows on the inside, you can actually see stuff building up on them and clouding your vision out. It will diminish over a year but goes on for many years, though more slowly. You can see it in the build up on your windows. Some cleaners for your dash are particularly bad at contributing to this.

People can just develop this sensitivity seemingly out of the blue. I know two people who did, maybe you and your husband are both like that.

 

[FreddyB]

Yea new cars will smell a bit but this is not normal "off gassing". I just bought a used 15 trailhawk with 8k miles and the odor was unbearable on a 300 mile trip. It is sickening. I'm certain the previous owner ditched it due to this odor. It wasn't noticeable on the test drive. I've thought of putting an ionizer in the car. I'll update this thread if that helps.

 

[ArcticLyn]

I guess I'm one of the fortunate ones as the "new car smell" was not overpowering in my new THawk. I was a bit concerned after reading these posts about taking our long road trip 2 days after picking it up, but neither one of us displayed any headaches, nausea, etc. Perhaps since we're both smokers and had the sunroof vent open for a lot of the trip, this may have helped air out the vehicle.

 

[hytekj]

My cousin just got a grand cherokee and it had the normal new car smell that I was used to and I didnt have any issues with it. My girl's cherokee was a pain to air out. Multiple days driving with windows fully open and AC blasting (I ran both recirc and non-recirc) and leaving the car parked in the sun with the windows open (which is not easy in NYC) to try to get the smell out of the car and AC. Its finally not intense and making me instantly sick but I can still smell/taste remnants of it. Methinks they use some cheaper glues/finishes/parts in the cherokee that are emitting something nasty. Hoping we are not scarred long term health-wise. Makes me worried to buy or lease any new car now.

 

[mrvwbug]

That smell is endemic to all new FCA vehicles, it is one of the materials they use in the interior (probably the plastic of the dash and door panels). All new cars have that smell to a certain extent, but FCA vehicles seem to have it a bit stronger than most. Fear not, it goes away within a few weeks.

 

[hytekj]

I have a lovely update.. After I drove the car for days with the windows down, AC blasting, leaving it in the sun, etc, it was better for a couple weeks. Then the smell came back and I got the weird taste in my mouth - as soon as I enter the car. Well this past weekend, it appears the transmission blew. Car would not accelerate or shift gears. Waiting for official diagnosis but based on some googling and reading NTSHA complaints this is a common problem. The car is only a few months old. The smell and tranny issues are not a good sign!

 

[Duke2015]

Mine was fine during the test drive, but after the sell, the guy said they were detailing my new car, and they sprayed it with a ton of "new car" perfume all over the dash and roof liner. I wiped off as much as I could off the dash, but after leaving windows open for a couple of days its mostly gone. Just regular new car smell and nothing overbearing
I'm betting your dealerships also went nuts on the car fragrance, possibly spilling it or something and not caring to clean it up

 

[donotbuyjeep]

I just bought a 2015 Jeep Cherokee. We took a 2 hour trip next day and after that I got very sick with serious breathing problems, strong headaches and throat problems. My husband got strong headaches. The chemical smell is so bad. We had new cars with leather seats before but never were the toxic fumes so strong and bad.

I am still struggling with these health issues, especially with breathing problems (close to Asthma) and will contact the EPA to find out whether the fumes are over the limits and a serious health concern.

Since I cannot drive the car for a longer time, I think about returning it to the dealer ship.
I used vinegar solutions, baking soda, etc. to get rid of the toxic fumes but it does not work. Since the garage is close to our living room, we have the toxic fumes there and for me it is impossible to sit in my living room and watch TV.

I love this car but it makes me and my husband sick. So I will find out what I can do.

he have a 2015 jeep (Laredo) that we can not use the heat or a/c due to the smell that makes us all sick...I have taken it to Hoffman dealership three time and they do not know what it could be...it started driving me crazy until I found this site and found out that we are not the other ones getting sick from this smell...we drove in the winter with the windows down and now since it's getting hot we still don't used the a/c... it's a burning smell and a mold smell...I was ready to run my foot into it...it is sad to have a new jeep and you can't drive it without getting sick...

 

[franjayo]

I've had a new Jeep Cherokee for about 6 months. We thought that the initial strong new car smell would dissipate in a few weeks. It has reduced in strength but it is still so strong that my family cannot take a ride without keeping windows down. It is terrible in a hot climate to have to keep windows down and not use air conditioning in a new car. I've had many Jeeps before, but have never had this serious problem.

 

[franjayo]

Mine has definitely dissipated in just over a month of ownership. What I would recommend to Cat7000 is to park as often as you can outside with the windows down. Drive as often as you can with windows down. Also, don't use recirculation on the climate controls, ever. This also means avoiding the auto setting on the climate control because it will switch to recirculate if it needs to cool cabin quickly and you won't know it. The smell in mine is always worse when on recirculate vs. fresh air.

Maybe you can help. I have tried to turn off recirculate to help with the smell issue, but since we are on a hot climate, it turns on automatically. Would you please explain how manually force off recirculate? Thanks.

 

[Jeepster1]

I've had a new Jeep Cherokee for about 6 months. We thought that the initial strong new car smell would dissipate in a few weeks. It has reduced in strength but it is still so strong that my family cannot take a ride without keeping windows down. It is terrible in a hot climate to have to keep windows down and not use air conditioning in a new car. I've had many Jeeps before, but have never had this serious problem.

Out gassing and individual sensitivity to it, that is particular chemicals/materials in the manufacturing process. You get that issue also in new homes and particularly furniture and furnishing also.
But it all depends on on what particular chemicals/materials are involved.
A vehicle is a very enclosed space. When you add heat in as in your area I would guess that accelerates the out gassing issue. With the vehicle closed up there is no where to out gas.
* Have you tried to keep the recirculation OFF when the air is on as that will bring in fresh outside air. Leave your 2 rear windows open a crack and you can get some fresh air flow in and out to rid the out gassing through the window cracks.
With recirculation on you are allowing the vehicle to remain closed up with no new air added.
* If possible leaving the windows down when parked can help dissipate the problem over time. But being sealed up will slow the process.

Now I usually get that "new" car smell for a year. I am perhaps lucky that I am rarely if ever affected by this issue. My wife is at times and when we drove 300 miles home from picking up our Cherokee I did leave the rear windows open at several points to air the vehicle out though it was not bad for her or me. That was in December Northern Illinois.
Its a highly individual issue and the key is plenty of fresh air or a good circulation of fresh air through the vehicle. That is in and out flow.

 

[Mark_]

We purchased a new car from a different manufacturer just over a month ago, and I immediately noticed how less noticeable the *new car smell* was in this one compared to the Cherokee. I love new car smell and thought the Cherokee had a strong one, but I wasn't bothered. We went on our annual family summer trip 2 months after getting the brand new Jeep (ordered, freshly built) and no one complained.

It goes almost completely away after one year, as @Jeepster1 mentionned. He also mentionned this being a case by case / individual tolerance thing and I totally agree.

You could also get on of those air sponge odor eliminators and see it that helps (it should).

As far as disabling recirculating : you can't do it permanently because the cooling system activates it when it deems it necessary and doesn't bother turning the recirc light On, so you have to go by ear. When it is activated, you can disable it by pressing the recirc button once to activate the light and press again to deactivate. The only way to know it is On (if done by the computer and not you) is by ear, and also by the increased amount of forced air coming out.

Hang in there, it will get better.

 

[pad]

A suggestion....there is a wonderful product out there manufactured by Dustbane called Disappear. It's very, VERY concentrated so you only need a little bit. Put a small amount (capful) into a dish and place one in the front seat and one in the back. Close up the vehicle and by morning that smell will be gone. If it's in your garage, put a bit in an empty margerine or similar container in the garage. Repeat this process until the "new car" smell has worked itself out of the vehicle.

We had a fire in the insulation under our house one year, not bad but enough to stain everything with soot. We cleaned up with a mixture of Disappear and water and the smoke smell was completely gone immediately. This stuff works for everything.

Where do you buy this in the United States? I have been searching for hours but cannot find it. I finally found the company and sent them an email but have not heard back yet. My Jeep Cherokee TH has such a sorry scent that it depresses me to even think about having to drive it. It only has 16,000 miles, while not that many but you would think by this time, it would be gone! I am sick thinking about it. I have shampooed the carpet and seats twice with a professional unit. Used several bags of charcoal and using lots of soda...I am at a loss. I so wish we had not paid the taxes yet, we would just resell it. The sad thing is you have to drive it a while to realize this smell is horrifying! sigh

 

[pad]

Where do you buy this in the United States? I have been searching for hours but cannot find it. I finally found the company and sent them an email but have not heard back yet. My Jeep Cherokee TH has such a sorry scent that it depresses me to even think about having to drive it. It only has 16,000 miles, while not that many but you would think by this time, it would be gone! I am sick thinking about it. I have shampooed the carpet and seats twice with a professional unit. Used several bags of charcoal and using lots of soda...I am at a loss. I so wish we had not paid the taxes yet, we would just resell it. The sad thing is you have to drive it a while to realize this smell is horrifying! sigh
We also have changed the cabin filter for whatever that is worth. lol