In March I bought a 2012 Honda Fit Sport with Navigation.
It was driving fine and great until last week. Now, the interior of my car smells like cigarette smoke. No one in my home smokes and my Fit gets parked in the garage.

I'm not the only one to smell it. I had friends in my car yesterday and all of them asked who smoked in my car. It smells like that before the car starts but even stronger after I start the car.

Any ideas on what's going on? I would assume something is burning... I want to take it in to the dealership but don't want to hear that they can't reproduce it... I'd like to go in armed with some possibilities or ideas...

Thanks!

 

public garage?

Have you checked the odometer? Maybe someone else is driving it.

Electrical burning smells very different from tobacco smoke.

If nothing else pull out the cabin filter and see if someone used it for an ashtray... (the bottom glove box drops down, just press in the sides. Press in the two tabs on the drawer behind it to pull out the cabin filter.)

 

Could be anything. Let them (dealer) take the first shot at it... that's what warranties are for... Just me... But just basing on your post, it could be anything. I'd be inclined to do a visual on the cabin filter (check your manual if you don't know). Then I'd pop the hood with the engine running and again, do a visual for anything obvious. Just my take...

 

I smelled smoke in mine a few weeks ago when the A/C blower resistor pack burned out. But that was a definite electrical burn smell and it was gone after a few minutes. The A/C blower would only work on setting 4 after that.

 

Not a public garage. A house garage. As in, without my garage door opener or the security alarm code, you aren't getting in.
My husband and I don't smoke. I'm the only one who's driven it so that's not it.

My car was driven by a dealer dude before I got it as my dealership had to order it from another store but for the first 3 months, there was no smell. I would think that if they smoked in my new car, I would have smelled it earlier.

I'll look at how to check the cabin thing. What should I be looking for?
This smell, whatever it is, is strong enough that after driving my car, I walk in with my clothes smelling like smoke. Enough that others notice. Something is definitely wrong.

 

Somebody is blowing smoke up your tailpipe.

 

No teenage kids at home right?

I'd also check the cabin filter, maybe you sucked up a butt off the road while driving or something.

Here's a pictoral I found for you for how to check/change the filter:
Change A Honda Fit Cabin Filter | Scott'Soapbox

Found on Fitfreak, link goes outside.

You sure you're the only one who's driven the car? Your husband didn't borrow it to go get milk one day and come in the house smelling like too much cologne and change his clothes immediately following entry?

JK.

 

I really came here for actual help. :/ No, my husband isn't going out and cheating on me or smoking. No one is blowing jack up the tailpipe. No teenagers at home.
It spends most of its time locked up in the garage.
Smoke causes my asthma to kick up so for me, this isn't a laughing matter. It's something that I need to figure out and get fixed.

Thanks though for the picture on changing/checking the filter. I'll look at that.
After that, I'll take it to the dealership and hope they take me more seriously.
(I know y'all are joking but after the first "someone is smoking" joke, it got old.)

 

Pls. remember this is all a guess basing it just on what you post... I would definitely check the cabin filter first. Also remember the conditions when you start smelling smoke - ex. on the freeway (@XX speed), AC on, stop and go traffic, , one passenger/no passenger, etc. This will hopefully help your service manager when you take it in...

 

Sorry ma'am, welcome to the internet.

Just seems like a very odd problem, as tobacco smoke has a very distinct smell, not like burning electronics or even leaves/oil/transmission fluid. We haven't heard this complaint on here before as far as I know, so it's kind of curious.

 

I smell it faintly upon getting into the car, without it running. Starting up the car, I smell it more.
After a few minutes of running with the A/C on full blast (Texas heat), the smell is pretty much gone or I am acclimated to it.

It smells like tobacco smoke to me but for all I know, could be smoke smoke that just happens to smell this way to myself and my friends.
A google search before coming here showed that this has been a complaint by more than just me, just fairly rare. Few of the cases were solved either. Of those that were figured out, it was usually something melting or something in the filter, which is why I will be checking that.

As far as welcome to the Internet--been there and done that on dial-up BBC's back in 1989. While I'm used to snark and sarcasm when warranted, I didn't think a "help troubleshoot my car" thread was a place it was warranted.

Thanks for those that posted something useful. Hopefully the dealership will figure it out.

 

No place is immune to the snark and sarcasm that is the internet

Good luck, I hope it's just the filter, and if so, don't buy one from the dealership (they'll want about $100), get one from Amazon.com, IIRC they're about $10-$15.

 

$13 plus shipping (free if you have prime).

I put one of these in this week. It's different quality than the OE filter Honda sells (honda parts counter for about $30, you put it in). May not be as effective as the Honda and also required snipping the ends of three plastic ribs to make the end pleats fit correctly over the filter frame tabs.

Surprising if yours needs changing already (it's usually a once a year deal) but maybe your Fit snorted something.

 

Well for sure the smell won't go away anymore after the 1st instance. Again just thoughts based on your post. It will stick to the interior like a "smoker's car." Now when you start the car and the fan is already on then the smell will just circulate more.

Can you tell the difference between electrical, moldy and tobacco smell? Just a question. Moldy smell comes to mind coz you mentioned the smell going away with AC and the (definitely no joke) TX heat. I can imagine your AC always being on.

From experience, with frequent AC use, a distinct moldy (stinky) smell sometimes develop as a result of using the AC at length and then immediate shut off when you get to your destination. Much like a defrosting freezer, the stale condensation just sits there in the AC plumbing/route/ducts. So the next time you turn on the AC, the smell gets blasted into the car interior. Maybe this is the case.

If so then try turning on your heater for a few minutes before you shut off the car to dry your ducts and less condensation will occur.

As for the smell, I've previously sprayed disinfectant (Lysol) into my cowling intakes (by the wipers) while the car is running, fan in full blast and defrost mode. Kills the mold and leaves a good smell. Now you can also spray your cabin filter with either a disinfectant or your preferred air freshener and see if that helps eliminate the odor.

But let's see what your dealer finds out first.

 

Okay, first off, the smell of tobacco smoke is distinct. If that is what you smell, and others confirm, then it's an environmental factor outside your car if the cabin filter doesn't have a cig in it. There's just no other explanation. Electrical smells, and fluids cooking are very different than tobacco smoke.

Is the car parked anywhere else during the day? Near a smoke break area perhaps?

 

I do know what mold smell is--yes, and it doesn't smell like that. This is a drier smell, like tobacco.
The only thing I can think of is that the one time I parked outside the garage for an hour, someone stuck a cigarette in it or something. I'm a computer teacher home for summer so no, my car isn't parked near smoke areas at all.
In my last car, if I was near someone smoking on the road, the A/C would clear out the smell fairly quick. The fact that this comes back just as strong every day has me thinking something has to be in my car or vents or filter.

 

Remove the old filter and see how it smells. With the filter removed spray the condenser with some Lysol.

I had a car once that always had a slight "weed" smell. It was used but clean...and I did a lot of searching for fear that the car contained something. Found nothing.

 

It's a well known issue that the GE's A/C smells like mildew almost every time it's turned on. At least, here in Texas. I guess the extra heat and humidity in the air causes more condensation in the system than it was designed for.

Here's a test. Does the car make this smell when running around with the heater on? Not just the air blowing, but the actual heater--in the summer.

 

If you run the fan on full cold and outside air (not recirculate) for a minute after switching off the A/C, you shouldn't have any problems with the "mildew smell" the next time you turn on the fan or A/C. It goes the same way for any make/model car. Leaving it on outside air helps keep the air vents ventilated so they don't get all muggy.

Now for the smoke smell problem. I wouldn't suggest you go spraying Lysol to try to mask the smell. It's just going to mask the smell, not get rid of the source. Lysol smells terrible in my opinion anyway.

Do you smell more smoke when you have the air set on "recirculate" or "outside air?" If it's more pronounced on "outside air," check the areas where the fan draws in outside air:

First check around the front cowling, the black plastic pieces that run alongside the bottom of the windshield, where the winshield wiper arms go in. If I'm not mistaken, that's the area from which your car pulls in outside air. Maybe there's a cigarette butt lodged in there somewhere, fouling the air your fan pulls in. I've found cigarette butts lodged in my engine bay, front bumper, and grill before. It just happens when people toss their butts on the road, chance has it that one of those butts will eventually get caught somewhere in your car. It's strange though because I wouldn't expect that smell to get stronger as you drive the car, unless it's lodged somewhere that gets hotter as your car heats up, like on the engine block, or on the exhaust manifold (which would actually be close to the cowling, maybe a good place to look).

If the smell gets stronger when you leave the air on "recirculate," then check the cabin air filter behind the glovebox. But still, don't go spraying Lysol on it. The smell of cigarette smoke airs out, it's not a permanent stench. Even if you smoke in the car, it can be aired out over a day or two with windows down, or more if you hot-box it in there for weeks before you try to air it out.

Anyhow, if you smell cigarette smoke, then there's a cigarette or cigarette butt lodged somewhere. Cigarette smoke is a very distinct odor and is very different from automotive burning smells, as others have already mentioned.

Look under your hood, but because of the symptoms, I suggest concentrating efforts around the cowling and areas where increasing heat may cause an increasing odor.

 

Maybe look around inside the car too, in case a cigarette butt flew in there somehow.