2005 Lexus SC 430 Toxic fumes and odor inside car

julijd2b · Posted at Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:12 am

Smells problem
2005 Lexus SC 430 V8 Two Wheel Drive Automatic 30000 miles

Just purchased a 2005 Lexus SC430 certified pre-owned car 2 hours from my Miami home, in Naples FL. Upon delivery, the car had a very heavy, sweet smell in the cabin which I attributed to something they must have sprayed in it during detailing. The car had undergone some 160 point inspection. During the 2 hour drive home, an irritant coming through the a/c vents burned my eyes. The smell and irritant did not improve the next few days, despite my running the a/c on high with the top down to air out the car, so I took it in to Lexus here in Miami and they changed the a/c filter and did an a/c flush. Cost me over $150 and did nothing to resolve the problem which actually seems to be getting worse. The smell is very strong, irritates the eyes, and actually makes me lightheaded. Any ideas? I am taking it back in to Lexus tomorrow.

Service Writer · Posted at Wed Oct 14, 2009 4:07 pm

Was anyone else affected?

julijd2b · Posted at Wed Oct 14, 2009 4:47 pm

My husband is the only other person who has been in the car, and only for a short time. His eyes were burning after a short trip of about 5-7 minutes. I've only driven the car 3 or 4 times since I bought it last week.

Service Writer · Posted at Thu Oct 15, 2009 5:08 am

Hopefully it wasn't a car from a flood. Since the heating duct work was cleaned, I would think that eliminates it. So either this is a reaction to something isnside the car or something that is possibly burning and coming from the engine compartment.

I had a customer that had a new truck with leather seats. It took about a year before he found that he was allergic to the seat material.