Are new cars magnetic or something?

[VetteOwner]

Originally Posted by Silveredwings

It still looks good after looking at it for nearly 2 weeks. I figured out how to get that strong smell of body shop paint out of the interior. As I figured, it really isn't so much about outgassing solvents or curing resins. It acts more like a dust or residue that settles on everything. This car sat in a shop with a door off , the rear hatch wide open, and various interior parts removed and laying about. Every thing that could waft through the air (paint overspray, sanding dust, etc.) became part of my car and it stunk.

So if you ever need to get rid of this kind of smell, here's what worked for me.
1. Remove any mats and rear decking/carpeting that you can. Vacuum it thoroughly with a beater bar type vac. If you have rubbre mats, wash them with soap and water.
2. Take a strong vacuum like a shop vac with brush/crevice attachments and meticously go over every single square inch that you can access inside the car (including the headliner, doors, windows, under seats, windows, inside cubbys and storage areas). Don't forget the door jamb areas and edges of doors.
3. Wipe down all surfaces that are not cloth or carpet with a cleaner like 409 or fantastic. Before it dried, I also wiped it down with a different clean damp wrag. I followed it with a clean dry towel.
4. If you have leather, wash it as I did in step 3 but use an appropriate leather cleaner (not a conditioner as you don't want to lock-in the contaminants). In my case, I cleaned the leather on 2 different days, once with fantastic, and again with leather cleaner. After it was dry I applied leather conditioner.
5. Wash the glass surfaces.
6. Wipe out the door jambs with a damp cloth and towel.
7. Enjoy your efforts of smell-begone!

lol when a funky smell gets in my cars i just drive with the windows down to attract a new smell

[FrugalFloyd]

I took my first brand new car (a 1970 Datsun pickup) on a drive to Yuma when it had less than 1000 miles on it. First thing I did was drive it through a very narrow gate, and scratched the paint on both sides. Then I was driving on a dirt bridge over an irrigation canal. There was a rut in the dirt, so I took the low side. Big mistake, as the dirt gave way, leaving my brand new truck leaning precariously over the canal, supported by a wooden fence. A passing canteloupe truck towed it out, but left more scratches on the paint.

To top it all off, I got stuck in the sand overnight. I finally jacked myself out, and laid a pavement made of dollar-sized flat stones taken from a nearby dry creek bed under the truck to get out.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Although it wasn't new, it looked like new and was new to me... About 2 weeks after I got The Beast, one of my employees backed into the left rear quarter panel on the truck in the parking lot at work. I was pissed, because that truck was the closest thing I ever had to a new vehicle, and the only vehicle that I had ever purchased at a dealer.

Being a new businessman with a lot of debt I had already overextended myself a bit just to buy it. I bought it because I absolutely needed a new(er) vehicle as relying on an 18 year old truck nearing 200,000 miles was getting too much. It wouldn't go over 40 MPH, and for some reason after it was driven exactly 2 miles it would stall, and not restart for 30 minutes.

I never did get all the body work done. All I did was pay a guy $100 to beat the bulk of the dent out. By the time I had enough money to comfortably pay for the body work the truck had well over 100,000 miles and I just felt it wasn't worth paying over $1,000 to have it fixed right.

-Jay

[Mayhim]

Good luck with your repairs.

I was unfortunate enough the last two accidents in which I was hit the hitters were without insurance.

I can really pick 'em.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Fortunately, everyone that's ever hit me has had insurance. I made out really well years ago when I was sideswiped in my 74 Chevy pickup by an old lady in an Escort wagon. Her insurance gave me $800 to FIX my truck (I only paid $1,000 for it). Fenders, trim, paint, EVERYTHING. Being as the truck had over 300,000 miles and rust holes in the fenders large enough for me to stick my arm through all I did was replace the driver side mirror and get an alignment.