[The Cheat]

my 2001 used to smell like crayons...but after a year, a seat change with a 2002 turbo-s, and countless marlboro menthols, it smelled like...nothing. i'm convinced that while the insulation for the firewall had a bit to do with it (i replaced my heater core in 2004, and when i had the dash out, i could definitely smell it), it's mainly the cloth seats i think. i swapped out to leather from a new (at the time) turbo-s that had been totalled, and what was left of it went by the wayside. i'm convinced it's the cloth seats more than anything...maybe a protectant they used on them while in production? i've never smelled crayons or a waxy smell in any leather-equipped NB, and i've been a tech for 6 years.

how i subsided it (while i had cloth seats): i used to use febreze daily in the car, mainly because i didn't want my mom to know i was smoking in the car, but also because it would temporarily neutralize the smell. i took it to florida the first month i had it and HOLY CRAP...i thought i was going to be sick from the smell. i remember pulling into the dealer in ft. myers and asking why in the hell my 5k-mile old beetle smelled so strongly, and they said just use febreze. it worked.

i know insulation can absorb odors...maybe that's why it's getting blamed, but like i said, i've never had it make its presence felt inside a car without cloth seats.