mine STUNK like wet dog when I got my car...
took the top panel of the dash off to change the cabin filter and about puked at all the stuff i found in there and the smell that was in there too.
the filter was no longer a filter. it was a breeding ground for nasty. there were wet leaves all over the place, and just gunky crap...
took a shop vac and some cleaner to it. replaced the filter. sprayed it all down with some disinfectant, and slapped it all back together... took about a week of running the A/C to get the smell totally out of the duct work, but it is gone...
Like you, if I turned the recirc on, it seemed to get less noticeable.
Good Luck, Erin!
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