We got a minivan......and I swore I'd never drive one LOL
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We got a minivan......and I swore I'd never drive one LOL
Never say never 
You can add to the list of minivan drivers! We've been looking for one for about 6 months now, and finally came across an unbeatable deal. So, we bought it!
It's not brand new, a 2002 Windstar.
Just a small issue. We bought it from a private party, and once the deal was sealed we found that there is an odd smell coming from one of the middle row seats. Yes, we test drove it but there were air fresheners in it and we really didn't think much of it. It diden't really "smell" at that time.
So, we bought the van, brought it home and took all their air freshners out and started putting in the carseats. That's when we noticed that the smell was horrible. We smelled around and found where it was coming from.
Since then, we've been trying to get rid of the smell. We've vacuumed with baking soda and bought several "odor remover" products. So far, nothing has worked. In fact, as I type this, the actual seat is *out* of the van and sitting in the driveway. The van smells much better without the seat in it.
Does anyone know of any products or tried and true methods that we could try on the seat?
I guess the worst thing is that we don't know *what* is causing the smell.
There are no spots on the seat at all. It's very clean. It just stinks! It is mostly on the seat part itself.
We are thinking that maybe some milk tipped out of a carseat and dripped down. Then it wasn't cleaned up and now it has soured. Just a guess.
But, all that stinky stuff aside, we are loving having a minivan. So roomy! The kids love it! Now I feel very mature and responsible
lol, Robin, I swore I never would drive one either. We bought our first in 95.
Maybe you could get a professional detailer to clean it? Just a thought. They might have something stronger to clean it with.
Either that or go to a local auto junk yard and ask them if they can find you the exact same seat in a minivan sitting somewhere. Although some junk yards charge an arm and a leg.
Dh needed a side mirror for a chevy truck one time and the guy charged $20, we found out later, he could have gotten one from a dealership for $15. Live and learn
Welcome to the club
What about febreeze? We had a truck that smelled like mold and we tried a whole bunch of things, we never had great luck, we could cover the smell but not remove it. For example, cinnamon, cofffee grinds, etc do great for absorbing the smell, but then you end up with those smells left. But since you can remove the seat you might could dover it in febreeze and wrap with plastic and let it sit. Good luck.
I was going to say try febreeze, too. I had bought something second hand and when I got it home it smelled smoky. The febreeze and some time in fresh air took it out. Is the smell in the upholstery or through the whole thing?
By the way, I love our minivan-I just don't think I could go back to a regular car now.
I'm sure you are going to love all the extra room! Congratulations.
CNGRATULATINS!!!!!
LOL! Congrats on your new mini van! Enjoy!!
Thats strange about the smell.
Have you tried vinegar and water?
I like to scrub my floors in the van with Simple Green-- try that on the seat too.
We bought a mini van 2 yrs ago--I would have sold you mine at a great price, didnt know you were looking!!! lol ;)
LOL! Oh sorry, but I had to laugh. We traded in our former van because of an awful stench caused by a chipmunk dying in the venting system. 
In your case...
Auto detailer?
Nature's Miracle?
A second hand '02 Windstar seat?
Good Luck!! Let us know how things turn out.
Welcome to the club! LOL I, too, swore I would never drive a minivan and now I can't live without it!
Enjoy the new van! I hope you find a way to get rid of the smell.
Almost forgot...
Minivans are GREAT! You're going to love it!
So far, I do love it! I keep trying to think of places I need to go The girls sit in the very back, and Cooper sits in the middle. It is so nice to have the girls back there. Not that I don't love them to pieces, but they tend to get very chattery and giggley all the time. So, it makes it a lot quieter for DH and I
And, Cooper loves being all by himself in the middle. He was constantly getting upset with the girls for touching/leaning on/looking at his car seat. So, we are all happy.
As for the smell.....Febreeze is the first thing we tried. Didn't even touch it.
The neighbor recommended Simple Green to me this afternoon...(great minds think alike Conni!) so I bought some of that, but haven't used it yet. We have such a mixture of things on there now, that we need to let it dry out!
DH talked to a guy today at work that use to do car detailing. He gave DH a medicine bottle full of a solution that is supposedly the best thing out there. (can't remember the name of it) He said a two gallon jug of this stuff is $250.00!! He also said that if this doesn't work, that we are in big trouble.
We did call a detailing shop. They just use a shop vac to clean the upholstry and seats. We were told that we should only go with a detail shop that uses an "extractor" system rather than a shop-vac. We will have to travel a ways for that.
So, tonight we will try this "miracle solution".....I'll let you know if it works!
PS....the funny thing is...when we started looking at private sellers rather than dealerships, our big thing was "do you smoke?" We were so careful about not buying a smoked in vehicle. And now we end up with THIS smell. Life is so ironic sometimes.
I love my minivan. Even though we are down to 1 kid at home, I still want to keep a minivan. How many times have I been able to take 2 girlfriends and their kids in 1 minivan. It's great. And you can take the seats out and haul anything.
Smell...What kind of smell? Vomit. Cat urine. Sour milk?
Since I don't have that answer yet, this is what I'd do. Sitting out in the yard, get a big bucket of warm water and vinegar 4 to 1 ratio. Soak that thing good and scrub the daylights out of it. Then using a shop vac or carpet cleaner with the upholstery attachment suck up as much water as you can. Then leave it to dry in the fresh air and sunshine. Then when completely dry, there is some stuff you can buy for pet odors. I don't have any right now and can't remember the brand name. It's in a white bottle and I got it at Wal-Mart in the pet section. It doesn't have much of a scent but when I would spray it on areas where the dog lay, the odor would be gone for a couple of weeks. Spray that on the seat.
Another thing instead of water and vinegar is to use warm water and OxyClean. It doesn't have much odor either. I use it in my carpet cleaner instead of the carpet cleaning solutions. Carpets are clean without alot of scents that make my dd sneeze. And the pet smells are gone too for awhile.
OxyClean did cross my mind.
Last night we took the seat cover off and got a direct look at the foam pad. We saw a spot that is probably the culprit. We cleaned it really well. Flushed it with water and cleaned again. Now we are waiting for it to dry. Hopefully it worked.
What a pain this is. We *never* thought we would be doing this when we bought the van.
Go to your local pet store and buy some Natures Miracle, that shoudl do the trick.
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