How to get rid of vape and chew smell in my crewmax

I am reflecting on everything you have all shared here in these posts today thank you so much. The time and energy this has taken is beyond belief. I will continue to share how I address and what happens in the hope this may assist someone else in the future

 

This really bites. Instead of stepping into what (for me) would be a dream truck, the experience for you has been totally shit upon by people with no skin in the game.
I remember when I had my 2014 Limited outfitted with the entire TRD Pro kit how nervous I was that it would turn out perfect, and how incredibly psyched I was for every mile I drove it afterward. I sincerely hope that you can sort this out and get back to enjoying your new rig.

 

Huckwheat you have summarized this entire situation better than I ever could. This is exactly how I feel. If it were a mechanical issue it would be fixed right away. Today I'm feeling just stuck not sure how to move forward. I'm going to reach out to the super amazing dealership I bought the truck from and ask for their perspective. Thanks again for taking the time to write. I just feel that I have done all I can to fix the issue on my own. I'm not willing to spend more money to clean it as well as I can, only to get the same feeling if disappointment every time I take my first breath in the crewmax. I'm making a spreadsheet of every cent I have spent trying to fix the issue on my own. I need to find out who to show the video to.

 

Following your story Taikowaza.
I'd buy you a beer if you were closer.

 

It's probably time to bring an attorney into the mix. If you have to go to trial to get satisfaction, the jury won't be sympathetic to the dealership. Get a good attorney, ask for the stars, and settle for the moon.

 

Okay, you need to stop being Mr. Nice Guy. You’ve wasted enough time and money into this. Time to start threatening and demanding. It’s pretty obvious nothing is working on the smell. Demand they replace your truck with a brand new truck and threaten to blast them on social media and a fat lawsuit. Personally, I’d demand they fire the techs too.

They can sell your truck and replace it with a new truck for less loss than what a lawsuit will cost them and the irreparable damage to their reputation that their techs take customer’s vehicles on joyrides and smoke in it. With your dashcam footage it’ll be an easy win in small claims, and they know it.

 

Sorry to hear about this issue. I'm surprised I missed this thread earlier this month.

So they damaged your truck, and after doing everything possible, it can't be returned to same condition (can't make you whole).

I'm afraid that the only easy remedy for dealership would be to get you a new Tundra, or a used one with 3k miles, move your Trd kit into a new truck.

That would be fair and make you whole.

You now just need to figure out what leverage you have, what evidence you have, etc. And sorry... You can't keep that relationship with your local dealer. Get tough with them, you already went above and beyond.

Here's how you can be pain in the ass for them:

Write a formal complaint letter to the dealership ownership, GM with your demands.

Then you could write bad reviews about your experience
Small claims court
BBB
Complaint to toyota corporate

Lawyer who knows what they're doing will probably be the most effective, and should deliver quick results for you. Cheap? No, but it'll send a very nice message to them that it's easier to get you a new truck at a discount and take your trade in back. Let the professional people deal with this issue for you if this isn't your area of expertise.

 

Taikowaza - I've also followed this a fair amount. I don't understand how you've spent an astronomical amount of time and effort, stress and strain, calls, visits scouring, screening, ozone bombing etc. but you won't share the video???

If they're running a lazy loosely managed sloppy service department, why are you taking the lions share of the effort to remediate it. Share the video!! Here, reddit, the local Nexdoor app, Insta, whatever but most certainly to the Toyota dealership!! The amount it's stressing you out is huge compared to the most effective line to action. Share the video! (And sell the truck asap while values are decent if it's truly the devastating event that you are describing). Get something else and move on and be happy.

 

InterDynamics Certified A/C Pro Vent and Duct Cleaner, Professional Strength Odor Eliminator for Cars, Truck, HVAC, 10 Oz

$12 InterDynamics Certified A/C Pro Vent and Duct Cleaner, Professional Strength Odor Eliminator for Cars, Truck, HVAC, 10 Oz

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071GZ83PV

have you tried something like this?

 

I wouldn't sell the truck, i would demand dealer to buy your truck and find you an acceptable replacement one. You already lost more than enough money and time on this experience

 

Fine, sure whatever, same end result. My larger suggestion is, figure out a way to get this behind you.

Weigh the time drain/mental drain of scouring every square centimeter and everything else described of Taik's truck with no benefit......or.......share the video, but Taik is worried that he might hurt the feelings of the service manager. Doesn't make sense to me...

I'm taking my own advice and moving on from this thread!

 

I've never met a dealer that would actually ever consider doing this.

 

Why not? They ruined the truck and should make the owner whole.

There are ways to make them do it, and it'll be much cheaper for them to make it right than to fight it

 

Have you considered setting it on fire?

 

Ozone machine is the best bet. I recently used one in my 21 because my little kids peed in the carseat and it made its way deep into the cracks and it didn't get cleaned for a while. The smell all of a sudden got really bad. 1 hour with a cheap ebay ozone machine made it 100% better.

I have cloth interior. Just make sure to leave the vents open in my opinion. I plan to use it in other cars too for the smell of a well used car interior that doesn't get detailed hardly ever.

 

This situation really sucks. I feel for you. Could it be possible that no matter what is done, you will still “smell” the problem. Its probably physiological now at this point as much time, effort, money, etc you have invested. It will never be “right”. Get a lawyer and get it over with.

 

I'm a big fan of the ozone machines and found them to be 100% effective on most things. "Most things" because they only work on organic material. They'll even kill insects and plants. It's possible it's not 100% effective on the vape residue because that contains metals and chemicals the are probably immune to the ozone. The reason the ozone works on what it does work on is because that 3rd molecule is highly unstable and attaches itself to the living organic material and they both die. The downsides to repeated ozone use is that on most metals and some rubber (like door seals and such) it eats away at them. The ozone works on those things as if you were speeding up time by a factor of 100. I saw charts on all of this somewhere on the net listing the different materials and how fast they'll oxidize when exposed to ozone. I treated a heavily smoked in friend's pickup he was selling and it worked great but he had trouble opening the doors because the rubber gaskets were sticking that badly.

 

Ozone machine will weaken the glue as well. I had this happen with limited ozone use on my 2014. Maybe 5 hours max, 1 hour at time. Headliner sagged near the sun visors on the last treatment. I think cl02 may be a better option.