Hi - I just picked up my new 05 Silver Prius (Package 6) last Sat. I love the car, and the fact that I'm averaging over 50 mpg. The first of what will likely be many questions I have is whether you have experienced unusual smells from your Prius when parked in the garage. Ours was parked in the garage by itself twice, and both times there was a distinct chemical smell, that goes away when the car is out of the garage (and no it is not the classic "new car smell"). It is a bitter, acidic type smell. Could it be the batteries or other parts of he car off-gassing? Has anyone else expereinced this? Thanks in advance. Kelly
Kelly, and welcome! Yes, odd smells have popped up on various forums. For a brand-new one, best bet is simply the "baking off" of the outer finish of drivetrain parts (e.g., catalytic converter) that get heated up the most. Som,ething you'd notice far more in your garage. In my own case, I had a pungent odor emanating from my battery pack behind the rear seat---but that was on an '02 Prius (and was also commented upon by others). I don't think I've read of battery smells on the "Gen 2" prius. If the smell hasn't abated in, say, two weeks (and you're sure it's not off-gassing from the dash, which is very common, particularly if the car is parked in the sun for a couple of hours or more), take it to the dealer and ask the service writer to put his/her sniff-o-meter on it.
You also get quite a bit of "glue" smell, which is kind of like the plastic off-gassing, but adds a more "acidic" smell to it. The closest thing I can think of is model airplane glue, but it isn't as sharp as that. -Roger
Thanks Jack. I thought about the typical "baking off" source, but in my case the smell still emanates when the car is cold (moved from the driveway where it sat for a few hours on a cloudy day, into the garage). What was the fix for your '02? I don't detect the smell inside the car, but that could be because of the new car smell on the inside. Thanks again for the reply. Kelly
Hi Roger - yes I get that smell as well on the inside of the car. How long did that smell last on your car? The acidic, bitter smell I described in my earlier post is a different one. Thanks, Kelly P.S. This is not a big issue to me. I'm just curious if it is typical, and if so how long it lasts. If need be I will just park the car outside.
Kelly: No "fix" on the battery smell. It was episodic, with decreasing frequency (over a period of 6 months, I think) until it just stopped. Never found out if it was from "taxing" the battery in some way or what. It smells that way COLD? Not much "topside" it could be. You might want to ask your dealer to put it up on a lift, if it really bothers you. There have, of course, been the very occasional posts in various forums about small animals (e.g., mice) being found dead in hard-to-get-to-places.
