The Best Odour Eliminator for Your Vehicle

If you’re looking to sell your car then you’ll know that giving it a good clean is an essential part of the process if you want to get the best possible price. Though it doesn’t really take that much effort, a clean car is more likely to attract it’s asking price – it’s more appealing to buyers, whether you’re trading it in at a dealer or selling it yourself.

And an important part of a clean car is how it smells. We’re all familiar with that new-car smell, but let’s be honest – what we’d like most when buying a used car is for it to smell of absolutely nothing at all. Even a professional car valuation won’t be accurate if the car in question smells like something’s died in it.

Odour eliminators are extra-important if your car’s full of scents you’ve gone blind to. A smoker’s cars can often smell terrible, even if the owner doesn’t realise anymore – and the same goes for cars that have carried children or pets in the back for many years, with all their associated messes.

A car odour eliminator is the best way to tackle a smelly car. These solutions don’t just mask the scent by covering it up, like an air freshener does. Instead, their cocktail of chemicals breaks down odour-causing bacteria and particles in the air, leaving it fresh – and allowing you to spritz it up with a scent afterwards, if you like.

We’ve rounded up some of the best and most effective odour eliminators, all of which should leave your car fresh as a daisy after proper use – provided they’re applied in conjunction with a good all-around clean!

Autoglym Odour Eliminator

This offering from Autoglym is an excellent daily odour eliminator, with a formula that’s effective on all kinds of low-level smells from pets, smoke, or spilt food and drink.

It’s not the strongest out there, so not as useful as some entries on this list for a ‘big clean’, but it’s very affordable and the square bottle makes it easy to keep at hand in the boot for mid-trip nasal emergencies.

ValetPRO Enzyme Odour Eater

The enzymes in this spray don’t just tackle odours, but they can get rid of organic stains left on fabric – making it great for food or pet stains. 500ml bottles are supplied diluted, and ready for use, while you can also buy large bottles of concentrate if you’d prefer to mix your own. This also gives you the freedom to mix a slightly stronger solution if you’ve got a really persistent smell.

AirVidox Car Odour Remover

This is the nuclear option – for removing really, really bad smells from cars. This is the one you’ll want if, say, you’ve spilt an entire container of AdBlue in the boot, or a late-night passenger’s availed themselves of your carpet.

It comes in two parts, which need to be mixed together. You then leave the product inside your car for four hours, after which everything remotely smell-causing should be long dead. Ventilate the vehicle well and run the solution underwater to deactivate it.

Turtle Wax Odor-X Whole Car Blast

This is a great way to give your whole interior a refresh on a budget. It works similarly to an air-con bomb but eradicates bad odours before leaving a so-called ‘new car scent’. It’s not quite as effective as some of the stronger options here but is reasonably priced and an effective option for whole-car refreshes rather than more targeted treatment.