Dear Tom and Ray:

I recently purchased an '89 Chevy Astro van for my wife at an auction. My mechanic has done the necessary repairs, and it looks like we got a fairly good deal. The only problem is that the car stinks -- like cigarettes and other nefarious "weed-like" odors. The upholstery and carpet have been steam-cleaned, and it seems like the air-conditioning unit and the upholstery on the ceiling are the main contributors. Needless to say, my wife is steamed -- or "smoked!" Do you have any ideas how we could de-smoke the air-conditioning ducts, the ceiling or the whole car in general? Every car person I've talked to so far has been pretty useless. -- Gil

Ray: Well, we fit that category, too, Gil. But that never has stopped us from giving advice!

Tom: You're right about it being a difficult problem. Smoke gets into everything: the seats, the carpet, the headliner. It can even permeate the duct work to some extent.

Ray: And it's easy to understand why. Let's do the math. If both husband and wife smoked three packs of Chesterfields a day in the Astro since 1989 -- that's nine years -- you could be sitting in the stench from approximately 394,200 cigarettes. And that's not counting any hitchhikers!

Tom: So if it's really intolerable, then your best bet is to call a company that does fire salvage.

Ray: Right. After a house fire, everything that didn't get burned up smells awful. And there are companies that do nothing but get that smoke odor out. You can usually find them in the Yellow Pages under "smoke odor services." They should be able to help you.

Tom: Right. They'll stick 2,000 of those Christmas tree air fresheners up inside your headliner and say, "You're all set, Gil!" Good luck.

What's the best way to warm up your engine in the morning? Find out by ordering Tom and Ray's pamphlet "Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It!" To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1998 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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