A lot goes into the design of a car and how it makes you feel when you’re behind the wheel. The way things look from every angle, the sound of the engine, all the way to the touch of the materials used across the dashboard. The experience of getting in a new car is engineered to evoke every sense, but there’s one in particular that has gotten people talking for decades now: the smell.
‘New car smell’ as it has come to be known is like marmite. Hard to put a finger on and a scent that can vary from car brand to car brand, people tend to either love it or hate it. In fact, our own research has found that 6% of UK-based drivers have a notable dislike for the smell. Seemingly insignificant, that’s more than 3 million drivers in the United Kingdom alone that are turned off by the scent of a new car.
Beyond this, we also found that more than 1 in 6 drivers (14%) actually class the familiar smell of their current car as one of the things they like about it the most. Meaning that drivers saying goodbye to a car due to scrapping or selling it, are losing out on more than just a vehicle to transport them around in.
With that in mind, alongside much discussion online about the many flaws in the chemical-heavy new car smell, we’ve devised a solution that is set to solve the problem for nostrils everywhere…
Old Car Smell: Now Available In Air Freshener-Form!
That’s right, by teaming up with the scent experts at EcoScent, we’ve been able to bottle the comforting aroma of an old car – complete with notes of muddy dog walks, drive-thru dinners and summer road trips.
Just in time for Christmas 2023, the classic cardboard air freshener aims to capture everything we have come to know and love from our current cars, to help anyone making the transition from a beloved old motor, to mask the new car smell with an old-but-new favourite.
As our experience lies primarily in scrapping and salvaging cars and not selling air fresheners, we are kicking things off by offering people the chance to sample this limited run of air fresheners for free, before aiming to make them more widely available to drivers everywhere in the future.
If you are interested in being one of the very first drivers to get your hands on ‘Old Car Smell’ or feel it could make the perfect Christmas gift for a friend or loved one, simply fill out the form below and if you’re lucky, one will be in the post on its way to you.
Thank you for your interest in Old Car Smell. We are now longer sending samples, but please keep an eye out for more Scrap Car Comparison updates on our blog.
How was ‘Old Car Smell’ developed?
A scent that is actually quite hard to put a finger on, ‘Old Car Smell’ strives to capture that lived-in aroma of a car’s interior, that has been driven for thousands of miles and has many stories to tell. While we might not think it at the time, our cars play home to multiple memories and smell can be one of the best ways to bring them back.
This could be a long drive home after an unforgettable holiday, nights spent laughing with friends at the drive-thru, or the first muddy dog walk where you wish you’d packed more blankets to cover the back seat or boot.
Working with scent experts, we scent-tested multiple used cars and worked to capture the slightly musky smell that has undertones of all of these great experiences, in one single air freshener.
Of course, everyone’s car will smell a little different – for better or worse – but we hope ‘Old Car Smell’ helps to take people back to a car they’ve just said goodbye to, or even the memorable motors of their youth. The proof lies in the scent, so if you’re intrigued, fill in the form above to test it for yourself!
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If you’re a journalist and are interested in finding out more about ‘Old Car Smell’, simply e-mail: [email protected]
Old Car Smell Air Fresheners by Scrap Car Comparison is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
