Severe Odor Elimination Treatment for Cars

At San Diego Select Detailing, we have extensive experience in removing severe odors from all types of vehicles. As you can imagine, this is one of the most common calls we get, so we have the procedure of removing foul odors from your vehicle down to a science. Get your car back to smelling clean, fresh, and NEUTRAL - after trying our odor elimination treatment. We don't cover your car in stinky perfume to cover up the smell, we deep clean your vehicle and kill the source of the smell at its source. For all odor elimination services we recommend that you also have your in-cabin air filter replaced to ensure the success of your detail. We have this service done at Top Care Auto Center in Pacific Beach.

What type of smells can be removed?

Mildew

This is the most common case for odor elimination services, and has an added layer of complication. We are experienced in removing musty mildew smell from your vehicle. However, in order to ensure the smell doesn't return, its is critical that the car is completely dried out by the time we start the detail. Please give us a call if you need help with a game plan for getting your car 100% dry. If there is any significant mold accumulated in the vehicle there may be increased prices or may need to refuse work for the safety of our technicians. Please give us a call to talk through any mold scenarios.

Smoke

Believe it or not, odor remediation treatment for cigarette smell is one of the most common issues we deal with, and it is also one of the most treatable. If the odor is severe enough, it is essential that you have the in cabin air filter removed before or after the cleaning service. If you don't want to do it yourself - we use Top Care Auto Center in Pacific Beach.

Pets

If you or the previous owner has taken dogs around in the car on a regular basis, the smell is probably very noticable. We can help with an odor elimination service for your car to remove the lingering pet smell. This is also a service that has a high success rate of being resolved on the first try. Refresh your car's interior with our odor elimination service designed to remove the smell of your dogs or cats.

Spills

Our odor elimination treatment can help for removing foul odors caused by food or drink spills. These spills can fester and cause bacterial growth that leads to a strong odor in the car. We are able to solve this problem through our advanced methods for removing odors deep set into vehicles upholstery. We can kill the smell at its source and restore a fresh neutral smell to your vehicle.

Vomit & Biowaste

We are equipped to deal with the aftermath of accidents such as urine, vomit, or other messes caused by humans or pets. We typically focus on the removal of lingering odors caused from these types of messes. Bio waste odors can be some of the toughest to remove and requires skilled and professional auto detailers to remove them. Please call to discuss jobs of this nature.

What will my car smell like after?

We don't mask odors with strong perfume - in fact we don't use any perfume to mask smells at all. We deep clean vehicles and crush all odors at the source. When we are finished removing the odors from your vehicle, its should smell like....... nothing. That's right, our goal is to leave your car with a completely neutral smell, like there was never an odor there at all. The most severe cases may require one follow up session to completely remove all odor.

Whats the Process?

We have various tactics, chemicals, and methods designed specifically to help remove any bad odor from your vehicle. We have state of the art process for car odor elimination. We approach the toughest car odors with the 5 steps as follows:

  1. All odor elimination treatments start with a complete interior detail
  2. Shampoo and extraction treatment on seats and upholstery of affected area
  3. Odor specific chemical treatment for smoke/animal smell/mildew
  4. Bio-Enzyme treatment of affected areas
  5. Ozone Odor Elimination treatment
Ozone Machine for Odor Elmination

Are there Any Smells that can't be removed?

99% of severe odors can be removed using the process stated above. The only situations that may not be able to be solved through this process is vehicles that have severe water damage and aren't completely dry prior to the service. Read this article on how to properly dry out your car, if you are a DIY person. In the most extreme odor cases, a follow up appointment may be required to remove the remaining smell.

Kill the odor at the source!

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Verified Google Reviews

Will was AMAZING! My car needed full interior detailing from rain getting inside this winter, and it hadn’t been fully cleaned in years. He scheduled me ASAP and was super thorough when going over the process. He picked up the car from me and brought it back quicker than expected so I didn’t have to go anywhere, and it looked new on the inside. It had a new car scent and all the seats and floors that were damaged from rain/dirt were totally clean. I’m so happy with the services and feel like it’s a different car now - I would recommend him to anyone in SD :) !! Thank you so much!!

Adriana Minicozzi

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Had an amazing experience with San Diego Select Detailing. They did a fantastic and thorough job of detailing my new car after it was transported from a dealership in another state, and also detailed two other vehicles at our household (one of which had laundry detergent spilled in the trunk). Each car came out looking fantastic. They come fully equipped to do a professional level detail job at the location of your choosing, which was very convenient. Can't wait to use their services again.

Audrey Hoel

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I had Hyundai Elantra detailed before gifting it to my sister. Will and Ed were able to accommodate me same day which was really nice of them. The fact that they come to you is also very convenient.The car looked as good as the day I bought it from the dealership. My sister was so stoked. She was beaming the whole three hours we were handling insurance and DMV stuff

Andrew Dyson

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We had an amazing experience getting our car detailed. They come directly to your home and bring all of the necessary supplies! Will was incredibly professional and responsive when arranging the time and figuring out details. Pedro came right on time and did a beautiful and meticulous job detailing the inside and outside of our car. It looks brand new and smells amazing. We will definitely be using their services again. Highly recommend!

Micaela Mariner

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San Diego Select did a full interior/exterior detail on my Lexus and I couldn't be happier with the result. My car looks and smells brand new. Incredible customer service - even received a follow up text the next day making sure I was satisfied with how everything looked. It's convenient - they come to you so you don't have to wait anywhere and pricing is extremely fair for the service. Would highly recommend.

Anna C

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great auto detailer in San Diego. If you’re looking to get your car detailed in San Diego, these guys are the best

Nate S

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I would 100% use them again! After I got sick in the car and we couldn’t get the smell out, they worked wonders and got us in same day!

Meghan Mazer

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First time getting my car detailed ever and I am so unbelievably happy with the outcome that I wish I would have started with them a long time ago!!! Will was so sweet and friendly over the phone, he quickly gained my trust:) My car looks and smells brand new! I will be back in 6 months to upkeep. Seriously these guys are so good:)

Justine Meadows

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Really kind! Did an amazing job with interior and exterior.

Siena Gross

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I've worked with Will and his team to fully detail my Tesla and Harley Davidson  and have monthly washes set up.  Will and his team are wonderful and always do a great job!

Charlie Redden

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why Should I Detail My Car?

Perfection & Protection.

Frustrated with everything that the car wash leaves behind?
Does your paint not shine like it used to?
In love with your car and want to preserve your investment for the long term?

That is why we are here. Not only do we leave you with flawless results, but we make sure that your paint, leather, and other materials are protected for years to come. We will treat your car (and you) like one of our own.

Do I need a "Shampoo Treatment"?

The shampoo and hot water extraction is the best possible care for your FABRIC seats.

We will bathe your seats in thick foam shampoo, agitate it with a fabric brush attachment on a drill, and then extract all the grime, dirt, stains and contaminant from the seats with hot water at 210ºF. If your seats need a refresh, this is as good as it gets. Because the service takes 45 minutes on average, and only a small percent of vehicles need it we charge extra for it. Don't worry - its only $50 extra. Totally worth it.

Will My Scratch "Buff Out"?

Do you have any little scrapes and scratches that bother you?

We can handle it.. to an extent. We are polishing experts - so if the scratch isn't too deep, we can get it out. Ever heard of "The Fingernail Test", this is a great way to know if your scratches are fixable. If you feel the scratch will your fingernail and you can feel a groove in the paint, it it probably a little bit too deep ~in the sections where the groove is~

What is a "Clay Bar"?

A clay bar is exactly what it sounds like, a little ball of malleable puddy.

This is used in the decontamination phase of the detail to prepare your paint for protection. Clay Bar Detailing is essential for preparing your vehicle's paint for protection by ensuring it is free of contaminants.

Every exterior detail has 3 phases: 1. Wash 2. Decontaminate 3. Protect. The decontamination stage is responsible for removing from the paint everything that doesn't come off from the wash.

Remember when you bought your car and the paint was smooth to the touch? That is the goal of this stage. Remove all the crusty junk that is stuck to you paint. This way, when we apply sealant (protection) to your paint it will adhere to the paint itself, rather than the junk sitting on the surface. This will give the sealant its longest possible useful life.

Why "Wax" My Car?

For the same reason that you get an oil change. Engines are expensive to replace (8-15K) so we take good care of them. So is your paint - the average paint job costing around $5,000. If you don't protect your paint with some type of ceramic, wax, or sealant, your paint WILL fail.

In San Diego, our biggest enemy is the sun, or the salt if you live near the beach. Next time you are in a big parking lot, look around at the hoods of the vehicles. You will notice around 1/6 vehicles have completely delaminated clear coat.

That means the paint looks like dead skin on the surface and you could peel it off with you fingers. Not pretty. There is a simple solution to ensure your vehicle never ends up like this. Exterior Detailing. Bonus points for a ceramic coating with is the best protection possible.