I recently bought an '04 WRX and before the winter season I bought the Subaru rubber floor mats. At first they were great but towards the end of Dec. my family noticed a funny mold/rubber smell in my car. I couldn't really smell it at first but usually in the mornings when I first open my car I can smell it for an instant and it goes away. It usually is the strongest when the car sits for a while. I'm positive that there isn't a leak in my car, but it's still a posibility. But I'm pretty sure that the smell came from the rubber floor mats. Once I noticed the smell I washed the mats over and over again with every possible cleaner you can think of. On top of that I cleaned the carpet too becuase I think the smell got into the carpet as well. Well, now the smell isn't as powerful but it's still there. I threw away the Subaru mats since the damn dealer couldn't take them back and I now have generic floor mats from an auto store. How do I get rid of it!?

Can any of you help me? Has anyone else experienced this? Or am I one of the few lucky ones with this problem? Help is really needed, I'm about to snap.

 

Did your car come with the cabin air filter? It's located in the behind the glove box. Not sure what else it might be.

 

heres a few tips i learned from selling cars over the years. if you have mold in the carpet-that potentially bad. rubber mats tend to sweat if your floorboard get hot(after a drive) your mold problem could be from beneath the carpet. when dry there is no smell. when dampness occurs the mold gets activated. my advice is to remove the carpet and remove the mold that way.

another possible problem is this- mold in the a/c ventilation system . i don't think subarus are like hondas(older ones) where the ventilation system creates sweat after running the a/c. when the car sits after driving the condensation grows mold. one trick is to run your heater directly after you park(for about 5 min.) ususally this kills the mold.

these 2 i gave you kind of like a worse case scenario the latter being a little easier to aleviate.

hope this helps.

aloha
greg