I bought a Mazda Protege for a friend of mine who needed a (really, really, super-duper cheap) car. Paid $100 for it, and it ran great, but the transmission fluid was burnt to a crisp, so I'd already sourced a transmission. When my buddy and I pulled the dolly into the barn, we noticed several smells. Notably, rodent droppings, moisture, cheap cologne, and old Taco Bell. Since the guys we were buying it from seemed like the cheap cologne and Taco Bell type, we made a snap judgement that there's no way it was the car. How would it even be possible to smell the interior from the this distance? My worst fears were confirmed after the car sat in the sun in the driveway for a couple of days, and the stench was obvious from 6-8 feet around the car. I decided to shop vac it out before my friend came by to not give her the wrong impression of her $100 investment. As I was sucking up cigarette butts, rodent droppings, etc., something got stuck on the shop vac under the seat. I pulled it out, and it was a cracked cheap cologne bottle, and all the nasty liquid inside was entering my vacuum, which hasn't smelled the same since. Then it happened. Another clog revealed the other half of the stink. A maggot-infested, half-eaten Taco Bell burrito. I've now learned to trust my nose, as well as my gut, which told me that I would never in a million years have purchased a Mazda Protege. Especially not one so well, ahem, lived-in.
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