Headache inducing smell with warmer days?

[MotorMouth]

I got my SR at the end of October 2022 and live in the Buffalo/Niagara region so I did not see any days that were warm (actually had several snow days and got buried in November before storing in December so it was a friendly Buffalo welcome to the SR). The weather is warming up; the last week has been high 70's and low 80's throughout the day. I was gone for the week so the car sat in the driveway (I do not have the option of a garage to park in at my primary residence). The car needed a desperate wash yesterday after getting coated in pollen and bird droppings for a week of sitting idle and after the wash, it needed a good drive.

Upon getting into the vehicle I was hit with a very strong smell. It was reminiscent of glue off-gassing that typically requires a respirator (it was that strong, similar to an aggressive stain and lacquer application on wood) and induced a headache within a minute or two. I took the top off and rolled the windows down to help ameliorate the situation. The airflow helped mitigate the smell but it is definitely not gone.

Few questions:
1. did others experience such an intense chemical smell upon the first time the vehicle was left in warmer, direct sun, situations?
2. for those experienced with corvettes, and more specifically the c8 throughout the seasons, is this normal, and will go away with time?

[John]

I would take it to your dealer for I have zero negative smell and in every C8 I have ever been in has had no smell other than nice, new car smell. Good luck in getting it resolved completely.

[Abouttime]

Ours just has what I would call a “typical new car smell.”

I’m sure your sun exposure exacerbated the issue.

[Plasboy]

Our 23 delivered September 22 does not have a problem with that kind of smell. It has never sat out for a week but has sat in full sun and 80 degree temps for most of a day.
Best of luck figuring it out.

[KK87]

I remember it was very much a new car smell - but since I've been driving around with the roof off and window down quite a lot, the smell had already waned for the last year or so. Also, my car is 3 years old.

[adamsocb]

Different folks have different tolerance for volatile organic compounds (VOC) like paint, glue, and resin off-gassing. If spray paint, fiberglass resin, etc. bother you, like me, you are likely on the more sensitive to VOC side. I thought the initial VOC smell was very strong in my Z06 for the first several days. Not to the point of giving me a headache, but definitely obnoxious. Several other folks called it “new car smell” so I think all new Corvettes probably smell about the same. It just gets interpreted differently depending on who is smelling.
Mine has dissipated in the 4 weeks since delivery and now just has the new-car and leather smells. I drive it for at least 20-30 minutes 4 or 5 times a week and have taken a few multi hour drives.

The fact you still have glue and resin out-gassing smells months after delivery is odd though. How many days total have you driven it since delivery? If only a couple then keep driving and it may go away after 10-15 hours driving with the climate control on.

One other factor may be the interior type. 1LT is almost all cast vinyl which will out-gas more than 3LT which is mostly leather. 2LT is in-between.

[meyerweb]

Corvettes do have a reputation for outgassing when new, and the fact that it's been in cold weather may have delayed it. There are lots of glued sections in the C8 chassis, and I think the composite panels may outgas, too. Oddly, not all of them seem to do it, or at least not every owner notices. For those that do, the smell seems to dissipate fairly quickly. Leave the windows open for a while if you can. Hopefully it will be gone after a couple of warm days.

[MotorMouth]

Different folks have different tolerance for volatile organic compounds (VOC) like paint, glue, and resin off-gassing. If spray paint, fiberglass resin, etc. bother you, like me, you are likely on the more sensitive to VOC side. I thought the initial VOC smell was very strong in my Z06 for the first several days. Not to the point of giving me a headache, but definitely obnoxious. Several other folks called it “new car smell” so I think all new Corvettes probably smell about the same. It just gets interpreted differently depending on who is smelling.
Mine has dissipated in the 4 weeks since delivery and now just has the new-car and leather smells. I drive it for at least 20-30 minutes 4 or 5 times a week and have taken a few multi hour drives.

The fact you still have glue and resin out-gassing smells months after delivery is odd though. How many days total have you driven it since delivery? If only a couple then keep driving and it may go away after 10-15 hours driving with the climate control on.

One other factor may be the interior type. 1LT is almost all cast vinyl which will out-gas more than 3LT which is mostly leather. 2LT is in-between.

I have 1950 miles on the vehicle and several individual 4-hour drives over the last month. Got 600 miles on it before winter nap so about 1300 since April when it was pulled out of slumber. The new car smell was starting to fade but to me, that is the smell of leather, vinyl, coatings, etc (I have a 2lt, no CF, gt2 two-tone perf leather, and stealth package). I have not done any tint or other interior applications of product (no ceramic, no protectant, no cleaning products, etc). This was a very strong glue-like off-gassing smell, VOC is the perfect explanation. I will give it a week in the hot weather and see if it goes away. All responses have been very helpful and I will shoot my dealer a message just as a heads-up (they have been amazing in all interactions to date).

Will be in it this evening and today was a HOT day with direct sun so will update the post after this evening's stroll.

[MotorMouth]

UPDATE****
Drove yesterday and the smell was substantially lower, windows down in the driveway for 10 seconds and it was gone to the point the wife did not notice upon getting in the vehicle.

[My1stVette]

You might want to consider a sunshade for the windshield and an outdoor car cover if there are times when you leave it out without driving it for a week.

Do you have the transparent roof?

[AlVette]

No smell , my 2020 still has the smell of new leather....

[adamsocb]

We took a drive out to Palm Springs yesterday. The car was parked in the sun @ ~100 degrees while we ate lunch. No VOC smell when we got back to it.
The answer is use the car more and it will air out!🤣

[MotorMouth]

You might want to consider a sunshade for the windshield and an outdoor car cover if there are times when you leave it out without driving it for a week.

Do you have the transparent roof?

No transparent roof (solid car color). I have a visor
on the way and was strongly advised against a cover by many good points but knowing it sits out all day every day, a visor
has to
happen. It does with all my vehicles to mitigate prolonged sun exposure over the years. So, great call on this.

[mpmarino]

2lt HTC with new car smell (fading unfortunately).

The trunk (rear) is a different story. Definitely a more chemical smell in that heated sealed compartment. I don't mind, for some reason I enjoy the smell of glue

Might be a good idea to vent all the compartments for an extended period if it bothers you?