about 6 years ago i bought a set of factory stock carbon fiber sport seats for my track-going porsche - found them on rennlist, the forum/classified for all things porsche, somewhat analogous to usam and a-gon
seller posted ample pics and shipping boxes, said they were stored in his office for some time, he seemed like a straight up guy, no bs, we went back and forth, and i bought the seats, for 8 grand i think it was
i receive the seats, they look great, just like in his pics, but i could smell the cigarette smoke odor, he was clearly a heavy smoker, and the smoke smell permeated the fabric/alcantara
so i take the seats to my installer, asked his detail guy to use various cleaners, use steam, etc. on every surface, do a good job to best rid the seats of the smell - after his ample efforts, they still smelled a touch of smoke, but i installed the seats, and have used them over the years in the car, which brought great enjoyment -- i have had the car and the seats re-detailed, re-cleaned after each use, they are just fine now, they are beautiful seats in a great car
i never took issue with the seller, as he did not lie to me -- i did not think to ask about his smoking or any odors on the seats prior to buying them, they were indeed excellent condition used seats in all other respects, i paid fair value for the seats ... even though i wasn’t happy when i got the seats and noticed the odor, i dealt with it - he did not screw me over - life is short, you go after what you want, sometimes when you get it there may be something unanticipated, but you deal with it
