We are back! And-as you can tell by the title of this article-with quality content!!! YES! Three exclamation points. Get on up Racers it’s sulfur surfing time!

It was 2004 and I had just enlisted in the service. Like most I was wide eyed and full of optimism. Scratch that I was cynical, probably more cynical than I am now. But I knew one thing for sure. That Toyota, when the driver slams the gas pedal… well it smells like a fart.

A rancid, hardboiled egg fueled pants crusher of bodily gas expulsion.

One of my military brothers (for those of you who haven’t served everyone becomes like one big family so you are essentially brothers. It’s a weird dynamic but you really just can’t understand unless you’ve been in) had a 2004 4Runner. It was the first time I’d seen a touch screen radio and navigation. It had true 4 wheel driver. The back window rolled down like an old Suburban. It was great. What wasn’t great… we were in southern Virginia and it gets hot. He was from South Cak-o-lacky and I was from PA. Needless to say if he was driving the AC wasn’t cranked like us carpetbaggers prefer.

Cruising down the highway with the windows down and fighting beach traffic would result in multiple mashes of the pedal. I noticed the sulfuric secretion quite a few times before I correlated it with his right foot. Promptly I asked, “Why does your car smell like ass when you accelerate?” To which he replied, “It has something to do with how Toyota builds their catalytic converters.” As the years passed I’ve been stuck behind many-a-meandering Camry (with the tell tale dent in the rear bumper) and Highlanders parked in the left lane. After my coaxing of them to “f@#*ing go” I receive that unpleasant aroma from the tail pipe just ahead of my hood.

Sulfur. Like a wet dog fart mixed with paper factory. Damnit Toyota what the hell is wrong with your ass!?

I decided that research-real scientific type shit-must be done! The folks over at Bill Penney Toyota were first on my hit list from the Google-machine. In an article aptly titled “7 Car Smells and What They Mean” the number one smell is rotten eggs. Funny thing is they claim this could be indicative of a “costly” repair. *Note they want your monies* But like my brother stated it is the catalytic converter, with one major exception, they say it needs to be replaced.

You see, “The catalytic converter is a crucial part of your exhaust system because it takes this by-product and converts it into odorless sulfur dioxide. If you start smelling rotten eggs when your car is running, your catalytic converter needs to be replaced.” Additional articles and blog posts followed.

People asked, “Why does my car smell like rotten eggs?” and “My boyfriend dumped me because he thought I was dutchovening him in the car” or “It won’t stop smelling” and “It made me rip my nose from my face and cry against the steering wheel before diverting the car into a bridge embankment.”

I may have embellished…

Now I’m assuming they are referring to if you smell it in the cabin… not so much for all the other poor bastards behind you. I can honestly say in my 33 years of being I’ve only ever noticed this on 2000+ model year Toyotas. Maybe they need to face the fact… man you guys just smell. You are literally the beige wearing smell kid at school. But hey, you are dependable. Always there, smelling like ass to get the job done!

Sound off Racers… have you noticed this smell on anything besides a Toyota?