new-car smell

new-car smell (uncountable)

1. (informal) A characteristic odor caused by the combination of chemicals and materials in a new automobile, including outgassing.
   • 1996, Jack R Nerad, The complete idiot's guide to buying or leasing a car:

     Does that mean you shouldn't buy a new car? Not at all — although if you're not hung up on new car smell and the virginal feel of a pristine motor car, you might find a used car is a better bargain.

   • 2004, Lindsay Price, Competition Monologues:

     Did you know new car smell can kill you? New cars are filled with new car toxic fumes.

   • 2008, Charles Martin, Down Where My Love Lives:

     Who would want new car smell when you can have Maggie's gardenias?

2. (figurative) A perception of freshness or novelty.
   • 2014 November 23, Brad Knickerbocker, “Obama says he'd be a dinged-up used car in the 2016 presidential race”, in Christian Science Monitor‎:

     "I think the American people, you know, they're going to want – you know, that new car smell. You know, their own – they want to drive something off the lot that doesn't have as much mileage as me," he said.