One of the worst things you can experience when getting into your vehicle, or even worse as you’re driving it, is suddenly getting hit with a strange smell that you can’t quite put your finger on. There are several different kinds of smells that could mean bad things are going on, at which point you would need to take care of them yourself or bring your vehicle into a repair shop to get fixed. So, if you’re wondering why your vehicle smells like any of the things below, we’ve got some answers for you.

Rotten Eggs

No one likes the smell of rotten eggs, but especially not if you’re stuck in your vehicle. If you’re smelling this in your car, and it’s not because you left some actual rotten eggs in the back seat, then you could be dealing with an overloaded catalytic converter.

Burning Rubber

Unless you just peeled out from behind a stop sign, burning rubber can indicate some pretty bad things as well. Your drive belts could be slipping or you could have a loose hose rubbing against things in the engine bay. You might also want to check and make sure there aren’t any plastic bags stuck under the hood or near your exhaust pipe.

Hot or Burning Oil

If you know what oil smells like, and you’re suddenly hit with that smell mixed with a burning or hot smell, then that could certainly lead to some bad things. You might just need an oil change, but your engine could be overheated, you could be leaking oil into the exhaust manifold, or you could even be dealing with a faulty vacuum modulator.

Gasoline

Unless you’re at the gas station or accidentally got some on you while you were at the pump, smelling gasoline in your car could mean some very bad things. Your fuel tank, fuel line or fuel injector might be leaking, or you could have a faulty charcoal canister or fuel pressure regulator. Hopefully, you just accidentally lost your fuel cap, as that’s the easiest thing to replace. But if not, get your vehicle checked out quick.

[ RELATED: Why is my car vibrating? ]

These are just the first four smells we want to analyze, so check back tomorrow for the rest!