Alright well i have searched the forum a few times and i have found a couple people that are having the same problem but they all seem to think its because they have a new car..i have 60K on my 2003 5at so obviously it isnt new and lately there has been a plastic/rubber burning smell comming from the car after it has been on for more than 10-15 minutes...after i shut the car off it still smells of burning plastic/rubber for about 40 min..anyone know what this could be? thanks

 

Sometimes if you run over a plastic grocery or garbage bag it can stick to your hot exhaust and cause that smell. Might be worth taking a flashlight and seeing if there's anything stuck under there.

 

Several months ago I had the same smell. It was coming from my right front area. I could not figure out what is was. After a couple of weeks it just went away... I never figured out what it was. If you find a cause please post up.

 

Sandman has a good idea. Happenned to my wifes Accord about a year ago. It was stuck in the middle of the car to the exhaust.

 

well i found out what it was...i i lifted the car up on jack stands with my super hero powers and found that there was a plastic bag melted around my y pipe....LAME

 

I've been having this strange burning smell coming from my '04 6MT for days. I tried to isolate the smell but I couldn't place it in any one particular place. It seemed to be stronger towards the front of the vehicle than the rear. At first I thought it may have been my brake pads locked in a default position slightly against the rotor. I also considered the possibility that it was some sort of engine problem, the infamous oil burning problem, or perhaps some coolant or other fluid being burnt up. After making liberal use of the search function, I stumbled upon this page (actually the 14th or 15th search result) and came upon the Golden Solution. About 3 minutes of searching under my car revealed a chunk of plastic caught in my rear right wheel well, and a hefty gob of industrial-strength plastic molded to the center undercarriage of my car (which would explain my inability to pin the smell to any one area....since it was right underneath me).

Thanks G35Driver, you put a smile on my face tonight! (I'still m scraping it off tomorrow morning)