Well, not the entire car, but apparently enough of the essential wiring to kill the battery and various other essential engine components. Apparently an industrious set of mice made a nest in the engine compartment of my Audi TT while I was on vacation and proceeded to chew through some of the wiring and miscellaneous insulation. If I had known that cheese-flavored wiring would have brought about this mishap, I would never have selected that option when I purchased the car. Who knew?
When I started the car on December 27 after over a week of no operation while I was away on vacation, the Check Engine light came on and stayed on. Otherwise, though, the car showed no indication of a problem. On the advice of the Audi service department at the dealership, I made an appointment for January 13 and continued to drive it.
On January 4, the engine hunted for idle by jumping from 500 to 1500 rpm once per second, so I didn’t drive it to work. When I tried to start it that evening, the battery was dead. The next day I had it towed in to the dealership, assuming the warranty would cover whatever the problem might be.
After charging the battery, one of the junior service techs plugged it into a diagnostic computer and determined that the problem was more complex than what he had been trained to handle. When the head tech finally looked at it Friday afternoon, he found a mice nest in the engine compartment. When I last talked to him, he hadn’t investigated enough to determine if there were still mice in it.
Though Acts of Small Rodents are not covered by the otherwise extensive Audi 4-year warranty, the comprehensive part of my auto insurance covered it, so I should be out only the $250 deductible. Well, that and at least a week without my car. The State Farm insurance claims rep whom I spoke with was very helpful and sympathetic. He said he couldn’t believe it when he got his first case like this one. After about the hundredth one he’s seen come through their regional office, though, it became fairly routine.
Without the benefits of a CSI investigator and DNA testing, I probably won’t be able to identify the source of the rodent. There is a big field next to the parking lot at work, and I park about fifty feet from the field. I have seen a rabbit, a cat, and a mouse in that field (obviously, not at the same time having afternoon tea). Assuming he/she/they could survive the 20 minute drive home, I could well have brought home my car’s nemesis. Of course, the damage might have been completed in a single day’s work while my car was parked at the office.
However, I suspect the damage was done in my garage, since I found some shredded insulation and plastic on the floor below where the engine would normally be. I also found a couple rodent turds. The size and shape indicates a house mouse. While all this stuff could have been transported home before falling off the engine in the garage, it’s more likely that these artifacts were created there during the attack.
You might be wondering, “but what about those giant cats of yours that you write about“? Either they aren’t natural mousers or I haven’t been letting them go into the garage often enough. The cats go down there for about an hour every evening, but the mice probably hear them bounding down the stairs, thus allowing them plenty of time to scurry for cover before the lads can score a dessert.
Update 3/5/2005: Read the exciting conclusion to my tale of woe and lamentation! See if you guess how many thousands of dollars my insurance company paid to have my car fixed. I can almost guarantee your guess will be too low!
Update 5/13/2007:Last week I received some info on rodent control and cleanup from the Alameda County Vector Control Services Department as part of a ballot for increasing their funding. Obviously, I voted for increasing their funding.
The tips for preventing infestation were fairly obvious:
- Seal up holes inside and outside the home to keep rodents out
- Trap rodents around the home to help reduce the population
The info on cleaning up after an infestation was more detailed.
Before cleaning a space, ventilate the area by opening the doors and windows for at least 30 minutes to allow fresh air to enter the area and to remove potentially contaminated air from the area. Use cross-ventilation and leave the area during the airing-out period.
When you begin cleaning, it is important that you do not stir up dust by sweeping or vacuuming droppings, urine, or nesting materials.
- Wear rubber, latex, or vinyl gloves.
- Wear a respiratory protection device such as an approved half-faced mask
- Spray the urine and droppings with a disinfectant and let soak 5 minutes.
- Use a paper towel to pick up the urine and droppings, and dispose of the waste in the garbage
- Clean and disinfect the whole area.
- Remove gloves, and thoroughly wash hands with soap and water.
And here’s a tip for finding out how they get in to your car and where they go. Sprinkle baby powder where ever you think a mouse might walk, then check for paw prints in the morning. Also, if you find a hole that they are coming through, then depending on the surface and the visibility of the hole (i.e., do you care if people see the patch job), steel wool is very good for flexibly patching a hole so a mouse can’t come through.
Update 10/27/2007: A post on Boing Boing titled “Clever non-lethal mousetraps” includes a photo of a scaled down version of a mouse trap described by one of the commenters below. As several of the commenters wrote, the glass in the picture is much too small to prevent a mouse from jumping out. The most useful info in that Boing Boing post is in the comments, so I recommend browsing through all of them.
References: How to Get Rid of Mice, Control of Mice.
The line about the “giant cats” cracked me up. Strangely, this scenario sounds familiar – it must have happened to someone else I know recently (although I can’t recall the details). Thanks for sharing!
I am having a similar problem where the mice are getting into the cabin of my Honda Pilot. I have captured five so far. I became aware of the problem when I found mouse droppings on the kids car seats and cup holders. The dealer said that it is a common problem “all makes, all models”. I am glad to hear that the insurance covered the problem. The dealer suggests keeping the AC/heat on re-circulate to possibly keep the mice from getting in through the air vents.
Any suggestions on how to stop them from hanging out in my car? I just got a call from my dealership after bringing in my car this morning because the engine light was on and my gas gauge stopped working. I thought it was under warranty, but mice don’t fall under the warranty. The mice in my car are living on top of my gas tank. I have 2 cats, so I don’t want to use decon, but I can’t keep taking it to the dealership, and my car is now stinky because they’ve left rotten food on the gas tank. Any suggestions?
Two words. Snap traps.
We get a lot of deer mice at our cabin. Snap traps work great. Bait them with a little bit of peanut butter and set them along a path you think the mice might follow. Mice tend to stay close to walls as they move around a room.
The cheap snap traps with a flat piece of wood as a base work well. I just bought some plastic ones that are easier to set, but they don’t snap as fast and don’t appear to be very strong. I think a mouse could wiggle out of one. The cheaper wood ones are lot more powerful, but it can be a little nerve racking to set them (think of a Jack-in-the-box or the kid’s game Operation, but with a much louder sound and potentially some peanut butter getting tossed across the floor).
You can also try the boxes with bait, but you have to make sure your cats can’t get to them. The bait dehydrates the mice. That way, if they die in the walls of your house or inside your car, they won’t smell bad.
Glue strips supposedly work well, but they seem a little barbaric. Also, I’m not sure I want to come home to find a starving, half dead mouse on a glue strip. The snap traps seem to bring about a far quicker death. I’ve only had one instance where it looked like the mouse wasn’t killed immediately.
I too am having a problem with Mice and my brand new Honda Pilot. Seems as they like the HVAC duct, and have decided to make it home. I also have two cats, so no poison allowed. As far as the snap traps….where do you put them? I read somewhere that moth balls would deter them as well. I put moth balls in a stocking and hung them in my engine compartment yesterday. The car smells a little on the outside, but as of yet…not on the inside. I hope this works as I am at my wits AND my checkbook end!!
I read that mice usually stay close to walls and that they prefer being concealed. In my garage, I have some metal and wood racks near a wall that they could easily move along on, while staying out of sight of me and, possibly even, my cats. So, I baited the snap traps with peanut butter and pushed them against the wall so the baited part is as close to the wall as possible.
I know that PB makes good bait, because we often get mice in our cabin at Tahoe. They seem to love the stuff. Another advantage is that PB won’t smell bad after sitting out, the way cheese sometimes does.
A friend told me that he had seen a website recommending moth balls. I haven’t tried that, yet.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, I haven’t caught any mice in my garage, yet. I believe that after the big December rains ended, they may have gone back to the underground tunnels. Of course, that will probably happen again this winter, so I have to be prepared.
One thing I did do was make sure every access to my garage was well sealed. The previous owner had cut a hole in a crawl space door so he could run an extension cord into the crawl space. I made sure to patch that. I’ve read that an adult mouse can go through a hole as small as a quarter.
Also, I had been storing bird seed in my garage. I found of chewed up seeds in the box and one of the corners of the box had been gnawed on. I don’t store any kind of food in the garage anymore, other than the baited snap traps.
have gotten mice in my honda element, left dog food in the bag in rear, never thought of mice and now they are in the front and back of the car. A gentlemen at the hardware store told me to put bounce on the motor and tail pipe that mice do not like the smell of bounce so now my car smells like new laundry but if it works i am pleased and now putting the dog food in a metal garbage can with lid so they can not chew hope can get rid of mice in car
My 2004 Honda Pilot has been damaged by rodents 4 timess: once they ate the fuel line (very dangerous) and also have 3 times eaten the knock sensor wire which also controls the 4WD system. Pilots seems very vulnerable to rodent damage. I have requested Honda to address the problem without luck. I would be interested in contacting others who have this problem.
Paul Paryski, Santa Fe, NM
Paul, if anyone contacts me directly or posts a related comment here about mice getting into a Honda Pilot, I’ll let you know.
I to have just spent $500.00 because of mice in my car engine. I do not have a garage and live close to a hilly area. I would appreciate any ideas on how to keep them out.
my 2003 Honda pilot also has been infested by mice. they made a nest in the heating duct/blower area(the heat wasn’t working) The dealership cleaned it out and cleared all the heat vents. Their theory was I had kid crumbs in my car that enticed the mice. Had it detailed and have kept it food free but have now found evidence of them being in the cabin again. I would like to know how many other Pilots have this issue, does anyone know?
I have a mouse problem in my Explorer. We live in the Cascade foothills outside of Portland OR, and there are tons of mice. I get them regularly, my husband never gets them, he has a Voyageur van. I usually get rid of them before they do much damage, but it’s a constant battle. Looking for any help….
2005 Honda Pilot. Mice chewed through knock sensor wiring harness. $300 to repair. A friend with an Odessey just got a $600 bill for rodent damage. I’m worried it may happen again. Seems to be more prevelent in Honda/Acura than other makes. Honda should reroute this wire elsewhere in engine or encase it in some sort of metal(with barbs)instead of plastic. BTW I read that someone with a similar issue was told by their dealer that the wiring harness was made of a soy-based plastic product. This can’t be true- can it? Is this a conspiracy to keep the Honda Service Depts profitable?
Wow, misery does love company. I never expected to get so many comments on this post. Sorry to hear about everyone else’s troubles. If you have comprehensive coverage with a relatively low deductible on your insurance, you may want to make a claim. State Farm covered the cost for my car, despite the fact that the final bill was insanely large.
If you have a garage, make sure that any ventilation holes are no bigger than a dime. An adult mouse can get through something not much larger than that. I suspect a hole in a door to the crawl space under my house to have been the gateway. The previous owner had cut out the hole so he could run an extension cord under the house.
Also, don’t store food of any kind in your garage, near your cars, or especially in your cars. Mice and rats will eat much of what we eat, plus more, e.g., flower bulbs.
Other than that, all I can recommend are snap traps and catch-and-release traps.
Toyota dealer is telling me I have a mouse problem in my new 4Runner! Other cars in garage have never had a problem in 8 years. I was told to try moth balls in a plastic baggie with holes in it.
Also to mouse proof the garage, you might try a Rat Zapper 2000. I’ve ordered one, and I hear they work great.
this morning my wife took her ’97 saturn to dealership due to check engine light staying on – rodents had chewed through a lot of the wiring & built nests. will cost about $1200-1600. our cars stay outside all the time – no garage. i decided to check my ford explorer and found a nest on top of the air filter. it’s like we’ve been invaded. we live way out in country in oregon and never had this problem b4. that’s how i found your website – looking for a solution to the problem. i guess pb snap traps are a good start. if anyone has a better idea i’d sure like to hear it . thanks & good luck to all.
Just returned from the dealer tonight to find out something (probably mice), has chewed my second wiring harness in a three week period. I have tried mouse traps, live traps, and decon to no avail. Both times they chewed through the wiring harness to my knock sensor. I love my Honda Pilot but apparently not as much as something else. Have lived in my home w/garage for 8 years and never had a problem until I owned a Pilot. I Will try moth balls, bounce and traps under my hood if needed as they are much cheaper than my $500 trips to the dealer. I wish you all luck.
I have set snap traps in my VW Beetle Convertible.
I will now go and buy Bounce because I see more mouse droppings! I will also see if they are getting in air ducts. Thanks for the tips!
Well, my check engine lite came on and I took my 2005 Beetle Convertible to the Dealer and got the starngest call in the world about something eating my wires and hoses !!! I am going to try it ALL as far as suggestions and now that I have converted my garage to an enclosed gym, I cannot just pull inside. There are railroad ties right by my driveway so I suspect the little stinkers are in there staking out my car at night !! I am on my way to Ace Hardware to fight the war !!
I, too have rodent(s) living in my Dodge Grand Caravan Minivan. I thought they were just coming in to forage for food at night (I also have two kids with lots of spilled food crumbs) but today as I was driving my baby back home after dropping off my preschooler from school, I heard the distinct chewing sound of a rodent by my ear! They’re up inside the roof lining!
I laid two more traps (the first went untouched) with raisins and peanutbutter and waited inside the safety of my house…. I just went to check on the traps and they had licked the peanut buter off without springing a trap! To add insult to injury, they left a little note thanking me of the mid-morning snack (not really but it sure felt that way) I guess I’ll have to try the sticky glue traps ( can’t stand the thought of them crawling over my daughter and son’s car seat in search of morsels!
I live in rural Iowa and have the same experience with mice. For every oil change I perform on my 2002 Chevy Prizm, I need to purchase a brand new airfilter. I drive 100+ miles per day so we’re looking at a new airfilter once a month. This is getting ridiculous. I need to know where I should place the mothballs and if they need to be enclosed in pantyhose, or just placed in the air filter housing. Please advise!!
Well, the glue traps worked, at least so far. That mouse was a big one, well fed, I guess! My husband and I marvelled at how that thing sprang not one but two of the regular traps without getting caught, but then became ensnared in the glue trap. I can only immagine the chaos as both traps sprang and then as it ran away from them, it got stuck in the glue. I know I shouldn’t take such joy in this, I’m just glad I won’t hear it again in my car. I’m hoping it was the only one. PLan on taking the car to get detailed to get rid of all the crumbs that might encourage others to take up residence.
I’ll keep you all posted.
I have the same mouse problem in my Honda Accord. I am going to try the bounce sheets. I tried the peppermint oil, but it didn’t last long. The darn things chewed a hole through my rear seat under my daughters car seat! Not happy!
I have a 2003 Honda Pilot and did have problems with mice getting in the a/c blower and building nests. They also ate some of the netting in back of the passenger seat. I took the car to my local mechanic and they installed a wire mesh to cover the openings that the mice used to get into the car. That solved my problem but it cost me about $600. Honda didn’t have any suggestions for me when I took it in there the first time I had the problem. I live in the country so mice are a big problem. I have never had problems with my Ford E350 Club Wagon vans though…
I thought I was all alone with the mice problem! The mechanic has lost interest in the problem except to say that the mice need to be kept away from the car (duh!). I was going to go up the chain of Honda to see what they say, but you all have tried that right? I have installed 2 new harnesses in the last 12 months and the engine light is on again! Put down sticky pads, but just caught birds, of all things. Didn’t like that! Keep no food in car. They seem to bein the engine compartment. Tried mothballs, but that didn’t work. Will try the Bounce trick. Cars that sit right next to mine, aren’t affected. Why? Help Honda, Help!
My 2003 Honda CRV has a mouse. Thank goodness my toddler didn’t see it running around the car this morning. I left 4 sticky traps in it with peanut butter cups while at work to see if that does the trick. Doesn’t look like there is anything under the hood though. Will try the Bounce sheets tonight after a good vaccuuming!
Oh my Gosh, I’m so glad to have found this site. I was cruising around and my check engine light flashed on. No biggie, I’m under warranty. Boy, was I in for some sticker shock. $425 to change out a wire, because they have to remove the intake. I’m a broke student…I was up this late searching for some ways to prevent this from happening again. I guess Honda’s are yummy. I have an 05 accord coupe.
The best I can come up with is to put one of those sonic pest controllers near/under your car. I don’t want this to ever happen again.
If anyone finds something out there that works, please post.
I have 3 cars, park them all in the same area and the 2003 Honda Pilot is the only one the mice get in. So far there is no damage. I am going to take these comments to my Honda dealer. I don’t even want to drive this vehicle anymore.
well i seem to have the same problem as most of the other people. i live suronded by woods, and have no garage to keep my car in, so i consently have mice in my car, eating away at wires, clugging up my air vents and so much more, hundreds of dollars of damage and repaires! please help?????
I just found out that I have mice in my 2005 Pilot and 1991 Accord. Both were parked in the garage…after telling the next door neighbours who also have a 2005 Pilot, we checked theirs and sure enough we found mice droppings in there as well. VERY FRUSTRATING!!!! Filthy rodents! Honda needs to do something about this obvious fault with their vehicles.
Well I just got back from the Honda Dealer and was told that my 2003 Honda Odyssey has mice. It appears that they have chewed through knock sensor and wiring harness and it is going to be a minimum or 265.00. The dealer also told me that Honda had put out a national news letter about this same problem and what to look for. Has anyone else heard about this?? If so it would have been nice to know before hand…..
Wow!!! didn’t know there was such a site! I just got off the phone with my mechanic who told me mice have eaten my 2 week old spark plug wires. I have a Toyota RAV4. I took my car in this morning and it was fine. They pulled it in the shop at 9:00 and the check engine light was on. My mechanic just called…the wires they put on last week were soy based plastic. They are now being replaced with silicone based rubber. Thanks for the info. Good luck everyone!
I guess I’m not the only one with mice problems…but I think I have a different problem than others. I have a Chevy Corvette which I store for the winter. The mice have tore out a bunch of insulation and the smell of urine is unreal. I was wondering if anyone knows how to get rid of that smell without having to replace all the carpets in the car. It’s as if someone took a bucket of amonia and poured it all over. Any sugestions?
P.S. I heard moth balls do keep mice away. I will surely be trying it.
Mouse problems, yes i have had them for a while in my 85 VW. About 6 yrs now. Disgusting. I just spent about 300 bucks for getting my dash taken out as there were maggots!!! yes i smelled the nastiness and knew it was a mouse or mice. And I took it to the shop and well, they didn’t want to discuss what they found but they did say they took care of it. I am sure they must have found some well, you know… I have tried those poison blocks to no avail. they just come into your car and will die and they will definately stink. I just tried peppermint oil, someone recommended that today. I will let u know how it works out. Currently I am continuously lysoling my vehicle to prevent any sickness and also washing my car seat covers regularly.
> I was wondering if anyone knows how to get rid of that
> smell without having to replace all the carpets in the
> car. It�s as if someone took a bucket of ammonia and
> poured it all over. Any sugestions?
I’ve read that white vinegar, when used with a carpet shampooing machine, helps neutralize the ammonia from the urine stains. That may be a bit tricky in a car, though. An easier option is to use a mix of baking soda and corn starch. Leave it on overnight and then vacuum it up.
The smell is caused by bacterial decomposition of urea, which is partially composed of ammonia. For older stains, you probablyy need to go with an enzyme or bacteria based product that will break the remaining urea into less pungent compounds. I’d suggest trying products that are advertised to treat cat urine. Hopefully you can find something reasonably priced at a pet store.
TO ROBERT: maybe you can possibly double check your vents again. And maybe check under where you have your gear shifter. Some folks forget to clean under there by taking it apart. Then maybe you should try getting a good shampoo on a sunny day . air it out. and lysol your car to the max after drying. you may need to get your car shampooed twice and then lysol.
I have a 2004 Jeep Liberty and I guess the wiring in those tastes pretty good too……….my car is at the dealer now because my sun roof wont close. I was told about using Bounce too
Hey! so I sprinkled peppermint oil all over my car.. o my it sure smells like a candy cane. ok with me. And NO MICE YET!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW.
I noticed they went into the engine but not inside the vehicle! It may actually be working!
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Peppermint oil…I would put some in your engine compartment also. I don’t know if your car has soy based wiring like mine but some squirrels find it tasty. It shouldn’t be a problem too much now that the weather is warming up and the rodents no longer need to rely on an engine block for warmth.
I’m getting ready to pull the entire interior of my 92 Toyota Previa out. I have 4 separate nesting holes in the headliner, where among the ‘GALLONS’ of nesting material, there are literally millions upon millions of tiny seeds, which have worked their way now, to the sides of the ceiling, and are falling down behind the side paneling, and collecting behind the bottom panels, these seeds are falling out of every possible crack or seam of the interior panels, so the entire interior has to come out. It stinks. I found another nest underneath an ashtray inside the side panel. There were one or two very large nests just under the bed in the van. Chewed wiring behind the glove box. I haven’t been able to investigate the duct work system yet. —- This van sat for the winter, while I was dealing with an injury and couldn’t drive it until just last week, and now this beautiful customized mini home is in really bad shape. This is such a well kept, like-new vehicle, that I often use as my traveling home, and now…. I’m absolutely outraged. Is it safe enough to clean up all the potentially disease ridden mouse remnants, or should I drive this thing into the lake…?? I’m afraid to use the heater/defroster cuz of what might be inside the ducts..!! I’m afraid to let people ride in my van, and have a few friends who ARE afraid. I’m thinking I’m going to have to disinfect the shop vac after using it in there. I’ve proably breathed in so many particles already, should I keep pushing my luck and continue the immense job of pulling my dashboard and all of the intererior out..?? (I am wearing a mask). I imagine I’d probably need a new headliner, and carpet..?? what a joke… anger.
message to powbob.
it’s safe to clean your car. LOL. you can definately get it cleaned out. but remember to get your repair shop to lysol it down if necessary. it should work. Yes I know what it feels like with the anger. it’s horrific.
With the peppermint oil. it didn’t work only one week later i got a mouse in it. ugh. but definately less than usual.
I have a 2004 Honda Pilot. I have had the car in to the dealership four times for mice in the engine. They have caused over $1000.00 in damage. Now they are in the cabin of my car. I spent 6 hours cleaning/detailing the car and I found new droppings two days later. Is this the same mouse or are new ones climbing in? Where are they coming from? It seems like Honda should do something about this.
Without a DNA test, it’s going to be pretty hard to tell for certain if it’s the old mice or new mice. I think it’s definitely possible the old mice have built a nest in the engine compartment or in the ventilation ducts and were just hiding out while you were cleaning the car.
Based on other people’s comments, it sounds like the outside air inlet on a Honda Pilot may be particularly vulnerable to rodent access. In Karen’s comment above, she wrote that she had a mechanic install a wire mesh over the entrance.
I’m not sure if this will help, but I recommend setting the climate control system on your car to use only recirculated air. While it’s healthier to bring in outside air, perhaps this might temporarily shut off access for the mice to the cabin of your Pilot.
Okay, so I just got a call from my service advisor at my car place. MICE have chewed my engine wires too! I didn’t know what else to do but laugh. I have a 911 so maybe they like european sportscars. Anyway, $5600 to replace the entire wire harness. Unbelievable. I googled “mice car engine” and got your post.
I first smelled the mouse problem soon after I bought a useed honda accord wgn. The mice left there droppings on the valve cover. They don’t seem to be getting inside the passenger compartment yet. We do keep the recirculating air on, as this keeps the stink to a minimum. I tried mothballs, Bounce dryer sheets and peppermint oil as well as traps on the valve cover. After a few weeks they seemed to have moved out so I removed the moth balls. Now the mice have upgraded to my wifes newer Toyota Camry and droppings continue to appear in both cars. There is still another car to move into as we park 3 cars side by side…outdoors. Too bad they won’t move out while parked away from home! I live in Seattle, I thought about driving somewhare like Deathvalley to cook them out. Perhaps a paint shop with an oven would offer the service?
I’m not sure what is worse the mice or the mothballs! I guess the next thing I will try is traps near whare they may be forrageing.
good luck folks!!!
hi! we here at prodigious auto have made a lot of repaires to many cars due to mice,many were repeats from cronic offenders! after along search we have finally found a solution. we offer a aromatic deterant that mice find offensive but smells good to humans,to learn more visit our sight at prodigiousauto.com. try it youll like it!
I believe that I have mice living in my 87′ buick regal which i keep under a tarp behind my home during the winter, and only use for a few months during the summer. i have found a nest under the wiper well and i have even heard sounds coming from under the dash when sitting in the car with the engine off, this has been happening for several years and i haven’t experienced any problems so i don’t mind the mice living there, but it does seem like an odd place for them to stay.
I have had mice chew my wires 2 times now..luckily I have had wires I could take off of junk cars I have ..so was not out any money other than lost work from it not running right..:(
I am putting bar bait pieces on top of engine compartment and the mice eat that instead of my wires.
I get the bar bait (named One Bite)at the feed store and break it up in smaller pieces.
It is supposed to be safer if another animal ate the mice after it ate the bait.
I have a 2003 Honda Pilot. I have the rotten, mold/mildew smell that is worse when the car is moving. I have taken the Pilot to the Dealership repairmen who are telling me that I must have left a childs milk in the car. I have no signs of this. I know most definetly that the odor is coming from the air system. The dealer keeps telling me that there is nothing that they can do “as this is a CLOSED SYSTEM”. Obviously their closed system has a hole somewhere. Do you have any information at all that I can relay to the mechanic to get this fixed? Also, any contacts at Honda? I am not crazy, even though the fumes might be doing something as I inhale.
I have 99 Acura 3.2 TL and am having trouble with mice nesting on the blower motor. I removed the glove box, the two air filters and the blower motor and cleaned everything. After one day in the summer heat, it really stinks! I plan to check the air intake cavity beneath the windshield wipers. Does anyone know their prefered nesting locations and how they get in??
This is a real mess!
Steven
WOW…final a site with folks that can relate! In the last 8 weeks I have had my 2005 Toyota 4Runner in the shop 3 times. First time was $2,500.00 (Both cables had been chewed through) the 2nd & 3rd time was $1,200.00 each (Mice only got one cable) Toyota is telling me that it is because of the area I live in (the mountains). Imagine that … A Toyota 4Runner, 4 wheel drive, Sports Edition is not meant to be in the mountains…ya right! In speaking to an attorney it doesn’t fall under the “lemonlaw” it would have to be considered a “product liabilty” with thousands in expert witness fees… I am out of options I do know that $1,200.00 every 3 to 4 weeks is out. My car is parkes outside..so..getting rid of the mice from the entire mountain region is out..not sure what is left…If any one has any suggestions andor a why to correct the problem please respond. I need HELP HELP HELP!!!! Thanks Didi
Spray your engine compartment with “Mighty Mint” insect and pest control. Rodents don’t like the smell, and the spray product is available in gallon sized plastic containers with a spray hose attached. Moth Balls do not work, and are toxic to people and pets to breath in the vapors thereof.
Dang, I feel bad for you. I was only out $400, I thought that was alot but now I don’t feel so bad. I saw an episode on TV about this except the problem was squirrels. Mothballs and peppermint don’t work. The only thing that seemed to work was the guys dog peeing around the area where he parked. I’m guessing the squirrels were scared of the scent. They have coyote urine odor pellets someplace online. Give them a whirl. I’ve heard mixed reviews on sonic repellents. You would have to run an extention cord to your car which isn’t an option if you live in an apartment. Good luck.
Didi,
Definitely check to see if your auto insurance will cover the cost. I have State Farm, and they covered the full cost except for the deductible under the comprehensive part of my insurance, even though the grand total for the repair was over $18,000. And no, I didn’t put a comma in the wrong place. The mice damaged nearly every hose and wire in my Audi TT’s engine compartment. Three separate State Farm adjusters reviewed the damage and the shop’s estimate, and they still agreed to cover the full cost.
I had a 2002 Chrysler Sebring and mice caused $250 damage. My friends’ PT Cruiser cost him $650. Both cars were in a garage.
I have tried Bounce, and never noticed another mouse in the car, or garage. Now, though, I have a nest under the hood of my truck. I guess I got lazy with replacing the old sheets of Bounce. Do try to keep the Bounce replaced with new sheets so as to keep the aroma fresh. I am also going out to get some traps(the sticky ones).
So do you just lay the Bounce sheets in the engine? wouldnt they melt? how do they stay in? Or do you lay them on top of the air filter in the housing? What about for the tailpipe. Please help I cant afford to not put it in the right place. 2001 4Runner
I put them on the floor beneath the car just inside of the tires where I park. I’m assuming that the mice previously got into the engine by climbing the tires or jumping up onto the wheels. I have read that they can jump 1-2 feet, though, so maybe my plan isn’t so good. I looked under my car, and this seemed like the only way they would be able to easily get in. Just for good measure, I tossed a couple sheets on the floor near the middle of the engine.
I also thought about putting snap traps along the inside of the tires after I parked. I figured I would probably forget about them, though, and periodically run over them.
We have a 2003 Honda Pilot and this is the 4th time we have had mice. Before it cost me $75/mouse to get its “parts” cleaned out of the vents. 3 days ago, the pilot smelled so bad I couldn’t even drive it. The Honda dealership said there was a family of mice (now deceased) living in the Pilot. They now have to pull the whole heating/venting system apart. The cost is going to be hundreds of dollars. They say there is nothing they can do. Help! I love my Pilot but my husband says sell!
I purchased a 2001 Toyota Camry in February and by late March/early April, my air/heating began making a very loud noise. The higher the setting, then the louder the noise became. Then, in late April, I noticed a smell (mildew, nasty water)kind of smell!! Guess what! A dead mouse, in the blower motor along with a nest, but the most horrific thing of all that I have been dealing with for weeks but thought I was finally getting over–there was some snake skin in the nest. Do you think maybe the mice use snake skin they find to build their nest? Probably not likely, huh. I’m surprised I have not read of any of you who have found snake skin or worse since the mice seem to be a common problem and snakes eat mice! I have not turned on my air conditioner since the nest was cleaned out, just because I wanted the smell to clear, which it has, and I was just freaked out about inhaling dead rodent. Plus, I’m so nervous driving the car that I like to be able to hear clearly, just in case.
My concern is that today, I finally turned it on and guess what?? That noise is there again. Quieter but it is there. It’s so embarrassing. I don’t want to take it back to the mechanic but I guess I will. I hadn’t tried Bounce or mothballs (cannot stand the smell of mothballs). I haven’t tried anything. I just hoped it would not happen again, but I guess I was wrong. We have a garage and are surrounded by woods. It would be good if car manufacturers would keep this issue in mind.
I say try essential oil of peppermint. It’s worked for me on the farm. Sure your car will smell like a peppermint patty but why not try it?
nothing can really be done about the engine except for putting poison blocks in it, but that risk arises where you end up having a mouse that dies behind your dash causing a stench. Bounce didn’t work for me… pity.
good luck!
After reading these stories, I don’t feel so bad yet!
The mice eat thrught the plastic hood vent of my 2005 Toyota Solara. They left lots of acorns as if to build a nest.
Cost so far only $125 for an electronic mouse zapper and an inspection at the dealers.
By the way, I did catch one in the trunk with a clue trap.
I have recently found a mouse problem in my 2006 Ford Expedition. I caught 4 with snap traps and I heard a noise in my SUV when I turned the air conditioner on. I took the truck in to the dealer and he told me something was stuck in the fan. When he opened it he found two mice dead inside. I have no clue on what to do on getting rid of them and besides that,I have a 3 year old. I have been keeping the truck clean but this problem has been going on for weeks now. My service tech told me that they are eating the wires under the hood, and the only reason they knew about he mouse problem (before the air conditioning incident) is because my radio was not working. I am sure that the mice ate the wiring but I don’t know what to do. I am setting snap traps every day and I am placing mothballs under the hood at night. I am going to try the peppermint oil on the cotton balls, but I don’t know what to use to clean the upholstry in the truck. Does anyone have any suggestions!! P.S. Someone once told me that the mice could get into your vehicle through packages or boxes that you have placed in your vehicle from shopping or work.
Hi there, I have had the old peoples urine smell for the past year and have tried air con cleaners. The problem was it wasnt when the air con was on it was when the air con was off i noticed the smell. Recently my blower was making a racket, so taking off the blower housing and accessing the air filter inside my car (Vauxhall Astra) I managed to clean out tons of chewed up bags, cigarette packets, old (chewed up) air fresheners etc which mounted to a full carrier bag full of debris when i cleaned it out.
A week later the smell got worse again and at this point I replaced the air filter, this cleared things for a week and even with the whole system open at the air filter (of the blower) and blowing out this only makes the smell slightly more bareable.
I have tried spraying nutrolizers into the air blower ducts, but this seems to make the smell worse and there is no evidence of them inside the car, however I cannot put up with the smell anymore, even my daughter doesnt want to go in the car because of the smell.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
I am so happy I found this site and you all know what I am going thru. It all started just last Saturday…I was on my way to the supermarket when a mouse climbed next to me on my door, trying to get out the window. After I screamed, I opened the window more and it immediately went into the vent by my windshield. I haven’t used the car since. I’m totally terrorized to use it. I called some pest control professionals and found out alot. First of all, if you have mice in your car, they have urinated all over and it’s like a magnet for other mice. Plus, it’s very dangerous to your health. Your car needs to be cleaned out with a good cleaner with bleach strength. To get rid of mice, I was told spring traps are the best. Well, tonight we are going to put a string trap in the car with the windows closed and see what happens. The guy said it is likely that I have a nest, too. My car seems to running ok (cross my fingers), but my check engine light has been on for several months. I’ve taken it to the garage and they have never found mice in it. Maybe this time they will. This could also be a fluke that one mouse got into the garage and into my car on Friday night. They drivers window was all the way open. This is what I am hoping for. I’ll keep you posted.
I strongly bleached the air inlet, the blower and the pipes as far as the pollen filter last night, it smelt much better this morning but still not completley gone. if i have the air con on or air blower to recirculate then it smells better, if its taking air from the outside its still there however ive cleaned it with a 25% (1 bleach 3 water) solution and cannot understand why im still smelling it when its not on recirculate or air con on.
I have had good luck keeping mice out of the engine compartment by just leaving the hood up at night- this has stopped damage on my 64 volvo and 91 isuzu. I never had them inside the car, but now I have a 06 toyota corolla ( yes, my first new car!!!) and the mice have gotten inside. I have tried almost everything- bounce, peppermint oil, live traps, cursing, vents on recirculate, steel wool in gaps. I have killer cats. The car dealer evidently thinks this is funny / common which it is neither. Poisoning or trapping is only temporary-I need to figure out how they are getting in!!!!
Hey NANCY.
nope no way for u to actually find out where they’re coming from. Lets remember folks the damn mice can squish themselves to a very thin diameter. SoOOO I suppose you’ll hafta keep trying all that stuf out. just remember to watch out for smells from vents. And I like the sticky traps when i drive. to be safe. I prefer not to hear the snap of a trap when i drive.
i was given some liquid capsules today that you stick in vaccum cleaners to stop thoses vaccie smells that they often give off and poured them into the air vents and has actually got ridof the smell and has a new (nice) smell.
I just found droppings in my car this morning and I am sick to my stomach and my husband is livid. (My best guess is that they followed me from the school that I work at.) I will try the bounce, mothballs and peppermint oil today. Thank you all for your suggestions.
I am completely freaked out that rodents are living in my 2002 Camry. (I park my car in the garage.)It looks like they are living behind the glove box. No sign of them in the car YET. I will try all of the suggestions mentioned on this site and get back to you all. Does anyone know if the ultrasonic rodent repellents work? They sound too good to be true.
Just discovered from Honda Dealer that “Rodents” have built a nest in my 05 Honda Pilot…$600 (+) to replace the Wiring Harness, Knock Sensor, leading to Malfunction Engine Light and VTM-4 light. If these problems are indeed real, they are a HONDA Manufacturer PROBLEM. Honda has not been responsive to any previous issues I’ve brought to their attention. This seems to be a warranty issue in which HONDA should pay.
Yes, I have another Honda 2004 that I just took for noise in the vents, only to be called and told it was a rodent. I was also having issues with the 4wd mechanism, but it was intermittent, and they never found out for sure what it was. Now I may know!!!!! This sounds like a major manufacturing defect that needs to be addressed. All Honda owners please contact jcchatcher@hotmail.com.
We just moved to NC 6 weeks ago and now I have mice in my jeep cherokee that does sit outside. I went to the dealership to ask if they might have heard of anyone else having this problem and of course they never have. I have caught two so far and my husband is tearing apart the whole jeep this weekend to see where they might be coming from. I don’t have any smelly problems though and no wires have been chewed-thank goodness- only a half eaten hickory nut on the battery. Wish us luck.
Where outside air comes in for the cabin at the base if the windshield, rain can also get in. To allow this water to drain, there are two 1â?? holes on either side of this â??chamberâ?? with a simple (worthless) rubber flap covering. This gives mice direct access to the interior of the car through the AC ductwork and they invariably make nests in there. Had a 2002 Acura TL and 1998 Accord both with this problem, but I would guess this would be common for all Hondas and many other vehicles. Having these access points covered 3/8â??wire mesh should stop this point on entry, but there may be others. For storing a vehicle, the only true protection would be something like â??Car Capsuleâ?? http://www.car-capsule.net
Cannot speak for other models, but Toyota Camry and Lexus have an easy fix to keep mice out of the cabin air filter. This task requires less than thirty minutes and limited mechanical ability.
Remove the windshield wiper arms. Underneath the windshield is a plastic fresh air cowling which is held in place with two pin plugs–One on each side of the cowling. Press gently on the center of the plug and the plug releases. Too much force and you buy new plugs. The cowling then unhooks from plastic stays and slides forward. This exposes the wiper mechanism and on the passenger side you will find a raised vent which is approximately six inches by 10.5 inches. If you look down this vent you will see the cabin filter or a door if the air conditioning system is in the re-circulate mode. To the left of this vent is a large opening into the fender which will allow fairly large rodents to enter from the ground. There is no easy way to screen these holes on both sides of the cowling as they are water drains. The mice are coming up the inside of the fender and entering the vehicle through the raised vent. Remove the cabin air filter and vaccum the area around the fan, if needed. Take stainless steel screen and make a cap for the vent. The screen must allow for ample passage of air. I used plumbers putty to hold the screen in place and to prevent any rattling. Presto-No more rodents in the cabin air filter. If you get stuck or need more information, contact me at drjshaw@msn.com
2003 Honda Accord, $395 repair, rodents chewed knock senor wire. After researching I found Honda even has a
Service Bulletin on this problem #06012004 and so does the NHTSA # 10014213. I have a call out for service manager from my local Honda to get a copy of what this service bulletin says. Makes you wonder why 90% of these posts are about Honda. I will update when I get some feedback.
I have a Jeep Cherokee, just picked it up from the mechanics, wires chewed, nest in the heater duct? He cleaned it out and replaced the wires, this is the first time I have ever heard of this, and then I find this site, Is there no way to deter these critters..I have no odor yet, just a loud noise from the blower.. I am opting for the snap traps, I don’t want them to come back. The rainy season is over and I was so glad to hear about the Insurance Co. paying and I will try the bounce, Not glad anyone else has this problem but I am glad to hear I am not the only one.. Thanks for all the comments, help and suggestions..
Just had our 3rd repair of mice damage in our 2003 Acura MDX. We just moved to the country and don’t have a garage. First repair involved chewed wires causing the engine light to go on. Last 2 were the air conditioning blower getting louder 2 times in 2 weeks. Acura kindly removed this last nest for free after we complained about the fact that this doesn’t happen in our other cars/trucks. The person in Service made a copy of the structures behind the glove box under the hood where the nests were so my husband could devise some type of screening. He said it would be quite expensive for them to install the screens. I love my Acura but I doubt I would buy another knowing this problem exists. We are very grateful to you all for sharing your experiences. As mentioned above, some action needs to be taken with the manufacturers of Honda/Acura to resolve this problem. Until the screens go in we will try the mothballs and dryer sheets. Thank you!
I can’t believe how many people this happens to, I HATE RODENTS!!!
I have a 2005 Mustang and had 4 wires connecting to the transmission completely chewed through.. $600. The check engine lights been on 3 times since then, just got the connector fixed and somehow Ford altered it so it was covered under warranty. So lucky. This is sooo frustrating and I never know when the lights going to come on again. I dont know what to do, theyre really making me mad!!! Has anyone had luck with snap traps/sticky traps under the hood? Im going to try that and put repellent all around and mothballs, Ill try anything. Were in San Diego. What is it about our wires that are so attractive? Go away!!! Could it possibly be squirrels or rats? All of the posts seem to be about mice. Thanks.. good luck to everyone
I’ve had continual problems with rdoents with various cars including Hondas, Kia, and a Ford Probe.
Just returned from an extended vacation and found my Pilot didn’t want to run and had to have it towed. A big nest was on the engine and a large mousew or rat actually jumpoed out when the car was being towed away. It’s still in the shop after a week. They founfd a large nest in the air ducts and have replaced two harnesses so far. Also my 94 civic had every piece of winshield washer tubing eaten off and laid on top of the engine. I constantly have to shove a vacuum leaner hose into the heating cooling vents to clean it out. I’m trying glue traps in the cars, getting cats, also will try moth balls , bounce peppermint etc. This problem has been going on for years and is annoying. If anyone has any additional ideas on deterrent, let me know.
Anyone else had experience with the electic rodent ‘ultrasonic’, or similar, devices?
I’ve heard they do not work – but I’m interested to hear from those that have actually tried them…
yep another Honda Pilot here! I just had my 2004 repaired for $600.00. apparently the mice chewed throuh a gas line. I just gave the car a good vacuuming as I have 3 kids and there are definitely crumbs around. yuck. I feel like I am going to barf! I am going to park outside, not in the garage for awhile.
help. I don’t know what else to do.
I thought we were the only ones with this problem. We have a 2005 Honda Pilot and this is the second “mouse” problem we have had in several months. The mouse or mice have nested in our car using the insulation between the panels and the metal. The first one, my husband found after tearing apart the back of the car. This new one he has yet to find. So…we are driving the car around in 100+ degree weather waiting for the smell to go away. I was surprised to see so many Pilots with this problem. Is there anything we can do to solve this? Help!!!
Update #76 ,Service manager and owner of my local Honda where I have purchased 2 Hondas and 2 service contracts in 3 yeas say, this is just an act of nature,it happens. I have informed them about this site and the fact that 90% of people posting own Hondas. I am sure other car owners use the internet if they had this problem. I told owner I felt it was necessary to proceed with this to Honda Corporate, because what ever coating Honda is using to protect wiring is appealing to rodents and should be changed. I encourage everyone to call Honda 800 999-1009 or Accura 800-382-2238 so they know it is not isolated incidents as each dealer thinks.
Address for both is:
American Motor Corp.
1919 Torrence Blvd.
Torrence CA. 90501-2746
I live in rural mountain foothill northern California. I have had rodent problems, mostly in the engine area, in a 04 Hyundai Santa Fe, 05 Ford Ranger, and lately in my brand new Nissan Titan truck. I have tried the sonic repellers and found they work to some extent, but not well as claimed. The best thing I have tried is the Bounce sheets. Use the scented ones. It’s the smell that keeps rodents away! I use several (like 12) under my hood in various places where mouse dropping have been seen it the past. If you need to get one of these sheets down into a hard (or impossible) to reach area, Get some stiff insulated electrical wire like gauge 14 solid, from your local hardware store. Cut it into one to 3 foot lenghts as needed. Coil one end of a wire around a rolled up bounce sheet and then use this long wire to place it in the needed area. Leave the free end of the wire where you can reach it later to remove it. Maybe make a hook in the free end and loop around some engine part to hold it in position. Here is another thing… the bounce sheets loose their strong odor in a few days so they will need to be replaced. (They still can be used in your laundry if they didn’t get dirty). I replace every 3 or four days. How long could I wait? Don’t know yet. This method has kept my truck mouse free (as best as I can tell) for the past 3 months. Of course this is a hassle to deal with and you have to remove all the bounce sheets and any wires that you have used, Every Time you Drive! This may not be for everyone. But if you are in a heavy mouse area like I am and if you let your vehicle sit for a few days at a time, its better than having mice destroy your ride. I hope this helps someone.
Sorry to pass on this information, but I did some googling and learned that the Idaho Supreme Court apparently overturned a lower court verdict against American Honda regarding mouse infestation of a Honda. One justice apparently said, “The implied warranty cannot be read to require the distribution of a mouse-proof vehicle.” See this AP newspaper article from Boise that appeared in the Seattle paper:
(Sorry! Please don’t kill the messenger!)
I googled the article you were referring to, website:
seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/145074_mice23.html
Thank you it was very informative.
I don’t believe what is happening now is the same situation as the van 10 years ago in a rural area. Now Honda wiring is being eaten in the suburbs. It seems the mice are fond of the covering of the Knock Sensor Wire. I have heard, but have no proof that this wire is not covered in regular rubber or silicone, but rather a soy based composite covering. Doesn’t it seem odd that the majority of cars talked about on this site are Hondas.In addition there must have been something to warrant Honda putting out a Technical Service Bulletin to instruct their service department about it. They should own up to the fact that there is a problem and should cover it under warranty and find a way to correct it. The more people that let Honda know there is a problem the better.
We just got a 1976 Lincoln Contenintal hand me own 16,000 miles ,that looks like new, but mice did get inside and it only has 3 little holes in the whole car but let me tell you it does stink, there has to be dead mice in there, this is a big car, we took the mats out on a 95 degree day and washed them with laundry detergent and let them dry and they still smell like a big dead stuart little! You can not get rid of this smell which means sell sell sell!
This just happened to my Explorer! I brought my car in today to diagnose why the check-engine light came on. It turned out to be an O2 sensor which I authorized them to replace. I couldn’t believe my ears when the mechanic called later with a progress report and said that my car had a rodent problem. When they went to pull out the bad sensor, they realized that mice had chewed through the wiring to the sensor! The nerve of those little hooligans vandalizing my property!
I live in an unincorporated area near a forest preserve in the far northwest Chicago suburbs. I have lived there for four years and never realized that these mousey shenanigans were going on. I wonder if our recent deadly heatwave and intensely heavy storms have driven these mice to such destructive behavior (kind of like humans looting after a disaster). I am terrified to think about possible damage to my other vehicle, a 2003 Cadillac which I recently inherited. Will the mice turn it into luxury condos? I keep the Caddy in the garage and leave the Explorer (i.e., the giant chew toy for mice) in the driveway. Based on what you all have written, it doesn’t seem to matter whether if the vehicle is outside or inside. By the way, mice will eat bags of grass seed too (a $15 bag in my garage was destroyed over the winter by you know who – I hope they got bloated from all that fiber).
I told my mom about the mice munching on my car engine and she has been in stitches laughing ever since (I must have gone over big – she should catch my next act at the funny farm where it sounds I will be headed based on the plight reported by of all you). I got the last laugh when she called to tell me her electricity just went out and I told her the house wiring was probably sabotaged by a pack of disorderly mice. I was too shy to call Allstate with a damage claim because I’m sure they would be rolling in the aisles over this too. Fortunately the damage so far didn’t exceed my deductible so it isn’t worth claiming…yet.
The more I read of everyone’s experiences on this site, the more this feels like a victims’ support group! I feel your pain, I really do! I am amazed at how the Hondas seem to be preferred by the mice. I must be one of the token Ford owners misfortunate enough to be a chosen one. The soy-based plastic theory sounds reasonable to me although I read that mice will chew on anything to wear down their teeth and not as much for their dining pleasure.
This situation also presents an ethical dilemma for me. I am a huge animal lover and PETA member so I cannot bring myself to sentence these mice to death. But after reading about the potential financial damage and inconvenience they can cause, I can’t afford not to take preventative action. Do they make humane traps for mice like they do for other wildlife? Out of curiosity, do the mice find one fabric softener fragrance or brand more offensive to them than others? Should I try April fresh, morning breeze, or some other scent?
I hope you don’t think I am making light of this rodent problem as today I found out I am a victim like the rest of you. Some things in life are so off-the-wall weird and frustrating that our only defense is to find the humor in them. Good luck to you all.
Wow I’m really shocked to see how common this is. I just recently repaired the cam position sensor harness on my 2004 Honda Pilot because of rodent damage. After clearing that problem up they chewed through the knock sensor harness. I’m trying to find out where it is located so I can fix that next. Because the dealer says ” Sorry that is considered failure do to and outside influence.” Good luck to all having the attack of the rodent problems.
This just happened to my Chevy Trailblazer. I found mouse droppings in the back and some half chewed Werther’s toffees under the rear seat. I have looked everywhere and there is this smell from somewhere under the rear passenger seat that smells like a dead body! This SUV has 4000 miles and up until last week still had the new car smell…..not anymore. The bounce sheets have kept them out and one day as I pulled my Saturn SC2 out of the garage, it looked like something out of a Disney movie. Two mice were holding on to the spoiler and flapping in the breeze as I drove down the alley. That was funny but finding droppings in my new SUV was not amusing and neither is the smell. I’m going to have to have some pull the seats out and do something because I don’t even want to drive my new SUV.
I’ve had similar problems here in Colorado. My old Jeep was sitting for a few months and ended up with a family sized pack rat nest in the air filter. Well, at this point there is finally a solution: A local company makes a device which used high frequency random sound emissions which keep mice and rats out of your engine compartment. The device attaches to your car’s battery and uses very little power. cool stuff, check out the Rodent Deterrent System
cheers! and good luck!
For a solution to the mice in your car, put up a small mouse corral. A bit of a hassle, but it saves a lot of time and money. For photos and discussion,
see: http://www.hastingsreserve.org/Mammals/MiceInCars.html
We have tried the ultrasonice devices, mothballs, etc. to no effect. The fence works. If you are lucky enough to have a garage, make it mouse-proof by closing all crack you can get your liitle finger through. I lot of foam+screen, new wood trim, tighter door frames, door sweeps, an a few good traps. A good garage can be relatively mouse-proof, but they will continue to gnaw away and make new holes. We have found that older Volvos (240s) never have mice inside. Curious. Maybe folks in Sweden commonly park cars outdoors?
-Mark
i hate to jinx myself , but i think they are gone…i’m not sure what worked, but i tried about everything. no luck with live traps ( peanut butter, feta) and can not stand the idea of sticky traps ( should be outlawed!!) i actually caught one by the tail (yes with my hands, but she was slowed down by the “kids”) and scared one by chasing him through the trunk while i was tearing it apart and he left. i hosed out the engine conpartment with dr. bronner’s peppermint soap and keep peppermint oil in the trunk and glove box ( tried bounce, but it is disgusting- people actually use this on their clothes??????) the air is on recycle (still afraid to turn on the heat) most important, i leave the hood up on all my vehicles when they are parked. i can see where they could get in my 122 volvo, but don’t. my cats could tell you there is no shortage of rodents around here so hopefully something ( or the combination) is working. Could it be they liked the new car smell??( 06 corolla)
A humane, homemade live mousetrap recommended by PETA can be cheaply and easily constructed using a smooth-walled plastic or metal wastebasket. You place bait such as peanut butter on a cracker in the wastebasket. Outside of the basket, stack some smaller objects to create a “staircase” or ramp up to the rim of the basket. Theoretically the mouse will climb up and fall into the wastebasket to get the food but won’t be able to climb back out due to the smooth walls. PETA recommends checking at least once a day for captured mice and releasing “the prisoners” at least 100 feet from your home in a natural environment. I haven’t tried it yet but I did find a plastic wastebasket for $1 at Target.
We have (a) packrats instead of mice, and (b) a Nissan Quest instead of a Honda, but they still ate through the knock sensor wire. Apparently this happens quite a bit when the weather gets wetter here in the summer, and we’ve had a lot of rain in the past month.
After reading all the comments on this website, please let us put our 2 cents worth in…well, really, it’s going to be $70.00 worth for the removal of a dead mouse and nest from our 2004 Honda Pilot. We took it in this morning because of a “clicking” noise coming from the passenger side a/c vent and a foul smell. We pretty well knew what it was going to be as we had the same thing happen before. We think the Service Manager knew too from the look on his face. The first time we had no charge. And after reading other comments about the expense, we consider ourselves lucky it’s only going to be $70.00. Last week we trapped (old fashioned spring type trap) 2 adult mice in the floor board (one on the front passenger side – one on the rear passenger side), then we began to smell the “smell” the next day. Apparently it’s coming from the nest. I have sprayed Oust spray in the interior of the car and it helps. It’s cool enough here in the mountains of NC to drive with the windows down so the “clicking” is only heard when the a/c is on and the smell is lessened when the a/c is off, too. It was interesting to see just how many people are having the same problem with the Honda line of vehicles, and especially interesting about the soy-based coating on some of the wiring. We may be driving something else in the future. I HATE MICE…
We leave the recirc. on both vehicles (1995 Infiniti G20 and 1998 Nissan Frontier) so we never got mice in the car but I’ve removed the fan blower/motor assemblies so many times the screws are wearing out. Sometimes there are sliced-up mice in the blower and usually there’s only nesting material. The nesting material causes a stink and a clunking noise and greatly decreases the amount of air the blower moves.
One piece of important advice – NEVER use poison ANYWHERE for rodents. No matter how bad you think mice are, a dead mouse decaying in an unreachable place is far worse. It’s also causes mice unnecessary suffering when they die. Mice can’t help being mice and looking for a cozy place to nest. A snap trap is usually painless.
Next thing I’m going to try – pour a whole box of moth balls where each tire sits and then park on top of the pile. Mice get up into cars starting at the tires. If this keeps them off the tires, it might work.
If that doesn’t work, get a backhoe and build a deep mote around your garage or parking space. Fill the mote with water or maybe red fox urine.
Failing that, get a crane with a strong magnet attached to the end of the cable and lift your car one foot off the ground when it’s parked. Be careful not to scratch the paint on the roof. Then find a way to keep the mice from climbing the crane boom and scaling down the cable.
If all else fails, ask the auto manufacturer why they can’t put a simple screen over the drainways where the mice crawl up. How hard would that be?
I couldn’t resist posting comment number 100. Thanks to everyone who has posted their stories, tips, and tricks on my website. You’ve helped a lot of people, including me. I now realize I got off pretty easy, other than not having a car for nearly 10 weeks.
Just to throw in my geographical reference, I’m in Oakland, California. We get almost no rain here (maybe 0.25 inches) between May and October, but we make up for it in the winter. Heavy rains cause underground mice and rat tunnels to collapse, so be especially vigilant after a couple days of heavy rains.
Lee, your post was awesome. I’m thinking of attaching a winch to the ceiling of my garage. If I can make enough space along the walls, I might even be able to rotate the car in the air so I will never have to blindly back out of the garage again. I don’t think mice can climb walls. Just in case, though, I might wallpaper the garage with Bounce. That’s not excessive, is it?
Funny you should say that, Robert. I was just thinking of attaching a wench to the ceiling of my garage. She could watch for mice and moniter the lubrication schedule. Seriously, though, since Honda owners seem to have more problems than anyone, I contacted Honda and they said that everyone with mice problems should buy their new hybrid – instead of keeping the mice out, the engineers added peanut butter to the fan cage so the mice keep running after the food which spins the cage which generates electricity which runs the car. If you can attract enough mice to your garage or parking space you can get 57.6 MPG in city driving.
I have a 05 Honda pilot, and I have caught 7 mice already in 4 months, the car smells aweful. I am getting to believe Honda Pilots definitely has an issue, which Honda needs to address and pay for damages. I am not sure where the mice is entering from, I have kept 6 Glue traps, 4 bait traps. Any other way to save my seats and engine will help!
Help!!!
After, getting completely sick to my stomach. I am able to ask for help with my situation. I recently brought my new Volvo C90 in because there was what I thought was a leak by the back window at the hatch. When I brought it in to the service department, they didn’t know what it was so they took down the ceiling panel and it was loaded with fesces and insulation. They then pulled out the side panels and sure enough there was something eating its way through the sides of my car. Not sure what it is, but the gunk they now think was the remnants of the critter (we recently had a heat wave and they think it cooked it, lovely). Has anyone out there had an animal or critter living in the body of their vehicle. I don’t live on a farm and I drive the car just about everyday. Help, my car is only 5 months old and I don’t want it back until someone can tell me how it got in and ensure me it won’t happen again. Looking forward to hearing from you…..Lisa
Wow!!! I have read w/ interest and sadness the stories about mice in the vehicles. I have a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee and they are building nests in my air ducts. When I turn on the a/c and the blower motor starts, it sounds off balance and loud. I have taken out the blower motor 3X this week to clean it and the dealership did it once. This is a real challenge. We have tried snap traps, glue traps and now are resorting to bait. The moth balls did not deter anything for us. Good luck, Paul
I was having a nesting pack rat get in my engine compartment and tried to discourage him for weeks with all the recommended methods from this website and others, with no luck at all.
I purchased a Rodent Deterrent System from http://www.rodentdeterrentsystem.com 2 weeks ago and so far so good. Ihave had a few visits, there was evidence that the pack rat was in the hood area, but he didn’t stick around long enough to re-build his nest, and in the last few days I have not noticed any evidence of his returning.
I also just found this while googling “mice car engine”, hoping to find something that worked better (and smelled better!) than the bag of mothballs we’re currently hanging in the engine compartment of our 92 VW Passat. Yes, mice really love THOSE wires too! (Soy-based cable covering – somebody sure had a bright idea there…)
We’ve also had some hefty repair bills thanks to mice. Our car is parked in an open carport and we live in a rural area, 2nd growth forest, southwest BC. Lots of critters about.
We’ve tried the following which DIDN’T work for us: Irish Spring soap (bars in the engine compartment), Bounce sheets, and an ultrasonic mouse zapper.
We’ve had some success with snap traps baited with peanut butter, placed under the hood below the windshield. Need to remember to check them often – decomposing mice smell truly awful. The little plastic traps did a better job for us than the wooden ones, and aren’t so hard on the fingers! At present, mothballs seem to be working, but I can hardly stand the smell. And since we have dogs, but no cats, nightly visits from the neighbour’s cat are much appreciated. We know she spends time around and on the car by the pawprints she leaves behind…
Appreciate the tip about peppermint oil – it will for sure smell better than those mothballs! Amazed to learn that so many others are struggling with this pesky problem – this thread is almost like a “mice-ate-my-car” support group! Hope everyone finds something that works for them. Thanks to Lee for the great posts – laughter is good!
Our Honda Pilot has had several mice die in the heating/AC vents. I have contacted my dealer and they have no record of a service bulletin having to do with this issue. I then contacted the Honda 800 number and they also have never heard of mice getting into Hondas. I was told that there is no record of anyone calling them with this problem. I was also told I could not speak to a supervisor about this “mouse” problem. I find it very hard to believe that Honda is not aware of this issue and that no one else have contacted them about it. If anyone has contacted Honda with any success please post an answer. I am at my wits end.
I just thought I would mention to those who do clean their cars after mice have been in it…. clean up into the area where your gas and brake pedals are. … I found a HUMUNGOUS NEST in my car a long while back… it was freaky how big it was. I thought it was just part of the car!! thank goodness for rubber gloves!!
So yeah. When cleaning the car, remember to check your car thoroughly, you don’t want a mouse crawlin up your leg when you drive. I know i wouldn’t.. I am still using sticky traps. they work wonders!!!
We have a 1998 Taurus sedan that we have recently found to have a mouse issue. There was a family in the glove compartment, got away (into the dash somewhere) before I could get something to remove them with. I set traps and D-con and closed up car. on two separate ocasions, i hav cought a mouse that has fallen into the spare tire hole in the trunk, and another in the pillar behind the carpet and padding on the passenger side in the front. I did not get all of the critters out, and now we must air out the car as the others are obviously dead. It appears no wiring has been damaged, but the damn things have left presents everywhere. Not realy happy, buy believe they got in through windows left open. Smells the same and still sucks.
Hi again, I posted comment number 85 above. I am still using the large collection of bounce sheets mainly in the engine area and around the back tailgate of my Nissan Titan. (I found that they were getting into the bed of the pickup which has a hard Tanneau cover on it). The Bounce sheets still seem to be working. I now use the strongest scent level that Bounce makes. You can see on the Bounce box its marked with a scent level of 1 to 4. Use 4. I find that I need to change the sheets every 3 days to assure effectiveness. I have a question that has been Gnawing at me (pun intended)… Why is all this happening now? There have been cars and other motor vehicles for almost 100 years, and millions of vehicles on the roads for at least fifty years. I don’t remember this being an issue when I was a kid. Before I lived in the California mountain foothills where I do now, I lived in rural Sonoma county, for 33 years, near hay fields that were full of mice and I don’t remember a lot of mouse-in-my car trouble like I have experienced in the last few years. True, when I was much younger, I drove old beat up cars that had greasy engines that might not have been as attractive to rodents, but for the last 15 years or so, I have driven late model cars and pickups. I guess I’m asking: Are we seeing a nation wide (or world wide) increase in rodents for some reason?…Like global warming or take your pick of theories about world wide climate change. Or is it just that the newer vehicles are more attractive to mice? Think about it, did our parents have this problem? Any ideas or theories would be much appreciated. Tony
I have two mice attacks.
1) 1995 Honda accord. It is the spare car so it does not get a lot of use. The mice attacked with a vengance. One fine day, I turned on the engine, flicked the air conditioning on high and was showered with little pieces of smelly chewed paper and mouse turds flying with great force through the cabin. Noth9ing like a shower of mice turds and mice chew and pee paper to get your morning off to a great start. As I drove off, totally appalled and digusted a Mouse jumped out from under the hood and crawled across my windshield wipers befor escaping by jumping for his life. Mighty mouse move of the highest order. damage done – poop everywhere and mouse stink in car interior beyond belief.
2) I just put my new corvette into our garage. Went to start the car, chack engine light conmes on. The varmints chewed through wires and ate part of the insulation blanket on the underside of the hood. Oh well, such is life in the country. I don’t think anything short of a mouse death will deter mice from the cars. The are the devil.
My ford windstar has a problem……Found poop in the cup holders so I cleaned and removed all of the seats and left them outside in case they were in the seats…… this morning there are more droppings so now they must be in the car living somewhere….yuck where is the first place they will move to? I think this is a new problem as I have never found poop before……hang on could this be why my electric seat won’t work and my check engine light is permenantely on my hanbrake light never goes out my battery keeps failing my tyres keep going flat(maybe not that one!)
Its probably been going on forever now I am revolted and don’t want to drive my car
help!!!!!!!!!!!
I have a 2003 Mercury Grand Marquise, and cats got into an area we can’t get to, and were killed. The smell is awful, and my husband refused to take it to a dealer because he knows that no one would want to deal with this. I am at my wits end-this is awful.
My mother’s 2002 Toyota Echo sat in her garage for about 7 weeks after her death this summer. We sold the car to a niece who didn’t make it home before the check engine light came on. Mice damage=$1300 for a new comupter. We submitted a claim to State Farm today.
I parked my 2005 Titan to utilize my new scooter this summer and mice took up residence in the vent system. Luckily, a mechanic at the dealership thought of the idea of using an air hose to blow through the cab vents to the fresh air filter box located behind the glove compartment. Results were a nest full of dead young mice. Total cost was sixty five bucks including thirty five for a new fresh air filter. Good luck!
Tony,
Interesting idea on climate change possibly contributing to this problem, but there are so many variables that it’s hard to know. One big factor is the ease of communication allowed by discussion forums and comments-enabled blogs. People from all over the country have been able to communicate their experiences by simply posting comments to my blog. I can’t imagine a way we all could have shared info like this so easily even just ten years ago. Usenet and BBSs existed then, but the community of users was much smaller and we didn’t have powerful search engines like Google’s and Yahoo’s. Nearly two years after my car was attacked, I have yet to meet anyone outside of the commenters to this blog who had rodents get in their car.
Also, as soy and corn are used in the manufacture of more and more items (I’m reading Omnivore’s Dilemma right now), I think companies run the risk of unintentionally making things that rodents find appetizing. Do you think auto parts manufacturers have rodents taste test everything first to make sure they don’t like what their making? I doubt it. However, I’ve still yet to find any info confirming the existence of soy-based wire insulation. All I have found is info on soy-based spray foam insulation.
The main climate effect I can imagine would be longer and heavier rainfalls, which would cause greater numbers of mice tunnels to collapse. Perhaps temperature changes would also have an effect, but I’m not even sure if colder or warmer temperatures would make mice more likely to set up camp in car engines. I guess a temperature change either way could affect their food supply and force them to scavenge among our possessions more often.
Hello
My pilot has mice too!!! $80.00 to clean out a/c fan motor compartment. We did it ourselves the 2ND time. Mice are now coming into cabin. Pooping and peeing everywhere. Contacted American Honda 2x’s. (9-15-06 an today 9-19-06)
They deny knowing anything about rodent problems as did my local dealership. This time the person that took the call said they would file a complaint and advised me to write a complaint to Honda. MY first call Honda I was told its an environmental problem.
Which is b/s. I had a Grand Cherokee parked in the same location for 7 yrs and could leave birdseed and dogfood in it and never had a rodent, ever!!!!!
My mother is a nurse and said she doesn’t even want to ride in it due to the risk of the HANTA VIRUS– FROM MOUSE DROPPINGS/FECES. Its a fatal lung problem you get from inhalation of feces particles, usually people get infected when cleaning or moving. Mice are pooping in our a/c-heat-ventilation systems- so we are inhaling particles of poop!!!!! Look up HANTA VIRUS. My 2nd concern is the airbags in dash area, have the mice chewed thur the wires that activate the bags in a crash or have they just chewed up the airbag its self for nesting materials. Any thoughts or responses would be appreciated. 2006 Honda Pilot purchases in Feb 06.
Rodents as of 2 mos ago. I live in TN.
Found a fax # to HONDA on their Owner Link website
310-783-3023. They only list the 800 and mailing address on the regular Honda website I’m going to fax daily I believe until I get some kind of satisfactory response.
I have a 2004 Honda Pilot that is currently being chewed up by mice. They have chewed up my the engine knock sensor for the four wheel drive(expensive)!! And the are especially fond of the windshield washer fluid lines. I have replaced these twice. The guy at the dealership suggested moth balls but said he sees this all the time when the weather starts to get cold. Is there a remedy to this, is there no mice in Japan, I have been doing some research and this seems to happen mostly in imported vehicles. Any help or advice would be great.
Thanks,
John McLean
jcm0615smm@comcast.net
2004 Honda Pilot
I have an 03 Honda Odyssey with holes in the seats and stuffing strewn around the cabin. Yeah, we have at least one mouse. It ate through my son’s very expensive car seats safety straps too. State Farm says there is no coverage for damage from wild animals. How did you get state farm to cover your vehicle under the comprehensive?
I didn’t do anything special to get State Farm to cover the cost. I actually never even looked at my policy to see if it might be covered.
First, I called my agent. He filed the initial claim and then gave me the phone number for a State Farm claim processing call center in the SF Bay Area (Rohnert Park, I think) and a claim number. I called the call center and the person I spoke with told me the cost of the repair would be covered. I didn’t even have to argue, or anything. As I mentioned in my original post, the person I spoke with said he had dealt with many cases like mine.
I recommend calling back and asking to speak with a supervisor (assuming you are already talking to someone at a call center, rather than just a local agent). I find it hard to believe that State Farm decided to be nice just to me.
I live in Texas, in the country and have never had this problem or even remember it happening to my father, and he was a machanic.
We have 96 & 98 F150 Ford trucks and a 95 Linclon, and all have been hit by mice chewing wires and vac hoses. We are retired and my husband is disabled. So I tapped some “Just One Bite” rodent controll packets under the hood, where the machanic said would be the least place to get hot. Now I am afarid of them getting in the air & heat, after reading the other horror stories. We did sell the 96 F150, just in the last few days so I wish no harm on anyone but I hope the mouse went with it.
I will try the other remedies if my packets don’t work. I so glad to have this blog (support group) to read. I know I am not alone out here.
It has been very very hot and dry here this year.
Thanks for all the advice and for listening.
Cathy in Texas
Well I put the poison packets, bouce sheets and mothballs in knee highs under the hood of my car and truck. I then out some mothballs where we park. I just may have to take the mothballs out, the smell was alittle hard to take, and put then back when we park for the night.
Can’t afford anymore machanic bills, I will try the peppermint if it happens again.
I did start with my local State Farm agent (who had never heard of a mouse in the car) and that is where I was told wild animal damage is not covered. I will be calling a claim agent tomorrow. Wish me luck because the rodents have now eaten through a seat belt and AC hose.
Am glad to have found this site!My son’s 1999 Chevy Blazer has a critter in the glove compartment that we just discovered today. Half of the proof of insurance was eaten and it looks like the owner’s manual seems tasty too. Am trying bounce sheets, snap traps and an electronic shock device, and whatever else I can think of.We live in a rural area in the Eastern Sierras called Paradise just above Bishop,Ca.There are a lot of critters in this area, Thanks for the good ideas from everyone-Suzanne
Just got my 2003 Honda Pilot back from the dealership for my mouse infestation â?? one month later and $21,000+ bill. This is ridiculous, something needs to be done! Any suggestions?
Mary Rust
maryrust@lpbroadband.net
Hello-
I would love it if anyone who has tried the suggestions of things (Bounce, fox urine, etc) could let us know if it seems to work or not. I had a 98 Jeep Cherokee for years that eventually was pretty much destroyed by mice. I live in the mountains and this is a VERY common problem- my Jeep began to STINK and there was poop and chewed bits everywhere. It destroyed my fan along with massive wire damage. I finally got rid of the vehicle about a month ago and got a 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee which is in great condition. This morning I was outside and I noticed that my dog was very interested in my vehicle- she was trying to crawl under it and everything. So I popped the hood and to my shock I saw an enormous squirrel hiding in the engine compartment! I screamed at it but it was not interested in going anywhere. I finally had to grab a stick and poke it several times before it ran out the bottom and across the driveway and up a tree, with my dog frantically on its heels chasing it all the way. I am hoping that my dog scared it off but I have no doubt that the squirrel will be back along with my other furry rodent nemesis. I just called my boyfriend and told him to buy Mothballs, Fox Urine, sticky traps and pappermint oil, and in addition I am going to try the dog hair thing that was mentioned in one posting. (Lord knows I have enough of that stuff lying around). I’ll try to remember to update on the results. But to the person who said that they don’t bother Jeeps? Pooh on that- they definitely do bother Jeeps unfortunately.
Yikes! We have mice in our headliner of our 2001 Ford Explorer, and just cleaned out the air filter and blower of nesting materials and seeds…the headliner is filled with popcorn kernel sized seeds..and are rattling all over somewhere else…sounds like wooden marbles rolling around…
Well the mice have ate the poison packs in the car and truck. I had to get rid of the moth balls. The smell was to bad. I am putting more packetts under the hood.
With any luck our mice problems will be over.
Good Luck every one.
Heads up. I don’t have any help for you for the mice in our engines, but I’ve had one in the cabin of my Honda CRV for a week. Tried traps w/peanut butter (the trap didn’t go off even though it pooped into the pnut butter!) and baited live trap to no avail. Then I remembered how 5-gal plastic buckets I’ve left outside get partially filled with rainwater sometimes and I frequently find drowned mice in them. So last night I put one with about 6″ of water in it on the floor in front of the shotgun seat. The top came just above the front seat for easy access. VOILA! This morning my unwelcome guest was there, floating dead dead dead dead. YEA! Try this.
I first found evidence of mice and saw a live one, nearly lost bladder control when I first purchased my Honda CRV 2004. Put sticky traps down and caught a few. Now they are back and when I turn on the heating stuff blows out of the vents. Honda replaced the Hepa filters and saw evidence of them. But they are still there. Caught one in a trap but nothing since but I know they are still there. Just purchased some Shake Away, which are granules of Bobcat, coyote and fox urine. I placed it in a nylon stocking in the front and back seat and will put it under the engine area. The manufacturer said it usually will take two weeks. I sure hope this works. I am sick of these critters. I live in the woods and deal with woodpeckers trying to destroy my cedar siding now mice destroying my car.
Today was not a good day for me, Liz’s Infiniti, or mice. It may have been a good day, however, for people with “mice in their cars” problems.
The Infiniti had been parked for a couple of weeks during which time there had been a cold spell. That’s two red flags. I started it up and could tell there was nesting material in the fan again. When I got to Monterey and got out of the car I saw a mouse jump out from under the car and run away. Third red flag. Driving home, I switched from recirculate to fresh air and out popped a mouse on the passenger floor. Fortunately for Liz, she was in Richmond and not sitting next to me with the mouse looking for someplace to go and seeing her firm legs. Fourth red flag. Starting to look like a trip to the beach in hurricane season.
When I got back home to Mustoe I checked the traps in the barn and there was one dead mouse in the Have-A-Heart trap (succumbed to either dehydration or hypothermia) and one live mouse trapped by his broken leg in a snap trap. I thought drowning the injured mouse in a bucket of water would be humane but when I dropped her in instead of sinking she struggled to remain afloat with her three good legs and not to swallow water. I grabbed the wooden part of the trap and held her under, and death did not come swiftly. It seemed like her whole life flashed before her – her first encounter with Mickey, the sexual attraction of his red shorts countered by his unrelentingly crude humor, the searing pleasure of sex countered by the pain of childbirth, and then the ecstacy of nursing three beautiful, healthy babies.
Now the good part for people with “mice in their cars” problems. The last time I was cleaning nesting material out of my Nissan pickup, I noticed the drain pipe for the a/c condensation was large enough for a mouse. I had long been pondering how mice could get to the condenser housing and the fan when the recirculation button was “on” because I thought their route to the fan was through the fresh air intake water drain. But if their route is through the condenser drain pipe it makes no difference if recirc is on or off except for keeping them out of the cabin. So I taped over the drain on the Nissan pickup and no mice got into the fan. Then I looked at the drain on the Infiniti and found it was big enough for two mice to crawl up side by side, like a little wedding ceremony if they wanted to honeymoon in a car’s heating system. Honda should have their car stereos play the “Wedding March” when the engine’s off. How much water did those engineers think would come out of a little car? Enough to require a garden hose? Come on, people, use your heads for something besides a hatrack.
So I stuffed some fiberglass roof repair screen material up into the hose because there isn’t enough room to work to wrapped a metal screen around the outside and wire it on.
Won’t it be nice if mice get in cars through the a/c drain and not through the unreachable rain water drainways?
I read somewhere that once mice get into your car and start deficating around there nest that other mice in the future will be attracted to that spot thinking it’s safe. I didn’t have a problem with mice in my car for a year. Once I got the first one in the fan, I’ve been cleaning it out ever since… mice after mice.
(sighs)
The Land Rover people over in England made the determination that diving into the dashboard after 11 days of searching at the dealership in New Orleans was necessary. Here’s how it all began. My wife started her car up 12 days ago and multiple warning/failure lights showed up and her 2006 Range Rover Sport would not get out of first gear. It also kept resetting the parking brake by itself, and it thought it was going down a steep hill so it automatically was doing the Hill Descent Control thing. We had it towed to New Orleans and awaited the news. When the service department told me it looked like a squirrel or some rodent had eaten some of the wires around the main computer harness, I called bullsh*t. But, after searching the internet for days, I see that this does happen. So far they have replaced or repaired the harness, the computer, and some other things, but to no avail. The service manager suggested I call Progressive to file a claim yesterday. He’s actually heard where the insurance company would rather buy someone a new vehicle than pay what I’m sure is a mounting parts and labor bill. Has anyone dealt with Progressive concerning rodent damage?
O my gosh! they’re back!!! mice galore. It’s getting cold out at night so when my car gets parked, of course it’s warm and where else will the mice go. I just found two on two separate sticky traps!! ugh. it’s definately safer just in case I am driving I know the bottom of the passenger and driver seats are booby trapped. i also have my trunk fully booby trapped with sticky traps. !!! I saw one in my trunk live once, just running around and it JUMPED!!! yes!! they jump !! o my gosh. I will have to get my vents cleaned out again! another 300 some odd.
I just trapped 3 mice INSIDE my 2003 Honda Pilot this weekend. I called my local Honda dealer
(Bobby Rahal Honda in Mechanicsburg PA), and asked how the mice were getting inside. He said that the air vent under the windshield wiper area needs to be “reinforced” with a wire mesh that a mouse can’t chew through. I asked if mouse damage would be covered as a “warranty” item. He said NOT AT THIS TIME..
I then called American Honda (800 999-1009) and spoke to a customer service rep who AT FIRST said that they didn’t know about the problem.
I insisted that this is a common problem and that there are many frustrated Honda owners using the internet to vent. He then asked me to hold..A few moments later he said I needed to “reinforce the area under the windshield wiper area because it’s too coarse of a grill and mice easily chew through and enter the vehicle through the ventilation system”. He suggested using “metal screen or mesh to reinforce the area to keep the mice out”.
He then thanked me for bringing this to Honda’s attention, and assured me that Honda’s engineers are working to correct this problem.
I agree with one of your earlier postings.. EVERY HONDA OWNER NEEDS TO CALL HONDA CUSTOMER SERVICE AT 1-800-999-1009 and complain until Honda does a recall.
So until then.. I’m going to screen off the vents and apply some of the things I learned here:
Bounce Sheets,Peppermint Oil, ( And as a last resort….Fox Urine or Shake Away which are granules of Bobcat,Coyote & Fox urine. )
Good Luck Honda Owners !
Ok..I am now vindicated…My husband has insisted that it is my eating habits in my car that caused mice to infest by 2002 Dodge Minivan last winter…we put out traps and caught three…it was so bad at one point that I could hear them running around and squeeking in the roof while I drove down the road in pure terror that one would jump out at any minute…now they are back again…
I’ve read all of the posts but am not sure how to go under the hood and check all of the places mentioned here..should I just pay the mechanic to pull all of the air vents,ducts, etc. apart?
I really don’t want to buy another car right now…
Also…what has worked for previous posters as far as getting the smell out of the car..remember they were actually inside my car so I am going to have the car completely shampooed out again…
They are back! I thought my electronic noise maker that I placed under the car each night was keeping them out. Not!
I had to take it to the dealer when I smelled a dead one and could not find it. This trip has cost $1,000 for my 2005 Toyota Solara with less than 10,000 miles. I drive it every day it’s just that I work two miles from home.
Nationwide Insurance does not pay. I wonder why State Farm does? I have left three calls to Toyota about this in hopes that in the future they can at least keep mice out of the cabin somehow.
Should I trade for fear that other mice will smell the scent?
I live in a wooded area with five cars. Why the new one?
Hey Pilot owners, I did a thorough search of the wiper / vent area to find the “problem area” that the Honda reps told me about. I was expecting a visible chewed hole of some sort…Not so.. In my case finding the problem area was easy. All I had to do was follow the mouse droppings ! On my 2003 Pilot the mice enter behind the hood hinge area. The rubber seal that Honda uses doesn’t close the hole around and behind the hinge.
There is a hollow area in the fender / cowl area that allows the mice to crawl under the cowl and then eat a hole through the plastic.
If you shine a flashlight down through the plastic mesh / vent on the drivers side, you will see a small vertical piece of plastic that ALMOST conforms to the body line. There is a small crack that allows the mice to start chewing. In my Pilot, the mice ate the edge away, and can now enter at will.
It appears that I will need to remove the wipers, and remove the plastic vented cowl cover to get to the problem area. Until then, I’m going to stuff a stainless steel chore boy scrubber in the hole behind the hinge to block the access hole for the mice. ( Maybe I will saturate it in Peppermint oil first ! )
** Note if you place a very bright flashlight beam toward the DRIVERS SIDE hinge, while looking into the cowl vent from above, you can see the light illuminating the path that they use. ( I did this at night.)
I also used a small flex lite that made it really easy to see into the area behind the hinge.
I hope this information helps someone !
(** The area behind the Passenger side hinge is not visible due to the cowl cover being solid in this area. You will need to remove the cowl vent cover to check the passenger side for mouse damage.)
Good Luck !
Thanks for the great detective work, Carl! I’m sure this will be a big help to other Pilot owners. Who knows, this could also be the path of entry for mice on a lot of other vehicles. I wouldn’t be surprised if other car manufacturers also used insufficient seals around the hood hinge area. I’ll have to take a closer look at my Audi just out of curiousity.
Hello:
Imagine my surprise today when the Jeep dealer called me and told me that our 33 day old Commander has a mice problem. I live in a suburban area and park the car outside on the drive way. Here is my real dilema.
4 Days after picking up the car the engine light came on and stayed on. After bringing the car to the dealer they told me the car had been on the lot for about 4 months prior to the purchase and the battery was dead. So they replaced it – they claim they never reset the computer diagonstic system.
Two weeks later again the engine light came on and remained solid. I brought the car in again and this time they said it was the brake saftey switch.
Well on day 32 of ownership again it happened. So the service mgr. calls me and tells me to set traps in my garage. Except (i swear) the car had never been parked inside.
So he tells me it is the wiring and the vacum hose,both have been bitten and gnawed at.
I felt like he was bull sh**ting me. My questions are this. Why the first time did he say one thing, the second another and now all of a sudden I have rodents eating my vehicle.
Today I took my Land Rover immediately over to my local dealer and told them the situation. They laughed at me. But did put the car on the lift. It was in perfect shape. They checked all entry points.
So what is it ….rodents(mice) are selective,racists, only like poorly enclosed wire harnessed vehicles.
Yes I think it is possible but there are two many variables in between. I have contacted my states attorney general office prior to today’s diagnosis but I have two cars parked next to the Jeep Commander and never have a problem. I spent the better part of 3 hours tonight going thru my 2003 Honda Accord. It is spotless.
So you think the dealer is making an excuse to take the easy way out? HELP…
Howard, after my car was attacked, the check engine light came on and soon after the car wouldn’t start at all (hopefully, only as a result of a mouse chewing on the wrong wire and coming to a quick end). Obviously, there are a lot of other potential causes for these symptoms, but it does seem a little suspicious to me. Proving that, of course, is another thing.
Before receiving all the comments from people about mice running around the car while the car is moving, I now absolutely believe the mice might climb into your vehicle at one location (say, a new or used car lot) and relocate along with the vehicle to your driveway. Other than the ones that are naturally selected out of the gene pool by a fan blade, these little guys seem to be pretty capable of staking out a safe spot in engine compartments, dashboards, ventilation systems, etc.
While several people have reported similar selectivity in the mice infestations of their cars, I haven’t seen too much of a pattern to the posts other than Hondas topping the list.
Several people have reported issues with Jeeps, but some of that may be due to people in more rural areas being more likely to own Jeeps. Not that I have done any real research on Jeep buying habits, though. Land Rovers aren’t totally immune, either. See comment 134. It may come down to just whichever vehicle happened to be closest to their underground tunnel when they abandoned it after a heavy rain.
It’s been two years since this happened to my car, but I still put dryer sheets under my car and I bait snap traps in my garage, furnace room and crawl space. Just a couple of weeks ago I caught a rat in a trap in the crawl space under my house just outside the furnace room.
Sitting here, white-knuckled having read all posts.
I am in a rural area, with lots of brush, open outbuildings, junk, woodpiles, and so on. Saw a plan for a corral using metal flashing gorrila glued between boards so it will stand up, placed around stored vehicles. The plan worked. Mice cannot climb flashing.
Not the best solution for me because my car is parked on gravel. Am thinking about dropping treated wood into the gravel, then dropping flashing into that, then having a “gate” section that would cover the rear. The flashing seems to work very well, has to be high enough. For those of you with garages, the flashing solution will work wonderfully. One guy was saying he is thinking of making a device that could lower the flashing down with pulleys after he parks his car. Sounds like a great idea. We folks in the country on gravel will have to work a bit harder
Heaven knows I don’t have time for such a project. I am going to be mean and put baitboxes all over the place, and then lay 8 boards with snap traps glued on them on the inside and outside of my tires. I figure at least the boards are easier to handle.
I’m horrified to read about the repair bills in this blog.
Had a 2000 dollar cub cadet mower destroyed by mice. I am worried about my riding mower now. I will pack that sucker with mothballs, as the smell doesn’t matter.
Cats can be effective in larger numbers – my neighbor has about 30-40 of them in his barn and they are all over the place. They just don’t have mice, period.
Best wishes to all !
Sick to my stomach. Have been telling myself that the little noises coming from behind my dash are my mouse paranoid, overactive imagination. The “burning hair smell” when I turned on the heat should have confirmed it for me, but it was the little buggers turds on my car seat that now have me shaking in my shoes. My husband is outside right now emptying the snap trap and setting a new one. Is this problem solvable???
I have a one year old child, and am afraid to have him in the vehicle. I live in a rural area of the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. There have been increasing mouse troubles in this area since we had huge wildfires a couple of years ago.
I am terrified of the Hanta virus, and know that the risk of infection is increased if feces and urine are aerosolized and inhaled. This is exactly what occurs when we use our heater.
If anyone knows if this problem can be fixed please let me know, otherwise I will have a Suzuki for sale… Cheap.
THanks, and happy hunting.
o my SH !!!
I am living out in Surrey. So yes it’s pretty bad when u see it all over your seat. The only thing that has worked for me has been those sticky traps. just in case you’re driving, they get caught. I have my whole trunk sticky trapped. I bleach my car seat covers all the time!! sick. and now that we’re in winter, it’s not going to get any prettier. You must remember to check your engine as much as you can for any beginnings of nests. get your hubs to under where your gas/brake pedals are (with gloves) and check for nests up in there by the steering wheel column. i had a SUPER big nest in mine!! i was so scared! the next day i caught FOUR mice on the sticky traps.
Range Rover Update (see post 134) – Just got a call from my insurance agent and she says the dealership is STILL diagnosing the problem and is currently exploring the modules in the dash. It will be 4 weeks on Saturday that it’s been in the shop. I have a bad feeling that this is going to be one of those instances that turn people away from Land Rover products. I tried to tell myself this would happen, but didn’t listen. I’ll keep you posted.
This site makes me laugh!! I have a huge mouse problem (okanagan) and I am glad I am not alone! I wake up every morning to a dead mouse in my car! Then I get to vacuum and spray everything with bleach and hope that me and my two young children aren’t going to die of hanta virus! I have tried the fabric softeners but will try to use a whole box!! Have put down moth balls but then it snowed and they melted away so guess i will take some advice and put them in a baggy or sock, guess i can live with the smell! Tried a sticky trap, but the damn mouse must have run crazy all around my car shitting everywhere untill he finally got free, yuck! I love the black plastic traps called Snap-E, they work awesome and you don’t get blood and guts or have to touch them at all, also very easy to set! I just bought another one! Broke down and spent $20 on a pestchaser which is an ultrasonic noise repellent, i put it outside under my car, but maybe i should have put it in the car! Anyways, happy rodent hunting!
I talked to my neighbor in McDowell who has lived in Highland County for years – he says there is no magic bullet, only ongoing control.
1. Don’t store anything in or near your car that mice like – i.e. grass seed, bird seed.
2. Get someone to screen off any entry points that your particular vehicle might have that can be screened off. Every vehicle is different – some have obvious ones, some not.
3. Leave your heater/air conditioner system on recirc (or Max A/C) when you park for the night. It’s bad enough to have mice in the fan, worse to have them run up your leg.
4. Set traps (snap traps, sticky traps, Hav-A-Hart traps) every day and empty them every day. NO POISON!
Skip the mothballs, fabric softeners, peppermint oil, sonic noise chasers, etc. They might work for a while, but then the critters get used to them. Mice are a chronic problem – there’s no cure, only control. Don’t attract them and kill or trap them when they arrive. You might get to the point that you trap three to five mice per week, every week. And they won’t live long enough to nest in your car.
We’ve got a 2005 Honda Pilot currently in the shop -rodents have chewed up the wiring! It’s very discouraging to read all of the posts on Honda. I’m going to follow the advice listed above and call the Honda customer service number as well. Wish me luck on getting rid of them! Our 2006 Nissan Maxima is so far rodent free and they are parked next to each other every day!
Thank you Robert for starting this and thank you everyone else for responding. Every morning I have the upsetting experience of checking my 2005 Hyundai Tucson for mice urine and feces before I can drive to work. Some days, my “catch and release” traps have mice in them, and I have the pleasure of setting these pests free before going to work.
Although I am upset that there is no clear way to stop mice from getting into our vehicles, it is such a relief to know that I’m not the only one.
I currently am using catch and release traps, moth balls, a “sonar/sound repeller”, and baby powder. The traps are under my front seats, as there are vents under the seats that I’ve suspected mice are getting in through. The baby powder is in the glove box for two reasons: first to see if mice are getting in as I will see their little foot prints, and two, I’ve been told the scent deters them. The moth balls are primarily in the back of the vehicle especially under the panel that covers my spare tire which is in the floor of the vehicle. The “sonar/sound repeller” is plugged in using an extension cord and actually laying in the inside of my car. Oh, I also keep my air set on the recirculation setting.
I can’t handle cleaning up little dead bodies every day, so the catch and release traps have worked well for me. I’ve heard that if they are put in the path of where mice may be walking they will instinctually go in and also have put them in areas where I’ve seen feces and urine.
I’ve been told by a local exterminator that poison is not a good idea because the mice may crawl into parts of the car that are unreachable and die. He suggested setting traps outside the parameter of the car in addition to the ones inside of it.
So far, the dealership claims there is no damage to my Tucson, but I definitely hear seeds or nuts rolling around in the ceiling of the car. Ugh!
Not sure what action to take next, but again, I’m grateful for this forum. Thank you!
I cannot believe this site..I, too, need help. I have a 99 Honda Civic. I was driving down the road, and needed to get a tissue. I reached over and opened the glove box, and just about grabbed a mouse out of the bed it made in my tissues!! I am being over run by mice. I dont have cats so I would poison them, but I have had them die in the walls AND THE STENCH IS UNBEARABLE!!! Please Help….anyone…(squeak)
clean your car you pigs!
Hello to all you mouse hunters. I live in a rural area in Duluth, MN & I too am having a bit of trouble in my ’99 Ford Taurus! Everytime I open my trunk, there is a nest of the chewed up insulation from under my spare tire cover in my trunk. They ball it up in the corner over my wheel well. I then opened my hood & found a nice nest sitting on top of my engine block of the same type of insulation from the hood of my car. I have placed Bounce sheets all over & after reading this site, I am bringing it to my dad’s heated garage & putting it up so we can check underneath & see if there are any other nests throughout the car.
Thanks for all of your ideas….I have only seen 2 mice, one ran under my daughter’s feet while we were driving & the other lay dead from the heat of the vehicle in the summer right under the driver’s side foot area. I’m off to the garage!
Yesterday I had the bunniest adventure. I’m visiting Wyoming on my way cross country. Lately I’ve noticed rabbits sitting in a circle around my Subaru like they were holding a convention. Its happened many times.
Yesterday, I saw two rabbits by the car and one of them ran under. I imagined that it moved rapidly out back and although I made a mental note not to run it over, I didn’t think much about it.
As we returned from town, all the dashboard lights and functions died. So I pulled the car over to see what was going on and then of course couldn’t start it up again. This happened to me once before and the car died due to an alternator problem so I thought it unlikely but possible that the same thing had happened. We sat in the car for a few minutes as I read through the manual and many cars passed.
Eventually, not knowing how far we were from our hosts, we decided to flag someone down. Of course, now, no one passed us on the road. Eventually a few cars came by but they veered wide of us and no one stopped. We decided to open the hood so that we looked in need of assistance. And there it was! Wires eaten straight through, rabbit fur all over and some rabbit dropping irreverently dumped on the engine.
“Damn, Rabbits,” I said. My friend replied, “We can not blame the rabbits without evidence.” I looked beneath the engine and was shocked to see a rabbit lying dead there. My friend peered in and jumped back with a look of unforgettable, regretable shock. Eventually a pickup stopped for us. The driver said, “The rabbits got my neighbors too. Cost ’em a bundle to fix the engine and then they did it again.”
This is a very long story, as it was a long day, but this is how it proceeded.
I called my insurance and explained the situation. They said I was covered for Malicious Malice, which I felt applied, but they said it could only be attributed to humans. They said I was covered for Contact with an Animal, and I agreed this was the case since the rabbit was still under the hood of my car, but they said this was only if I hit the animal. I seemed to be out of luck.
Returning to the abandoned vehicle, we tied the copper wire and jump-started the car but search as we may we could not find the rabbit. I kept saying, “Please don’t make me look again, its right over there.” But it wasn’t. I figure the bunny played dead for my friend and I and was now sitting in the hills with the deer having a good laugh.
So we drove back to the ranch, spliced the wires more effectively and left the car running for over an hour to charge the battery. Then we headed into Buffalo to repair the car. So, now its been 8 hours or so since we originally set off in the morning.
The rabbit chewed the wires to the alternator on the drive back from Clearmont causing the electricity shortage. The rabbit died and was rescusitated and escaped. The mechanic opens the hood and says, “They usually start with the spark plugs. You are lucky.” While I’m looking at the engine with him, I see two brown eyes peering up at me. Sure enough, there is the damn rabbit! He’d merely hid from us but he’s perfectly wiley and alive. It took four of us to chase it out of my car but he stayed underneath looking for a moment to climb back in. We eventually had to remove the car from the rabbit since we could not get the rabbit away from the car. The mechanic said, “I’m going to take the car out back where the rabbit can’t find it again.” I took off my coat and shielded the bunny’s eyes while he drove the car away so that he wouldn’t know where to look for it.
I’ll try the home remedies you have suggested. I sure hope they work!
I have now learned that I find the smell of coyote urine overwhelmingly nauseating but the bunnies seem to love it. They don’t mind Lysol either. They continue sit in conference around my Subaru, scheming their next move. If anyone has an antidote, please inform!
Wow, I’m so grateful at finding this forum and realizing that I’m not the only one that is experiencing this “infestation”.
I’ve recently purchased a previously owned 2004 Honda Civic and everything was fine until a month later I found seeds, cotton(i’m assuming it was from the seats) and mouse poop. I caught 2 in the trunk of the car and thought the problem was gone. 2 weeks later mouse poo all over the interior of my car.
Moth balls, dryer sheets, peppermint oil, used kitty litter around the car have all not worked!! The mouse pushed around the snap traps, climbed out of the sticky traps (very cold here right now, which could mean the trap wasn’t sticky enough) and the safe release traps did not work.
I finally got desperate and used poison and the safe release traps and caught that little bugger. I thought that was it!! I got my car undercoated (hopeing the mice wouldn’t be able to climb it) cleaned out the car so I would notice if they came back and I had one day peace of mind and they are back.
I tried the light in the engine to see if there were any openings and nothing. I called the dealership where car was purchased and they stated that no one else has had this problem, I live in northern ontario canada. I do find this hard to believe. I also own a saturn and no mice there(parked side by side and both driven daily).
Thanks to everyone that posted. If anyone has had any luck with Honda in addressing this problem please mail me at sodium48mg@yahoo.com.
Not only honda have these problems. I bought a brand new Alto (In India, it’s marketed as Maruti Suzuki Alto). I had saved up and bought my first car and within 24 hours of me having the car, the turn indicators and horn did not work. Fearing the worst, I went over to the dealer. The guy cooly lifts up the bonnet and asks me “do you have rats around where you live?”. I mean I sure dont know them by their first names!!! Anyways, when I peered in, I was zapped seeing wires chewed up and rat turd and pieces of tomato and some unrecognizable food crumbs inside!! The mechanic said its a common problem. He just reconnected the wires taped it up and gave me insulation tape to fix it myself! The Alto’s wiring is so tacky- just a bunch of wires held in place with insulation tape and pushed to the sides of the engine compartment. I have a called pest control to keep rats away as a short term thing and am thinking of getting metallic core hose (the type that is used to sheath cooking gas hoses), rewire the circuits back again. Suzuki could have atleast sheathed the wires better not just for rats but to ensure the wires didnt come in contact with the engine or radiator. But thanks for the great info I got from this website!
I was without my 95 Lexus SC400 for six months because of these rodents. I had to replace three different wiring harnesses at $3000 each. Then I had to wait for them to be made in Japan and slowboated to the USA. The rodents made a nest inside my engine and that had to be cleaned out. So my guess for the cost of your Audi would be about $11500. How close am I. Unfortunately. my repairs cost almost $13000 and I still have not found a cure for this problem. Luckily I have not had any more problems but in Texas it is just beginning to get cold. I wish everyone luck with this horrible problem.
Martin, it’s obvious just from your guess at the cost of my car’s repair that you have experienced this yourself. Most of my friends guessed around $2,500. You were much closer with a guess of $11,500, but the actual total was about $18,250. Roughly half in parts, half in labor.
I’ve just had my 2005 Honda Element disabled for the second time this fall by mutant teenage ninja rodents chewing through the fuel line. They may be huffing on the fumes or dining on the plastic fuel lines. I’d like to confirm the soy-plastic theory; any organic chemists out there? In either case, this is more than annoying. I’m going to see if my local mechanic can wrap the lines in razor wire. Hondas are tastefully designed, perhaps they can use rodent preference in a new ad campaign.
I stumbled on this site by accident. My 2004 Pilot has been to the dealership twice in the last week. Both times to have a nest removed from the blower fan and once to have the filters replaced. I live in rural, western Massachusetts and park the car outside. I have never had this problem with any other vehicle.
I have made the naive attempt with moth balls and dryer sheets, put I am not holding my breath. I did call Honda customer service and voiced my displeasure, especially after shelling out $150 ($75 each time) to have my car fixed. I also wanted it documented that I followed the dealerships recommendations for when the problem continues.
I guess the next step is to pu traps in the car. I have no problem killing the vermin, especially since they just cost me $150.
Well my 2006 Ford explorer has been attacked. The check engine light came on followed by the stability control light and then the engine revved up and would not slow down. Had the vehicle towed and the dealer told me that mice had chewed through the wires. So far $750 for the repair and they are still checking for damage. i usually leave my truck and explorer outside but put the explorer in the shed due to a snow storm and I guess the mice had the same idea and then they realy thanked me for the warm engine i provided. Insurance is covering the cost minus my deductible. I think i will leave the cars outside for now on and put food in the garage to keep the mice contained to that area , i figured if I feed them in the garage they will leave my cars alone ( just kidding) I am on a search and destroy missionand i am taking no prisoners.
My new Audi is in to have a rodent-chewed oxygen sensor cable replaced. The same thing happened to my new Acura MDX several years ago when it was new. I have read most of the comments above and will try some of the suggested solutions. It seems to me that there should be a “coating” that could be applied to wiring harnesses to make them disgusting to mice. Does the coyote urine come in liquid or paste form?
I knew this problem was widespread. I have a 2007 Toyota Matrix. I opened my glove box the other day after a cold night and found all the snacks in the glove box chewed up and mice shit everywhere. I removed all the food and cleaned it with bleach. Should I expect this to happen again? How do they get in the car??
8 Weeks and counting. The latest on my 2006 Range Rover Sport is that they have finally found the part that needs replacing. Of course it’s backordered for God knows how long. Seems as though the rodent got a hold of the most remote fuse box or something like that and it took my dealer 7 weeks to find it. Boy those car notes are getting tough with no car to show for it. I’ll keep you posted.
I can’t believe this thread is almost two years old… I stumbled on this site by googling “rat ate my car”…
My wife just called from the dealership… she’s freaking out…we have a 9 week old Mercedes SUV and the guy says rodents have eaten through the wiring harness and that the PRELIMINARY estimate is $13,000-$18,000!!!!!!!!! (yeah, that’s THOUSAND,not hundred dollars)
My wife wants to get cats but from reading this thread it sounds like they don’t work??? I’m completely grossed out by this…
HELP!!!!! I have a 1965 mustang and recently i have been finding mouse droppings in the interiors, i left a couple of glue traps and 2 hours later i went to check on them and they both had caught a mouse each. I never had this problem in my house ( the 20 years i have lived there) but after the first 3 little mice, they have stopped falling in the glue traps but i still find droppings in the mornings.
I have a Toyota Echo and just spent 140.00 to get the wires on top of my engine rewired. the mechanic put black electrical tape over most of it. the mice are now chewing the thick red cap over my battery cables. What I want to know is: What is it that the mice are smelling or craving? Is this something new? Is it caused by a new cheaper or lighter material used in manufacturing? Are they adding something non-essential into the wires the mice crave? What incentive do manufaturers have to solve the problem if it is drawing in lucrative repair business that must be faltering due to competition for repair-free cars. They can blame the mice and not be blamed themselves. We have had a car in the same spot for 48 years – why suddenly would they start to do this?
Has anybody had any luck on a lawsuit against cars with mice inside?
I have a 2006 Volvo XC90. I noticed about 3 weeks ago that there were mice droppings in the cabin of the car. My husband has caught 3 mice inside and 2 on the engine block. Does anyone have the same problem with their Volvo and have any ideas of how the mice are getting into the cabin?
I was so happy to find this site – I can’t believe how many other people are experiencing this same problem. I thought my mice problem was an isolated incident.
I live in the city but there is a field next to my house. I have lived in my home for decades and I have never had mice in my home or cars. I discovered evidence of one in my car a few weeks ago and although I am not afraid of them I have to admit to being perplexed as to how it got into my car. I have a 5 year old Suzuki Esteem. I used peppermint oil but it did not deter the mouse (mice?) A drugstore manager gave me one of those black sticky traps which I placed under the seat where all of the activity was. This morning the dead mouse was on the trap which had moved out from under the seat. After reading all of these comments I guess I need to take my car into see if there are nests or evidence of other damage inside. Yuck! It is starting to get cold here in Ohio and I do not want to offer my car as a respite for those critters. I am going to try some of the other suggestions mentioned here. Thanks…
Got mice twice in my Mitsubishi ’04 Galant. After reading other posts consider myself fortunate that there is someone nearby who feeds squirells, because at least the mice did not select my car for food, only for shelter.
They seem to climb the tires of the car to get into drier places like engine air filter vent and the blower motor / heater plenum / behind the dash board. The mechanic charged $800 to disassemble the dash panel and extracted about 10 lb of leaves and chewed up tree material the rodents brought in to weatherize the new home. I had a cabin filter installed to make the egress more dificcult in the future (another $50). Previously, I had an engine filter replaced for $20 because the mice used moss and dirt to cushion their sleeping areas. Now it looks ridiculous why did I complain before about that $20 damage. I will not complain about my present charges considering other people spend over $10000 to fix problems caused by mice.
The best remedy I found was recommended by my pastor. I started praying daily and mice never came back. So much for wire mesh and bounty and moth balls and other stuff.
I have a 2003 Toyota Corolla. My mechanic found mouse droppings in the air filter. So far I haven’t experienced any problems, but I think I’m going to buy snap traps and Bounce. I can’t believe there is such a problem with mice in vehicles. I park my car on the street every night and drive it to work every day. You would think that the engine noise and movement of the car would scare them off. I can’t stand the thought of looking for a nest or having them crawl up my leg while I’m driving. I’m glad I ‘Googled’ mice in car so maybe I can prevent their nesting.
I’m shocked @ the incredible problem we are having with these critters. I like many of you have had the wiring chewed on my engine. I’m trying to wait till I get rid of them before I fix my car. Hopefully, I can get rid of them.I’ve got mouse poison down by the wheel wells, hoping they will make a pit stop begore returning to the wires.
ok. here is my story. about 3 months ago i went outside to go to work only to find that mice had gotten into my 2005 suzuki verona. they ate the back seat , chewed a hole though the driver’s seat, and chewed up the baby’s car seat entirely. then i tried to drive the car (after sceaming, and freaking out) and the transmission would not shift. so my husband brought it to the dealer and it turned out mice chewed the wiring. they fixed it. and then i filled my car with peppermint oil, and bounce, and bought fox urine by the gallon. after that there was no eveidence of any mice for months. so i got kind of relaxed about making sure there was fox urine out there. well now they are back!!!!!!!! they chewed through all the wiring (tranny, gas gauge, EVERYTHING!!) my husbancd rewired it and it worked great! the engine light even went off. the very next day (yesterday) they chewed through it AGAIN!!!!!!!!! it absolutely makes me sick!!!!!!!!! i love my car and i am petrified to drive it! i bought some more fox urine yesterday and i am almost positive that is what worked to keep them away before so i am keeping my fingers crossed. he will rewire it today and it should be good. but it is still such a disgusting feeling to get into that car! if one would jump out while i am driving i would die!!!!!!!! i will keep you all posted about the fox urine and let you know how it works this time around, but i recommend you all getting some.
Thank you everyone.. I know now I’m not alone. My FIAT Punto and Nissan Micra were both parked in a yard full of cars and both have evidence of rodent activity. Both had some carpet chewed in the boot. One car had a paper napkin chewed up. The other car had a box of chocs in glove box nibbled on. I’m freaking out. I thought the little buggers would move on when there is no food around for them but ye have me scared to death talking about nests etc!! It’s probably I have nests I guess… where should I look for them???
I read this whole thread and have not seen anyone try pepper sauce or pepper powder on their wires and hoses. That was the most common remedy for wires being chewed on from the other sites. Our car was damaged by rats last week for the second time in a month, and we will be trying the pepper sauce, bounce,mothballs, and peppermint oil.
For anyone with the patience to follow this thread from the summer of 2005 to the present, or even the patience to read some of the 178 entries to date, you’ll notice two common observations – mice get used to things they don’t like, like smelly things and noisy things, whether it takes them a day, a week, or a month, and then they return. And if you set out poison, you’ll have dead mice rotting where you used to have live mice nesting.
If you refer to my comment no. 148, that technique has worked for me since the date of that comment. I admit this with great reluctance, since the statement has the strong scent of jinx attached to it, and tomorrow morning I’ll get in the car with Liz to drive to Richmond for her birthday and about the time we get to Monterey a critter will playfully emerge from the heater vent and scamper up her leg in search of a safe cavity.
I have a Dodge Durango with a mouse problem. I have set traps for several days with different baits and have not caught the little pest yet. Three children and a go type lifestyle definitely leaves food crumbs but have never experienced this problem before. DH is at store now purchasing more traps and cat food to use as bait. We will be doing the flashlight test tonight looking for their entrance into the cabin.
I don’t want to use poison as we have a pair of hawks on our property that I don’t want to harm because they are my snake controllers! (Hate snakes more than I hate mice!) DH’s vehicle sits right beside the Durango the mice do enter the engine area but never any evidence of cabin entry.
Good Luck Everyone.
Chevy S-10. Week two…Wiring harness number 3. Ate two of this sets four wires overnight even though I had bait packets all over the engine compartment. Oh…it/they ate most of the packets as well. My fault that they ate this last set. I didn’t read the fine print on the packets which state that even though they may eat a fatal dose in one sitting, it takes 4-5 days before the little buggers go belly up. So while waiting to travel beyond the vail to that eternal rodent resting place they went for another helping of tasty spark plug wires. Went to Home Depot this afternoon and picked up snap traps (will use peanut butter), sticky traps, more packets and an electric rat executioner trap (runs on 4 C batteries). I will wait 5 days or until I find the victim(s)of my assualt before installing another wiring harness set. This is war, I am on the offensive and I will prevail. 🙂
2007 Suzuki XL7 — 10 days old when afflicted — taken to shop yesterday — wiring harness for “WHEEL SPEED SENSOR, ESP LIGHT, ABS SYSTEM” damaged by rodent (“Pack Rat” was the service manager’s opinion) here in Tucson. He reports that they see it all the time. Brakes (w/o ABS, traction control, or stability control) continued to function. Had parked in a strip mall lot near a thick (apparently rodent infested) hedge for a few hours during the day. First such experience in 40+ years of driving and living in many parts of the country.
Interestingly, and thankfully, the Suzuki shop “REPAIRED WIRES TO FACTORY SPECS” rather than replacing the harness. Two hours and $105 later (he also deeply discounted the regular shop rate), we were on the road. Maybe it’s the Old West mentality that things can be repaired rather than having to be replaced, but I am pleased with the dealer’s service.
I’ve always suspected that there were mice under the hood of my 3-cylinder, 1100cc, Suzuki Swift (running endlessly in a wire wheel as part of the power plant), but they have never betrayed my trust.
Robert, how lucky you were that State Farm helped you out! All State will not help me. However, I have printed out your postings and highlighted them and will be taking them to my agent Tuesday. Read through ALL the many postings and only one other insurance company was listed and it also didn’t cover this damage. I don’t understand if they will cover hail damage as “An Act of God” why wouldn’t this also be covered. I have moved since my first mouse damage ($800) and now have it again ($700). I either brought the damned thing with me in the car or the smell attracted mice in my new place. Haven’t noticed anything inside the car, but my husband has evidence in his truck. We live in the country although from the reading I have been doing, that doesn’t seem to be much of a factor.
If anyone out there has had help from a company other than State Farm, please let us know.
Also, as soon as I can get my “garage from hell” so I can park in it, I will be setting traps like mad. I just moved a couple of months ago and it is full of boxes.
I have been reading all these posting and haven’t had time to read them all, but it seams like not all options are being pursued. I live on a farm and have a classic car that only gets driven once a year. The garage is far from air tight, so keeping the mice out is just not practical. Ever sense I can remember we have used ultra sonic mice chasers. If you put a couple in your garage usually the mice donâ??t bother to come in, and the ones that are already there will get annoyed and leave. I am not sure if this bothers cats hearing, but I have seen some wild cats nosing around my barn and they donâ??t seam to mind. They are sold right next to the traps that are so common. I leave one in my vehicle when I am not driving it so that the sound is most intense inside.
Reference comment #180. The battle is over. The war has been won. After publishing my remarks I went to Home Depot and purchased more bait packets,2 packages of sticky traps and a large rat size snap trap.That evening I applied a generous helping of peanut butter to the snap trap and placed it under the hood of my Chevy S-10 along with two sticky traps and a handful of bait packets.
The next morning the bait packets had been gnawed on but the snap trap had not been tripped nor were there any hostile forces glued to the sticky trap.
I removed the partially eaten packets leaving only a the snap trap and the sticky traps with a little peanut butter in the centers.
The next morning I found the snap trap wedged down along side the engine block sans any varmits. When I retrieved it I found a bloody trap which had been tripped but no critter. The trap apparently dealt the death blow as I replenished everything 3 days ago and nothing has been touched since.
The critter has either crawled off somewhere, was taken away by one of the neighbor’s hunting dogs or crawled back into the blower motor housing to die. Will have my mechanic pull the blower motor housing and check after I go to Auto Zone for my fourth set of spark plug wires and install them.Unless you hear from me again, assume that the victory is mine. 🙂
In the words of the immortal Jackie Gleason, you remember him, “How Sweet It Is!!”
Like many others, I stumbles across this site after our Honda Odyssey was covered with mouse droppings. (At least I hope those were mice – and not rat – droppings). I checked our Honda CRV, and sure enough, there were droppings aplenty on the engine block. My wife and I have been staying with my in-laws for a few months, and between all of us, we park four vehicles daily. The odd thing is that in the garage, the Odyssey was infested but a Lexus is pristine. Outside, my CRV was infested but my father-in-law’s pickup truck was untouched. If that’s not evidence of a design defect, what is?… I called American Honda and they’ve opened a “case” for us but told me that this is a “health issue” and not a “Honda issue”. I am giving serious thought to contacting a class action lawyer. Would others here join me in doing so? Or am I overreacting?
FINALLY!! After meeting with the Service Manager, His boss, and that fella’s boss and having a good friend of mine who has been running a GM repair shop for over 20 years tag along. Not to mention my insurance rep and her supervisor, my 2006 Range Rover Sport is back in my driveway, after over 3 months. Upon my friend and I’s initial examination of the vehicle in the service stall, it appeared as though nothing had been done since it arrived. Lies, lies and more lies from Land Rover of New Orleans. I guess they thought my friend was some sort of automotive attorney because withing 3 days of visiting MIRACULOUSLY the vehicle only had a couple of wires damaged that they hadn’t noticed. What a crock! Nevertheless, we’ll be rolling in a new 2007 Escalade by the end of the week.
I just found rat teeth marks on four of my hoses in my brand new 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid. My car started leaking coolant so I investigated and found the fuel hose completely biten through and the coolant line leaking. Two other visible hoses are also bit. Who knows what else the mouse bit through. Will take to the dealership tonight. State Farm will cover.
I discovered an empty rodent nest under my hood, I think near the outdoor air intake. I read up on removal, and you’re supposed to soak any droppings or nesting material with a bleach-water solution and pick it up with a damp towel – and ALWAYS wear rubber gloves and a mask to cover your mouth and nose.
I’m having it detailed as I write, and the guy at the shop said that he sees it all the time, and that the rodents almost always get in through the ventilation system.
I therefore have a four-step plan: 1) Have a mechanic or the dealer open up the HVAC system and clean it out. 2) Try pushing Lysol – or a cleaning spray made for car ventilation systems – through the intake into the cabin, like one of the previous postings suggests (Thanks!!). 3) Have the cabin air filter changed (you can do it yourself – super easy, once you get the cowling off). 4) Have the car interior and trunk detailed and ask the detailer to check behind your seats for nests. Finally, spray the cabin down with Lysol. Then on to prevention…
My 1996 Lincoln Continental and Ford Crown Vic have been favorite places for mice and nesting. I found a nest right on top of the manifold and they march in and out of my Lincoln like they’re making the payments.
Not sure what to do. I suppose the easiest thing to do would be to leave the car outside? I’ll try bounce and moth balls. How disgusting to get a kleenex out of the glove compartment and find your kleenex in shreds and mice droppings all over the place.
I am appalled. I thought this was completely random and yet there seem to be so many folks with Hondas and mice — there’s got to be a connection. I took in my CRV for it’s first year inspection and because the air bag light came on about a week before. The service dept. found that the air bag system had been completed chewed up, insulation destroyed, hood insulation chewed up, etc. They showed me their bill of $2500 and I almost fainted. And, they put a bright pink REJECTION inspection sticker on my car. Luckily, I contacted State Farm right away and they very kindly told me they’d pick up the entire cost under my comprehensive coverage – even no deductible. But….what to do when the car is fixed…will insurance cover it over and over again if the critters come back? My big problem is renters next door who do not throw out their trash but keep it in a pile in the backyard – and they don’t mow their backyard either. We have connecting driveways (side by side) and I don’t have a garage to put the car. Their landlord and the health dept. have been contacted (even before this damage occurred), but I have to be careful not to tick them off too badly – I’ll be trying to get spraypaint off my car or fix slashed tires if they find out it was I that reported them. Called local pharmacy to get oil of peppermint and will see if that works. Love the idea of putting mothballs in a stocking and hanging from engine. Just hope I don’t set the engire on fire. Wish me luck. And prayers are welcome that this unpleasant episode is only a one-time deal.
Well, I suppose I can add my 2005 Subaru Forrester to the ranks of the nibbled. I have just heard another suggestion on how to control the critters in your car. Winter green soaked cotton balls, placed in ziplock bags, then a few holes poked to allow the scent to escape. I live in NM but this suggestion came from a friend in Alaska. Be careful with the winter green as it’s toxic stuff for people as well. Has anyone heard of this approach and has it worked?
2003 Pilot owner here– We just had our fan system cleaned and repaired due to mice. I can’t believe so many other people are having this problem especially with Honda’s. I know 2 other Pilot owners that are dealing with mice also. I will call and complain to Honda! Thanks for all the advice and for this informative website!
All pilot Owners, I am giving the cheapest solution so far, because I have caught 27 mice in glue traps in a year. I was so fed up with the smell.
Please, please take some kitchen foil,open your Pilot hood, you will see huge holes below the hinges of the hood. Fold some foil and cover the holes pretty good. You might not have the problem again or the problem will subside 90%.
Good Luck!! you will all Thank me.
I have a ’03 Honda Pilot. Guess what. 2 mouse problems — one in May ’06 and one in Feb. 07. Hello??? Does Honda not see a pattern here???!!! This is absolutely ridiculous. I love the car but am ready to trade it in. My husband wants to get a new Pilot — but why ask for more mouse trouble. The majority of complaints on this website involve Honda Pilots — why would I assume a NEW Pilot would not have the same problem???
I’ll try the aluminum foil solution (having to resort to do this is absolutely ridiculous) — but if that fails — Toyota — here I come.
To everybody who reads this website — tell EVERYBODY YOU KNOW about the problem. Maybe that will get Honda’s attention. Nothing else seems to.
05 hylander and 01 RAV 4
first hylander cost $250.00
months later
RAV 4 cost $2000.00
freaking pests!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Owner of a ’99 Honda Accord. This is the second time I have had a mouse (I’m presuming only one) in the trunk of my Accord. Only damage has been chewing into some fabrics and towels that were kept in sacks in the trunk – and most recently, a bag of birdseed.
Paid a mechanic today to try to find any holes the mouse could enter and exit through – after a very, very thorough search, we couldn’t find any point of entrance. There has never been any evidence of the rodents getting into the passenger compartment or under the hood. Both times it’s been isolated to the trunk.
I just had to spend $800.00 on my 2004 Honda Pilot because mice/rats ate my engine too. They went for the knock sensor wiring and another wiring harness. When I called American Honda they said they have not heard of the high incidence of Pilots and rodent attacks. When I called a dealer, they said that they and many other car manufacturers do use a soy based product to coat the wires. How brilliant on their behalf???!!!
I bought my 2006 honda civic hybrid in march ’06. since I have had three problems for 200, 3600(ouch)and 800. Luckily my insurance company covers this problem(500 deductible) but I am seriously considering trading it in for something else.
I have a 2006 Volvo. I have always parked my car in the same spot for the past 17 years without a problem. I have gone to Home Depot/Loewes for some of the products listed but nothing works. What more can be done? (Peppermint, moth balls, bounce all tried.) I don’t have electricity in the garage so I can’t use anything that plugs in.
Trish, you said the mice are dining on the red cap covering your cables. Ditto here with my 2002 Subaru WRX. The gnaw marks are unmistakable and they got at the wires leading to the battery as well. Cost me $60 to have a guy put duct tape over my wires and give me a jump. (Still not sure why the battery died–it was brand new). I’m wondering if duct tape over the wires might slow the mice down, in in fact the OEM plastic contains some kind of delicious tofu that they can’t resist.
Another Honda Pilot owner here who had rodent’s eat the knock sensor wire. When the lights came on I brought it in because it’s still under warranty. Was very suprised when I got a call that this wasn’t warranty, but instead a rodent had chewed the wires. I actually didn’t believe them, so I told them NOT to repair the wire (Quoted me $300) as I wanted to see this for myself (I used to be a mechanic, so I figured I’d do my own repair if not warranty). When I picked up the car, I went ahead and bought the part ($5.50) so if it WAS the actual problem I wouldn’t have to go back to the Stealership.
Before pulling anything apart I did some research and found this site (among others) that talk about this re-occuring problem. I was now starting to believe that I did have a rodent problem. In addition, the new part came with a gray tape wrapped around the wire which had a VERY interesing picture on it. The tape had a picture of a mouse the an “X” in place of the eyes (i.e. dead). So, even though Honda Customer Service is not admitting to this being a problem, or covering it under warranty, apparently they are aware of it and have tried to prevent future problems with this rodent repellant tape. . .
I then decided to start pulling parts off the engine. Found the wire pretty quick and it was definately chewed. Had to pull the intake off the engine, but luckily the Pilot had low enough miles that everything was in good shape, all the bolts came off easy, and I even managed to re-use the gaskets (good thing because they are about $90 for the set). If you are mechanically inclined, the job is not too complicated and can be completed in a couple hours with some metric sockets and wrenches.
I, too will be contacting Honda and complaining about this issue not being covered, especially since there is now PROOF that they are aware of the problem (the tape on the replacment part). I encourage everyone to do the same. Thanks for all the info on this thread and good luck to others!
Well to let you know, they eat BMW’s as well, $5800.00 worth. I still can’t park in my garage and I have another car repair date in a few days. I have had some success with those eletric mouse traps. But the mice still own my car as I’m a slave to them apparently.
For all you Honda owners out there – I had a rodent chew through my knock sensor wire harness. Was travelling for XMAS and had stopped for the night during a downpour and a TN rat must have been looking for a place to get out of the rain. Long story w/ sweet ending. Over $350 repair bill. Infuriated when Fort Myers, FL service tech gave me a copy of June 2004 Service Newsletter “Rodent Damage to Knock Sensor Subharness” which stated 03-04 Accord, 99-04 Odyssey, and 03-04 Pilot are succeptible. He stated problem is not fixed in newer models and they see several a month. Chattanooga, TN and Holland, MI dealerships which I dealt with said the same. Wrote letter to Mr. Koichi Kondo, President and COO, American Honda Motor Co., 1919 Torrance Blvd., Torrance,CA 90501 including copy of service newsletter, repair bills, and copies of blogs from this and other websites. Stated 37% of postings here are Hondas and 32% of those are Knock Sensor Wire Harness. Stated this is unacceptable from a brand like Honda. Service tech had said try rat poison or mothballs and I told Honda in the letter this was completely insulting and should be addressed with a design change or recall. Two weeks later I got call from Honda customer service asking if I’d be satisfied with reimbursement for repairs as a “one time act of good faith for loyal customer.” Of course they said this was the first they heard of it and it was beyond their control, but wanted to keep me happy since it was beyond my control also. Figured if I got my $350 back I was doing ok. Cashed the check the other day and was surprised it had no claim release clause on it. My suggestion is to write a letter with full supporting documentation rather than a phone call. Less likely to get them on the defensive and makes it clear you mean business. Now you know the secret. Good luck sticking it to the man!
I have read most of the comments from 1 to 203! The old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” certainly applies to everyone writing in as well my own situation. Obviously if I had not parked the 1994 Taurus in the back yard and covered it with a car tarp for a year, I would probably not be dealing with the sheer destruction and smell that the rodents have left for me to clean up. I have spent two days cleaning up the mess and, I have to say, the car looks pretty good inside and outside. However, what remains is the smell of urea which has permeated every fiber in the car including the trunk lining. The goal is to sell the car without the smell and without spending a lot of money in the process of getting the smell out. So I read all the suggestions as to how to get rid of the smell permanently–not temporarily. I didn’t find very many suggestions except mostly detailing and cleaning a few days after applying baking soda to the surfaces.
Anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks.
I work in a dealership and see many problem with rodents and damaged caused by them i tell my customer to contact a pro. exterminator to control the problem and may deter another problem
Well, misery loves company. At least this time it will only cost us $400 to repair the wire as to $800 to replace the wire harness. I live in Kansas. We have a Saturn that had to have a filter replaced because something had eaten a chunk out of it. Okay. Then we bought our 2005 Honda Odesay in Sept. 2006. It is the end of March now and we have been having a lot of rain. Got in the van and the engine light came on. Took it to the dealership and found we have a hungry mouse or pack rat. After reading all the comments here, I did call State Farm and it is covered. (Now if it was a tractor they probably don’t cover it.)
Most of my cats are inside cats as our road is not good for animals. I have 1 outdoor cat who is fat or pregnant and I don’t know if she is good at catching mice or not. My dogs are inside too. The cars are outside as the garage is full of everything else and it would be easier to rebuild than try to plug up all the holes mice could get in. I sent a email to my friends for help and my sister found this location. I was half way joking about going to the zoo and getting lion dung to spread around to chase off the critters. After reading all the suggestions here, maybe I should try it. I know I will look into all of the suggestions.
Maybe the way to get Honda and other makers to respond is to start an add campaign of our own. How about bumper stickers like, “I love my Honda, so do the Mice!” or, “Feed the mice, buy a Honda!” Think these would sell? Maybe put an add in Sunday paper, “All animal lovers buy Honda cars to feed the starving rodents.” Honda just spent a bunch on a new add using Honda parts to act like dominoes to set off a chain reation. Maybe we could get our own add using mice for a chain reation as they go from one car part to another. I wonder if any of the news stations would consider investigating this?
I hope we all find a way to end this other than buying old clunkers to drive. Thank you all for your suggestions. Good Luck.
wow! for some reason, this site makes me feel a lot better! i guess misery really does love company! i have an ’06 saturn and i’ve been hit twice now by mice eating the wrie that connects to my speedometer. besides the fact that it’s just frustrating, it’s also very dangerous since i can’t tell how fast i’m going. the first time it happened, i thought, “wow, how weird”. the second time, i was actually upset with the mechanic. i know it’s not his fault, but after $400 worth of damage, i want someone to blame! do the bouce sheets really work? how about the sonic pest controller?
Me too! I am catching at least one mouse a day in the cabin of our new 2007 Honda Pilot. Our mechanic says they might be getting in through the front fresh air vent. He also says there is a rear vent below the rear way-back seats that opens to let out air being drawn in through the front vents. He will place wire mesh at both places for about $200 but naturally can’t guarantee that will solve the problem. Has anyone done this and did it work? Our other cars have not had this problem, BTW.
I have a 2007 Camry, 6,000 miles and just discovered that it will cost me $3,000 to replace the wiring harness because of mice !!! On March 3rd Kenny mentioned rodent tape that he received with a replacement part from Honda — does anyone know where I can get some of this tape — my previous Camry sat in the same spot for over 5 years – never any rodent damage — anyone have any more information about soy based plastic being used in cars in connection with the wiring ? Thanks —
comment to response 154,just driving through.
See if you can get in touch with Ozzy Fudd.
I wish there was a mouse slayer.
They destroyed my 1994 buick trunk and I don’t know what else.
I’m glad I found this site.
Jim Shaw thanks so much I was having trouble figuring why and how the little buggers were building nests on top of the cabin air filter.
As an aside this seems like such a dumb design its like a little rodent highway from the fender to a nice warm, flat, shletered nesting site for little rodents.
Hi – I use to live in St. Louis where a mouse nested in the engine of my 2006 Honda Pilot. Now I live in Texas where the varmants repeated their act, except this time there were 2 of them. In both cases, my car smells so sickening that it is hard for me to even drive without all the windows down. This is great when both times the weather outside was in the 80-90’s and I couldn’t even turn on the airconditioning without being nauseated. I have contacted the Honda Corporation and I expect some type of reimbursement. The car is only 13 months old and I will not go through this again!
I have a 2005 Toyota Corolla. Mice got to cat food and stored it in many places, it’s mostly cleaned, however, I still get a nasty stink from the vents (I have already cleaned the blower moter). I can’t determine where the remaining stink is coming from nor do I know where the vent air intake is on this particular vehicle…help!
Hi to all the people with rat problems,
I have a Honda Oddesy 2004. The wiring harness was chewed once and it cost me $385. I just took mine again for the second time. I thought it was a simple matter of $385 (not that this is a small money beleive me it HURTS!), but surprisingly, the mechanic told me the friking rat got to the engin cables and he has to change the car harness. Guess how much? $960. How come no one is have an action law suit against Honda?
Any one interested to join me in an action law suit?
Thanks,
Kamy from CA.
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Well, this whole blog started with an Audi mice problem, and quickly became overloaded with Honda mice problems – unfortunately, we have just had both. The Honda Pilot knock sensor wasn’t that costly ($400) compared to the $12,000 bill we are currently facing for our Audi A4 whose engine needs to be rebuilt because of mice chompings (not covered by our insurance). Hopefully my misery helps make some of you Honda drivers feel a bit better:)
I have a 2003 Ford Explorer. I bought it 2 years ago and started having mice in the past 3 months. I have caught 18 mice since then. I have children but since I discovered the problem I have been trying to keep it clean so they have nothing to eat. I tried mothballs and they worked for a little while but I guess they got used to the smell and came back. We found a nest under the drink holder/console. I didn’t know they could cause all these problems. My main problem is they are getting in my kids car seats and I can’t take them out everytime. Anyone that has kids knows what a pain they are to put in. I have been setting traps but it seems they just keep coming in. I live in the country on a farm so there is not much I can do about the mice around here. I do know my Husband has truck that sits beside mine and he doesn’t have any mice. And I have owned 3 previous vehicles without any mice problems. I don’t know what else to do besides trade it in.
I’ve had mouse problems with a newish Ford Explorer on and off for over a year now. We’ve done all the things suggested – traps in the car every night, etc. The problem always resurfaces.
By the way, never, ever assume “one” mouse. If you have had a mouse or a nest, there will be more mice. Count on it.
We’ve had numerous cars over several decades at this location, never a mouse in those. But the Explorer is a constant problem.
We’re looking at a bill of $8000 to replace all the interior with the attached insulation. They’ve chewed and peed on all the insulation. Even the roof cavity is contaminated. (The interior looks perfect, not even a single mouse turd.) The smell of rodent urine/feces permeates the car when the sun heats the exterior. Wafts up through the seat belt returns.
The mice appear to climb in over the back tires. If you have an Explorer, check that out. We’ve also had them in the air filter chamber. I spray that every few weeks with Simple Green, full strength. That seems to keep them from setting up shop there. Doesn’t work on the tire area tho, too open, and the area gets wet. Spray any insulation type material, eg, the hood insulation, and vulnerable wiring, etc, with Simple Green full strength, every few weeks. It’s harmless but tastes brutal. They don’t get used to the taste, they avoid the object. But you have to keep spraying, as it eventually evaporates away. Smells don’t work, they DO get used to those. But the taste of that Simple Green! Yuk!
We’re just about to do the flashing thing. We’re going to embed 4x4s into a cement pad for parking the car. Install the flashing into the 4x4s. The rear section will be removeable.
Try these:
http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/spec/pick-odordestroyer1.htm
That one is for odor.
And this for the flashing design…
http://www.hastingsreserve.org/Mammals/MiceInCars.html
Good luck all!
I took my 2005 Honda Odyssey to a dealer because a check engine light came on. They came back with a conclusion the rodent damage to the knock sensor wiring harness. Replacing the harness and sensor will cost over $500, and Honda Warranty would not cover it.
As Odyssey already knew it with a Service bulletin issued in 2003 (http://www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/Odyssey/2003/tsbs.shtml), why would mice just like Honda knock sensor wiring harness, why would there be no any prevention took for the newer model, is it a Honda quality issue???
For those with stinky vents… I had to take care of it.
It was truly disgusting but had to be done. I had to get the dash completely removed and have the repair shop clean it out. I provided them with the lysol spray long with the lysol wipes to wipe it all down for me. And phew it was gone!! But… of course you’ll never be forgotten. And plus you may actually have a dead mouse in the vent somewhere….
We found out last week that our Farmer’s insurance policy will cover all the damage, plus a rental car. So I’ve been driving one since my last post. Don’t assume that you don’t have coverage – find out.
Wow, I just read through all of the posts. I’m surprised at how many people have problems with rodents, but so few have MY problem. Dead baby mice (or rats) in our a/c filter. I suppose that this means that whoever had the babies is still in there (chopped up in the blower motor is the likely place according to the mechanic) or long gone (we’re presuming the baby rats died of starvation due to lack of mommy milk). Anyone have DEAD mice (or rats, how to tell the difference is beyond me) and have it happen again? My 2006 Toyota 4Runner is in the shop, and from what I’ve heard from everyone here, will likely be there for a while (the first guy said 2 days, the second guy said maybe a week). My husband is wondering about getting the car declared a biohazard since they died in there, and getting insurance to total the car and having our GAP insurance cover the rest and getting a new one so we don’t have other mice or rats smelling the old ones and deciding it’s a nice place to nest.
Should we just all cover our cars with wire mesh?
I had some previous knowledge of the differences between rats and mice, but I found a website that substantially boosted my rodent identification skills. After you think you have mastered the differences, take the quiz. Before reading more about the differences, I didn’t do so well on the test. I got 6 out of 12 right, which obviously isn’t a stellar result when each question has only two possible answers.
While a little unfair, I took the test again after reading the website. I then scored 12 out of 12, though I swear I didn’t just memorize the answers from the first time. The tips the site gives you regarding ear size, tail length and diameter, feet size, nose shape and length, etc., are very helpful.
After many decades of car ownership, for the very first time we were met by the unmistakable smell of dead mouse in our vehicle last week. (There was a nest of abandoned babies in the cabin air filter.) And of course, it�s our first Honda — a 4 month old 2007 CRV. Finding this site has been a god-send; our thanks to all the contributors and our sincere gratitude to the webmaster.Here�s our question – has anyone compiled all of the Honda Rodent Stories here? Has anyone begun a coordinated campaign to bring national attention to this problem and to pressure the manufacturer into a recall? (We saw a June ’06 request that all owners of infested Hondas contact James Hatcher, but didn’t see any follow-up). Thanks again!
I had noticed an odor in my new Nissan Sentra a short while after a trip to the beach. I figured there was something in the sand that we had tracked in that was starting to smell. I only wish that was it. I have a black interior in my car and did not even suspect mice until I opened my glove box to find it full of dog food. Disgusting!!! I had parked my previous car in the same spot in the garage for 9 years (right beside the dogfood bowl). It was a 98 Jeep Cherokee and it never had a rodent problem. This makes me sick!!!
I had vacuumed the car out before I read online you are supposed to disinfect with bleach first. Won’t the bleach ruin the black carpet and fabric? Help…
A combination of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide is another good option.
Unfortunately, I don’t think chlorine free bleach will work, since it is the sodium hypochlorite in regular bleach that serves as the disinfectant.
You might want to try a very dilute solution of regular bleach in water. Be sure to test it first on small pieces of fabric and carpet that aren’t very visible, like directly under one of the front seats.
MICE !!!grrrrr We have a 2006 Subaru and the mice apparently made a nest in the sun roof. When you open the roof it smells of urine. We are trying to figure out how to get rid of this short of tearing the roof apart. Please .. does anyone have any ideas how to stop these little creatures from invading vehicles?? There is nothing in the vehicle, such as food to attract them other than to nest to stay warm during the winter. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks The Mirabitos. Upstate NY.
I am thinking of trading my new mouse filled car in for one that doesn’t let them into the cabin. Any suggestions?
My 96 Honda Odyssey had a mouse nest in the blower motor with accompanying stink ($99 to clean out), and now I am anticipating all the blogged issues. If so many brand new cars have the same problems….could it be that these new cars are being shipped/manufactured with complimentary mice from an infestation somewhere else??? I am rethinking a decision to trade-in for a new Honda, which would break my 26 year chain of owning them. I am deathly afraid of mice!
We have a 2006 Honda Civic and have been finding mouse droppings in the floorboards and all over the seats now for a couple of weeks. We’ve cleaned the car thoroughly, put out poison, but to no avail. We saw no new droppings for a little while after the cleaning, but they have reappeared in the past week. So far we have not found any evidence of a nest in the interior of the car, but we’ll now start looking around in some other places thanks to this website. We are also going to put out traps and contact our dealership. Thanks for all of your posts. We’ll update soon.
I have found that keeping the mice out of my vehicle when in storage has turned out to be impossible. No matter how tight I tried to seal the car up they came back. They always seem to move in under the wiper well and remain there untill I begin using the car regularly during the summer. I have been placing a couple sleeves of saltines, chips and a few pieces of bread inside the area where I beleive they are living. I thought this would discourage them from eating through the wires or moving into more troublesome spots in the vehicle. Over the last couple years the strategy has paid off. In the spring the food shows signs of being nibbled on and my car has met with no ill effects. If you can’t keep the mice out this may be a good last resort strategy.
I have a 2007 Toyota Camry and live in MA with woods surrounding my home. Got the car in Oct… in May I found out (from error codes in the car computer)that while on vacation in Feb, a mouse had gotten into my heating duct and was camping out on my cabin filter. Apparently when I returned, and the mouse was unable to find a way out — it bored 2 holes through the plastic heating duct, and a wiring harness on the other side. $2000 later, my car is back to normal. Unfortunately it still cost me the $500 deductible.
Now it appears that the mouse found a home in my wife’s 2002 Acura MDX (similar to the Honda Pilot that seems popular on this blog). We have found 2 baby mice over the past 2 days. Have not found the nest and suspect there may be more babies. I have baited with the small blocks but after reading this post I may opt for the snap traps with peanut butter before it gets out of control and I have to replace wiring on the expensive Acura.
I own a 2006 Honda Pilot. A few weeks ago we experienced a problem with rodents accessing the passenger cabin of the vehicle. It cost us $320 to have the dealer remove a nest from the heating/AC vents, replace the associated air filter and clean out the ventilation system. The rodents also chewed up the driver’s seat; the estimated repair bill for that is $350. I did catch one rat on a glue trap and have not had another incident yet. I am guessing (hoping) that this single rat was responsible for all the damage.
The service manager at the Honda dealer explained to us that our repairs would not be covered under warranty. I found it unbelievable that this was Honda’s official stance on this matter, so I took the time to write them a letter detailing our experience and providing this website as evidence of the apparent defect with Honda Pilots. Today, I recieved my response from Honda in the form of a phone call. To make a long story short, Honda denies that there is any design defect with their vehicles that allows rodents to enter the passenger cabin. The customer service representative I spoke to admitted that he had heard similar complaints in the past, but that Honda’s official stance is that no vehicle can prevent rodents from accessing the passenger cabin. He was unwilling to share any statistics with me related to the number of reported rodent incidents in Honda Pilots or other Honda vehicles. He also stated that Honda is unwilling to consider the content of this website (or any other public forum) as evidence that Honda Pilots are particularly prone to this problem.
I will never be purchasing another Honda product in my lifetime. Honda’s complete disregard of this well documented issue is inexcusable. If you are considering purchasing a Honda Pilot, don’t . Dealing with rats in your vehicle is both disgusting and expensive. Dealing with Honda Motor Co. is just as bad.
I thought I�d put my 2 cents in. I searched on line looking for ways to get rid of the disgusting smell from my wife�s Mustang and was amazed by all your tales. The Mustang was put in storage for the winter, I�m sure the mice were already in the car before it was put in storage. The mice even ate the upholstery. I believe they died over the winter. I have mice in my Ford Windstar. Droppings all over the engine. I vacuumed the engine with a shop vac. My son found a nest beside the battery in his Benz SUV. My daughters Windstar doesn�t have any. I think I know why. About two years ago my daughter�s cat got out of its cage on the way back from the vet. He peeed on the carpet in the back of the van. The smell was awful; I tried everything to get rid of it. I don�t notice the urine smell anymore but I think the mice do. This is the only reason I can think of that prevents the mice from taking up residence in the van. All four cars are parked beside one another, outside. I�m not suggesting that everyone have their cat pee in their car but maybe on the tires.
Had a mouse get into my 2000 Suzuki Grand Vitara. It was parked outside my home in upstate farmland. Made nest in blower fan, which became a ‘food processor’. Also found insulation material in my engine air filter compartment. Found drain holes under vehicle, where front wheel wells meet rocker panel. This may be where mice enter from. (Had my son pour water in front cowl while I looked under car for drain hole.)
Just above this opening 6mm stud is sticking out. Fashioned screening material and got 6mm nut and lockwasher to hold in place. BTW Home Depot sells 1/4 inch hardware cloth rolls approx $6.00. I am going to try converting ultrasonic pest chasers to 12 volt operation and place them in the dash, engine, and elsewhere. I’M DECLARING WAR!
Jeez, I thought I was the only one. I’ll be replacing my second wiring harness in my Saturn SL1 in five days. Fortunately the first was covered by the warranty because the dealership didn’t realize what caused it, but they investigated more on the second, so I’m on the hook this time. We put D-Con out tonight (so much for my environmental cred), but since learning here that the mice take 4-5 days to die, that won’t help much, I don’t think. My current plan is to park the cars around the corner to “hide” them (I have two SL1s) and get an exterminator in. It seems that all of these solutions have an element of luck involved. I don’t know if this will work, but my neighbors have agreed to give us their used cat litter–may have been our strangest neighbor request ever. BTW, we live on a busy street in the city–so it’s not just a rural problem.
I have a 2005 Buick LeSabre and have had a mouse get into the ductwork where it died. The smell is terrible. Heading to the Buick repair shop tomorrow to have the mouse removed from the ducting. Shop foreman says to put dryer sheets in the engine compartment to keep the mice out as apparently they don’t like the smell.
If this is your situation: you have a late model Honda Pilot and there is a terrible odor of mice in the cabin. And if this is a symptom: You turn on the heater or AC and there is a terrible vibration maybe coupled with a loud tick, tick, tick then I know how to fix the problem. I had just this problem – twice – and the first time I took it to the dealer. They fixed it (mostly) and charged me $286.00 to disassemble the dash. The second time I decided that I was going to fix it myself. What it turned out to be was a mouse in the “squirrel cage blower” (or maybe that should be “mouse cage”) that had died and was stinking to high heaven.
The way to fix this is to remove the three screws that holds in the fan and it drops straight down. The fan is located down by the feet of the front passenger, on the for right hand side of the car (for those of us that drive on the right hand side of the road). One of the screws is rather tough to get in and out but the dealer left it out after the last repair job and so did I. It doesn’t seem to cause problems and I am ready for the next time.
Anyone reasonably mechanically inclined person can do this. You have to be somewhat of a contortionist but it doesn’t take any special tools. Just be sure that you pay attention to the orientation of the fan motor because it is mounted with three equally spaced screws and you could manage to mount it wrong (as I did) and it will not work right.
Well there it is and good luck. May your car remain clean. Trap those mice before they get inside!
BTW – I intend o talking with the service manager and if this small amount of disassembly constitutes $286 worth of work, I am going to quit my day job and start a business…
We too have mice too chewed wires front, middle and back of our minivan. Showed up as ABS and Traction Control failure as the read abs wire was severed. There was a nest in the cabin filter with expired baby mice. It set us back $400. Anyway, here is a way of trapping many mice in an evening which we use at our remote cabin. You need a bucket with about 4 inches of water (windsheild washer fluid can be used if below freezing), a coat hanger, pop can and peanut butter. Cut and bend the coat hanger so that you have a straight peice of wire that will span from one side of the bucket to the other. Drill a hole in the center of the bottom of the can. Insert the wire through the can top to bottom. Drill holes on the top sides of the bucket and insert the wire so that it bridges over the middle. Smear the peanut butter around the sides of the pop can. Place the bucket where the mice are frequenting. The mice will jump from the edge to the pop can and log roll into the water and drown. We frequently catch 10 mice in an evening without having to ever reset the trap! It works for squirels and chipmunks too.
As a recent victim of chewed wire/demolished engine hood insulation in my new Mazda MX5, my biggest preoccupation is whether I should consider the event a ‘one time happening’ or plan for an ongoing assault? We have lived in the same house (rural-urban location in Quebec) for over 20 years, and this is the first occurrence. All vehicles now have Bounce in the engine compartment and a good spraying of Simply Green – ideas courtesy of this website!
What is the general experience – one incident? Or repeated damage?
Based on my experience and many of the others who have commented here, you should assume it is just the first wave of an ongoing assault. I have continued to catch mice in traps, though it has been about 9 months since the last incident.
Part of the decrease, though, is because I have made a very concerted effort to plug up holes into the crawl space of my house (using steel wool to fill gaps) and into my garage. My garage door now has an extra piece of wood running along the bottom that was cut to exactly match the shape of the concrete floor where it sits when closed. There are still air gaps for ventilation, but they are several feet off the ground and not near any spot a mouse could leap from.
By the way, did any of you watch Ratatouille and have a hard time being sympathetic to the protagonist Remy? I know I did.
Ok folks!!! I found a new Sonic Noise Mouse Repeller.
I bought an invertor from Canadian Tire. This thing plugs into your automobile lighter socket and from there you plug in the sonic noise thing into it. It’s supposed to repel the mice… Just so you know I am trying it out. So keep your eyes open to see if it works in a couple of weeks. I live on a farm so I automatically get mice in the vehicle.
I have a new Toyota Camry. I noticed a terrible stench (like road kill) and brought it in to the dealer. They found a rat, 10 inches long (not counting the tail lenght). It had crawled into the air conditioning duct that runs under the passenger seat. There was no sign of rodents inside the car. The dealer cleaned the car, shampooed everything, etc. I live in a small town and NEVER see mice or rodents anywhere – home, work, town. After reading these posts, I worry that I will get reinfestation because of the smell. God help me!
After only Owning my 2006 HONDA ODDyssey for 14 mo. we discovered that it was infested with 6 mice in the celing liner!!!! AHHHHH the dealership stated that i should have been putting on the recycle air vent prior to shutting off the van as that is where they had gotten in. i stated that i had never heard of that and that if they had me sign off on a tank of gas then they should’ve had me sign off on their ventilation system education!!! The dealership said they could for a one time honda curtessy clean the van for me….where they told me they had found an enormous nest in the celing liner( = easy access) as well as a dead mouse!!!! however when i sent my insurance adjuster to check out my van at the dealership they told him not to bother that it was covered under warranty and that they were fixing it!!! I have that in writting from my insurance company. Only to later tell me its not covered under warranty!!!! ahhh!!! I have no idea how long they had been up their but i do know that we have been sick ALOT since..as i am a travel nurse we spent alot of time in our van and as we took an assginment close to my family so we could help on the farm..my folks haven’t been sick once…the difference is that van….I was also told repeatedly that my van came without ventilation covers however i had 2 mechanics give me a couple of diagrams that show at least 2 different covers that should have been there. I am soooo angry that HONDA would knowingly put family safty and health at risk….mice carry encephilitis in their feces and myloenchephilitis in their urine as well as the haunta virus in thier urine, sliva, and feces….not to mention the rota virus as well as many other things and as my celing liner is chock full of mouse urine.i cannot in good concious put my family in that van i don’t know if the airbags are going to fire …i don’t know if my van is going to catch on fire from chewed wiring…we have been without our van since april!!!! The health risk is terrifying and the finacial burden is extreme……upon calling the manufacturer they implied that i had left my windows and doors open !!! my response was…what a stupid thing to say of course we don’t leave our windows and doors open!!!! then had the audacity to ask me if we park in a BARN!!! what cuz i’m from iowa!?!?! GRRRRR!! i said lady these vehicles are ment to sit outside not in a glass case!!! We have never had a problem with any of our other vehicles on the farm from chevy to dodge to hundai….my parents 13 yr. old van was sitting right next to mine and they chose the new HONDA….????? of course the manufacturer lies..lies..lies and denies!!!
THANK YOU so much for posting your experiences it’s good to know i’m not alone….I’m currently contacting the department of health state of iowa as this is a safty and health issue. i would suggest you do the same!!! enuf attention and ‘the mouse that sqeaks the loudest gets the cheese’.er i mean honda…uuuugggggggg!!!!
Ok. Well the mouse repeller did not work. ……… at least not that i know of. I do still get mice in teh engine. I have now chosen to place sticky traps and snap traps in the engine before it gets too dark. I open up the hood for the engine to cool down and then place them in teh engine and also on the ground under the engine. Yup. craziness in Canada I say…..argh.
Even though I was told by VW that there is a firewall, the mice can STILL get into the wiring passed teh firewall……. scary to know that your car can literally become toast after its all eaten up by those freakin’ mice………….
I just thought I would ask David the July entries a question.
Did you have pets by any chance? I have to get rid of these buggers but dont want my dogs to get in the stuf…. they’re outside most of the night.
And HOW do the mice get up? They dont climb the hanger do they?
What type of bucket do u use?
I know have the answer to my question……prepare for ongoing assault. We had the audacity to leave on a week of vacation and returned to find the other side of the firewall insulation ripped apart to create a nest (empty, thank god)on the engine. The car was parked outside with 10 #4 bounce sheets under the hood, so we have eliminated ‘bounce’ as the potential solution. There was only minor wiring nibbling. I have the replacement part for the insulation, but there isn’t much sense in installing a brand new shopping mall of nesting material!
My husband is now setting mice traps and putting them under the hood nightly. For some reason, it seems to be car specific. They haven’t touched my husband’s cars yet, for which he is eternally grateful.
Really sorry (for us all) to hear that the mouse repeller did not work.
If anyone has any other suggestions, we’re all ears!
Had my Mountaineer towed yesterday to dealer for what will surely be many hundreds of dollars (again) of half-gone wires, hoses, etc. I am both saddened and yet strangely comforted to find myself in such company as y’all… I was thinking this was only happening to me. After reading your comments,
I had a thought- please shoot it down or add to it.
If these little creeps are entering through the wheels, and they dislike certain odors, would mixing up a stinky batch of something in a spray misting bottle and spraying the wheels nightly keep ’em away? It would not be too time-consuming and way-less icky than some of the ongoing things many of you are doing. How ’bout 1 part peppermint oil, 3 parts water, a handful of some sort of urine pellets(?) plus several Bounce sheets and moth balls dropped in for good measure? It might be quite unpleasant, but if it worked, I’d commit to the spraying time…..
Thanks Wanda,
I left my car trapless last Saturday and found a pretty little nest on Sunday. Yeah only one day!! So I went to Canadian Tire and bought Aluminum Mesh material for screen doors/windows. I have now molded this and placed it where they were chewing away. I am still using traps (snap/sticky).
I would say to everyone here, Fred Meyer has teh BEST prices on snap traps and sticky traps! unlike Canadian prices. Four traps cost under two dollars in the USA and down here they cost 2 dollars for two!
Till next time everyone
Hi, I have noticed that wood rat traps work well on mice. I think they are more likely to catch a mouse than the smaller identical mouse traps. Of course, it would also catch a bigger rat if that is what you have. I always use them, I think they are faster, surer, and more humane.
unfortuneately…..until the urine scent trail that the mice have left is adaquately cleaned other mice will smell it and think that it is a “party zone”.
Well I have done it folks! 🙂
I have finally put Aluminum mesh in my car and no mice have tried to rip it up.. yet!!! (I drive a newly purchased 2003 VW Golf. ). I still can’t believe the damage they caused in under one month!! I just got the car in August (this year). Anyhoos. I am thankful I put the metal fine meshing in the foam part of the car. It will definately prevent them from chewing and getting thru to the interior of the car.
I really do feel for all of us here in this blogging WombatNation site.
I tried the peppermint thing. didn’t work. I won’t be using any smells of any sort. Personally I think they probably get curious and wonder what its all about.
I say booby trap around the car. If that means you have to put sticky traps in the interior and sticky and snap traps under your car and in your engine then do it.
I have only heard from about 4 mechanics plus that the mice can truly damage your vehicle to the point of no return. They recommended traps galore. I say stock up folks.
O ONE PIECE OF ADVICE FOR THOSE WHO USE TRAPS IN THEIR ENGINES…. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A SET OF METAL TONGS. Just so you don’t have to actually touch the mice on the sticky traps or snap traps. Plus you can easily place the traps with the tongs into areas of the engine your hand cant get into.
Tcare from Canada
can’t believe this is so common….thought i was only one! and why is it most of these comments are concerning hondas? had mice damage in old honda…now are attacking new honda. the war is on-going….over a year now in this honda. tried moth balls (later read pkg about how poisonious they are to humans); tried all traps, glue, snap large and small, poisons of all kinds…dealt with horrible smell when they died for at least 2 weeks….but i am still seeing mice in car….going crazy! can’t afford to just let mechanic have my car and fix for unknown $$$$ and still have mice. what to do???
I had a 1997 Jeep Grand Charokee that got mice in the air conditioner, and now My Hummer is having a problem. They have gotten in the air conditioner, and now they chewed the wires to the fuse box causing the automatic shifter release mechanism to lock up, leaving the hummer stuck in the garage. I am going to try old stockings with moth balls tied in the engine compartment as well as these little plastic containers that you fill with cotton balls soaked with bobcat urine. A friend of mine used the moth balls in his car that had been damaged and they have not come back. My husband thinks we should put little mouse heads on sticks all around to send a message that we don’t mess around (lol). So far I am at about $1000 in damage, so either they stay away or many will die. I will only use live trapping if some little mouse is going to pay up!!!!
So this morning I discovered a critter has taken up residency in the spare tire compartment of my Honda Accord. Didn’t find the critters but wondered if they were now making their way through the rear seat and what is next to come. Possible solutions thought of were moth balls and traps. Google the problem and come across this site. Augh….I can’t believe this and what I’ve read. I’m disappointed in the fact that Honda make appears so often. And, I thought I had researched my vehicle purchase so thoroughly and had made the best choice given the results. I obviously was not aware of this problem. I guess I should be grateful they haven’t attacked the mechanical parts (yet). Possible solutions….sell the vehicle and buy a Toyota?! I will try the baby powder suggestion in an attempt to find the entry. I’ll try the bounce, moth balls, traps, perhaps get a couple cats….
I would stick with the VolksWagons. I’ve been told the newer models now have a great firewall :0)
LOL, I was just looking for a replacement blower for my venting system in my ’01 Accord because a mouse got stuck in it and broke the impeller blades and I found this site!
I’m sure the mouse issue was instigated by myself – I was car camping and had food stored inside the car and the doors open many times.
However, I’m not even sure how it got into the vents, and it is kind of strange that the mouse was somehow able to go freely from inside the trunk to my dashboard (was chewing on my glove compartment to get some food in there.), and ito my vents. I know it was hiding in the trunk where the tire jack is stored at one point. Oh well, at least it was the only one, and all it did was break my blower and chew on my glove compartment a little – no electrical issues – could have been a lot worse from the sounds of some stories here.
Has anyone experienced this problem with 2000-2004 Volvo S40’s? Recently, I was parked overnight behind a diner (I’m sure I can guess where the mouse came from). The next morning, I start the car, flip on the a/c, and the whole car started to vibrate. According to Volvo, the mouse got in the blower motor from the in-cabin air filter. I hope someone can help me with this question: If there is no longer a smell (there was a terrible odor, but the car has been fogged and ozoned), will future mice be attracted back to my car, even though I am no where near a diner? I feel like I need to sell the car now in fear of this. SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME SOME ADVICE! I’d greatly appreciate it. And no, I am not interested in traps and/or items that smell.
Anyone else have this issue with a Mazda? Last week our 2007 Mazda3 was towed for the second time to the dealership because of the wiring being eaten. The first time the damage was fairly minimal and the dealership didn’t charge us. I opened the hood the night I brought the car back and a squirrel jumped out. This time the car was in our driveway for three days and my husband found a nest and babies. The dealership is charging us $1300 to fix it and doesn’t have any suggestions. The squirrels apparently have found something delectable in the Mazda’s wiring as they don’t ever attempt to enter the other cars. Has anyone tried a rat zapper from ratmousezapper.com? I like the idea of not having to touch the dead critters.
Hi!! Thanks Susan (#260 entry) for mentioning the ratmousezapper. Iam going to have to think on that one but to EVERYONE please do share if anyone in this forum has used ratmousezapper. I did go on their site and it seems the testimonials are all well n all but i think I would prefer to hear it from someone in this forum…. I live on a farm and it’s not pleasant with the mice getting into the older vehicles. Grossness, stinkiness and just plain wrong what those things do to our vehicles.
I recently bought a ’92 Corolla that sat un-used at a guy’s house who lived in the woods for a good many months. The air didn’t work so we tore apart the dash and found that the fan was literally one giant rat’s nest, as well as the right half of the A/C condenser. Later that day we took apart the air filter under the hood and that had a nest as well. Later that day we had two baby mice crawl out of the bottom of the passenger-side fender, which I set loose in a nearby field to die in whatever way seems best for them (they didn’t even have their eyes open yet).
Getting rid of the nests got rid of 95% of the pee smell, but now we’ve got a new smell: the wonderfully pungent smell of DEATH. I’m thinking the mama mouse got into the air ducts and died, since, by some miracle, no wires running through the dash have been chewed (everything’s working fine).
On that note, does anyone know how long it takes for a mouse to decay beyond the point of emitting a stench?
Mice and rats are nocturnal and want to hang in enclosed spaces, hence under your hoods safe from preditors. The best thing you can do is leave the hood up at night- no more enclosed space, no more protection.
I also was told by the dealer that my wiring harness was eaten by a rodent. I have a toyota fj cruiser and the cost is over 2200.00 to repair harness, it also ate my hose to radiator.Service tech said antifreeze would kill him, but has to be more. Haven’t seen any evidence of anything inside car. Guess I will try simple green and also call insurance company. If anyone has any luck , post again.
Similar situation here. Luckily they are not in the car but possible as I am getting a noise from my blower motor. I was the same as most of you. I started my 2005 Dodge Dakota yesterday morning and my ABS and Brake lights stayed on in the dash. Dropped it off at the dealer figured under warranty no big deal. Got the call today you have a rodent problem. So naturally I wasn’t pleased and blasted the mechanic a bit with my logic. How come my other Dodge that parked in the same spot outside my house for 6 years never had a rodent problem? Then how come my 1990 4Runner that has been there for the entire 11 years I lived there never have a problem, or my wifes Old Grand Am (which parked in the same area for 7 years) or her current Nissan Pathfinder have never had these problems?
Sorr y I don’t know. Ok well how do I prevent it from happening again? Again sorry he didn’t know.
Well WTF I surely don’t want to drop $600 to $21,000 every few months because of rodent damage.
I will be picking up the dryer sheets on the way home but there has to be a better way.
Well I too googled “Mice” for info and came up with this site too!!
Our problem is the mice are chewing through the fabric of our car seats!! We have a landrover discovery.
Can anyone advise what to spray on the seats to prevent them ripping any more of our fabric? I have heard that peppermint oil may be worth a try but would this really work?? Any suggestions welcome as I am at my wits end with the dam things!
Luckily the fuel pipe, etc has not been attacked, however a friends car (Ford Fiesta) has had her fuel pipe eaten twice now.
I have a 2006 Honda Ridgeline truck (basically an Odyssey, Pilot, Acura MDX, but on a truck platform)…started the car up yesterday and noticed that the check engine light was blinking and that a couple of the idiot lights were on…the car was idling funny and was not smooth at all while i drove it…had the Honda dealership inspect the car and the official problem of the truck was “rodent damage to the engine wire harness”….the technician at the dealership said that it’s a common problem because the c cover of the harness that Honda uses is made of soy, basically making it “sushi” for rodents/squirrels, etc…the quote to fix the damages was $1650…luckily the comprehensive part of the car insurance covers this problem…contacted Honda corporate to let them know that the cover that they are using is very attractive to rodents…hopefuly they will pay for my insurance deductilbe….i will be sending a letter to Honda Corporate expressing my thoughts about this problem..i have been a lifelong loyal Honda customer, but the last 3 Hondas that i have purchased have had transmission problems, and now this…
I just mail some of my Rats Hate http://www.Rataway.com to a person who has a honda and the rats are eating the wires & hoses up. Rataway stops rats,mice,raccoons, squirrels,horses,etc… FROM CHEWING My product is pet,child and service person safe. Please go to the web site http://www.Rataway.com I want to help you
Rick Suddes at aol . com
I too have been plagued with critters eating the wire harness the engine compartment of my 2002 Buick Century. I had went grocery shopping a couple a weeks ago and the engine light was on going and coming but no other problems. I needed to take the car in for inspection and emissions test so I took my car in and they found a broken wire in the breather box. Brought the car home without the inspection and emissions test because I had put about 250 miles on it to give the computer time to recycle itself.
We went away for a week and was going to use my car to go to church yesterday morning. The car idled so fast and every few seconds it would jerk. We brought it back home and parked it. Called our mechanic and told them we would bring in after church. It was a miracle I got it to the service center.
I got the wonderful news today that the wire harness, a vacuum line, a spark plug wire, throttle lines, breather line and who knows what else was chewed up. I saw big dollar signs when the tech told me what the problem was. I also then looked in our drive way and found a piece of wire about 4 inches long at first it looked like a twig.
I put a call into our car insurance and told her, our car had been vandalized by an animal. I was waiting for a laugh but I wanted to know if it was covered and she filed a claim under comprehensive and I no deductible. I am waiting for the estimate from the service center and for the adjuster to call me. I went to the service center this afternoon and took pictures I cannot believe the damage at the critter did. It was either a squirrel or a chipmunk. The tech did advise that it would be better to put a complete new wire harness which he estimated at about 900.00 not counting labor.
On the way home I got “Critter Chaser” powder and Moth Balls for the car plus rat poison to place around the house. I will mix this together and put in coffee filters and place it in the engine compartment in various areas. I sure hope this works. It didn’t bother my husband’s car and he too has a 2002 Buick Century. This is our 3rd fall here and we didn’t have any problems before. In fact this is the first time in my life that I had critters eat the wires in my car.
Here are two answers to rats chewing wiring on cars.
1. Dust engine with critter powder & place moth balls in engine compartment.
Here is what will happen you cannot get critter powder in all the small places and how long will the moth balls last.
2. If you spray Rataway on the engine you are putting the product on the very thing you are trying to protect “The wire, hoses & insulation” I developed it and have used it for 5 years protecting heating & air conditioning equipment. Rataway Will bind to the insulation, hoses, and wire.
I have been in the heating & air business 40 years and fighting the rat problem that long. http://www.aircontrolcompany.com before I put Rataway on the market we tested it on many rodents, and animals. It has worked well please go to http://www.Rataway.com I want to help all of you.
Please understand the following statement. All of the following products are good except for one thing. On the way to the moth balls, critter power, glue traps, traps, zappers, poison etc… THE RAT STOPPED AND CHEWED THE WIRING and most of the time there are manny rats. I have seen everything I talked about in attics, furnace rooms etc and the chewing goes on and on and on. I will fight the rats & mice as long as I stay in business. I am not trying to brag up Rataway I just know it works.Use it along with the other products. Rick
More bad news not just cars now house water lines. Just found out the plastic water lines red for hot & blue for cold that plumbers are putting in houses a rat did this. A rat bit the line and the damage was $100,000 dollars. OUCH! We are now spraying Rataway on water lines and now have a water proof product availabe on request. Go to http://www.rataway.com for spray
Lucky you being able to claim on your insurance. I have just heard that rodent damage is excluded from my ‘fully comprehensive ‘ cover. My agent said that all European insurance companies had the same exclusion and if anyone knows differently and has sucessfully claimed I’d be very pleased to hear about it.
Ok so has anyone actually tried this rataway stuff that this guy is incessantly posting about? I have an 05 Accord – yup, yet another Honda, with a rat/mouse problem chewing up the engine. So far only the insulation and not the wiring, so no problems yet, but I think it just started happening. I have set snap traps all over the garage but the rats cleverly avoid them.. apparently they don’t like pb! Anyway, I am at my wit’s end and was thinking about this stuff, but at $25 a pop I was wondering if it actually works or is just another gimmick… after all this guy sure posts a lot…
As far as the insurance question, why don’t you read your policy? If you don’t have a copy, request one from your agent. Skim through and look for anything with regards to rodents, and when you find that part, read what it says carefully. Although most people are intimidated by insurance, it really isn’t that hard to understand the policies if you just take some time to look at what they say. They are written on about a 6th grade (US age 11-12 yr old)level.
Last month I paid over $500 to have wiring repaired on my Honda Odyssey from rodent damage. Now my TCS light is on again!!! We put Bounce in the car and a rodent repelling plug in contraption outside the car. I am scared to go back to the dealer tomorrow!!! It seems that mice like the taste of Honda wiring, as they never touch my husband’s Toyota!!!
Well Dodi my post of 5 Dec refers to a Toyota Corolla.I’ve caught five mice but who knows how many there are. I’ll have to go to the fag of putting the car in the garage every night once the Toyota garage tell me they have completed the work. They have estimated five hours work.
Thanks to the comments about reading the policy carefully Anonymous Says:
December 5th, 2007 at 2:49 pm . Sadly I’ve read it in black and white that rodent and insect damage are excluded.
Actually perverse as it sounds I’ve taken a little comfort from knowing I am not alone with this blasted problem so thanks to those who have posted.
Peter
I have an Acura DMX 2004. I took it to the dealer because “D5” was flashing. I was told that some rodent chewed off some wire in the engine area. It happened 3 times frome 2005 to April 2006. In May 2006. D5 flashed again but then stopped by itself.
Yesterday, it flashed again!
I called Custommer Service. It wass like talking to the WALL. He said he had no control over the rodent and could not stop it from biting the wire. I said it is a design problem. If you drive a car over a small pothole and the car broke into two peices, can you simplely blame the pothole or the driver? If the coating of the wire is made of soy bean or something that tastes good to the mice, would you think it is fair to question the design?
I counted the responses in this amusing blog. There are 36% Honda/Acura related cases. Do you think it is legitimate to question the design?
Stand up! Any body?
To All of you who have problems with RATS & MICE OR WHAT EVER. One of my customers told me about this site. After reading through the problems and people trying all kinds of things. I decided to tell people who read the site about what I am doing. I made Rataway for me to use in My air conditioning company.
I started testing the product starting in 1999. Over the years I have a friend who owned a pet shop. we put the Rataway on a tree branch and put it in the cage over several weeks and different cages the rats and mice left the branch with Rataway alone.
Over the years I have sold it here and there to my air conditioning customers.They have used it for several applications. I have had my AC business 40 plus years. in Ojai, Ca I know everyone in town and they know me. http://WWW.AIRCONTOLCOMPANY.COM .
We treat all of our heating & air conditioning systems with Rataway. When I developed the product the goal is to protect the flex ductwork and the furnace and AC unit. It has worked for me I am not saying that Rataway is answer. It is the best one I have found so far. with out using traps or poison.
I go in attics and the rat poison and dead rats is sick to see in 5 milliom dollar house.
My goal only was to stop the rat from chewing on wire and duct work. I use it everyday on jobs. I wanted it safe for all.I have customer in Widby Island Washington state who spent $1500 in September
and $3700 this week. She has tried everything she purchased Rataway and I told her to spray every evning at about dark. everyday and everyday for a while and do not park in the same spot also. Here is something I found out RATS CHEW ON MAN MADE OR THINGS IN THE WILD 2% a day. everyday. So the math is
24 X60 X 2% = 28.88 minutes a day chewing. Rats teeth can grow 4 inches a year. The have to chew or their teeth will grow through their head. Go back through the site and add up all the repair bills it is very high. In 40 years in Business I have found this out. Forget the money. Help people and the rewards will come. I have the Airconditioning Co. I have a filter company we sell heating & air conditioning filters all over the USA. So the Rataway busines is out there to try to help people in their problems. I have said this for 40 years, preventative maintanance is the way you protect your Heating and Air Conditioning equipment, your car, truck, motorhome, etc and it will last you a long time.
Rats and mice have added a new dimension in preventative maintanance for your automobile. You may have to treat your automobile daily, weekly, monthly? Rats and mice are a worldwide problem
— Rick Suddes
Hello, Ive had trouble with mice in the engine compartment of my new Chevrolet Equinox. The first grass nest started on top of the rear exhaust manifold and stacked up to the top of the breather. I went down the road and thought I smelled a grass fire. After opening the hood I found the problem and removed the nest. The next week I get in the car and there is a rotten smell. I open the hood and the mice have been sitting on the shock towers and eating rotten Bois’D’Arc Apples. after a good waterhose cleaning and a half bottle of Febrez the smell subsided. Tonight was the last straw,I looked under the hood and found another nest. After removing it I found two wires stripped bare. I dont know what this will cost to fix yet but it does’nt look good for my wallet. I proceded to try an old trick I used to use to keep squirrels away. I dripped lousiana hot sauce all around under the engine compartment and hung a cheesecloth bag of crushed red pepper on the inside of the fender. I had a squirrel infestation in an attic one time and this worked like a charm. The squirrels moved out that very day. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
2005 Toyota Tundra attacked by rodents twice in the last week. They ate through the wiring harness causing total of $3700 repairs. AAA insurance covered all but deductible — lucky! I’m worried it will happen again when I get the truck back or I’ll have problems like I’ve been reading about here with smells and droppings or rodents in the cab. I hate this.
My Ford Focus recently is being invaded by mice/pack rats – not sure which. First time huge elaborate nest on engine, chewed wires. Second time smaller nest, chewed wires and now again today – no new chewed wires just a bit of gross nest stuff and mouse turds. I have almost completed reading all the postings and have managed to terrify myself. I have parked my vehicles under my carport for 15 yrs. and this is the first year of this ever happening. I’m heading to the hardware store for mouse traps and will try tabasco sauce on the wires along with peppermint oil and moth balls. I plan on heavily arming the place with traps, so tend to believe that will be the weapon of choice for the most seemingly constant battle. I’ll report back any progress. I have found this site extremely helpful. Good luck to all.
I have already posted one incident post number 269.
Well this week my husband’s car was attacked. And we have the proof of the critter. A rabbit!
We were headed out to the eye doctor in my husband’s car (mine is still in the shop 5 weeks waiting on a wire harness) and the service engine soon light came on. I told my we need to get this checked today. After the eye doctor appointment I called our garage and he said he would work it in. Well needless to say there was a rabbit (large) sitting in the engine compartment. Now we didn’t take a dna test but since the wires harness was chew in half and there is a rabbit sitting on the engine what else would one think. The rabbit traveled 38 miles with a stop of 40 minutes.
It now has a new residence. here is a picture of the menace.
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf32563890.tip.html
just scroll down.
@MyJoy2Go
Wow! Thanks for linking to the other website where you posted a photo of the wire-insulation-lovin’ rabbit. Some of the comments on that site provide good suggestions that I don’t think have been posted here.
So happy I found this website!! I was starting to believe I was CRAZY. I own a 2006 Dodge Magnum.
I bought a pair of boots and put them in the back sear of my car. A couple days later I go to get them and the paper inside box is torn into shreads. Before this I had notice papers torn up in my back seat and thought nothing of it, but this incident made me believe that have a mouse or mice in my veh. I have been good about trying to keep my car clean and food out of it. Before this I have never heard of a mouse in a car and neither has anyone I know. I am PETREFIED of a mouse and to think of possibly having a nest in my car drives me NUTS!!! I am not driving my car right now and have set up a appt w/ the dealership. I called insurace co (State Farm-the best!) and they said any damage caused by rodents would be covered.
I cannot stand the thought of a mouse being anywhere near me. I will take the advice of the posters. If anyone has found a way to permanently keep them away, PLEASE share.
Pingback: WombatNation » NY Times Article on Rats in Cars
The New York Times just ran an article on rats in cars. Here’s a quote from the story that sounds familiar: “Looking on the Web, he found other Honda owners complaining about rats nesting in their knock-sensor systems.”
Fire in boat engine A rat bit into two hot wires in
a boat engine. The rat got the two wire to spark and the Gas fumes set the boat & side of the house on fire. Boat total loss. Protect your boat,car engine
motor Home etc…Go to web site Rats Hate http://www.Rataway.com price
$25.00 shipped USA, Mexico,Canada,UK.
Well, I can relate all too well to everything on here. I bought a new camry 07 in july 07 and have been plagued with “rodent” problems since October, 2007. I have been to the dealer 3 times with the same issue of rodents chewing on wires(wire harness).
The first time i had this issue, i fussed with the dealer about how it sounds impossible for this to happen but my insurance company got involved and lo and behold my insurance guy said:”IT’S IMPOSSIBLE FOR ANY HUMAN TO DO THAT”.
Around December, 22nd, same thing happened again. THE RATS CAME BACK. The whole wire harness had to be replaced for a sum of 3000.00. Again insurance stepped in. Three days after I get the car back, it would not start again. I’m at my wits end. I don’t know what else to do or try.
I have my mothballs in there, ive bought fox urine, im using ammonia… I NEED SOME MAJOR HELP!!!!!!!
Mice ate my husband’s wiring, found a web site I’m going to try,
Critter-Repellent.com. Sounds logical…
Cary, I also found that website in my research today. I’m going to buy this shake away product and maybe also RATAWAY. Has anyone used these products with successful results???
p.s.-the new bill for my “rat” issue is 627.00….
To Salisha http://www.Rataway.com will coat the engine & wiring or what ever you put it on. If you do not coat the wire then the rat will eat the wire. I developed & tested Rataway since 1999 it has worked
well. Also Rataway is now water proof. It stops Chewing Rats. Rick Suddes
I have an Acura MDX, 2001. Like many of you have reported, mice chewed the wire to our knock sensor (part of engine wiring harness) this week after I parked at work on a rainy day. The engine light came on and the Acura Dealer Service diagnosed it and showed me the little paw prints on the engine. Part $40, Labor $800 — for one wire. Haven’t done it yet. We’re going to get a non-dealer estimate for labor first. But mainly we’re concerned about a repeat performance!
Mice once chewed up my mother’s ’91 Acura Legend wiring harness to the tune of $3,000.
Dealer said this rodent chewing wires is fairly common and that we were lucky, as he showed me a fully chewed engine wiring harness that was costing a guy $3,000 in labor. “It’s not Acura’s fault,” he said, so it’s not covered by warranty.
HOWEVER, I found a post on another forum (AcuraMDX.org) where the poster said that because of this problem, “There is a new and improved sub harness with a hardened protector around the wire and its chemically treated. All ’06 engines got it, and all replacements done will use this new part.”
My Acura Dealer didn’t mention this–which would mean Acura has acknowledged and perhaps fixed the tasty wires — has anyone else heard about it?
I also ordered ShakeAway Rodent Repellant from critterrepellant.com we plan to hang in a nylon stocking ball, and a product called ROPEL from Nixalite.com that is supposed to stay on the surfaces it is applied to for up to a year and keep rodents from chewing once they lick or taste it. (Rataway appears to need daily or weekly applications?– I want something that stays on).
This is so strange. I’m writing too to say that my VW Jetta has become home to a family of mice. I’ve had issues with the dreaded check engine light for ages but never imagined it was mice. I took it to the dealer after gasoline ran out from my car when I filled the tank. It turns out mice have chewed the vent pipes and plastic lines and have created all kinds of other problems in the evap system. Bill so far is $1100. I dread to think how much I’ll be spending on extra strength bounce!!!
I’ve heard that Volkswagen is developing a heated luxury mice condo that you can keep in your garage to keep them away.
The only reason I say spray Rataway 4 or 5 times is to build up coats on the engine & wiring. Also you might mis a spot or two with one treatment. Again, I developed and used Rats Hate http://www.Rataway.com for 9 years.Rataway is sold worldwide Reg. Rataway $25.00
Waterproof $33.00 that includes shipping to anywhere in the world.non-poisonous & safe around Children and pets.
To DJ and anyone else with a rat problem.
How does any know that the person who does the spraying will get it RIGHT on the first treatment.
If you mis and the rat chews the car then you will say the product does not work. If I tell someone to spray their car 5 times, we do two things We have built up a good coat of product on the hoses & wiring and if you mis anything on the engine & wiring we should get it all in 5 treatments. I have a lot of women call me and buy the product. I know if they spray 5 times we should have done it. I could treat the car one time,because I have done it over 9 years. If I spray it 5 times then it is got some layers on it.Some wires are very small. With Rataway.com you get 128 OZ of product you could do 25 cars, easy. I do not treat just cars with Rataway I treat heating & air conditioning systems. My company Air Control Company http://www.aircontrolcompany.com we deal with rats all the time. When we spray Rataway we do not try to save money we spray heavy and often to build up the coats on the ductwork & wiring. Most people who answer on this site have spent $300-$7000 for repairs. I had one customer spend in one week $4700 dollars in repair bills for two cars. He could have purchased 188 Rataway applications enough product to do the following: Purchase Rataway for $25.00 makes 128 OZ of product could do say 20 cars. 20 X 188 = 3,760 cars. I have read up and down this web page. Two things I see 1 people have spent a lot of money in repair bills from 2005 there must be three or four hundred answers here spending $300 to $7000 in repair bills. I would say it is over a million dollars. I see crazy things people do. From moth balls, grinding pepers mixed with other things, poison bait, dryer sheets, putting things in socks, hanging peppers, why would soneone go to all that work after they just spent several hundred dollars fixing the car. Here is the statement: ON THE WAY TO THE TRAP,BAIT,MOTH BALLS,HANGING PEPPERS,DRYER SHEETS,POWDER, etc.. AND ANY OTHER CRAZY IDEA THE RAT STOPED AND CHEWED UP THE WIRES. YOU HAVE TO PROTECT THE WIRING & HOSES. Believe me I have been at this problem for forty years. Just one fact on rats. Rats chew 2% a day everyday of the week that is 28.88 minutes a day on wild things or things made by man (your car). That is why I want my customers to spray 5 times to start with. I have not had one person call or e-mail me that Rataway.com does not work. If you sprayed the car down once a month so what. Rataway cost $25.00 your repair bill could be in the thousands. Rick Suddes, Ratawayman@aol.com
I have a 2003 Honda Odyssey and just took it to get repaired, as the TCS light and engine light were on. Needless to say, I was SHOCKED when the shop called to tell me I have a “rodent” problem. They saw prints and droppings all over the engine. Paid $100 for them to do a diagnostic, but waited to see about having it fixed, thinking the repair shop was trying to get a quick buck. My insurance company will not cover any part of this, and just to take the housing cover off to see if any damage has been done, it will be a minimum of $460, + cost of repair and labor. I have placed snap-traps all in my garage, but so far haven’t gotten anything. I guess my repair shop was correct and I will have to get this fixed. After finding this site, I am now angry that Honda hasn’t done more to prevent and/or reimburse its customers and scared that this will be an ongoing problem. I need to check my husband’s car as well. Will try the bounce trick asap. This is a ridiculous and needless waste of time and money that I don’t have. Please update if other remedies are found that help. Thanks.
To Karen in Baton Rouge, LA it is real easy
please, go to web site http://www.Rataway.com and purchase some Rataway. it works well. I ship this product all over the world. Rick Suddes
Robert – I need your advice. I recently discovered a mouse is chewing the headliner in my 2007 Acura MDX. I have only owned the car 45 days and feel strongly the mouse came home from the dealer. We saw the droppings and urine on the engine block days after buying the car – but never for the life of me would have thought I actually brought the critter home with me.
The dealer is now taking the car apart to find the mouse (or mice?). Is it your experience that because of the smell of the urine left behind from the mouse, will the car will be like a magnet for future infestations?
The vehicle has only 700 miles on it and if I am going to fight a mouse problem for years to come, I would rather fight like heck to try to get the dealer to swap out the car.
Anyone else with advice for me would also be appreciated. Thanks. Cheryl
BTW the car sat on the dealer lot at least 6 months before we bought it and I think the mouse had already taken up residence.
’07 Toyota Tundra infested after 4 months of ownership. Luckily the damage was contained in the heating ducts. After throughly bitching out the local Toyota dealer, got them to cut the bill in half. Still completely irate.
Dave (Post #185), as an attorney, I totally feel that we, as American consumers, should launch a campaign to ensure that manufacturers address this very important problem.
Not only is a matter of money coming out of our pockets to fix a manufacturing issue, but there is a very real health issue. By having mice nesting in our air vents, we are basically be sprayed with mice feces every time we turn on our AC. I don’t have to tell you that mice are big carriers of disease including hantavirus. We and our children should not be subjected to such a risk just so manufacturers can save a buck.
While a class action may be necessary, I think that the consumers should contact:
(1) Local media outlets,
(2) Consumer advocacy groups. There is a list of the organizations at http://www.consumeraction.gov/resprt2.shtml,
(3) State Attorney General’s Offices (File a complaint), and
(4) Our representatives at both state and federal levels.
In order for changes to be made, we need to take action. These companies are not going to do it on their own. It costs them on their bottom line. Please people take action against this injustice. The American consumer should not have to pay for manufacturers’ negligence.
I will be taking the actions I suggested in the near future and will pass along any useful information.
I am sorry all of you are having rodent problems. I am in the heating & air conditioning business have been for 40 years. Rats & mice, squirrels, etc… get in the ductwork, furnace and ac units. It has been a big problem for our industry. to see the pictures go to http://www.Rataway.com Scroll down to gallery.
Click on gallery and you see rats storing D-con poison, acorns, insulation in the furnace burners, and in both ac units. This is common to find. The home owner cannot sue the furnace & air conditioning manufacture.
I developed Rataway 9 years ago to protect heating & ac systems. Just so happens, it works in other applications. protecting cars engines & wiring, trucks, plastic water lines, motor homes, boats, etc..
It is the owner of the home, business, cars, boats, farm machinery, plastic waterlines, etc… To take responsibility and protect their property. Same as termites problems, are you going to sue the lumber co.
Most of you have spent several hundred dollars in repair bills. A lot of you do home remedies to protect your car. I am not trying to sell you my product Rataway.com. When we do planned service on heating & ac systems we spray it down with Rataway, if in a problem area. YOU HAVE TO PROTECT THE WIRE & HOSES.
Boston, is the third worse place for rat infestation in the USA. That was in the news sometime back. It is a worldwide problem.
I live in Ojai,CA where the coyotes are a problem and I do not live up on the mountains. The coyotes have taken two of my cats. Also Great Horned Owls, hawks take cats around town. We have herons invading fish ponds around town.
When a person buys Rataway from me sometimes they e-mail me or call and try to help them with their problem. I have a problem with customers changing filters in the heating & ac equipment. You have to take care of your equipment what ever kind of equipment it is. Rick Suddes
@Cheryl – I found this site that suggests that male mice do vigilantly mark their turf with their own urine. And, yes, this can allegedly attract other mice to counteract that scent by trying to cover it up with the scent of their urine, thus resulting in a good old fashioned pissing match as male mice compete for mates.
I own a Honda Pilot 2004. Have had to replace the blower motor and have continuous problems with the mice nesting. Have tried peppermint (worked a week or so) a and a sonic battery operated repellent that seems not to be working. I agree with the poster above who indicated a class action might be the best way to go. My Honda dealer and others in the area all say there is nothing that can be done. Otherwise I love the vehicle but this is too much. Then again, I love it due to safety and handling but if mice chew away at critical wiring and keep killing my blower is it really that safe?
Maryann
Go to http://www.Rataway.com and have a look. Not one person who has purchased Rats Hate http://www.Rataway.com
and sprayed down the engine has e -mailed me and said it did not work. Rick Suddes
I bought an 08 Nissan Altima is September. I had a Chevy Tahoe. The ONLY reason I traded was because I was spending at least $100 a week on gas. Found the Altima and loved it until November. Check engine light came on. Dealer gave me the crap about the gas cap! Like I don’t know the gas cap should be tight. 2 days later, on again. Took it to the dealer again, they can’t find anything. Reset the light. 3 days laters, on again. Called dealer, screamed, yelled, cursed. Took back to dealer, 5 hours later they tell me something has eaten through a vent tube on top of the gas tank. $250! 39 days later, 3 warning lights on! This time I had to leave the car and get a rental. They tell me the critters are eating my car up! Why? They don’t eat my husband’s truck, the 2 boats, golf cart, or scooter! Why are they eating my Nissan!
I had trouble with chipmonks living rent-free on my front porch all summer long. Made for quite a mess side stepping their droppings, they must have partied all night while i slept because in the morning it was a land-mind to navigate. I tried moth balls and they seemed to work for a while and then the problem was back, i tried chocolate soaked in hot sauce – they didnt’ eat it and finally found that black pepper, finely ground seems to keep them away. It must get up in their fur and keep them at a distance. Good luck!
Evidence of mice in my 2005 Honda Pilot. How many? Who knows? Just started noticing mouse droppings last week (Feb.2008)and the next day, my daughters Ipod wire was chewed to pieces. Tomorrow I will be headed to the dealership. Will keep you posted!
I can hardly stand the thought of it!
I’m from NYC & I have encountered rodent infestation in my ’95 Mazda a numer of times. I have a sure fire remedy which seems to work well for me…It involves going to your neighborhood Home Depot, Lowes or Home Improvement establishment of your choice. Purchase rodent pellets(better known as rat poison),they are readily available in packets or loose pellets,packets work well for those who are a bit squeemish about handling rat poison,however,not as effective as opening the pellet packs or individual pellets & mixing them with food scraps & placing the “yummie”(and I use this term loosely)in a small styrafoam or plastic bowl tucked behind the drivers & passengers side tires. You find the results a bit gruesome but, effective. Be preparred for cleanup which ranges from visibly dead rodents to what I can best describe as road kill(pretty gruesome!). Needless to say, the best possible precautions should be taken during cleanup(gloves,shovels,brooms,etc…)& discard according to any santitary laws which may apply(I normally place the carcass in a secure paper or plastic bag before discarding in the trash. I can’t emphasise enough the importance of keeping your cats, dogs or other beloved pets away from the contaminated area or place were you place the poison for atleast a 24 hour period,after which you should take extra time to cleanse & disinfect the area. Again…I do not recommend you use this method in any open areas where wildlife or neighborhood squirrels, beavers(etc.)may roam. This method is recomended for a garage or driveway taking extra precaution to isolate the area as much as possible. PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THESE PELLETS ARE HIGHLY POISONOUS AND EXTRA PRECAUTIONS SHOULD BE TAKEN IN HANDLING, PLACING AND DISCARDING ANY REMAINS. YOU ARE DEALING WITH RAT POISON HERE!PLEASE USE COMMON SENSE & PRECAUTIONS. Depending the extent of infestation, you will need to place & cleanup the rodent control ASAP. I would normally mix the “yummie”(again…used loosely)and place my bait late at night and remove once again bright & early, using the same method night after night until the mix has been completely consumed or a significant decrease is evident. I find this method very effective in controling the rodent infestation in my area. I only recommend this for those who are willing to take extra precaution. Another solution may be to call your neighborhood sanitation cleanup Dept. and request that rodent baits be placed appropriately.
Good Luck!
hello to fellow “Rat Restauranteurs,
After paying $1800. on repairs to my 04 Subaru Outback. This being the wiring harness in the manifold. The Srvc. Mngr showed me where the damage orig. frm.. At this time there was no mention or sign of other damage this was all in the presence of the svc mngr,.
However after taking delivery of my car a week later, I noticed the insulation padding along the firewall was all torn up!? from the top downward not vice/versa? something I found a little suspicious? to say, that this was in the exact same area for which the orig. damage was located…inches frm the damaged harness. I know for a fact this damage did not exist because they would have pointed it out immediately! that’s what they do RIGHT?…WRONG!
I’ve concluded that my so called, ” trusted dealership” were the ones I suspect caused the damage to begin with! F&)@*”: B%*&#@! The reason I believe is that in our hysteria and shock they decided to exploit the situation by creating the minor damage & knowing that we are very meticulous w/car that “YES PLEASE DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO!…JUST FIX IT!so this just perpetuated the matter. You see it’s not just taking the pads on and off but unplugging a/c hoses who the hell knows what else? I’m fumin’ pissed off! Unless of course you are legally blind no one could have “NOT” seen this! As obvious and visible as the front door of my house! RIGHT?… well after going back over the steps and conversations that transpired over the nxt few days it would have been impossible for this kind of damage to have been as severe as it was in 2 days time! They gave me verbal an est. of $500. to $600. just for labor and around $100. for parts!…OH and that doesn’t mean that we won’t find more RAT damage in your air cond. ducts! that could be several hundred $$$ more Greg! I thought that the one place you can trust is your dealership right? WRONG!… NO!!!…I will not have the work performed there and will poss. threaten with legal action. SO, take my advice please inspect your car before you take delivery and take pictures of before and after and do not fall into the hysteria or hyper emotions given at the time for they could be a green light for duplicity to rear it’s ugly head! Right now I’m going to try RAT-A-WAY from Rick Suddes and after speaking to him I feel quite confident that with his direct instruction this shall be but a memory! Thanks for listening!
Keep’em Comin’
GREG
Just want to add one thing. The name of my product
is Rats Hate http://www.Rataway.com all one word on Rataway.
My product is nonpoisonous and nontoxic.
Rat-A-Way that is a different product.
Rick Suddes
1998 Mercury Villager. Chewed ingition wires and the harness on the transmission speed sensor. Mice, I guess. Fixed it myself but cost appx. $200. Luckily I was able to salavage and rewire the transmission speed sensor (pulse code generator). Otherwise the cost would have been another $250 or so.
Hello,
I’d like to make a disclaimer from an erroneous statement made earlier last week. I mistakenly wrote the the name of the wrong company, Rat-a-way, wrong company. Please accept my apologies.
I was intending to give credit and meant to say ” Rataway.com ” The name of this expert and a plethora of knowledge is Rick Suddes. Folks, this guy is always so helpful with the many numerous questions I have thrown at him! the patience of a priest and a great proactive style. Keep it up Rick and best regards, Rataway.com
Thanks for all your comments/tips. I just got back from the dealership where I paid $660 because a rat ate the wiring harness in my ’04 Ford Focus. Rat droppings were found on the engine but no sign of the rat and no odors, thankfully. The car is driven daily. I took it in when the check engine light came on and the car started hesitating when pulling away from a stop. It was also stalling on cold morning starts. Geico covered it under my comprehensive insurance minus the deductible. I park in a covered (not enclosed) parking garage on the 2nd level with many other cars. I wouldn’t have believed it except for the fact this happened to me once before on an older BMW I had in storage for six months (in another state, 2-car private garage). This is terrible…like a sign of the apocolypse.
Rodents have loved the wires VW/AUDI has used for years. Ask the agent who handled your claim how many of thoes wire eating cases were VW/Audi. Maybe VW has a big class action law suit comming their way. They KNOW about this problem by now I bet they still use the wire they buy only because its cheap OR they can sell more cars?
ARRRGH!
Our mice seem to have only nested in the hood and eaten the wiring (two visits and $1200) of our Dodge Caravan. However I am worried that this might never end. Going to try some suggestions but I really feel that this is going to get worse before it gets better.
I have been reading your comments. I have a toyota rav 4 and just spent over 1000.00. They had to strip out my car,take out the dash, the flooring..mice everywhere. We are still talking to the insurance company. I also had the knocker sensor wires eaten. This is my second one in 1 month. I really need to find out how to keep them out of the car. I have caught 37 mice in traps in my car. Please let me know if anyone has found a solution. I have a 3yr old and a dog so no poisen. HELP>
To: Vindicated in MI
Your suggestions about writing corporate are very valuable and I intend to do so. Rodents ate my oxygen sensors twice, in my new CRV, and I live in the city and park outside! I had a honda civic for 10 years and had no problems. Is there anyway you can post or email me the June 2004 Service Newsletter from Honda, in which they acknowledge the problem regarding rodents eating knock sensor wires? I’m sure everyone would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.
Certainly. I’ve uploaded a PDF file with a scanned image of the relevant part of the newletter.
Well, I am not sure if rats ate the knock sensor wiring or not, but I suspect so. My CEL came on and then shortly after the TCS light came on. Thought I would do a little research online before taking it in to the dealer. Most sites stated it may be the transmission, as Odysseys are known for tranny problems. Then I came across one or two websites that stated mice or rats could have eaten through Knock Sensor Harnesses. So my friend told me to take the van into Autozone to get the codes read. It came back with a knock down sensor condition and stated to check the connector and wiring to the sensor. Plus I know there are rats that live outside in the blackberry bushes, and have seen droppings in the garage in the past. I will have a friend check our the wiring, and hopefully he can replace it, otherwise its to the dealer for us. I really hope that the rats have stuck to the engine compartment and not inside the passenger compartment. I have seen no evidence of that yet, but now I am fearful. I have always worried about the rats getting inside the house, but never thought about the cars. We have 1 car parked in the garage, and 3 outside, but only my Honda is affected. Our other 3 cars are a 1967 Mustang, a 1970’s cutlass, and a 1999 Volvo S80. The volvo is already having transmission problems, lets hope rats don’t take an interest in any of our other vehicles. Hoping for the best……
Okay, I’ve always considered myself a bit of an animal activist until now… It just cost me $1174. to fix my car after mice made a nest in my engine and chewed thru most of my wiring. I found out last week as my Mountaineer turned off at the gas pump (like George wasn’t already kicking my butt enough there) and wouldn’t turn back on… Had to have a tow truck take the truck to the nearest dealership. Now I want to Kill them all those critters (or at least relocate them).
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep the little buggers from doing this again? I don’t believe I ordered the cheese flavored wiring but the new wiring definitely isn’t!
THEY ATE MY AIR BAG AGAIN! I posted back in Feb. 07 (see post #190) and today I had the SAME PROBLEM – mice/squirrels have nested in my engine area and eaten completely through the wires for my air bag system. They’ve eaten the insulation and made a nest. I’ve tried mothballs (no one would ride in my car), Bounce super-smelly sheets (#4 on a scale of 1-5 in intensity), and even ordered peppermint oil from my local pharmacist to sprinkle around unde the hood. THEY CAME BACK.
I have already called State Farm to see if they’ll cover this again (it’s only been 14 months since the last time they shelled out $2200+ to install a new air bag system). If they do cover it, I will shout from the rooftops what a fabulous company they are….but what do I do to keep this from happening a THIRD TIME!!!!????
I have posted previously. These mice have cost me over $1200.00 just last month. The garage had to strip the interior of car, seats, dash, everything! Then I had the car detailed. About 4 days later my defroster is plugged and i cant turn the dial for the heat. It hits something (nest) My mechanic told me that once the mice are there they will keep coming back, due to the scent. I have caught 42 mice inside my car. Im at my wits end. I have done some research and have read that the Toyota and Honda seem to use soy based material for their wiring. Has anyone else heard that? Its cost effective for these foreign cars. I cant afford to get my car cleaned out again. Im going to trade it in and get something else. Possible a Ford. We have a Ford and a Chevy in the driveway along w/ my Toyota Rav 4 and we have seen tracks going past both of those cars right to the Toyota. My garage just recently told me that since they cleaned out my car, they have seen alot more people coming in with mouse problems, big problems…mostly Rav 4 and Camerys. Needless to say I will not get a foreign car again! I feel my only option at this point to to trade in the Toyota. I cant afford a new car but at this rate I cant afford NOT to get one. I find myself coughing whenever I get into car. and Im sure its not healthy to have these mice nests in the vents.
I’m having the same problem with my Nissan Altima. My husband has removed MANY nests from my hood and lately I’ve been finding mouse poop INSIDE my car. Today I took it to the car wash and while vacuuming it I saw the mouse running around the vacuum area. I tried to hurry and get in the car to move it but I wasn’t fast enough and it crawled up underneath my car. We have set traps in the garage and in the hood of my car. Is there ANYTHING that can be done to keep them out of the inside of my car??? We also can’t use poison because we have a dog and cat. Any advice would be much appreciated.
My sister has a 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe. Yesterday she paid $1200 to a repair shop to have a dead rat removed from behind her instrument panel and $180 today to have it detailed. She has had an ongoing problem with the rodents. Last week when I kneeled down and looked up next to the accelerator pedal just under the dashboard on the transmission hump I saw sunlight through a large rectangular opening into the engine compartment. On the passenger side a smaller opening into the engine compartment also exists. DUH? She mentioned to the mechanic that it must be sealed in order to prevent further infestation and they said the holes were there for a reason and could not be covered. These holes are large enough for a small cat to get in, so I’m wondering if the same openings exist for other vehicles. It seems common sense that it would make incredibly easy entry for varmits of all kinds. It seems there should at least be a mesh screen of some kind to prevent it. Any reason not to close off these large openings?
The very helpful comment below was emailed to me by someone who ran into problems posting a comment. While the Recaptcha thing I added below can be a pain, the number of spam comments I was having to deal with were also a pain.
The end of March we bought a new Mini Cooper. About 10 days ago we returned from a week of vacation and the first day my husband returned to work he noticed the power steering was out on the car. On his way home from work he stopped at his brother’s house, who also has a Mini Cooper, so they could check fuses connected to the power steering. Everything seemed to be okay. That same day I was outside and on the steps between our drive way and house I found several pieces of different colored wiring and some black tubing lined with white webbed nylon threads. I gathered it up to show my husband when he got home, not knowing about the problem with his car at the time. When I showed him the wires he went back to his brother’s, they jacked up the Mini, and sure enough seen something had chewed the wiring. All the colors I had found matched those exactly to what they saw. Anyway, back in the late 80’s I had a Honda that either squirrels or mice had chewed through something to do with the fuel lines. I had the Honda fixed and 10 days later started having the same problems while driving it. Took it back into the shop and this was happening again. There was an incident years ago where I was having trouble with ants coming into the house so I made a paste out of cayene pepper and smeared it on the kitchen counter that met the wall where they were coming in. The ants never came back. So I thought I’d try this on my Honda. I made the paste, crawled under the Honda and placed it in different places. Never had the problem again. So after my husband brought home the Mini Cooper from the repair shop we did the cayene pepper paste again and placed it on different places underneath the car. We also sprinkled crushed red pepper and ground red pepper on the ground underneath the Mini and my car. Luckily the repair bill was very reasonable but I had checked with our auto insurance and it would be covered less the deductible, but didn’t need to make a claim.
I read where many people had posted setting traps to no avail. The best baits to use are chunky peanut butter, fresh fried bacon, nut meats and fruit. After baiting the trigger, before setting it, wrap some thread around it. Set traps in sets of two at a 90 degree angle next to the wall with the trigger facing the wall. Set traps of two about every 6 to 10 feet. I did this after what happened to the Mini Cooper and within 2 hours caught 6 mice. The little sucker’s teeth got caught up on the thread preventing them from “grabbing and going” off with the bait.
Maybe you can pass this information on by putting it on your website and hopefully these tactics might work for others too. Just have our fingers crossed the cayene pepper paste, sprinkled crushed and ground red pepper and tips on baiting traps will help this time around also.
I as well are a Honda Pilot owner, 2005 Pilot. I am fed up. 2 episodes of mice infestation in the blower unit since 11/07. First time $8,000 in repairs, God only knows this time. I’m ready to go for a class action suit against Honda, they obviously know there is something attracting rodents to their models! I am starting with the media, anyone care to join me? Please advise. Fed up in Orlando, Florida with Honda! Lorraine
After another sleepless night totally disgusted with this ongoing problem, I have deduced the following: 90% of the complaints here are with Honda’s. I park my car in a parking lot with 40 others daily, mine is the only Honda, mine is the only one attacked twice in 6 months! I park my car at home with my husband’s Infiniti and his is rodent free. Research thus far reveals Honda’s are attractive to rodent infestation due to a specific covering used on their wiring and the Knock sensor subharness. Of course, I contacted Honda and they have no prior complaints on file regarding any issues with rodents. I am trading my car in and I WON’T BE MAKING ANOTHER BAD INVESTMENT IN A HONDA! Honda needs to come clean with this……..their problem has cost me $8k and too much aggrivation. Anyone interested in joining me in a class action lawsuit. Pls contact lvaldes390@msn.com
WE’RE UNDER ATTACK! It really may be the apocalypse at our house in rural VA. Just found out, while getting the oil changed, that 2008 Pontiac Grand Prix (driven everyday) had a mouse nest on the engine. Then noticed a small hole worn in the floormat on the driver’s side – uhoh… Checked other 2 vehicles (Ford F-350, driven everyday, and Ford Explorer, sits, undriven at times) & they do too!!! The Explorer is the worst, so far it looks like it for nesting purposes, but finding a few issues in driving the Explorer that make me wonder if wiring is chewed through. I can’t take it, I’m willing to try everything at this point. People ridding their cars of mice, we are fighting the good fight, and we can’t quit, no matter what. I’ll let you know how we fare with some or all of the ideas shared on this site.
I’m in the woods in Vermont. I discovered this site yesterday and read maybe the first 100 posts above but hadn’t seen any Toyota Priuses mentioned. I have a 2005 Prius with great gas mileage and big mouse problems, athough I’ve so far escaped expenditures other than purchase of a Sonic Technology PestChaser. I posted my mouse story at PriusOnline 2 years ago (where other Prius owners have their own mice stories). I first discovered a nest of leaves and insulation in the cabin filter behind the glovebox. I began habitually engaging the recirc. I used the laundry dryer sheets but they didn’t do much good, although I wasn’t diligent about replacing them, nor more recently about reapplying peppermint essential oil to the filter as the odor dissipated rather quickly (but at first, the peppermint odor was so strong, I had to open windows). Amaziingly the car has never had a strong mousey odor.
After a mouse appeared in the interior as I was traversing the hairpin turns of a mountain road, I had to do something different. I got the PetChaser for about $30. It’s a model that has its own cord which meant that I could place it in the open glovebox when parked, allowing the cord to come out of the door to be plugged into a thicker outdoor line. This has recently minimized the problem for the interior to a few turds in the filter. With the weather finally warming up around here, I thought I could skip the PetChaser, but no, Yesterday I found another insulation nest in the cabin filter after a week of no sonic unit. The other thing is that I discovered more evidence of mice under the hood. For the first time, the hood insulation had been clawed into. And I looked at the air filter and was shocked when underneath was a nest of insulation (the car has lost at least the equivalent of 3 basketballs of insulation!), and niger bird seed (we have bird feeders about 50-100 feet away; we may have to give up feeding birds as this is part of the problem). So the sonic unit appears to keep the mice out of the interior but may make them resort to using the engine compartment. I may try the mothballs in pantyhose or resealable bags with holes there. One other thing: we had a Subaru for 10 years at the same location with no particular mouse problem.
We are not giving up on feeding the birds. And keep your mitts off my pantyhose! Wayne in VT’s wife.
Wow, seems like a bigger problem than I thought. I have a 2007 Nissan Quest and I’m on my second round with mice in my air vents. Paid $300 plus out of pocket the first time. Glad to see that State Farm covers rodent issues like this… think they have messed up the air again. Rear heat won’t work either now. I’m so tired of having filthy rat poo in my vehicle and having my children ride in the car that mice have used as a port-a-potty!!! I’m beside myself here… feel helpless as we owe too much still to trade in on another vehicle!!
I go to school at Chico, CA and a big rat or squirrel chewed through the ignition harness in my Toyota truck.
I purchased the Rataway rat repellent from Rataway.com and sprayed it under the hood. I have not had any more problems with them since.
I have a Toyota Prius (2007) with 9700 miles on it. Since day 1 there have been mice attacking it on a constant basis. In the cabin filter, in the glove compartment, inside the entire car. I have been to 3 dealerships and only one would help me. They meshed off the openings but the mice are still coming into the cabin filter. I am at my wit’s end. My husband’s pickup in parked a few feet away from my car and nothing ever gets in his.
Just had the 2008 Dodge 1500 fixed for the second time, chewed up wiring harness, $1100 this time $100 the first time. I put rat traps under the hood and caught my first rat in 2 days, that was a week ago and haven’t caught another one since. A real pain to take out traps everyday to drive. I know what the problem is, all the enviromental wackos have pushed for “Earth friendly” plastics which are made from vegtable based plastics instead of petroleum based, and of course varments like soy beans and peanuts. Of course not all wiring has the vegtable based plastics and that is why only certain wires are generaly chewed up. Sounds like a class action lawsuit may be in the wings at some point.
twoAdd my ’94 Lincoln Continental to the appallingly long list above.First my A/C would work; then it would not. A trip to Autoworkz (excellent local mechanic here in Harrisburg, NC), uncovered chewed wiring. He suspected rats, but we don’t seem to have any around here. We ARE, however, overrun with mice and squirrely. I keep traps in our shop and shed (both near our parking area), and haven’t seen any in a long time. Squirrels, on the other hand…they completely ate my overhead light system in the back yard…so they are my prime suspects. Am going to try a product called “Ro Pel” which appears to be on the market for just this kind of problem. Wish me luck.
I am glad to read i am not alone in this quest to rid my car of these wire loving car interior smelling and ever costing rodents.I to have a car that sat all winter (99 mitsubishi gallant) and when the weather broke and i turned on my heat ohhhhh the smell that came from my vents was un-real. I took it to my mechanic who opened the hood and found not only chewed through wires but chicken bones on the engine, oh and the best part a huge nest behind the glove compartment.I have been trying the mothballs and not sure if it working i will try the bounce but where do i place it.Any advice.
Christian try Rataway from Rataway dot com
My 2002 Acura MDX was attacked twice by mice. Both times they ate the knock sensor wire (as mentioned many times above), which is difficult to get to. It is under the top part of the engine where Honda has designed a cozy little nesting area between the top part and the bottom part of the engine.
During the second event, I bought the replacement knock sensor wire from the parts department and took it home. There I coated it with a paste of high-temp silicone and cayenne pepper, then wrapped the coated wire with muffler tape. The service department was surprised when I handed them the “upgraded” part to install, but they did it anyway. I have not had a problem with it for several years now.
The same army of mice ate through a small plastic fuel line part on my 1992 Lexus SC400 (most of the fuel line is metal). Nothing like spraying gasoline in your engine compartment. I think they are trying to kill me.
To Dick Evans
A mouse and get through the width of a pencil. A rat the size of a quarter.
this is from Rick Suddes at Rataway .com.
I discovered my first A/C blower nest in my Acrua MDX after the A/C was making a terrible noise. The dealer recommended placing a small bottle of ammonia under the front right tire. Of course I have run the bottle over several mornings and do not consider this a long term solution, but it has worked.
There are so many useful tips in this blog – has anyone summarized them all??
@Cindy
Not yet, but that’s a great idea. I’ll summarize the suggestions from the above comments in a new blog post that I will link to from the original post above.
I’m headed out of the country for two weeks, so it will take me a little while to get to it.
A very small field mouse got into my car after it made a nesst in my paper box and was wrapped in the paper that I threw on the floor of the car. Now the mouse has dissapeared and although not eating any of the food from the traps set is eating something(prob part of interior)because there are droppings all over my brand new car(5 days old infact).
We tried both bait traps and sticky traps with no luck. At first I felt bad for the thing bc it was so scared, now I can’t even drive my new car because it has declared war. Any out of the box ideas to draw it out and get it out of my car!? I’m scared to even think of the damage it might be causing.
After 2 weeks of owning my new 2007 Jeep Patriot my car had to be towed to the dealership where I was told after 2 days that the problem was caused by mice eating the wires…..(of course not covered by the extended warranty). The next day after I picked up my vehicle the check engine light once again was on……Guess what….more mouse damage……I freaked out…. took a beating, and got rid of the vehicle. Apparently the service repairman at the dealership slipped and told my husband that the manufactures (in an attempt to save money) use peanut oil to coat the wires!!!! What!!! Something needs to be done to protect the consumer.
Donna that is not true on the peanut oil. In some cars soybean product has been used in thw wiring & hoses. I sell Rataway spray all over the world.
The car is a good place to hide for squirrels, rats, mice, even rabbits. Squirrels are the big problem
in cars. As winter comes and the leaves drop off the trees, the squirrels problem will get tenfold.
A mouse and get through the width of a pencil. A rat the size of a quarter.
this is from Rick Suddes at Rataway .com.
I have a 06 Nissan Altima that was infected over Memorial Day weekend. I turned on the air and there was a loud noise like it was grinding something. A few days later my cousin was detailing my car and turned the air on and there was a loud noise and a foul odor that came through the vent. I put the car in the shop and they found 3 baby mice in the chain bridge cabin, removed them and disinfected the car. The smell didn’t go away. Reading this blog was a great help because I have state farm like some of the others and decided to give them a call. They sent someone over to look at the car. It is covered under comprehensive. Once they began to look at it again, they found parts of the mice, which were left when I turned the air on and they were cut to pieces. They pulled the dash completely out and replaced all filters and again disinfected everything. It was a $3200 job but only caused me my deductible. Every now and then I use a disinfectant or febreeze on the interior and carpet. I keep check under the hood for droppings. So far so good.
Rats and other small rodents. 2006 honda accord P0325 OBD II scan led to diagnosis of a chewed knock sensor harness. Per the shop manual, the intake manifold has to be removed to replace the part. Ugh.
Subj: Rats in fridge England Good Story I found on the Internet
United Kingdom – When pensioner Marjorie Galbraith opened her fridge to put her milk away she had the fright of her life. 2007
She came face to face with a live rat that had gorged itself on her Cheddar cheese.
Marjorie, from Trinity Road in Hurstpierpoint, said: “I looked at him and he looked at me. Then I slammed the fridge door, hurried through the kitchen, shut the kitchen door rapidly and sat shaking at my desk.
“I did scream and all I can say is it’s a good job I’m not living too close to anyone otherwise they would have heard me.”
After composing herself, 84-year-old Marjorie called a private pest controller. The rat had disappeared, but he found that the rat had gnawed its way through the back wall of Marjorie’s fridge.
For a full report see tomorrow’s Mid Sussex Times. Has your kitchen been terrorized by cheese-eating rats? E-mail us at the Middy with your story.
Get Rataway, Rightaway !
Rick Suddes
The Ratawayman@aol.com
The creepy little mice ate my husbands corvette! Its now stuck out front until he can figure out what exactly they ate. It didn’t matter where it was parked, in or out. I found them in my new Dodge Magnum on top of the engine just the other day! ARG! I was afraid we would have this problem, being that we live next to a field. I guess I was just keeping my fingers crossed hoping it wouldn’t happen. I found this website that we are going to try, it sounds logical. Check it out!http://www.hastingsreserve.org/Mammals/MiceInCars.html
My 1995 Ford Escort had been pushing good heat with the blower set on 3. The last few days? Not so much. Yesterday, I went to check the oil and found a couple of inches-worth of maple seeds on top of the engine cover. With all the seedlings we get here, plus the winds, I figured they just blew in.
Today, I noticed that the car was leaking anti-freeze. The mechanic opened the hood and told me I had some kind of rodent(s) there, and he showed me the signs. He also told me that the radiator had developed leaks along the side-seams.
I’m wondering if there could be a nest in the heater, which caused over-compression? in the radiator. Crazy hypothesis, but geeze, what a week it has been, and now this.
People are talking about Hanta disease, and I will open the hood so that UV light can take care of anything visisble that might remain under the hood.
Anyone think they’re in the heater?
Mouse problems: Peppermint oil will keep mice away.. they hate the smell. It is not unpleasant and smells good to us but the mice hate it.(Not sure about rats but it is worth a try.) Just put a few drops of this concentrated oil on cotton wool and leave it near the infestation problem. I have also used it to wipe around where they have been active. I live in the country and had mice in my linen cupboard one time and found that the peppermint oil deterred them and also was not unpleasant to put near my clean linen. Here in Australia we buy this oil at health food stores, it is not expensive and is readily available, and of course, the oil on cotton wool is not poisonous to children, native animals or pets. It has a lot going for it!
We found out some animal, rodent, got in our fifth wheel through the tubeing and made a big nest out of cotton. We see droppings but don’t know what it is. We got rid of the nest, but it made another one. We set glue traps but can’t catch it. What is it?
There’s good comparative info here, including comparative images of house mouse and Norway rat droppings.
So….your saying that a rat or mouse, can make a nest out of cotton as big as a basketball in the storage department of our fifth wheel? We don’t even know where the cotton came from.
Wow, that’s big. Either it’s a family of mice, or perhaps a squirrel(s). Any possibility it’s insulation, maybe from the engine compartment?
There’s no engine in a fifth wheel. It’s a trailer that has a hitch and you pull it behind your truck. It’s a 2007 Wildcat…
anyway, I’m not sure what it is. It’s all cotton and I checked the bed and pillows, it hasn’t made it up there in the living area…yet. That’s why I was wondering what makes a nest out of cotton no leaves or any other material. It’s as big as a basketball and the opening is at least 3″. I’m scared! It might be a squirrel! We’re going to get rat traps.
When the mice got into my car’s engine, I found bits of insulation from the engine about 10 feet away from where the engine is when the car is parked. They appeared to have dragged it over against the wall under a shelf with bits of wire insulation to make a nest (or perhaps a vacation home away from the engine). Little droppings were next to it, of course. I was assuming there was a car parked nearby your fifth wheel that might be the source of the cotton.
Squirrels obviously can carry objects pretty far, as is pretty obvious when you see them in the yard with nuts in their mouths. If there’s no obvious source close by, and given the size of the nest, my guess is squirrels. But then I’m just a random guy with a blog.
I searched around a bit and found this report of someone finding a shopping bag’s full of material in their car from a nest a squirrel constructed. And this post has a picture of a squirrel nest in a car.
I couldn’t find any photos of a nest made substantially or entirely of cotton, though.
If it made the nest in the same spot, try spreading around some baby powder in the area in hopes of being able to identify the animal by its tracks.
Thanks Robert, You been very helpful. But, I’m still curious about the nest. The pictures I looked at had grass, leaves and tigs, no cotton. ours has All cotton…strange. We can’t go to our fifth wheel everyday. It’s parked in some friends yard by evergreen trees. We plan on going tomarrow. I’ll let you know.
put mag1 hi-temp disc brake wheel bearing grease on the wiring.rats don’t like bearing grease.
mag1 hi-temp disc brake bearing grease work to keep the rats out of your motor.Try it for yourself.Then leave a comment.
try this: I have a large 30X40 shed and everyone told me I’d have a bird and mouse problem in the winter living in Wisconsin. In 15 years I have not had 1 mouse or bird nest. Here’s what I did: I hung a fake owl from the ceiling and put a few fake snakes on the floor.
I have a 2006 Subaru Tribeca. I love this car, but for the last 3 years I have had peristent murine (mice) infestation; paid $400 to repair antenna wire (yup they were up there inside the roof)then most recently $1200 to replace the engine harness. That was 2 weeks ago. Guess what? All the lights are on again! I went to clean it out again (try having the no food rule with teenagers—good luck) and under the rear seat, my deranged daughter had a stash of garbage and yarn—mouse heaven…Oh well, back to the dealership and I had lots of bounce in the car. However, I am replacing all of the sheets regularly. The best part of this story happened last summer when I was cleaning the car out. Sitting on the second row passenger seat was my son, my dog and one of my cats. When I opened the small drawer in the rear of the console, an entire box of Kleenex had been used to make a nest (along with some seat interior stuff) and inside was a mother mouse and 5 babies. The mother peeked her head out when I opened the drawer. I am no longer feeding birds, so there is no seed in the garage, but we found a mouse hole in the wall. We will deal with that directly. I trap live and take them far away, but I am at the end of my rope and it is a safety issue now.
I live in Colorado and have recently bought a repo 2007 Hummer H3–I believe the mouse was in the vehicle when we purchased it and probably has a nest or obstruction in the heating vents because lots of noise but little air comes out when the heat/ac is in the regular mode of bringing in outside air (not recirculating). Mouse turds all over the place and trying to get him (hopefully not them!) tonight with covered snap mousetraps and peanut butter. Any other ideas from anyone would be greatly appreciated–have never had this problem in my whole life so basically very upset and on my “new” vehicle! Thanks!
I own a 99 Rav4 which has always been great and is always parked outside without problems in our woodsy area for 9 years now. Yesterday on an oddly sunny day (Seattle area), I returned to my car after a doctor appointment and smelled burning leaves. I dismissed it as perhaps someone had discarded a burning cig in the gutter debris. My car started rough, which is unusual. I drove off and it was real jerky after stops – like when driving a manual and trying to move in second after a rolling stop, only this car is an automatic. I probably drove 5 miles in this manner – praying the car would continue to move after each red light – I hit every cursed one of them, btw. I reached my destination, called my husband to let him know there was something going on with my car and got out to look under the hood (despite having no idea what I would be looking at – that’s what one does, right?). As is stood upon exiting the car, I saw a blackened spot centered on my hood and realized my car had been on fire! No smoke, no flames, but pretty evident! I sat for a while and then opened the hood to see melted plastic and wires. “This,” I thought, “is a bad sign.” So I got it towed to a car repair place and before I had walked a few blocks away, the repair guy called and said that it looked like I had a rodent’s nest catch fire on the manifold, melting the wire harness. He wanted me to talk with my insurance company as it would cost quite a bit ($1000 for that part alone) to fix and if the auto insurance wouldn’t help, to try for my homeowner’s insurance. So far the auto insurance is being very helpful, but they haven’t examined it yet so I am delaying hope. There is even talk about “totaling” the car. I am now thinking that this may explain some sensor light malfunctions in my husband’s Toyota land Cruiser and am apprehensively planning to peak under the hood. I don’t believe there is really anything we can do to keep rodents away in our situation – despite what “rataway man” may post ad nauseum. It is obviously a problem -internationally, according to all these posts- and car manufacturers may be acerbating the problem by using soy-based products in the wiring. I won’t use a poison around my car – I have cats who are out now and again and don’t want them to die over this, plus a dog who has no sense about what she eats. Traps? Outside? In the woods? As I said, I don’t see a viable solution, but perhaps I am in shock from the whole experience. Thanks for providing a place to vent – it helps to know this is not a new problem!
WOW. I mean really I had no idea how big of a problem this was. We own a 2001 Jeep Cherokee that has been the victim of several squirrel attacks in the past few weeks. It has already been about $400, and that was because we did the second round of wire replacement ourselves. It is a nightmare. Tried Bounce to no avail. Since many here have mentioned pungent scented oils such as peppermint or mothballs, I am going to go one step beyond and try Australian tea tree oil. Most people I know can’t stand the smell of it at all, so hopefully squirrels don’t either. I will post back if we have any success…
OMG! Last winter, I had mice eat my wiring harness in my 07 Toyota Avalon. Insurance paid to fix and all was good. Now one winter later, we had a warm day a couple of weeks ago, I turned on my AC and the smell was unbearable! We discovered MOUNDS of dog food on the cabin air filter, under the motor cover in little pockets around the engine! We cleaned and vacuumed and dug dog food out of the fan area. Even with a new filter the smell will not go away, it is sick!!!! The warmer its gets the worse it is. I guess I’m lucky my wire harness did not get ate again but I feel grossed out to even be in the car, my gosh have they been living in the car since last year? I guessed there is mouse pee and poop all in my duct work? What I want to know is even if i have the ac duct taken apart at the dealership and cleaned, will that smell ever go away? How do you know if the smell is something dead or mice still living in there? Now after looking at these posts, I’m just sick to think there could be pee & poop even in the headliner? I’m going right now to set some traps in the car and in the engine area. UGGGGGGGG!!!!!
I know one thing if I can get the smell gone I will build one of those flashing things!!!
AND I won’t buy a foreign made car again!
I have a 2007 CRV. My kids and I got up one morning and got in the car to go to work/school and the smell was terrible. It smelled so bad that my son was about to get sick. I went to the Honda dealership and low and behold I had dead mice in my air conditioner filter located behind the glove box. They found a nest behind it and then found another one in my engine. I had to have the entire A/C system flushed and a special chemical ran thru it to get the death smell out. I cost me around $250.00. One of the service guys told me to put moth ball in my engine compartment. I did and it helped for a while but I just couldn’t stand the smell of moth balls in my car nor could anyone else that was a passenger. I ended up removing them about 3 months ago. Well, as of last night I have mice back in my car. My husband found a nest back in A/C filter again and when we pulled the filter out.. there was a dead baby mouse laying on top of it. Luckily this time (hopefully) we caught them before they started stinking. The dealership said that there was no way to get that smell to go away unless they run that chemical thru your A/C system. They say that death smell attaches itself to everything and it is almost impossible to get out. They could have just been telling me that to get my money but within a day the smell was gone and I was to the point of having to roll the window down to keep from throwing up before I took it in and let them do it. I am going to buy some traps and put in my car at night and see of that helps. I don’t want to throw poison out as I have 3 dogs too. Does anyone know if the fabric softner works? And what is up with Honda Cars and mice!?!?!?!
Amanda – I moved to the country in 2006, got mice, and found this website. After much trial and error I found what works, what doesn’t, and posted it:
There is no magic bullet, only ongoing control.
1. Don’t store anything in or near your car that mice like – i.e. granola bars, grass seed, bird seed.
2. Get someone to screen off any entry points that your particular vehicle might have that can be screened off. Every vehicle is different – some have obvious ones, some not.
3. Leave your heater/air conditioner system on recirc (or Max A/C) when you park for the night. It’s bad enough to have mice in the fan, worse to have them run up your leg.
4. Set traps (snap traps, sticky traps, Hav-A-Hart traps) on the ground at the front of your car every day and empty them every day. Bird seed works better than cheese or peanut butter. NO POISON! It’s bad enough having mice in your car, far worse to have dead, decaying mice in unreachable places.
Skip the mothballs, fabric softeners, peppermint oil, sonic noise chasers, etc. They might work for a while, but then the critters get used to them. Mice are a chronic problem – there’s no cure, only control. Don’t attract them and kill or trap them when they arrive. I got to the point that I trap three to five mice per week, every week. They don’t live long enough to start nesting in my car.
Yes, it’s a chore, and I’m sure you have plenty and don’t need another. But it’s better than having mice in your car.
Unreal. 2009 Honda Pilot 2 month old. Check Engine Light. Guess what. Knock sensor wire harness. $350 to replace one wire. I don’t care if I have to pull the engine to replace it they will not see that kind of cash from me. They sold me the pepper infused new harness. Why the @#%& wasn’t the wire installed from the factory pepper infused with the RAT X’d out? Seems like a pretty good way to ensure the service dept stays busy. I haven’t had an opportunity to replace it yet, but seems like a good couple of hours wasted on a Saturday afternoon. thanks for listening… BTW where I live we have the endangered “Alabama Beach Mouse” My Terminex guy tells me if I get caught with kill traps or poison I could face $70K in fines.
OMG…I have been having a rodent problem since last October 2008 in my 2007 Honda Pilot, when I got in it on a Saturday morning after driving it the day before and heard a funny whirring sound in my air conditioning/heating. I immediately called the dealer and took it in that same day and they cleaned out the mouse nest and changed the air filter. I picked it up on Monday afternoon and on Tuesday morning the mouse had gotten back in and made a new nest…that quickly. Unreal. I am still dealing with these mice. I have hired a pest control company to help the problem, most of which is in the garage and it is working, except for the ones that are getting into my car. I have had the nest removed again but again I have a new nest. I can hear the crackling every time I turn on the air/heat on full blast. It is absolutely maddening. I am so glad to hear that I am not the only one but really scared to know that it is happening to so many Honda owners. I wish I knew about this site before I bought my Pilot.
I never heard of this until last week. Rodents are make and model equal opportunity terrorists. That is exactly what they are and terrorists are exactly how I, someone the current administration would label as a “right wing extremist”, am going to treat them! My traps last night came up empty but they will be reset this evening. I paid $360 plus towing last week to have my 03 Dodge Caravan repaired. Saturday night my brand new 09 Silverado (3500 miles)had the injector wires chewed by my #4 cylinder. A nest was built from insulation material readily availble from under my hood. The truck cranked but I got several diagnostic messages plus a check engine light. OnStar daiagnostics told me it was safe to drive to the dealer. It turns out there were several wires that have been chewed and the repair bill is $365. Both vehicles are parked parallel in our driveway. It sounds like traps are the only solution that works so death to the terrorist rodents. I’m sorry to tell all the PETAbots who have posted but there is no Gitmo for rodent terrorists in Goose Creek, SC. By the way, my State Farm agent insists they do not cover rodent repairs under comprehensive coverage. Auto insurance differs from state to state so check your local agent to be sure. Keep up the good fight!
OMG, these mice are driving me crazy. I have a 2004 Nissian Sentra I only had the car for two days and mice chewed the coating off some wires, luckly they did not chew the wires and this was back in 2004 when the car was new, this has been going on since then. My daughter now has this car and it seems to be getting worse. We have to clean and vacumn her car every week just to get the rat poop up and they build nests in the glove box. They are now chewing the foam under the seats. I’m always afraid to turn on the air because you never know what will come flying out of the vent, I have tried sticky traps (they chewed the traps into shreds) I have tried moth balls, I have tried snap traps, I have two dogs outside so I hate to try deacon or something for them to eat for fear of hurting the dogs. I have a call into Terminex to see what they suggest?
I recently had this problem with my 2006 BMW – mice had chewed wires and air hoses relating to the gas tank. It came to $970, which thankfully State Farm covered under comprehensive, I just didn’t have my car for a week due to getting the adjuster there.
So, I bought bait blocks and a couple of “Tin Cat” traps. I haven’t opened the Tin Cat to check, but we did see a couple of small mice going in and out of a crack between the garage ramp and the foundation. After moving the bait block there, by the next day it was half chewed. It’s this stuff: Lowe’s Mouse Bait. It makes them go for water and die somewhere OTHER than your house/car. Since I can see they’ve been chewing it, hopefully this prevents it from happening again. Also, for people with outdoor pets, you can get this bait inside plastic boxes so that only mice eat it.
Good luck!
We don’t feel so alone now…. Small compensation I know. We own a 2008 Chevy Equinox. Bought it last August and loved it till last week. Went to work in the morning and it ran normal. After work the engine light was on and it ran crappy. It’s still in the shop. I don’t know how many wires they’ve replaced at this point. Today they said there is mouse damage above the fuel tank in the rear area of the car. We don’t keep food in the car. However since Christmas there has been a bag of cinnamon scented pine cones in the back. Makes the car smell nice but perhaps that attracted the little rotters. After reading the posts here we will contact our insurance and hope they will cover it. We live in Ontario, Canada. We park outside but will park in a different spot and try putting rubber snakes under the car and a number of the other suggestions found here. Does anyone know the composition of wires on a 2008 Chevy?
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I have found peanut butter to be good bait, but mice
are able to eat it without springing the trap so I
cut a six inch piece of old undershirt, wash it
thuroly with ivory soap,(no smell) making sure my
hands get washed as well, then cut a one inch piece
of the shirt dab a bit of PB in it, fold up the corners squeese the four corners between my fingers
to ooze some of the peanut PB through the shirt
material so that the ouside of the ball will have PB
on the outside, bind it on to the trigger with dark
thread so that the mice while eating will get thier
teeth caught with the natural tentency will be to
pull to try to get loose thus trigering the trap.
almost sure to catch the mouse
Add me to the list of Honda Pilot owners plagued by mice. Honda needs to step up and own the problem or I will never buy one again.
I found this page over a year ago when this problem first started happening to me and just checked today to see the continuing saga and if any conclusive solutions had been found. I also see Honda is continuing their denial approach to this problem. I had a 2002 Honda Civic that was parked outside for 5 years in Ontario and 2 months in Alberta with no problems, not a single mouse ever. It was replaced with a used 2004 Honda Pilot in January ’08. Two months later as soon as it was spring, I turned on the a/c one day to see kleenex fluff blowing out of the vents and found that my box of kleenex in the car had been chewed & shredded, and found mouse poop and sunflower husks in the little slide cupboard storage bin. In July, a mouse died in the a/c system hanging upside down with its head banging on the fan, rendering the a/c unusable, and the stench was revolting. $140 to have that cleaned out. Set traps inside and outside the car and caught a constant supply of mice in the carport. I won’t set poison for fear of the cat eating it, she also catches a couple mice per day. I also used one of those sonic mouse repellers, it seemed to work for awhile and then discovered it wasn’t scaring them off anymore. 3 weeks ago it became evident that there was another mouse nest in the a/c system, back to the shop to have it removed and de-scented for another $100. Last year when this first happened I called my Honda dealer (Millwoods Honda in Edmonton) who flatly denied the problem, ridiculed me for believing “a couple things people put on a blog, what, do you believe everything you read on the internet?”, very patronizing and did everything but call me a liar for reporting this problem to them. I love the Pilot and where we live, on a rural acreage, a 4WD is necessary in the winter, but would not consider another one if Honda does not acknowledge and fix this issue.
Keep the mice away from your car while you go after them. Take three or four moth balls and place them around the tires of your vehicle, it will keep them away. Moth balls will, with in a few months, evaporate so you’ll need to replace them until you are positive you have no mice.
Hi.Like all of you, I’m having this mice problem as well. Mine is a new car too (bout 6 months now)….do you think they are attracted to the new car smell?
Tried mothballs, nope they do not work.
Tried peppermint essence, not working as well.
I’m putting rat poison in the engine compartment lately, works fine until the smarter one ‘visits’ my car. It just won’t eat the poison that I left for them. It’s frustrating!
Do you think they come one after another because they can smell the mice smell that was left by the former ones?
I’m thinking to have my engine wash to get rid of their stinking smell so that they can’t detect my car through the mice smell.
Cannot believe so many others have the same problem as we do. Just got my 98 Corolla back today after having it towed yesterday due to the fuel line being gnawed open (and endangering us-we could smell gas as we were driving). Prior to that a couple of years ago, a mouse was chopped up in the air conditioner fan and left a mighty stench. Hoping the feral cats step up their work as this is a forested area and any attempts made to deter such as bounce, peppermint oil, etc., will just be a losing battle. Will try them anyway, maybe it will slow them down a bit. Guess we’ll need to check under the hood more often…..
I am living in the middle of a car-mouse infestation nightmare. Initially the smell drove me to the car wash with a vacuum powerful enough to get at whatever I found – mouse nests galore. They were eating all the insulation everywhere – under hatch covers for storage areas (nests found in spare, beside battery) and the biggie I can’t get at – all that insulation under the hood is filled with nests. It’s getting cold up here in Vermont and am forced to drive with windows open due to stench. Live in fear of gnawed wires.
Bringing car in Monday for dealer to deal with it but can’t mouse-proof the carport which is open to the woods. Also am distressed that this isn’t covered in car insurance policies. Did notice several ‘natural’ products online to discourage these mini-beasts so will do that too. Wish me luck!
ps my car is a 2004 volvo wagon.
My husband says that a friend of his uses these “Fresh Cab” pouches in his grain trucks and it works very well. I checked out the site before he came home and thought that he might be interested in it, but of course, he knew about this company’s product before I did.
It is all natural, and they even list the ingredients on their site. Supposedly it takes care of the smell as well as repels the mice.
My husband says that it is found for sale in a lot of different stores. I liked that it said on the site that it is approved by various groups… EPA approved and tested by a garden group (of which I was a member for a short time). Anyway, below is the site url. I hope that it can help all of you too. We intend to buy it for ourselves in the next short while, as the cold weather is here and the mice have been moving into both vehicles lately.
http://www.earth-kind.com/FAQ/tabid/345/Default.aspx
my mom lived on a farm with a lot of mice she told me to never leave the windows down or the doors open mice can jump they smell fast food wrappers there is a site called fresh cab.com to repell mice in farm equipment havent tried it i have problems around the cars i live by a field
I’ve started a blog devoted just to this problem of animals in cars. http://Www.hitchhikinganimals.blogspot.com.
I started out light-hearted, but now I see what a problem it is! I’m going to try to put this problem in a larger perspective.
As a Zoologist, I think Lee (above) has the best answers. Forget the scented solutions. Go for prevention and denying the animals the things they need to live in and near your car, such as access, food and cover.
If someone were offering you a nice, warm, free place to live, where cats couldn’t go, and free food was nearby–would you move out, just because it smelled like peppermint or bounce? No way!
For the second time I have mice in my Outback wagon chewing. It was so costly to repair all the damage.
I still have two Riddexx blinking away! Obviously a waste of money. Which works better moth balls or Bounce under the hood… and also in with the spare tire? The exhaust was affected too. Sigh…
I don’t know that either of them work that well, though moth balls are going to be much more unpleasant for you. As Lee and David have written above, denying access is really the only method that is reliable. If you don’t have an enclosed garage, though, this is obviously not so easy.
So, I recommend keeping food out of your car (again, tough, if you have kids) and placing snap traps next to the inside of the tires. It’s a pain, of course, to move the traps into and out of place, clean the traps, reset the traps, etc., but dealing with rodent damage is obviously far worse.
read numbers 357 and 358..i don’t have any more mice…try this and leave a comment….ok..
I have no wire munching to mention but my 2001 Sebring has a re-ocurring problem with varmits nesting in the ventilation system. It’s been cleaned out twice but the uninvited guests have returned again. There seems to be several main subjects being discussed here. First, how to prevent unwelcome squatters from trespassing and taking up residence in your car. Second, wire and hose hungry rodents – why do they do it and how can we prevent it. Third, will insurance and warranties cover the repair costs. Fourth, are manufacturers liable for making parts out of varmit feed and if so, who knows how to start a class action suit and is willing to start it? There is a lot of good info posted here. In comment 340 from Sept 2008, the creation of of a summary of suggested solutions was mentioned that we could visit. Was this summary ever completed and if so, what and where is the link?
is there any solution /natural /pestiside/ which we can keep in engine bay for protection against mice
Well, I am now a member of the club. Our 2007 CRV ( THAT GETS DRIVEN DAILY ) had the transmission light come on and a flashing “D”. Still under warranty so it went to the dealer where they informed me of the $1,350 to replace the chewed through wiring harness for the transmission. Unreal. I have 5 vehicles. In 30 years of owning multiple cars in country and suburbs, this is a first.
Hey everyone.
I would luv to have a question answered.
Does a SAAB vehicle have a good firewall against mice from coming inside the interior of the car??
The reason I ask is that it’s soooo wonderful having an ’03 VW Golf that has no issues with mice coming inside the interior as I have put a aluminum meshing on the fabric portion of the firewall and also the mechanic (good ones to ask) said that a mice wouldn’t be able to get in.
I do recommend before getting a car….. just throw out the question. what does the firewall look like and what kind of gaps are there.. THEN tell them about mice.
Try “fragrance of rataway” to protectyou car from chewing rodents
I had my 2010 tdi Jetta sportwagen for 3 days and I found a nest in the making – more nuts than nest in the recess oil fill. Clean it and decided to ck my 2004 vw jetta tdi and found the same thing in the same place. – Note this 2004 has been in a carport for the last 6 years and I never had a single issue with rodients. Both cars. It has happen at least three more times with in a few days. I put Bounce towels around the enging compartments including around the oil fill cap. Tonight inwith in 2 hours another nest was being made in the 2010 jetta on top of the Bounce. So much for Bounce… I littered both cars with mothball and tomorrow morning I’m going for the kill – snap traps with peanut butter – .
Update to the effectiveness of mothballs, both cars in the same place (oil fill recess) with Bounce and Mothballs had a nest in it. Also the 04 jetta hadn’t been used in days, so it wasn’t for the engine heat.
Again in six years, I never had a problem. Snaps traps are next.
I have a 2009 Honda Pilot – Rodents have eaten the knock sensor wire twice now. The first time is cost me $330 to replace the harness ($30 part and the rest labor) The second knock sensor wire harness was laced with “pepper” and labeled with the anti rodent icon on it. They still ate through it. I have not fixed it yet as you need to take off the top of the engine to get at it.( 2.5 hours labor)
HONDA should admit they have a problem with the knock sensor wiring on pilots and rodents eating it up over and over.
Have a Lincoln Navigator. Squirrels have now chewed through my gas line twice in 9 months to the tune of $1048 each time. Called the Lincon Mercury dealer. They offered no solution. The gal who answered the phone in the service department said, “We have the same problem with new cars on the lot. We go to sell them and discover the problem.
One person mentioned soy products used in wiring insulation. Soy is a food product. Maybe wiring insulation and plastic parts from agricultural based products rather than oil based. Clearly there must be something certain car manufactures are using, that is more susceptible to this problem than others. Thank God I do not own a Honda Pilot. The bulk of the problems do seem to be from them!
It’s quite interesting to hear about these damages. In our small German city we don’t have so many problems with mice. The cats and martens may be hungry enough. But the latter mentioned ones love to eat insulations an tubes. So it happened to my friends car. When the breakdown of the car was analyzed, they found out, that the marten also used the car as storehouse. Possibly the marten wasn’t amused that his treasure was strolling around every day.
I own a 2007 Pontiac G6 hard top convertible. Started the car to find the engine light on. Went to the dealer and found out that the wiring had been eaten by a mouse. I also have a $500. bill to fix the damage. Not sure if they ever got into the actual car cab. I have black carpeting and it would be impossible to see mouse droppings.
I posted last June when I had damage to my car. I bought Mouse Bait and make sure that I replace any eaten ones. I have not had any problems since. I don’t keep the bait in my car, though I suppose if you’re concerned about pets, you could. Our cat is indoor only, so we don’t use any of the bait indoors.
Trying to use smell/noise to drive the mice away will not work. You need to kill off the local area, and if you don’t have actual predators to do it, use the bait. It just works.
I can join the list of the people who have a Honda Pilot (2006) that has had wires chewed. It was done in one night apparently and is costing me $1000 plus to get it fixed. There are four observations for Honda (are you listening?).
The first is that there do seem to be quite a few Honda owners who are experiencing a similar problem, what is Honda doing about this growing population?
The second is that if you have issued a new wiring that is more rodent resistant version, why does this new wiring appear to be used only on one set of wires (according to their own service bulletin) and not applied to the large number of wires that are being destroyed?
The third is why is the wiring harness designed in such a way that if just a few wires are damaged, the entire wiring system must be replaced? If you designed it with a few modules, if the wires are damaged in one area, the bill to fix and repair could be significantly smaller?
The fourth is I see this happening with a wide number of brands…but no one seems to have nailed down what the owner of a car can do to discourage this from happening again. I’ve heard of mothballs, tabasco sauce, dryer sheets, poison (won’t that just attract them were they could damage before they eat the poison?) and so on.
If you see anything that works…let me know. In the meantime, I encourage Honda to be bold, be the better product and provide all the wiring with a coating that will discourage animals from chewing on them.
Honda Marketing, be brave and let us know what you are doing to address this.
I took my Lexus IS 300 in for service a few months ago and was told that mice had chewed through some wires. I have never seen any evidence of mice in my garage. I used peppermint oil for a while, but forgot about it, but just opened my hood to find a nest made with fiberglass insulation sitting on top of the engine! I’m using the peppermint oil again, and will take the car in to get it checked tomorrow, but have no idea how the mice are getting in. I have never seen a mouse turd or smelled a mouse. I have seen chipmunks though – could that be the problem? Will peppermint still work?
2008 Honda Odyssey – third time rodent chewed through my transmission harness! Droppings suggest small mouse. Best advice from dealership: spray a solution of hot tobasco sauce under hood – especially on any exposed wires (watch your distance so you don’t get fumes or backspray in your eyes!). The mice hate it and find somewhere else to feast. Re-apply every few months. We also want to put out traps and poison for rodents, but afraid of harming neighborhood cats. Good luck!
2010 Honda Odyssey – bought brand new – check engine light has come on twice in the first 1500 miles. Both times it was the knock sensor. Both times I was told it could be rodents, and if they find evidence that is what is tripping the sensor then I will be responsible for the $400 reset fee. This is my first Honda. In over 20 years of driving nothing but Chevrolet I have never seen this problem.
F#%&*@G mice!!! I had a 2001 Honda Accord, which I loved. It was well maintained. In February I heard a weird rumble in my HVAC blower motor. I decided to take a look in the engine compartment. Seeds and insulation. I was pissed. I placed a glue trap on top of the engine while i was at work. When i got out sure enough there was a mouse. I placed another glue trap at home. In the morning there was another one! There was also an awful smell coming from the heater. I was afraid to turn it on.
I felt kinda violated…
I ended up trading in my beloved Accord on March 2. Now, I’ve found some evidence of a mouse in my new car. I hate these things. What can I do? I can’t afford to trade this car in too.
I have some solutions to share about keeping mouse out but still have not succeeded in keeping them out of my 2007 Toyota 4runner and need help with that!!!!! I spent about 15 hours looking for every hole and plugging it and thought I had the problem fixed until recently. I understand that eliminating mouse damage outside of the cars cabin can be difficult but I do believe that much of the problem is the new materials used for wiring insulation. I think it is true that the new materials are attractive to mice. I have never had a single original wire chewed on my 1967 Toyota Landcruiser nor on my 1984 Mercedes TD. They sit outside just like the 4Runner.Rats chewed the wiring harness that they wanted $1800 to fix. I fixed it myself in about a hour.
Now to the mice in the interior problem. This is totally inexcusable for any car. The Mercedes has never had a single mouse inside. What is it that the German’s understand that the Japanese can’t?
Here are some easy places to fix. They kept my 4Runner mouse free for a while. Toyota is of no help at all. They will not tell me where there are holes that I might be missing. They made the *!^king car and should be able to figure it out.
First, cover the fresh air intake. On the 4Runner it is not very difficult but you have to remove the cowl assembly which is very easy to damage as it has built in flimsy pop tabs. You have to remove the w wipers and remove the cowl plastic ($350 if you break it) and then secure some sort of mouse proof metal over the fresh air intake being careful to not interfere with the wiper linkages. Even with the vent on recirculate, mice can build a huge nest in the intake and can also chew through the cheap damper plastic. Guess how I know?
Next is the rear fresh air vent. It can be in different places on different cars. The excuse for it is to allow air to escape when you close the doors quickly so as to not blow out the windows. Bullshit. On the 4Runner, it is under the driver side rear fender and is a bitch to get at if you don’t remove both the outer and inner fenders. I managed without but it was a bitch. The thing is a stupid plastic molder piece of crap that has a grill over it that is mad for the convenience of rodent entry. There is even a little shelf for them to sit on while contemplating their destruction of your car. Some thin cheap rubber acts as flap valve. Mice love to chew it whatever it is. I removed the whole plastic assembly and covered it with stainless steel mesh, using a plastic welder.
Next I removed the spare tire from under the car and all of the heat shields. The idiotic design of the 4Runner allows mice to get into the cabin once they get into the frame. There are vent holes everywhere. I glued stainless steel mesh with high temperature silicone to every hole large enough for a mouse to enter even if it was impossible for them to reach the hole. I also siliconed several gaps in the frame channels where they met in a way that would allow mouse entry.
This kept my 4Runner mouse free for months. I did the same to my friend’s FJ Cruiser and it worked better for him as he has had no mice. Covering his air intake was more of a problem because of the mysterious way the cowl crap is held on. You have to pry pieces to the point that you are sure you will destroy something to get little metal tabs out of rubber grommets. My friend was cringing in horror as I tried to follow the instructions in the shop manual. He took the car to a windshield shop where they did just what I was trying but they had done it before and were not as hesitant to crank on the flimsy metal parts.
I left my 4runner alone for one winter. This was the year that rats ate the wiring harness. I had no mice that year probably because the rats kept the mice away. Had the check engine light crap because of chewed wired from the air ratio sensors. Because these wires are shielded Toyota insisted that the whole harness needed to be replaced. This is some of the biggest crap they have given me so far. Only about 4 inches of wire at the end was chewed off. The shielding is connected only at the end inside the car at the master ECU. This tiny bit of missing shielding would not cause any problems other than less revenue to Toyota.
Fortunately I had installed a perforated metal plate in the engine air intake before leaving. If I had not, the rat damage might have been a destroyed engine. They had built a nest and packed acorns into the entire intake hose. When I started the engine, this would have been sucked into the engine if not for the screening. The air filter does not have any protection against rodents. They would have chewed right through it. They really like the cabin air filter too.
I know that the mice are not getting in the fresh air intake because there is no shit on the cabin filter. I need to recheck all of the places I fixed. Maybe something has fallen off. If not,I need some more suggestions as to places to look.
The entire car is filled with tiny wires with cheap soft insulation. I thought i could strip the tub and find any hole from the inside but gave up after I realized that that would be a two day project, at least. In the process I found all sort of tiny wires that could easily be chewed and which would be very difficult to diagnose and repair.
have 2001 ACura MDX and found a rat in my blower. It was disgusting smell and my mechanic helped me find out that it was a rat. It was dead. I dont know how to clean the car and get that smell and any blood off my car. Do i need to replace the fan ?
Has anyone filed a Class action lawsuit against Honda? Would be curious to know if anyone has gotten anywhere with this obvious design flaw! I’m in the same boat with my 2004 Pilot with the little critters now in the headboard! 5 kids breathing mouse poop everytime the vents are open is a health hazard!
Ok. Well, it is 3 years since I first ‘stopped by’. I see everyone is still having their cars eaten. It is only helpful to post here if someone at these car companies get this info forwarded to them. Please, do that. Please you who manages this site; tell them to stop. STOP using a soy products to coat the wires. Stop leaving access holes that serve no function but for animals to seek housing & food.
My 96 Cabrio had $1250. in repair costs in ’09. Not a dollar was mechanical; all was rodent damage. Like all of you that found this forum; I was seeking help. It seems there is none. I believe the changes must come from the car companies. We have to make noise. I am at the point of buying another car. But from what I now see continuing here is that NO CAR IS SAFE. There aren’t enough dryer sheets on the world. HOWEVER, I MUST TELL YOU, URINAL CAKES HAVE BEEN FAIRLY SUCCESSFUL.
But I’m tired of the fight. I’m tired of making certain my hood is open and the urinal cakes are placed about. And heaven forbid I’m in a hurry to LEAVE THE HOUSE! I’ve got to remove all the cakes–turn off the light–I forgot to mention; I also hang an auto light on the opened hood –on at all times. Then closed the hood and speed off!
The squeaky wheel gets the grease–please people write letters?????? I don’t know, but EGADS! It’s gotta stop.
we live in a rural area and the problem became apparent when my dachshund became loudly obsessed with
the underside of our truck (chevy).
he wouldn’t leave it unless forced for 2 days
we first thought a squirrel
then i read this site for an hour.
we set 2 mouse traps and 2 moth “cakes”
today we found a mouse in the trap and he has been ignoring the truck.
hopefully this alarm system has saved some damage!!
$2700 later these rodents had eaten the insulation behind the rear side panels, headliner and cargo area….carpet was saturated with urine, nevermind the ducts!! 2004 Honda Pilot that was a DAILY DRIVER! Thankfully insurance covered it under our comprehensive and we were only out the $500 deductible. Mechanic is going to weld wire to the holes under the cowl cover and I will close vents, open the hood at night and use mothballs in the engine compartment. What a battle! I will reconsider when car shopping again!
My Mazda 3 just had $380.00 worth of repairs due to a huge nest found in the AC unit. My mechanic suggests bringing the car back to put a wire mesh over an opening for another $300-400.00. The hardware store guy also suggested pouring bleach around the perimeter of the car. Anybody ever hear of this? mice and merde – not a good thing.
Ok. I’m posting again because we all need to ‘stick together’. And if you take the time to read alllllll these posts; you will realize there are a whole lot of ideas of what ‘might’ work. But, do any of us really know if anything actually worked?
I ordered the Rataway; smelled like windshield washer fluid. Not impressed.
The one constant that seems to be a solution; if you will, is light. Bright light alllll night long. I have placed a panel of florescent bulbs; three long tubes on a photo cell that comes on at dusk and shuts off at dawn. From the ground the car is lit up so bright, you could do surgery!!
I will ‘keep you posted’. As I hope ‘you’ will do also!!!
I got a mouse in my 2006 CRV and found this site (among several others) googling how to clean out the ductwork. Apparently this is a big problem with Hondas. The dealer told us they see it all the time. I’m afraid to use the ventilation system, what will I be breathing? I don’t know if I trust the dealer to really disinfect it. I am really interested in the comments from people about having screening installed in the air intake. Has this been successful? How do you find someone capable of doing a good job at this or better yet, find out how to do it ourselves?
It seems completely asinine to design a car so that a mouse can just wander right into the interior! Much easier to design it right than trying to fix all this damage.
I have an 2005 Honda Pilot. I bought it 18 months ago used and was so upset when the check engine light and the 4 wheel drive light came on! Come to find out a mouse made a nice home in my car and ate wires!!! The service tech gave me the wires and said to concat Honda because this must be a problem that they know about because the wires were wrapped in tape with little pictures of MICE on them!! I am so mad….It cost me over $500.00 to fix a problem that is normal for this SUV!!
We have a problem with mice in the cabin air of our 1008 Toyota Rav 4. It costs up to $800 to remove the damage and there is no guarantee that this will not happen over and over. Has anyone else had this problem with their Rav 4?
You can add my 2008 Lexus IS250 to the list. I live on a ranch with no garage. Cabin completely invaded although I drive the car every day. Chewed a hole through my leather back seat and have urinated and deficated all over the cabin of my car in every nook and cranny. Allstate is covering all the damage under my comprehensive coverage. Tried traps and that is only managing the problem not solving it. Still killing 2-3 mice inside my car every night. Thousands in damage to the car so far and I keep my car very clean inside and do not eat in my car. We are buying a portable garage and will be pouring a cement pad under the garage. Will be putting the cat in the garage every night. If this does not work, may have to move as my insurance will only cover this damage once and then said they will be forced to drop me as an insured.
OK! LIGHTS! BRIGHT, BRIGHT Florescent LIGHTS!!
It is working! Since April–3 long tubes on a piece of plywood; wired to a photocell.
I know, winter will be the greatest test……BUT IT IS WORKING!! I live in Arizona, no garage, along a wash–rodent haven! So, I am hopeful the solution is BRIGHT BRIGHT LIGHTS—ALL NIGHT–FROM DUSK TO DAWN! Far less expensive than the repairs!!!
@Carol: Using bright lights certainly makes sense. Nocturnal animals are less likely to want to go into a well-lit area, especially if the lights are triggered by their movement. But, having them on at times when it would otherwise be dark is far easier to set up. Also, the cost of fluorescent or LED lights over time shouldn’t be that bad. You can run those kinds of lights for a long, long time before hitting the cost of one major repair. Thanks for posting that idea!
Hi from South Africa. So, I haven’t been driving my Alfa-Romeo for like two weeks and I saw some liquid leaking from under the car. I opened the hood of the car to see where the leak was coming from and a mouse/rat scurried from a nest which was made from some car insulation, which I still don’t know where it came from right next to the upright. So being all friendly and not wanting to harm a dear mouse, I decided to just ignore it and just hoped he wouldn’t come back after removing the nest. So I took my regular car SsangYong Korando turbo diesel. When I arrived at my destination I discovered that the car wouldn’t switch off even after removing the keys from the ignition the motor kept on running. Only way to stop it was to put the car in first gear (stick shift) and slowly release the clutch till the engine died. So when I got home I knew that something had happened to the vacuum pipe which is why the engine wouldn’t stop, and was shocked to see how much damage this freaking mouse/rat had created. So I’m killing it, I don’t care or know how, but that’s it. I also checked the other car engine again and saw that it had eaten some of the electric wire insulation. Anyway, this means war! Thanks for all the tips in here.
This is the rundown of rodent damage to and costs of repair for my 2002 Volkswagen Golf TDI:
10/20/2006 Transmission Wiring + mouse = $400
11/01/2006 Transmission Wiring + mouse = $600
07/14/2008 Transmission Wiring + rat = $800
07/22/2009 Wiper/other Wiring + squirrel = $330
10/03/2010 sill waiting for estimate–most visible damage ever, probably @ least $1,000
I have tried poison bait cubes, poison bait pellets, live traps, snap traps, moth balls, perfume, sonar plug-ins, bright lights under engine compartment, leaving the hood open to promote faster cooling of the engine–NOTHING WORKS!! The first VW service manager told me that Volkswagen used (uses?) a soy-based plastic to wrap wires and it seems to attract rodents. He suggested bait pellet containers in the engine compartment. In July 2009, the German Hi Tech owner asked my why in the world I would attract rodents with poison pellets in the engine. He suggested spraying cheap perfume in the engine compartment.
My in-laws leave their cars sitting for YEARS without being started or driven and don’t have this problem. My car sat undriven for two DAYS. Yesterday, when I discovered the wiring damage because my car would not start–no joke–my husband started and drove his dad’s Lincoln that had been sitting for almost two years.
I officially give up. No more VWs for me 🙁
O Susana! Sorry–I couldn’t resist!! (-:= ! If you give up on VW’s you are giving up on a great car!!
AND if you are reading closely; VW’s are NOT the only car being chewed!!!
I have had REAL Success with the florescent lighting under my cars.
Please see above posts!! It’s not limited to 1 car manufacture!
It is mostly–I think–because ALL these companies have ‘gone green’! They are using a soy based-not petroleum—to cover the wires.
Today I went shopping with my Jaguar thats been parked in the garage, for about 2 weeks undisturbed. We live out in the country in Canada, our garage has had mice before but never in our cars!!
When I got out of the store, I walked to my car, opened the trunk to throw in a bag, when I noticed some weird grey stuffing, and chewed up kleenex. I moved it with the umbrella I had in the trunk, but I saw nothing, I was just wondering where it came from. I called my husband asked him if he had put anything in the trunk, he said no, and I explained to him what was in the trunk, I decided I would check the car out when I got home. When I got home and examined the car interior further I noticed mouse dropping, I cannot stand mice! they freak me out, my only thought was what if this mouse surprised me while I was on the highway on my way home. I cant imagine. I then grabbed a hockey stick from the garage and moved the stuffing only to find candy, old french fries from McDonalds all things that might have been in the back seat area where my kids hang out.. I keep a really clean car, the leather seats are beige so they’re always wiped down, and the car is vacuumed.. BUT the mouse found some junk food. We also park our classic mini from England in the garage that my husband drives to work all summer for fun, he too said he saw some odd things in the front passenger side, the left, like a feather and some other bits.. So now I’m thinking these mice have invaded my Jaguar and my classic mini. The stuffing I saw in the trunk of my Jaguar must be from the seat, and since I have the car parked on the driveway I noticed bits of black foam insulation probably on the floor of the garage directly under the engine, seriously… this sucks. I do plan on getting the vehicles detailed, and have to clean out my garage, just to make sure. but I live in the country they’re bound to get in how do I avoid it.. I havent ever had any mice in my house thankfully or I’d be at my witts end, I’m hoping it stays that way, regardless this makes me feel bad. I am in search of a new car already. =( but worried that the same thing will happen again, any preventative measures I can take, I will be banning all food/candy/snacks in my vehicle from now on. any advice would be helpful! Sorry this happens to anyone at all, more so because its so dangerous.
I have read through a bunch of comments, does anyone have a plan that works?? the mice traps in the car?? where?? and where do I put the moth balls?
I did more reading on the mice issue, and as a deterrent, people put a few drops of peppermint oil on cotton balls and cover the cotton balls with tinfoil, and then puncture holes.. I tried this and put them in my car.. I hope it works, other people swear by it..
I had a rodent chew up wires/hose in my BMW. Cost me $800 to repair. I read that rodents do not like the smell of fabric softener sheets so I put some under my hood along the edges. But it does not work!! I see dropping and signs of nesting in my engine compartment again! I’m frustrated and worried that I will have the same issue. I thought about trying the mothballs but read is can be toxic so i don’t want to go that route. Does peppermint oil really work??
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Visit verorep.com for possible solution against rodent damages on vehicles.
Spray Rataway Fragrance to protect your engine & wiring
My 4 month old Audi A4 Avant’s temperature light went on 3 days ago. Dealer discovered the hose to the coolant had been “chewed” by a rodent (could see the teeth marks). Repair Cost=$400. Bummer!! They have to order the new hose from Germany, so meanwhile are kind enough to give me a loaner car. On the 2nd day of having the loaner car, the same light went off on that car and the the car began overheating and I had to get it towed! Unbelieveable. I also have a 1998 4-runner that has never had this problem. Albeit-that mechanic has seen “rodent droppings” while doing a routine oil change. Thank goodness, no expensive destruction. After reading all these posts, going back 4 years ago, I’m really surprised a solution is not available. May be a great business opportunity to create something to stop this problem–THAT REALLY WORKS. I saw some ads for magnets that hold moth balls and some product called rataway (only available on line), but no testimony at all that either work. I’m seriously concerned about what to do. I’m thinking of asking a neighbor if I can park the Audi in their drive way until I can figure out a way to keep the rats away…. I will try bounce, moth balls, etc…but really, who has time for that??? Help!!
omg so this just happened to me. i have never heard of this happening to anyone else and i work for allstate insurance company! when mercedes benz told me that an animal ate my car out i was in shock and then decided to google and low and behold … there it is! I had an acceleration problem after getting my car back from the repair shop. brought it back the next day to the dealership and for two and a half days they didnt know what was wrong with my car and then they called and said they found ONE of the problems and later went on to say that an animal ate all my wires in my car connected to my transmission and engine. “huh?” this has got to be the craziest thing i have ever heard. the cost was $11,480 and that wasn’t including labor!!! the dealership paid for it because my car was there for repair for almost two months! i didnt go there with that problem, i can only imagine trying to pay for that myself! thankful to read this article really helps me to be preventative to not ever happen to my car when its in my possession. trust me … thoose animals won’t be around too long either once i get a hold of them!! thank u
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Parked in same area since 1991 with two other vehicles and never had a problems with rodents chewing wires. Last May, purchased a 2010 Honda Civic and within 2 months, the critters chewed wire harness of a/c system. Since then, have used peppermint oil (seems to work), dryer sheets (don’t work), cayenne pepper (made a paste), dog hair on the ground, you name it. Have gone out every night with my arsenal of stuff. Slacked for about ten days thinking maybe I got rid of them, but no. The rodent chewed another harness wire (turn signals) and just got it back from shop – cost $330 – first time over $250. I am at wit’s end. Ordered some stuff online (shake away) – have not received it yet. I hesitate to put out traps because I feel I would attract even more rodents. No one seems to have an answer to solving this problem. I can’t imagine for the next 10 years (planned to keep my car for a while) of having to go out every night to try to protect my engine. 🙁
Wondering how some rodents chew wires and some dont? I live in a farming area and my car after the FIRST day of purchasing it started to get gnawed on!. just the cover of the hoood that is. the fluff is what they use to make their nest! omg.
and now it’s coming into my glove box! there’s a hole there and i am unsure of HOW they even got in there. i am wondering if my airbag is now compromised from that!
Three Sundays ago my car was running just fine. Monday morning I started my Hyundai Sante Fe and was shocked to hear the sound of the engine. Thinking that maybe this was just some kind of a fluke, I turned the engine off and restarted it, but nnnooo, the engine sounded the same. I got a ride to work, then when I came home I started my car and thought maybe I could drive it to the dealer. No way. I had the car towed. The next morning the dealer informs me that something chewed the wire harness and it would cost me approx. $3000 to get it fixed. My insurance paid $2200 and the dealership told me to bring ladies nylons and moth balls when I come to pick up the car. They placed the moth balls inside the legs of the nylons and tied the nylons on ither side of the engine. They said this would prevent any creatures from re-entering the engine. I do smell the fumes from the moth balls inside the cabin of the car which concerns me, especially when I have my granddaughter in the car. After reading some of these comments, I’m not so sure if this is a definite solution. So,in the meantime, I’m parking my car on another street and doing lots of research with the hopes of finding a sure cure. If I find one, I’ll definitely let all of you know.
I have had the mice in my engine problem for over 2 years.They have gone thru many spark plug wires and more.I think they got in my door panel too because at times when im driving I hear knocking in there.i just found these glue traps that are about a foot long where the mice or rats are supposed to get stuck in the glue.The traps are about a foot long and have no poisen.I will post again if they hopefully work.
I have had the mice in my engine problem for over 2 years and went thru many spark plug wires i just found these 1 foot flat glue traps that im going to try I will post again if they work the mice or rats are supposed to get stuck in the glue there is no poison
This story is on the internet
Mothballs in the attic for squirrel control or rat control is illegal and toxic to humans.
The use of moth balls in an attic or other spaces to get rid of squirrels in the attic is illegal in all 50 states. If you use moth balls to get rid of squirrels, bats in the attic, and raccoons in the attic or any other vertebrate pest or even suggest their use to someone you are committing, at least a misdemeanor, and even a felony in many states. If you are considering using Moth balls to get rid of squirrels in the attic then you need to read this – Moth balls are toxic to humans and pets. Most moth balls are made from naphthalene which is derived from coal tar. The gas emitted from moth balls is heavier than air and will seep from your attic into the lower levels of your home – your living areas. Many people will recommend moth balls to get rid of squirrels in the attic and other pests. In states such as Arizona, California, Florida and New York this simple recommendation is, or has recently been, a felony. Moth balls take oxygen out of the air. Their purpose is to suffocate moths in a contained environment. It is similar, very similar to running a car engine in a garage with the garage door closed. Several years ago a friend had a yard man tell her to put moth balls in her attic to drive out the squirrels. It worked for a while but the amount of moth balls she had to put in the attic spaces to drive out the squirrels made her house stink of moth balls. Now, my friend could not smell the moth balls after several days, but everyone who entered her house was over-whelmed by the odor. I have asthma and when visiting her it greatly bothered my asthma. Two years later the lowest places in her house, such as bathroom cabinets, linen closets, etc. still smells of moth balls. Many people who make this huge mistake then spend years trying to get the moth ball smell out of their house. Good luck! To this day, freshly laundered towels that have been placed in her bathroom cabinets soon acquire the smell of the moth balls. Again, my friend could not smell the moth balls but everyone who entered her house could. Same thing with squirrels and mice – they get used to the smell – unless you use so many moth balls that the toxic vapors are so heavy that the squirrels or other rodents can’t stay – which means these heavier than air toxic vapors are seeping down into your living areas and into your lungs and into your blood stream. Did you know that babies that have been wrapped in blankets which were stored with moth balls have been found to have high levels of naphthalene in their blood streams? Moth balls for squirrel control, been there – smelled that. It is illegal and very toxic – especially to children and infants.
SYMPTOMS OF MOTHBALL EXPOSURE:
Difficulty breathing, asthma worsening, asthma attacks – especially in children.
Nose, eyes, and lung irritation.
Recurring headaches, nausea, dizziness.
Cancer – moth balls are possible carcinogens.
Effect on babies- skin rash, anemia, jaundice.
Swallows trying to nest on shopping center. Rataway fragrance was sprayed many times and it worked.
Tennis Court Veranda, woodpecker hanging upside down in wood slats and pecking holes through the wood and the roofing. Sprayed Rataway fragrance several times and stopped the woodpecker.
Ongoing problem rats, mice chewing on wiring in furnaces, air conditioning equipment.
Use Rataway fragrance to protect equipment and ductwork.
Heavy equipment damaged due to rats, mice and squirrels. Sprayed heavy equipment with Rataway fragrance (Engines, vacuum lines, and hydraulic lines)
Woodpecker damage on a large home. Sprayed Rataway fragrance many times it is now stopping the woodpecker damage.
Ranch vehicles and equipment damaged due to rats, squirrels, and mice. Sprayed Rataway fragrance on engines and equipment.
House cat eating house plants. Sprayed Rataway fragrance on the house plants. The cat stopped chewing.
Problem dog sitting on couch. Sprayed Rataway fragrance on couch and dog stayed off the couch.
Dog and cat chewing up shoes. Sprayed Rataway fragrance on the shoes and the problem was resolved
Rats or mice chewing up saddles and horse tack. Sprayed down saddles and tack with Rataway fragrance
Horse chewing on lead rope. Sprayed lead rope with Rataway fragrance, stopped horse from chewing on the lead rope
Puppy chewing up sprinkler and irrigation lines. Sprayed waterproof version of Rataway fragrance on sprinkler and irrigation lines. Stopped puppy from chewing.
So for about 8 months to a year we have been finding little bits of paper wrappers and food torn and shredded around inside our Ford Explorer. My little two year old girl has a habit of doing this so whenever we cleaned up the mess we cursed under our breath at her… Then we went on a long trip to California and while we were inside the hotel room the first night, something chewed a hole in the bag of M&Ms and popcorn. We knew it couldn’t have been her because she was with us and the M&Ms were in the glove box. That is when it dawned on us that we had a little passenger and probably for a while. It has kept pretty much to itself, not many droppings, but that smell has been bothering me for like a year and a half! I figure it was pleased by the popcorn and the bread it got to the next day as I had seriously cleaned out the car the week before and it had only been living off of hard candy. Just laid out a live trap as I would love to see how healthy it is and as it has been our pet for this long I might as well release it… Makes me mad that it is in the car that stays in the garage and my car that lives outside is untouched!
For everyone posting here and to all those who read these posting who are having these issues with rodents: Don’t just complain to the service department only. WRITE a letter to the corporate headquarters for your particular car – be very detailed, tell them what you have done to try to protect your car and include copies of your invoices, etc. Be very specific. These car companies need to know this problem is not isolated. Send the letter certified mail, return receipt requested. For those of you who have Hondas, the address is:
American Honda Motor Co., 1919 Torrance Blvd., Torrance,CA 90501
I too absolutely hate mice and for years i’ve tried everything out there and nothing has worked for any length of time. I protected my RV with a product called Mouse Free that is actually working for me. Its a coating that goes on the undercarriage that keeps mice out. The site where I found it was http://www.mouse-free.com. I used the do it youself kit but there are also RV dealers who can do it for you, they likely would do a car too? The videos on the site are really good for showing how it works.
I cannot believe this is such a common occurance! I have spent around $1400 this past year due to rodent damage. The first time, the engine harness was chewed, and this last time, the knock sensor was destroyed. I have tried the dryer sheets and moth balls to no avail. I find mouse poop on top of the dryer sheets, and when I pull into my driveway, chipmunks and squirrels are happily munching on the acorns which rest amongst the mothballs that I have scattered on the ground where I park my car! I am beside myself because I cannot afford these repairs, and I am worried that at some point the car will be ruined. I am dismayed to see that this is common in Hondas, as I have a Honda Odyssey. I also had no idea that insurance would cover this type of damage, so now I am equally pissed. I think I will give the insurance company a call and see if they will cover past damage. I liked the hot sauce idea, as it is cheap enough, but what happens when you turn the car on? Will I get overwhelmed with hot sauce in the drivers seat? After all the money, I still feel that my car is not right. Bright headlight comes on and off randomly. When off, the DRL light comes on and buzzes! I am also getting this rattling, grinding noise up front when my foot is on the gas. Completely beside myself. Good luck to you all! I feel like I have just joined a support group!
Okay last week my ABS light came on and another warning light, brought it into mechanic to find out we had RATS/Mice in our 2007 Toyota Yaris..I had an unopen bag of dog treats in the back which has since been removed. We completely gutted the car and NOTHING not even a crumb of food is in there. This morning went out to double check as I was going to bring my kids out today and I pulled up all the carpeting in the trunk only to find they have eaten away through the side vent behond carpeting in trunk which leads directly to outside, and almost halfway through my backseat in one corner. It is repulsive, I have a phobia of rats mice and am to afraid to drive the thing. I have had other cars in the past and NEVER had this problem, this is my first time with a Yaris (or Toyota for that matter). Please I beg of you tell me how to get them out..I live in the Country and I know they are in the neighbours fields etc so where we see one, there is probably 1000 but we have NEVER had this problem before in all the time we have been living here 🙁
Can I completely seal off that vent directly leading to the outside behind the carpeting in the truck? What is it used for anyway??? It is not hooked up to anything and just seems to be a welcome mat for nasty critters 🙁
We had the same problem, but in the engine bay of our car. We tried everything we could but the mice would just return to the same warm spot. They are tearing up the hoosd insulation and using that for nesting material. A few months ago we installed a mouseblocker under the hood and it seems to be working well. The mice have not returned but we are keeping our eyes out.
The website we ordered from is http://www.mouseblocker.com Good Luck
I’ve heard great things about the mouseblocker. I think I might have to order one for my tractor to keep the mice out of it.
Have a 2009 Toyota Rav4. To date I have trapped 9 mice in last six months. So far no damage that I know of but I am sure there will be. Car is driven daily and parked in garage at night. We have set traps all over garage and left our cats in garage over night several times NO mice caught. They are getting in through the heating/AC duct work. I know this because last one was caught on his front leg and he tried to leave with trap still hooked on him. WHY would a manufacturer leave open anything that a rodent could crawl thru. By the way Bounce doesn’t work – they ate it, hot sauce too. Baby powder just upset me because I could see just how much they ran over everything. Hard to get clean also.
I am so glad this is a common problem! I live in the city and drive my car daily, but somehow mice managed to make a home in my car, causing the transmission to fall apart. A costly repair later, I am taking any advice I can to make sure they don’t cause any more damage to my car!
I live in Peoria, IL in an apartment and I park my 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse outside in a heavily forested area. Sometimes the car sits for a week or so.
While driving to work I turned on the AC and would not work unless it was on the highest setting “4”. It also made this weird sound like leaves blowing around. I turned it off. I had my boyfriend look at it and when he took apart the air blower motor, there was a “nest”. We did not see any rodents or mice or chipmunks, but the blower motor wheel was jammed with leaves, fur, and feathers. He emptied the debris from the wheel. The blower motor resistor was not working so he replaced it, which was $25.
Then two weeks later I turned on my AC and all this debris flew out, so I immediately shut it off and decided to drive without it. The blower continued to make that weird sound. Again, my boyfriend took apart the glove box compartment and looked at the blower wheel and there was another nest! Except this nest was not as packed and there were tiny white cotton balls along with dead leaves and fur. Could that be from a filter or insulation or my white gym shoes in the hatch? There is no noticeable urine or feces smell and I have not seen feces.
I have heard of the soy-based wire coatings tasting yummy to this miniature terrorists. But they could also be “teething”, no? It is very bizarre that this is so common among Honda Pilots… if only the b_st_rds would grow a pair and do something about it.
In addition, when my AC was working properly and I had it on and would make a hard turn, water would leak out onto the passenger side floor, roughly a pint of water. I have no idea why this happened or what is the cause. Is there a hole in my firewall? Because the whole purpose of a firewall is to prevent a fire from reaching the interior… and if water can do it, than so can fire.
ANYWAY…
I am freaking out! And super scared to turn on my AC. I am NOT scared of rodents, I am scared of the possible problem & repair costs.
I really hope there is a solution for my rodent issue. I haven’t tried anything yet, but Bounce Dryer Sheets Scent Level 4, peppermint oil, moth balls, rodent repellant (coyote urine), or traps (glue, snaps, or pellets) all sound like possibilities… I really don’t care as long as it works.
I would love to figure out how they are coming in/nesting/housing/terrorizing my car.
Is there is anything my boyfriend can build to prevent this? Like a cover… made of wire, mesh, or steel wool?
Unfortunately, my car will be parked outside for 10 days because I am going on vacation. Any remedies, suggestions, comments, contraptions, or advice is much appreciated.
spray Rataway Fragrance from w w w Rataway dot com
MY new Kia Sorento has been the victim of PACK RATS eating my wiring, I have only made 1 payment and it is going to be towed to the shop tomorrow!!!
The farm supply store said they have something called “Fresh Car” that is a deterant, so I am going to buy some for the interior and put it under the hood. Also I am going to buy poison bait bars and make a holder out of wire with holes so the rat can eat it from the open holes in the holder and I am going to use wire to attach it to a component under the hood. The pack rats got to the other car as well. Country living, next to fields do not help!!
OMG. Have a 2007 Honda Ridgeline that mice are getting inside the cab. Considered taking it to the dealership to see if they could find the entry points. After reading all this information think I’ll go back to GMC or Ford products. Love this truck and don’t want to get rid of it, but can’t live with mice. Would like Honda to admit they have a problem. Seems lots of Japanese models have a problem. Honda seems the winner tho.
Rats/mice made the engine bay home in both vehicles when parked in the garage…. evidenced by walnut remnants and droppings. No damage has shown up in the 1995 Nissan Maxima but the Citroen proved tastier and some fabric on a wiring loom and insulation on the fire wall scuffed. The real damage was a backfire upon start up through the plastic intake manifold blasting a large hole and immediate shut down (immobiliser) Subsequent repair required a replacement manifold (NZ$700) and total bill of $1600
Unfortunately trying to prove this was caused by rodents is not easy but my suspicion is an interference to computer causing a mistimed spark.
Would be interested if any others have had similar
experience and whether this is a feasible explanation
for the backfire.
Just had this happen to a Lexus SC430 – not once but three times. We had bleached our garage floor, set traps, removed all food (and tried moth balls) BUT we did not have the car engine pressure cleaned so they were apparently still smelling anti-freeze which we understand is a mouse FAV… So we are cleaning the engine hoping it won’t happen again.
I have a 2003 Volks Passat Wagon which has experienced expensive rodent damage several times. I’m looking at a bill of over $800 this week. As a cautionary measure, I’m no longer parking my Volks in the driveway but several hundred yards away on the street. Guess it’s “Rodentiaphobia” for all of us sufferers.
Anyone ever thought that the reason so many Honda postings came up here was due to people typing something to the effect of “Honda Pilot mice engine” in their search engine?
Anyway, 2009 VW Jetta and 1999 Ford Ranger, found our first evidence the other day. Torn insulation and dropping everywhere inside the engine bay. Placed 4 Rat Snaps, 4 Mice Snap Traps and 4 Glue Traps surrounding the perimeter of our vehicles(2 Rat Snap Traps at the base of each front tire to trap the rats attracted to the heat of our engines).
In two nights time I’ve caught 5 rats and 3 mice.
I used a oat and honey granola bar on each trap as bait. So far I feel it has been pretty effective, I strongly recommend a tightly controlled perimeter to ensure success, while focusing on the engine bay.
have mice in my 2010 accord. they chewed apart the insulation on firewall and some of the wire covers. opened my hood the other day while cleaning it and actually saw the little $&!?. used small snap traps with a little bit of PB smeared on the trigger in engine compartment, they work. caught him last night. hope thats the last of them but will continue to set traps just in case.
We had the same problem with mice in my husbands car, after $350 to just clean the nest and repair a couple wires we went looking for a solution. He found out about the mouse blocker from a friend and that is what we use now to keep them from ruining his car anymore. I have to say it has been months without any mice and believe me he checks all the time. We ordered it from http://www.mouseblocker.com
This new product really works to keep the pack rats out to the cats engine. It is made by a retires aerospace engineer.
Check their web site:
Rid-A-Rat.com
I have 2007 Acura MDX but I also experance same problem. Rodents came in to my engine and chewed knowck sensor wire so it cost me around $350. However, I contact the Aucra dealer to address this but they don’t want to fix this known issue. They just keep saying there Acura is Luxury vehicle but what kind luxury vehicle make car like this. I also have 05 chrysler 300 and park in same place as MDX but chrysler never have this problem like Acura does.
I never want to buy Acura any more.
My son and I have mice nesting in our ATV’s every winter. The damage in the past has amounted to hundreds of dollars. After reading everyones postings about similar problems it seems that we are not alone. My local shop carries the mouse blocker mentioned above and sounds like it will be our next purchase.
Has anyone tried using a ‘car jacket’? Like a plastic zipper bag for cars (though not made out of the same materials!)
My car was totaled by mice. I bought it back (Pioneer Insurance) with $ left over I used to make repairs, but problems are ongoing. Now I’m looking for a physical barrier such as the one posted at http://www.hastingsreserve.org/mammals/MiceInCars.html and mentioned several times above. Only I think a car jacket would be easier.
Good info:
“Of mice, men, and their cars”
http://www.carbag.com/support/mice.html
We just got our 2008 STS Cadillac back today. We also had rats get into our car and destroy wiring,main engine harness, oxygen sensor wiring,body control module, powertrain control module and door control module, etc. Never dreamed of such a thing until it happened and I found this site.
Everything was fine until last Thursday morning my husband went to crank the car, nothing happened, then we had to have it towed, you guys all know the drill by now. Anyway we got it back today, our Nationwide Insurance will pay for all but the $100 deductible,Thank God, as we are seniors on social security and would not be able to get it repaired otherwise,it would have been well over $1000.00
We should all get together and make these car companies take responsibility for putting these soy based harnesses in our vehicles and causing these problems for all of us. What can we do, this has been going on since 2004 or longer!
Afraid it may happen again, how can you prevent it, we had and have regular pest control, traps, bait etc and it still happened.
Will be watching for word from all of you, we are willing to join in to get something done. One voice is small, many can be tremendous!
Hi, It is me again, I just sent GMC/Cadillac an email telling them of our situation, curious to see how they respond, if at all, will let you know.
Spray Rataway Fragrance to control rats, mice, squirrels, rabbits from Rataway dot com
Mouse Free is designed for RVs but it works great at keeping them out of our cars and trucks. Just search google for Mouse Free.
Recently found a dead headless mouse in the area beneath the “pretty” cover for my Toyota Highlander’s engine. Also, the cause of death appears to be chewing on my wiring. Not sure what is ruined, but the check engine light, VSC light and traction control lights are all on. I imagine it will cost a nice hefty amount. I HATE YOU, MICE!!!!
After you are finished with trying all of the urban legends try Rid-A-Rat. It’s patented light technology chases the critters out of the car’s engine. Please don’t use poison it kills other animals and can kill family pets that have chewed on the sick animal you could have poisioned. You can use a live trap and relocate them if you must.
Rid-A-Rat has 3 labs were products are tested. This product is invented by a retired aerospace engineer and a Phd animal behaviorist.
It is very simple to install with only scissors to cut the tie wraps and use the clips that are already on the wires to clip the unit on the cars batteries. For a Hybrid or a car with no easy access to the batteries they have a unit that has it’s own battery pack. The unit also has 6 feet of wire so you can have many options were to place the unit.
Their web site will tell you were there are stores that carry Rid-A-Rat. If there isn’t a store in your area you can order of the web site.
The company is green and the product is made in the US. Technical support is also available on the phone to an American in the USA.
Rid-A-Rat .com also ships outside the US. After being on the market for 2 years they have over 2,000 happy customers and gives a 100 percent guarantee and phone support to solve your problem.
Kyle
Many people have mentioned different versions of protection but it seems like the best one time solution is the mouse blocker. It looks like the others have to be reapplied over time where after I install a mouse blocker we just let it do its thing. thank you for all the opinions and recommendations but it looks like our next purchase is going to be from http://www.mouseblocker.com
During heavy rains, my 2004 Mustang would take in water in its interior My floor carpeting got all soaked up, it took me three days to get the water out and then dry the carpets. Can you tell me if this could be a legitimate insurance claim
2006 4Runner SR5 previously and now 2008 4Runner Sport. Both beset by rodent problems chewing wiring, this time to the tune of $1400 knocking out the engine broken light and VSC system. Our Hondas and Subarus haven’t had the issue. Neither did our Ford products, though in that case, it’s about the only system that didn’t fall apart on it’s own.
And we have a Terminix contract with rodent traps all around the house, including one about 20 feet from where the car is parked. We will see what they say about liability? Not much point in the service if it doesn’t work.
My Nissan Altima check engine light usually goes on &off. The diagnostic check just says it’s the gas tank sealer. The floor bed in my car is rusting out on the passenger side pretty badly. I think that’s how the mice got in. I had the car detailed, bought a trap & now I’m just waiting. I hope there’s not an infestation. I want another car but I’m reading this can happen to any vehicle under basic circumstances. I have a five yr old & only park in the garage during the winter. Hearing these mouse complaints is unbelieveable. I’m going to try bounce, and peppermint oil.
I have a new 2016 Subaru Forester and have spent almost $1500 in the last 6 months due to chewed wires when the vehicle was parked near our cabin in the forest. I installed a Rid-A-Rat and it did nothing to help. In fact the most serious damage happened after it was installed at the dealership. Very frustrating!!! I can’t pay $1000 for repairs every time I drive to my cabin.