How to Keep Mice, Rats and Other Rodents Out of Your Car Engine

One reason rodents chew on wiring is that the electricity produces a salt, which is tasty. Could be the same deal in the cars.

Just the other day I got a napkin out of my glove box and it had been chewed/shredded by something with teeth. Mm, I better check under my hood!

Perhaps the rodents are decended from lab rats and such cannot resist being wired!

Nice Hub

Not only is this hub entertaining, it's true.  This poor woman brought a car into my shop many years ago with "cut ignition wires" so we installed new ones for her and she drove home.

She called the next day, furious that we had done such "poor quality work" and demanded we pay to have her car towed back to our shop and for us to do the work correctly this time.

I was totally shocked and confused, but of course I agreed to do so immediately and called our favorite tow company.  Upon getting her car back in the shop, we discovered the "cut" wires again.  I went out to Mike, one of our techs, and asked him how he could possibly have managed to miss some cut wires.  He pulled the woman's old wires out of the garbage can, the whole set still there from yesterday.  "I didn't," he said.  lol.

So we studied the new broken ones and the old broken ones and I noticed little teeth marks, the kind of little grooves you see when you look at a piece of cheese you've just bitten a bite from, in the insulation of the wires.  When I called her up, she didn't even want to believe me, thinking we were pulling a fast one on her somehow.  lol.  I told her we'd replace all of the wires for free this time, because we failed to realize the cause of her problem the first time, so she lightened up.

It took her three more wires and a week to finally catch that mouse.  LOL.  Her car was the first time I ever recommend a cat as a means of automotive preventive maintenance. 

great hub.. sorry I went on so long.  Couldn't help it.

Just Googled "rodents chew car tubes" and hit this site.

Here's my rodent story.

Had my car serviced 2 days ago, minor service, replaced all fluids etc. And they washed the car for me. And of course, while on their lot waiting for pickup, a large bird did what all birds like to do on newly washed cars & dropped a load on the windshield.

So I picked up the car, drove off and of course hit the windshield washer to clean the bird poop. Hmmm, not as much pressure as usual. Did they top up the fluid ?

Got home, parked the car and noticed fluids dripping out on the ground. Popped the hood. The tube running from the windshield washer tank to the nozzles on the hood hand a chunk bitten out of it, and the area was covered in little bite marks.

And that newly topped up windshield washer tank ? Nearly empty, the contents having been sprayed through the hole all over the engine compartment.

Thankfully just a small rubber hose to replace and not the wiring system in my case.

Thanks for the site, good to know I'm not the only victim.

i saw a rat inside the motor of my vehicle this morning...i've been having to jumpstart my car every morning for about 4 months now i've taken my car to several mechanics and none of them have found the problem, the battery is fine, alternator ok, everything seems good so i have no other choice but keep jumpstarting my car. this mornign i was jumpstarting it again when i saw this big rat next to the battery, it was alive, moving, horrible, i dont know what to do could it been the problem that noone has been able to solve?

Very interesting article, Rochelle, but living in a condo with an indoor garage, that's one less thing I have to worry about. Never thought about this type of problem until you drew it to my attention. However, I do park the car outside now and then... Worry...worry...

I never knew that they could cause so much damage to vehicles.

We had a mouse in our house and were trying to catch it. Until it helped us get rid of a neighbor who never could take the hint to end her visit. He became an honored guest after that.

I never even knew something like this happened to people. This was entertaining and helpful all the same. I also loved how other folks came in to share their rodent in the car stories as well. Who knew!?!?! I have to pass this along to others! ; )

Rochelle, I don't know how I missed this hub......but I actually put in a hub request a few months back asking how to get rid of pesky mice for this very reason. I went through 4 sets of sparkplug wires in about six weeks time. The first time I had no idea what was wrong with my car. The engine light was on and it was running badly. I had it towed to the dealership just to be told it was a mouse. I replaced the wires and within the week they had eaten through the second set. After the fourth set I made hand-sewn sleeves for each sparkplug wire made out of a heat resistant material I found at the auto parts store. I haven't had any problems since.

We had record numbers of mice in our area according to the local news. We were seeing mice daily inside and out. We live on 27 acres, but have for the last 27 years as well and never had them chew through wires before.

I still may end up writing a hub about it......I know everyone I talked to about it was having some sort of problem with them this year. One co-worker and I would compare notes each morning about how many we had killed the night before.

I have added this hub to my Mice Eating Spark Plug Wires. :) Gary

Thanks for the article. I had squirrels under my hood for a while. I don't want to ruin your advertising, so let me just say that Amazon also sells cayenne pepper.

I ran into this problem on a brand new Toyota Supra several years ago. Mice had pulled up carpet padding and made anest in the air cleaner. Thanks for the hub I never heard of anyone else having this problem.

I live in the country and commute to work the other morning I pulled alongside the road to eat my breakfast burrito and talk to my cousin on the phone. I looked up and there was a giant rat on the windshield. I tried going really fast and slamming the breaks to knock him off. He would not let go I was screaming and driving like a nut. I finally went down a cul-de-sac going in circles really fast slamming the brakes he was holding onto my wiper blade with his front feet. Swaying from side to side then my cousin yelled hit the wipers it flung him to the hood of the car and he rolled off. I wish I would have had a dash cam I could have made some money it was like something out of the movies. Now I am terrified there are more.Any suggestions what do I do to keep them away. I almost had a heart attack.

Having mice in your motor would be terrible…they are bad enough elsewhere! Please don't use any of these Ortho Home Defense Max Kill and Contain traps…take my advice. They are ineffective and falsely advertsised.

OMG, this is so true. Luckily the rats which camped inside our car was only having a tour or perhaps there was no time for it to build his nest in the engine. When my hubby switched on the engine, the little vermin scurried away.

One time while I was doing the laundry the washing machine's spinner would not even budge so I ended up hand washing the clothes! As it turned out, a mice happened to be inside the machine and it was caught in the swirling motor. Good riddance.

This is a new notion for James Herbert, who could write a book to go with the other seventeen million that he has written about rats. This one could be about combating the fact that the world is overly populated by rats, by making them into a type of super efficient fuel.

Wow. I never really thought about this. Now i know what to do when i or anyone i know have such problem. Thanks for the information

I had driven 4 hours north of my home to the service centre of where I bought my new car to have it serviced. I couldn't believe it when the service department rang me to say that my engine has been eaten by rats. They were amazed that my car even made the journey. As I have an electronic break system I am to consider myself very lucky. As to the weeks without a car whilst waiting for european parts and one part alone that is costing $2300.00 I do not feel entirely lucky. I have now purchased a cat for my property and will certainly be trying other suggestions.

This site is no help at all. Everyone has a story or a problem, but no SOLUTION. What can be done ( besides moth balls- they are poisonous to humans too )

Definitely had this problem for some time. Here's what I've done--praying it works.

First, found that if you wash out the engine as well as you can with a hose and get as much nesting material and their scent out, that's a good first step. Then I got Pine Sol per one site's suggestion and faithfully spritzed that in the areas they seemed attracted to each week. That did decrease activity (sprayed near the windshield washer where they had clearly been feasting; also around the front tire, wheel well.) Got an ultrasonic pest control device and with an extension cord popped the hood and put the device in when car was not in use for about a week (used but would take the device out; got home put it back in). Idea was to send message to find a new place to live. That SEEMED to work, but didn't as eventually they got back to car.

I noticed in my front yard that I had some burrowing. So just this past week I went out and got something called The Giant Destroyer, sold at Home Depot, on Amazon.com, and probably elsewhere. It's four sticks of sulfur producing materials. I had my brother help me. We plugged the holes and then down the largest most active one, we put the lit device. When it smoked, covered the hole up and let it gas whatever might have been in the hole. Next day I looked and the rock was moved--could have been internally or externally or a cat walking through, etc. I took a half gallon of generic Pine Sol and poured it into the hole and then put the rock back. I have seen no evidence of activity, so that MIGHT have killed things off.

I had to get some things, wiring and tubing, replaced and the man at the shop said go get something called

CRITTER RIDDER sold at Home Depot and feel free to spray it all over in the engine compartment as it can't damage the car. So I bought that and applied liberally. The spray bottle said it's good for 30 days. We'll see. It also comes in granules/powder and I bought that as well and spread it around in the areas where I know they've burrowed in the yard. (The problem is I live where we have cactus and I CAN NOT access all the holes.) So far, so good, but it's early days.

I do KNOW for a fact that other things I tried did NOT work on what I had. Someone had said that peppermint oil would put them off. I took a cotton rag, soaked it in peppermint oil, then tied that near where they had been by the battery. Next morning, I went out and they had EATEN part of the cloth and pulled it all away from where I had tied it.

I have been told that RAT BAIT will work as well. I purchased some and placed it out--it was carried away, but I don't know that it did any in.

IF you have a garage, I would say try the ultrasonic pest controller and set traps in your garage. Get the engine as clean as you can, preferably either getting it on a lift or jacking it up and knocking away any visible nests. Spread the Pine Sol and/or Critter Ridder in the car engine compartment. With the Pine Sol, I'd NOT get it on the batteries--more in the area around the windshield washer where it's all metal (at least in MY vehicle) should have enough smell to send a message. The Critter Ridder should be safe everywhere according to the auto mechanic shop man.

IF you can find burrows or nests or such--try the Giant Destroyer and/or Critter Ridder as well so they aren't handy.

If you can't use your garage or don't have one, you still may try the ultrasonic device near the car--they claim they work for a hundred feet or so.

I think that strategy (clean, use the smells, use the ultrasonic, and try to gas them in their holes) will work in many cases. If it fails, then you probably need a professional pest control person to come give it a go. I'm praying I don't have to shell out that kind of money and one I spoke with for free said they like to TRAP them--traps mean time and multiple visits and they can eat an amazing amount of stuff in short order.

I've never heard my husband say anything about rats in the engine, but he does complain about stray neighborhood cats sleeping under the hood leaving dirty paw prints and scratch marks. How do you keep cats from crawling up the engine from under the car? :O

Great hub, but I do have a word of warning about the electronic repellents. Buy more than 1! I put one of these in my garage when I found field mice there. It chased them out of the garage in a hurry, and right into my house lol. Now I use them inside and out.

Thanks for the tip, Rochelle! I've made little signs leading to my neighbor's car. The neighbor that likes to walk his dog on my lawn, that is.

I had a much bigger problem recently. I raised the hood of my car to find a very large, disgruntled possum hissing at me. Animal control came out, told me it should be perfectly safe to yank it out by the tail, then left me to my own devices. Tax dollars at work!

I guess cats under the hood are the lesser evil then. Hehe. :)

I ran through our small town at full throttle once in a big old burgundy Cadillac. Turned out there was a nest of mice in the engine and they had gnawed through the throttle cables. It was so scary; I'm glad I didn't kill someone before I got it stopped.

Mice huh, they goes in the car and chew the wire sometimes they stays somewhere dark in the car and I scream when I watch a mouse anywhere they are just irritating.

Thanx for the information I will definitely use tit.Hanx for making this Hub!

I hate Rat and mice!

Reagards!

:-)

My experience with mice began three weeks ago. During a warm fall here in the Sierra Foothills, my car began stinking. Finally took out the back seat and found dead baby mice. Scrubbed out the ooze and maggots.

A week later I found a nest of pink wiggly things in the trunk. Out they went and in went the good old fashion traps. To date, we have killed 6 inside the car and 3 on the car port. I have vacuumed out the air filter compartment twice, removing about a pound of acorns, seeds, grass and insulation. How are they getting stuff into the air filter and compartment?

We live on two hundred acres of vineyards and woodland so I expect the critters. I am even on terms with the mountain lion and her cub, but PLEASE!!! Enough already.

We lost our "Magnificent Mouser Kitty" to illness a few months ago and are looking to replace him this week. We will continue the battle!

I had an incident with my car and some rats a few weeks back. A bit different thought. I stopped at a set of traffic lights and two mice dressed in balaclavas brandishing pistols car-jaked my Lexus. I couldn't believe it, I never thought it would happen to me.

No, we needed some extra cash, so we sold Peter.

My problem is squirrels..... they do the same damage as mice and rats, even worse. Has any of you used CRITTER OFF??

I live in a semi-rural area. About two years ago I was having problems with my car engine. One day it wouldn’t start, and a mechanic discovered that wires in the engine had been chewed by mice or rats. We had a dense mat of plants climbing up the back wall of our house, which looked lovely. I had been noticing frequent rustling sounds coming from the plants, which fascinated my cats. I guessed that the sounds were being created by some invisible animals climbing through the branches. We took down all the plants, which was a shame because they looked so nice, and we‘ve had no mice/rat problems since.

Well, I've just had it happen to my Chrysler- $250 later... So, I wanted to pass along a tip from my mechanic. Irish Spring Soap. Cut in cubes, drill holes and wrap a wire through and around the soap. Then, tie them under the hood in locations where it doesn't get hot. I pray this works! As for now, just glad my car us working again lol!

I am glad to know I am not the only one. I have a newer Honda Odyssey, and my husband took it in for an oil change. The technician came to the waiting room with an air filter and put in on the counter. CLUNK. It was so loud! When the technician asked who owned the Odyssey my husband was embarrassed to admit it. The technician discovered that every slot in the air filter had approximately 40 pieces of dog food in it. He took my husband out to the car and showed him another 2 cups of dog food in a recess behind the glove box. We were floored. (BTW- we already had sticky traps taped to the battery from an intruder from last year. We caught 8 under the hood last year, and I park in a closed garage every night.)

Luckily, the technician had worked for Honda before and stated this was quite common - especially in our model. He suggested placing extra traps near, and on top of, the tires since that is their entry point for climbing into the engine.

After this, we thought all was well until we headed out on a road trip. We loaded everything the night before so we could leave around 3AM. Our rodent returned and helped itself to the contents of our snack bag. Needless to say, we were hungry on our trip. The little bugger decided to nest under our dog's kennel. (So no, dogs don't keep them away.)

Our car is now empty of all food, tissues, GLOVES, etc. Our dog now eats in the house, and we store her food in the laundry room.

Now we are keeping cotton balls in nooks in the engine compartment. Every few weeks we place a few drops of peppermint oil on the cotton balls. We also rub the oil on the air filter. It is a strong repellent for them mice and it keeps our car smelling nice. So far, so good. We'll see over the long run.

Good information. I like it much. Thank you.

Had a 1997 volvo. Drove home and as I went to go in the house I noticed a little smoke coming from the hood, went and opened it to find debris on fire. Used a broom to knock it out. A few months later, my mother calls me on the phone. She'd been driving my car periodically since I was away at college. She drove to the grocery store and when she pulled into the parking space, she noticed smoke. She got out, went to open the hood and some guy stopped her. next thing you know, the whole thing burst into flames. Dead burned to a crisp volvo. After being inspected by the fire fighters and others, determined a next on top of the engine ignited.

So now, I've just graduated from college, got a 2004 volvo a year ago. I've been finding acorns and scat all over my engine. They've chewed through my hood insulator in various areas, ripped out some other stuffing from who knows where. The acorns and scat burn and lucky me gets to breathe it in as a I drive. I've officially declared war...

Last night I put a trap next to the wheel where they climb in. It was supposed to electrify the mouse when it climbed in for the peanut butter. It didn't work, all I did was give it a yummy meal. But I now have a lovely strategy that has got me one dead mouse already. After finding the failed trap this morning I made my mom turn the car on while I stood next to the front wheel with a shovel. Mouse came out, I hit it with the shovel... dead mouse. Let's hope he doesn't have any friends. So now I'm just going to put some old-school metal snap traps next to the wheels.

I'm going to try some of the deterrence techniques as well but mostly I want them dead. : ) Death is a great deterrent. Shovel technique is still my fav.

Long ago I drove a 1987 burgundy Cadillac Coup de Ville. One day as I came into town and entered an area where the speed limit dropped to 30, the car kept going at top speed and I ROARED through town. I'm amazed I didn't kill someone. I don't even remember how I got it stopped; I think I turned off the ignition and lost power steering and power brakes; anyway, it was a nightmare. Found out that a mouse made a nest under the hood and chewed through the throttle cables or something.

I am now starting round 3 with pests in my car. So discouraged and enjoyed reading some of the deterrent suggestions. I absolutely love my car and am gathering the courage to fight these vermin's! First encounter, I opened my drink and seen a mouse head pop up (out of an open athletic bag), I screamed a little and slammed the trunk shut because I was at a gas station and didn't know what else to do. Long story short, got home and asked my husband to "fix" it for me. Turns out that not only was there a mouse with babies, but a flipping rat! My husband killed it w/ a mallet, yuck. So, thinking that was the end of it, three months later I notice droppings in my car, take to the auto shop and I was told there was about a 3-inch hole chewed through the plastic mesh between my engine compartment and the inside of my car. So after 3 hours of labor and small parts cost where they replaced the plastic mesh with steel mesh, cost me nearly $400! Now about a month later, I have droppings again! So disheartened...back to the shop? Coexist? Definitely not coexist! Anyway, will try to post back if a method had worked.

great hub i have this problem alot and even had a birds nest one day

i had an old broken down 1958 lincoln that was invaded by mice a buddy of mine told me that he once used dryer sheets so i tryed it out it seemed to work i guess that they dont like the smell or taste of it , try it out it worked for me but the dryer sheets can put off a very strong odor in the car

I came upon this story while searching the web for ways to solve the problem posed in the title. Unfortunately, there is very little info here on How to Keep Mice, Rats and Other Rodents Out of Your Car Engine.

I recently heard peppermint oil on a cotton ball placed in areas you want to keep them out of will send them running away. You can throw them in their hole in the ground too. I am going to try it.

- Harlan

I did some research after the little monsters ate wiring in 4 out of 6 running vehicles. It seems that most newer wiring, especially Honda's are made with insulation from SOY PRODUCTS. Ohh tastey isn't it. Arggggggg , moth balls in little fabric bags tied strategically in the engine area seems to help the most.

My son got a 2004 Sunfire for his 16th birthday. Two days after getting his license, his car began accelerating on it's own! The dealership found that the throttle was stuck. It had been packed with debris and nesting material from a rodent who had taken up residence there! Cost $270.00 in repairs.

This would be a nightmare for me. Rodents in my car would mean abandoning or immediately selling it. I wouldn't fork out $270 cos my car isn't worth that much. Voted up

I HATE RODENTS!!!!!!! My husbands car had an oil leak. Apparently it was the valve cover gasket. Yesterday, my husband had to put a small engine fire. Luckily, he had just bought a case of Miller Lite, and was able to use one to douse the fire. Of course we assumed it was due to the oil leaking, and getting onto something to hot under the hood. So we had it towed to our mechanic, who showed me the teeth marks on the plug wires. He also showed me where one of the wires had been arching off the underside of the hood, which in turn ignited the oil that was leaking. This is the 3rd time the plug wires had been replaced due to their late night snacking! I told the mechanic I don't understand why they chew my husbands wires but not mine. So we decided to pop the hood on my car....and those little rat b@st**ds!!!! They have chomped on some of mine also. It is war now!!

Very useful hub, Thanks for sharing this.

I don't really like mice so in house i had cats and dogs to eliminate them.Since we were not rich we buy a used car ?????????????? ?????????? and every now and then we check it condition as well clean it to prevent them from this tiny creature.

I am scared of rats! Good advice.

We had the same problem in our VW TDI for years. Every time we would look under the hood, there was a nest built from the underhood insulation. We live in a rural area and do not have a garage so we have to park outside and without fail we would find a nest in the engine bay. Last spring we bought and installed a mouseblocker and so far we have not seen any mice or nests. I installed the mouse blocker under the hood and ran it off the cars battery to ward off mice. Been working well for us. Good luck, this appears to be a major problem for people.

I live in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, and for months I kept finding little chicken bones inside the engine compartment of our 1993 BMW 325is and kept giving all the Dominican guys that sit on the cars dirty looks. About three months ago I popped the hood on one of our street cleaning days to check the oil and discovered a 6 inch deep nest constructed out of paper materials, potato chip bags, leaves, and all sorts of loose things that are common in the gutters on the street. That's when it hit me, rats were hanging out in the engine! I put some pigeon spikes in to take away the flat space they were nesting in and thought I'd beat them, but then our car just died this weekend when leaving church. I'm still waiting for official word on the cause but I'm pretty sure it's going to be a chewed wire/sensor somewhere because I saw fresh chewing on the wires attached to the AC compressor when I popped the hood.

I'm thinking a few different strategies: Just One Bite, Golden Marlin Fly Bait and Coca-Cola, Miller Hot Sauce Animal Repellant, and maybe trying the electronic devices. The rats have started a war, and I intend to strike back.

"Repair costs can sometimes be as high as $500". i only wish it were that inexpensive. i drive a Honda Fit and just spent $1200 on this mousy problem. i cannot imagine what people in luxury cars must have to pay for this repair. i will try all the deterrent methods suggested in here. i have to park in the driveway (we only have a carport and because of zoning cannot build a garage on our property) and the mice (or whoever it is) climbs up in the warm engine on winter nights. hopefully we can solve this or i will be bicycling soon.

My son just found 2 cups of peanut shells in my air filter. I was feeding the blue jays and left the peanut bag in the garage where the car was parked. Evidently, some furry creature decided to eat in the comfort of my vehicle. We are going to set mouse traps and see what turns up.

We had one under our hood this morning. Had chewed off a bunnch of wires. My brake and check engine lights came on. Also fluid was leaking from the car...I have no idea how much the damage will cost us...

We own a construction company and have a few trucks we use to plow in the winter that we don’t use much in the summer. Every fall we have to clean out a mouse nest from the airbox before starting the trucks. We found this out the hard way when one of the trucks wouldn’t stay running during a storm a few winters ago. We have been looking for a permanent solution for our mouse problem when our mechanic suggested the Mouse Blocker. www.mouseblocker.com We now have one installed in all our trucks, and they have been working great. I see it has worked for another poster on here and just wanted to share our experience.

I just returned from a a muti-day backpacking adventure in the Eastern Sierras near Lone Pine and significant amounts of the under hood insulation have been ripped torn and dragged away. I am most unhappy. I have another trip coming up to Yosemite this weekend and am very nervous

Just spent 1200 to repair almost every wire in under my fusebox. Fuel pump was taken out by shorted wires. Live in mtn area and field mice are around. I placed the Tom Cat all-weather blocks on plastic ties in different areas of my cars engine and have already noticed nibbling on some of the blocks. May not be humane but repairs are costly and I'd rather the mice eat the bait rather than my engine wiring.

throw used cat litter under the car, stop feeding the birds and squirrels, sweep up all the excess or blow it off the grass under the tree where you feed and clean under the hood and use a wet vac in reverse and blow all the junk from under hood and use electric wiring to make any repairs, if you park inside garage still do all this also keep garage door closed completely also block heater vent at night and place used cat litter around that as well, set humane traps with peanut butter on small piece of bread, if you are obsessed with feeding animals outside just give very little so they will eat it in one feeding with no leftovers, the use cat litter is so disgusting, dont use the scoopable kind, use the crystal fine kind the kind that doesn't clump it dehydrates but smells! I bought at Petsmart in a green bag it was 13$, dr something it is called

* use electrical tape to make repairs

* I mean dryer vent not heater vent

Sprinkle the blue rat and mouse poison on the manifold and such. It's just warfin and makes them bleed to death internally and go look for water. I wouldn't use any think with arsnic or other poison because pets could eat them in their weak state and be poisoned themselves. Some might say this would only attract more but not really. They love the real Mouse bait. Bingle Tiger or what ever over wires, and within hours want wanter so bad they leave. It works the same way in a house.

I have read every single word on this site and I still don't know what to do about mice nests. Think I;ll just visit my local Hardware Store .

Mice chewed the wires by the gas tank, and the repair bill was over $400. I was told that mice don't like the smell of Ivory soap, or Irish Spring. Rub that around. I am going to try it, and I hope it works for you AND me!!

I just purchased a certified pre owned Mercedes clk350. After 27 days the engine light came on. It's in the shop with 5500 in damage. It has been driven daily and parked in a garage. We live in town and we have no other signs of mice. I feel this car was damaged when we purchased it but the dealer is not helping. If anyone has any ideas what I could do I would appreciate it. Thanks

In our very rural setting, snakesw have taken care of the problem till this year. This year, no snakes, and a ground squirrel explosion. My F-350 had pounds of rodent debris that my mechanic found when the engine light came on. I appreciate all the good advice here. I'm also surprised nobody's mentioned spraying the engine compartment with capsacin, the chemical that makes peppers hot. Seems expensive, but if it works, a bargain. Anybody tryed this? Thanks

We had a mouse in our home and need to catch it. Thanks for sharing.

This is a problem I can honestly say, I have never come across before. How on earth did they get a couple of pounds of dog food in there. I have to say, if I found a rodent in my engine, I'd run a mile. =)

Having just suffered a fair bit of damage to my car wiring and insulation, the technician who checked that hadn't done damage i couldn't see, suggested using WD40. He sprayed it around the wiring etc (NOT on exhaust pipe as highly flammable) as they don't like the smell or something! I trapped them in the house, and obviously huffed them, so they went and chewed my car!! will let u know if this works, had three mouse damage free days!

I have a Honda and have spent over $800 replacing wires this year. I keep a coffee can of moth balls under the car engine, have fabric softener shets tied inside the engine. However, what seems to be apparent as I am reading the suggestions is that they don't like light. I wonder if a low watt light bulb under the car would light up things enough to keep them out? Or maybe even a security light rigged up under there in some way. I might give this a try as I have a motion light just sitting around in a box doing nothing.

Well, I thought living in a big city, lite up very well and busy streets that this could not happen. It seems that doesn't matter. I pulled a 4x4 inch nest made from the insulation from the fire wall out of the corner of the engine compartment. and cleaned out all the little turds from the top of the engine. I thought i was done. Next day, more little turds. Again it is all cleaned up. It is rainy and windy but i will again go out there, 9 pm on the west coast, and check again. Tomorrow I will put cat fur in a little spike strip and attach that someway to this building space they like and see what happens.

2 months ago a mouse ate the wiring in my new kia forte koup. it cost me 585 dollars tro get repaired. A couple of weks later another wire was damaged but a friend was able to fix it. yesterday, my dog went crazy on my car, jumping on the hood, scratching the hood and then chewed the front fender trying to get to the rodent. A short time later a rat jumped out. I had been using an electronic device to deter them but lately got out of the habit of plugging it in....what a costly mistake i made.

Wow, I had no idea Hondas were more likely to get rats!

We live in a rural area of Southern California, and we've lost a Mitsubishi Eclipse and a Mercury Sable to rats - although we still got some good years out of both.

I got a Honda Fit, and found rat damage when I tried to refill the windshield fluid. Told my husband about it, and we opened the hood of his Ford Fusion Hybrid and found nests there!

We cleaned out both cars, took the Honda in for service and made an appointment for the Ford. The next day - before the Ford's appointment - my husband drove the Ford home from work, parked in the carport, and within minutes the car burst into flames!!! Thank god we are near the fire station - they saved our house.

My husband got another Honda Fit - we're a two-Fit family - and just the other day his engine light wnet on - you guessed it.

We leave the hoods up. That seems to be working so far, but only since winter hit and we closed the hoods for rainy days we've seen more evidence.

I'm going to steam clean my engine, spray it with Critter Ridder, and buy some mothballs to park on top of.

I have had a mouse problem where I live for years. Mice have been constantly destroying air filters, wiring harness and anything else they can get their teeth around. I recently purchased a mouse blocker for my cars and even my riding lawn mower with great success. I would definitely recommend mouse blocker to anyone!

The mouse blocker can be purchased at www.mouseblocker.com That is where we purchased ours, and still have been mouse free for months now.

We noticed the other day a mouse had eaten a styrofoam coffee cup in our center console and left a few droppings. After more investigation, we noticed more droppings in the driver/passenger area as well as in the engine area....not many droppings but enough to alarm my wife. My question...we always park the vehicle in an attached garage. Do you think we should park the vehicle outside the garage or continue to park it inside until the mouse/mice have been caught? We have put down traps but no luck yet. Thanks

We unfortunately are having to leave our car unattended on the mainland as we work on an Island and can only check up on our car periodically, and we have a serious rat problem!!! We also are very remote, Mozambique, so cannot get our hands on all these devices and chemicals ..... we do however have a can of pepper spray so we are going to try this - will spray the engine and underneath - does anyone know if pepper spray can cause corrosion on metals or damage plastics?

I believe I have mouse problem too. J have rat terriers that have suddenly started attacking my Honda accord. In this case the mouse is not doing the damage but causing the damage. Animals can sometimes make the problem worse.

I have the problem in my 1986 lincoln towncar. Am a poor colege student so had to fix gobs of eaten wiring myself. THEY KEEP COMING BACK. The only way they can climb into your car though is on the tires. Have been placing tomcat bait blocks under the car just against inside of the tires. Live in a rural area, have no pets to worry about. So far, they are eating four blocks a week and the damage incidents have gone down. Still an occasional frayed wire, eaten coolant house or destroye dhood insulation. I think it is going to be an ongoing battle.

Hello Rochelle my sister lives in a cottage in the country side and she is having a constant problem with rats getting in to the car and eating holes throughout the interior,her car can get quite messy with sweets and things as she has 4 kids would this be the reason for the problem?i keep telling her to get a few cats,would you recommend cats or have you any other solution as my sister would not get in to the same car again and got a new car and it also happened to her partners car.Thank You

I work at a car dealership and see this all the time.Have seen where they have chewed wiring harness costing over $4,000.You might want to contact your homeowners insurance if you have damage....They will cover this.Thanks

Just had a quote for £2,500 + for mouse damage to air filter and subsequent further under-bonnet damage to 7- month old Motor Home. Insurer not interested, nor is dealer. Trading standards suggest may be able to try

using GB's sale of goods act with dealer. Main question really is shouldn't the designers/manufacturers (Peugeot) of the chassis where the mouse got in (the 3 air-intake holes) be held to account? If the holes had some sort of mesh over them he couldn't have got in. Has anyone tried getting these people to accept blame/re-think their designs?

Recently spent $5500 to replace rat damaged wiring harness on 2006 Prius. Soy based insulation on wiring harness. Insurance paid for repair. Two weeks later $500 more to replace more rat damage. Am trying crushed moth balls mixed with used cat litter (urine not feces clumps). Plus anticoagulant bait plus traps - Toyota will hear about this but it seems that it is not only soy based insulation that the rats like. Will follow this hub. thanks much!

i found some little poops in my car, dont know what they are!!!

Nearly crashed yestesday , lost control of car , after 2 mins car stopped , guy came to find a mouse / rat had eaten my fuel pipe, 2nd time in 2 months, first time lost £90 fuel and yestesday £50 , I do hope this wont keep happened , its so scary and very frighting .

Me too Thanks , I have a case over engine ect so makes it much harder to check before each jorney , Make me think twice now before driving , I did read other comments which did Help !!! Thanks

Tess .

Thanks for your post, it helped me to figure out that finding dozens & dozens of peanut shells underneath my air filter was not right for my 1997 Hyundai Accent! This car just moved 1000s of miles so hopefully the little resident muncher stayed behind. This make of car has a huge air intake port that practically has a flashing "vacancy" sign on it.

hi Rochelle,

thanks for the very useful hub. A rat ruined my engine once and since then I kept imagining there were rats all over the place.

Yesterday our 2nd vehicle was damaged by rats.

I was driving and the pick-ups check engine light came on, it seemed to be running a little rough. Took it the the mechanic and he said I'm sorry to tell you the rats have chewed the wiring, it's going to cost 800.00. They said we were the 3rd vehicle this month with rat damage. I can't have this happen again.

Hi everyone! Im a serving soldier living in Germany, and both of our cars have mice/rats getting in them on a nightly basis! We have a volvo xc70 and Suzuki Jimny. We have had a load of soundproofing dragged through the car from the trunk, and the little critters have eaten through the straps on one of our childs carseats! this is getting so expensive! I have ordered the sonic things and put humane traps down inside both cars. We haven't caught anything yet but if it is rats doing all the damage then they wont fit into the humane traps to get at the chocolate. I have been advised that peanut butter is good and so is marsbars for tempting them to their death! Im going to get some proper no more mrs nice gal traps that will certainly put an end to whatever eats the bait. I did put the car into the garage with the engine running tonight, thinking that the fumes would build up and gas them all, but was told that the engines dont produce the same fumes these days and so it wont work unless you use a 2 stroke engine. Im now on the lookout for a 2 stroke scooter i can put into the garage along with my car, leave the engine running and close the door! Im guessing if you leave it like that for about an hour, then air out the garage you should kill them where they are hiding!

A rat terrier dog can smell and here small rodents. Anything from rabbits to mice. They are especially fond of the latter and will tenaciously pursue them. Peppermint oil does work, but needs to be re-apllied periodically, every 4 weeks or so.

We drive a 2003 Chevy Impala. Parked at Ocala Nat Forest in Florida to see the "boils" & stayed all afternoon. The small squirrels ate up most of the wiring in the car! It took three mechanics at three different garages to finally find all the damage. Total cost over $2000. Your home owners insurance will pay to repair it- but you have to make sure the mechanic writes that it was rodent chewing on the receipt. We didn't have a deductible on our Comprensive coverage, so they paid all the bills. The mechanics said to put bars of Irish Spring soap on each wheel well. Also put out moth balls. We haven't had any more damage, but the moth balls are too smelly for us to stand, so we're going to look into an electronic repeller.

Sorry....meant car insurance on last post.

Just took my 2009 Camry to the dealer with an engine light on and a slipping transmissions. Mice ate the sensors and more! They found nests (plural). Now we had a real bad mouse issue in town and got traps, snagged a few dozen. They are fast though and a shovel won't be good enough for them. I have an air gun and other options and will be watching. I am out $1500. :-(

Rochelle,

Thanks for this educating and entertaining page. I like your sense of humor. You keep me in stitches with your witty comments! I enjoyed your Hub and read through all the comments.

Rodents are a persistent problem globally because they're smart. They have to be for their survival, since they're very low in the food chain: most rodents -if not all- serve as food as lots for other animals (and as a source of annoyance to us!).

Yet, we humans are smarter than all the billions of rodents put together so we WILL find a solution to this gnawing problem - if we haven't already.

From a pest control operator's perspective, the mouse blockers mentioned earlier seem to be the best solution yet as a deterrent. Successful trapping and baiting on the other hand, requires a little more skill and knowledge about their behavior, but both are doable.

By the way, I had no idea that this rodent-in-my-car problem was so common and so severe, even though I have been in the household pest control business since 1994. Why is it being kept such a secret? :o)

Anyway, I like this hub and will 'park my car' here for a while, hoping I won't end up with a mice infestation as a result.

Meanwhile, I'll take on the challenge to explore the market for a healthy solution.

Oh, one more note before I go:

@Kirsty from Germany:

Did you say: "I did put the car into the garage with the engine running tonight, thinking that the fumes would build up and gas them all..."

NO-O-O-O!!!!!!!! You're not serious, are you?? PLEASE reconsider this fumigation technique!!!

You may get CO gases in your house, which can kill more than just rats and mice: they may kill you! (Peacefully in your sleep, but that's not the point)

And even if your garage is detached it's still not a safe idea. Why not invest in a mouse blocker instead or any other suggestions made by other visitors?

Personally, I’d stay away from the WD-40 and the pepper spray technique though. The first is dangerously flammable; the second may literally backfire on you.

Good luck!

My beautiful new BMW - engine light came on yesterday so I went to the dealership thinking it was time for an oil change. What a surprise! Replacing the sensor wire will cost $700 this week. The rats left lots of evidence of their activities - no nest thank goodness. Thanks for all the suggestions. You can bet I will follow up.

My windshield washer fluid was not working in my new Toyota. Took it to the dealership and was told mice had eaten the tube which they said was coated in peanut oil. Wh peanut oil?

I am not sure what they make the plastic tubing out of, but my friend has fuel lines eaten on his car resulting in a large fuel leak. I cannot imagine that would taste good at all. We are still using our mouse blocker and have not had any mice all winter. It seems not everyone has a mouse problem but if you do, they sure will cause you problems. www.mouseblocker.com

I have them in my car right now...what should I do?

Driving my Mercedes 108B CDI 2008 to Hobart I thought it performed sluggish.After driving around in Hobart I noticed smoke coming from the exhaust - so I drove straight to the Service Center and informed RACT of a breakdown. As a Gold Ultimate Member, I felt save - I would be able to drive back home some 100 km away - But that was not so - because Rodents ate a small hole into the turbo hose and a few other things as well. No replacement car and my wife and I had to find our own way back home. Lucky it seem that our comprehensive insurance with RACT covers Rodent damage - sort like an accident with wildlife I guess.

Anyway I am now looking for those critters and they will not esscape my fury.

After failing to try and start the car I popped open the hood and found pipes, vacuum hoses and spark plug wires all chewed up to hell, like there was a tornado inside the engine compartment, along with leaves, grass and a whole stock of plants.

At first I thought someone must have cut everything up with a knife, but it was far too "shredded" for that.

Unless there was something else going on in there that specifically targeted rubber housing then I'm pretty sure it was the squirrels.

Wow! you have a ton on comments on this one. I was just going to say that I have had this problem. About 4 years ago both my husband's new GMC truck and my new Toyota Highlander were invaded by rats. When I took my car in to be worked on the mechanic said one jumped out of the engine and ran across the garage. We solved the problem by getting a couple of cats, it really reduced the rodent population around here.

I have a 98 honda civic that I drive every single day.

I went to get my headlight replaced by a mechanic today and I was told I had critters under the hood!!! He removed the air pipe (probably not the right term) and showed me the birdseeds, etc. that we're sitting in the airbox . Needless to say, I was thoroughly disgusted.

He told me that my neighbors must be have birdseed and the mice are eating it. He showed part of a wire covering that the mice already started eating through, also the air filter had droppings on it. YUCK!

I live in a busy suburb of Chicago and do not park in a garage. Because of that the mechanic did not recommend mouse traps.

He just said vacuum it out, (which i did several times and still not sure if I got it all) and watch if they come back.

I do not park in the same spot every day, so it'll be almost impossible to track where these mice are coming from.

I was wondering if there are some methods that'll work better for cars parked outside?

I'm kind of scared to look inside tomorrow for more damage. The thought of an infestation is nauseating!!!!

PLEASE help!! I can't afford the potential damage mice cause!!

I have had problems for years with squirrels getting into my truck. They have causes havoc tearing apart wiring harnesses, insulation and stashing their food in the cabin filter intake. After spending thousands of dollars on repairs and hundreds of dollars for the so called solutions; peppermint spray, moth balls etc. I have finally found a solution that works! I purchased a Mouse Blocker and haven't seen the pesky varmints back since installing it! I appreciate all the help everyone has suggested on this site. If it wasn't for mention of the Mouse Blocker I may have never found a solution and lost my sanity by now!

A couple of weeks ago I moved my car and smelt a horrible smell. As time goes by it was somewhat fading away. I took my Hyundai Sonata Hybrid to the dealer to have it's first maintenance done. I mentioned to them about a possible mouse. Well sure enough it was a "RAT". That rat made a home behind my glove compartment area. They did find some wire damages. It started at $400, I got a call today it's now up to $1000. Cause it's a Hybrid they want to make sure all is okay. They did suggest for me to call my Auto Insurance Company. Minus my deductible my Insurance Company will take care of the rest.

Apparently this has happened before to other Hyundai cars but mine is the first Hybrid vechicle. I've read alot of other comments and suggestions in eliminating these critters. So far I have has follow:

1. Cotton balls with peppermint oil

2. Mouse traps

3. Moth balls in a bag

4. Dryer sheets

5. Shake Away Rodent Repellent

6. Critter Out

7. Car Ultrasonic Rodent Repellent

8. Irish Spring Soap on a string

9. Mouse Blocker

10. Cat

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. It's now "RODENT WAR" with these critters and I'm going to win. We have three cars and we can't afford any more damages to any of our vechicles. I wish I could have a cat. The hills where we live has coyotes, I don't think the cat could servive this area for long. I'm totally surprised that this happens alot to others. I will be rodent free some day soon. SAVE OUR CARS.

Oh, I had this problem with my Jeep! My dogs would keep the mice of our home but the garage - oh, my!

Never heard anyone else having this problem! Wow! Thank you!

As a resident of Mendocino County living in the woods, I am no stranger to the nests, debris, droppings, and stashes of food rodents leave in vehicles. But my most recent experience is the worst, and it has not resolved yet.

My '07 Subaru Forester had to be repaired last year when mice made a nest under the back seat and ate through the speed control wiring, causing the ABS warning light to come on. Several months later, another nest was removed from my air filter. I spread packets of Fresh Cab Botanical Rodent Repellent, which I have had some success with, throughout the cab. Then I began smelling something cutting through the balsam oil aromas. It was dead flesh. The dealership found another nest in my air system and cleaned out as much of the system as they could without tearing apart the dashboard. They also applied peppermint oil to areas where rodents can walk into the air system. The smell got worse and became so bad that I had to drive with all the windows down and a handkerchief tied across my nose and mouth. You could even smell it from outside the car, a few feet away, in a parking lot. I filed a claim with my insurance, and it has now been in the shop for a week! The dead body(s) has not yet been found, and they are slowly pulling apart the dashboard to find it.

I have several concerns and questions:

1-Is anyone aware of a consumer advocacy movement that is lobbying for better vehicle design? It seems like there is a large group of consumers affected.

2-Has anyone else heard of people getting respiratory infections in connection with breathing the rodent droppings in their air system? I know of two people who had this kind of health problem who also had this problem in their vehicle.

3-Can anyone recommend a car which is not as susceptible to rodent invasion? Are some more susceptible than others? My Forester is perfect for the terrain here, but it seems to have become a magnet for rodents.

A lot people spray Rataway Fragrance to protect car engines,

safe around children and pets.

I don't know why auto manufactures are not more diligent about sealing the interior of vehicles. Toyotas have a gap where rodents can get in through the fresh air intake. I have mouse proofed three in the last 15 years. I have to take the grill and wiper motor off and fasten quarter inch mesh screen over the 3x5 inch air intakes vents. I had to fortify my Hyundai by placing quarter inch mesh over some vents in the wheel wells that allowed mouse access to the trunk area. I did have a Nissan that I could not figure how they were getting in so I just kept a bated trap on the passenger floor boards. I would get one every few weeks. Usually they went for the peanut butter in the trap before they did any damage. Good luck everybody.

Never knew this could be a problem....till my uncle found a family of critters living in his engine. I got a good laugh to say the least!

good to see your hub. I had no idea that it is a global problem! So long, I thought that I have this unique problem of mice attack. I had a small old Suzuki in my country house in a rural area in eastern India that I visit, well, not too often. Every time I used to visit for two days, one day I used to spend repairing the car, mostly joining wires and insulating. My friends, there advised me to get a new car which according to them not preferred by the attackers. So I bought a Nano, the Indian small car. There was no problem for the first year. Last weekend I went there, the car was dead. Checked the battery, battery fine. Push start, not even a hiccup. Engine is in such odd place that I had to give up by noon. The service is 100 km away. In the mean time I forgot about my little enemies. This weekend I had sent my mechanic, he just now called that, " that sir, it is nothing serious, only some mice had chewed up some wires. I fixed them". Only if he new the whole story.

I am now going to make a paint half rat poison and half paint and going to paint the engine and all. It is not the end, just beginning.

Ratos são uma praga mes temos carros aqui no Brasil e acho que Ratos so em carros abandonados mesmo ou esgotos

This Hub is amazing and the suggestions have been quite helpful. We recently had 2 repairs at our dealer due to damage from mice totaling over $900 and after the second time decided to search the internet for solutions. An evening spent reading this Hub and researching solutions we chose to try the Mouse Blocker as mentioned many times and have to say we are very pleased with the results. There are no signs of mice in the vehicle at all since installing the unit and wanted to share our results here. This Hub helped us find a solution and it only makes sense to share our solution here with everyone.

This is very attention-grabbing, You’re a very professional blogger. I’ve joined your feed and sit up for in

the hunt for extra of your fantastic post. Also, I’ve shared your site in my social networks

That's an excellent hub! I'm going to recommend it to Christy as a HoTD contender. :)

Aw, thanks about the baby hub - it's one of my favorites, too! I sent Christy the link to this hub and told her all the reasons why I think it should be a HoTD and she's put it on the waiting list - so watch that space and good luck - you deserve it!

I think they're keen for us to recommend hubs (obviously not our own) and it seems it's a good way to keep the quality high. :)

Just a long awaited FYI. I had my sparkplug wires cut after replacing them and they were cut again shortly after that. I setup a camera to capture the culprit and to my surprise it was bats. Bats had setup shop in my car that had been sitting in the driveway for a few days in the late fall. They made multiple clean cuts each time and I would have never believed it was an animal. The “wildlife experts” claim that bats do not do this but I have video evidence to the contrary. So before you blame the next door neighbor or that ex you have been fighting with, or the lowly field mouse, look for bats.

just had to pay $1100 thanks to these lovely creatures

Yay! HoTD! :D

Holy cow, I never even thought of that. That's just creepy. I can imagine the damage they can do dragging stuff in and gnawing and scratching around. Congrats on HoTD, great work here.

congratulations on HOTD Rochelle :)

I love the 'telling 'of this hub

I had never heard of rodents getting into cars until I moved to the desert in '79. I asked my friend why so many people had the hood of their cars up! sure 'nuff it was to keep the field mice out!

Congrats on HOTD!

This is a new one on me. I was born and raised in San Francisco, and my dad's cars were always garaged. After I married, we at first had to park on the street, and later in the lot behind out rented house. We had a huge problem with mice in the house there, which stopped after we got a cat; it was as if the mice got the word: stay out--a cat lives there. However, we never did have any problems with them getting into the car engine.

After we bought our own home, we lived in Pacifica for 22 years, and there was never a problem with rodents there...and now that I live in a semi-rural older area, and the cars are always outside, we've still not had any such critters around. (**Reaching up to head to knock on wood.**)

Our problem here is robo-gophers making an ankle-turning minefield out of the yard; they seem immune to anything we throw at them.

Voted up, interesting, pinned and shared.

The worst I've had is a chipmunk that kept getting into the driver's compartment, chewing on paper, and sleeping on the seat.

Very informational and useful Hub, so voted Up and many more!

Great hub with great advice!

My car once left me stranded in the middle of a heavily busy road and I had to have it towed to my mechanic. He then calls me and tells me I had rats and they had eaten the electrical wires underneath my car. I was shocked! I said didn't have rats! Well, I didn't, but at work I used to park my car next to a man-made lake, which was inhabited by rodents ( I later found out), and while I was working, they were too.

Excellent post. I have had rats inside my car bonnet some times and I shoo them away

Wow, I've never never of this. I guess it depends on where you live. I've have live in the UK but now Japan. I never knew that issues such as this could occur.

(Forgot to mention--our cats are indoor-only; always have been.) There are a few neighbors who let their cats run loose, though...and I do see them staring down gopher holes..but they don't seem to catch any. I'm glad we don't have rats or mice.

We actually killed (drowned) an almond tree trying to flush out a gopher a couple of years back. :-(

Yeah, I had a past experience with mice getting into my car engine and my house when a developer purchased a raw piece of land that bordered my lot. After scraping the property clean, to prepare it for building, all kinds of rodents and inspects fled for safer environments. To say the least, it was a costly and somewhat protracted nightmare to remedy. As for cats and dogs making a difference… not in my situation; in fact, I still think new friendships were formed in which food and shelter was shared without prejudice.

Live in TX on coast. My Toyota Avalon is in shop because of rat/s. parts are back ordered three weeks. Those parts cost $4500. There are more parts. Will be lucky to get it fixed for $8000. Comprehensive insurance covers damage less deductible. I will have been without use of it a week today. This is a BIG problem and consumer advocates should address it. Even your agent or adjustor will say "I've never heard of such a thing!". Your mechanic will tell you he sees 10 or more vehicles a year with this damage. I read that the cost of rodent repairs in th US cost $1 billion in 2012. I just hope I feel the car will be safe to drive after all this.

I never knew that rodents and mice could get into your car. I guess I've never experienced it or seen it for myself. this hub reminds me to check on my car which is in the garage broken down for the moment. voted up and pinned.

We have a 2012 Range Rover Evoque that completely shut down on us after a few days of the navigation and heated seats not working. I could not even get into the vehicle nor under the hood because my doors are touch activated. It was towed to the dealership, where I was told a few days later it was a frayed wire. Thinking nothing of mice, I was glad the problem was fixed.

A few days ago I left two bags of dog food in the trunk. When I went to retrieve the food I found shavings and crumbs leading away from the bag with a mouse size hole in the bag. I then knew I had a very bad problem. I found the nest last night in the glovebox. There was a bucket full of food not only dog food, but gold fish crackers and various other snack food as I have children who regularly eat in my car. Along with the food there was car insulation, and other things to make a happy home.

I replaced the food for peanut buttered mouse traps. I will be looking into other forms of deterrents!! The war has begun! Thanks for all your tips, I hope something pans out!

Just found out from Toyota Service that pack rats have been chewing the insulation in my 2013 Toyota Camry! We live out by the desert which is full of wildlife. I'm not sure how much it will be to replace it but service tech said it's expensive & could be around $400 or $500! Glad I found this doing Internet search. Will try the cotton balls with peppermint oil.

I just got a new 2014 BMW. Before it had gone 1000 miles it started throwing a code saying that it needed an oil change--at 200 miles. The dealer found the problem, a chewed wire that caused the code. The cost of repair was $142. A Honda Element is parked next to the BMW and it has not been attacked by mix. My surfing as uncovered many accounts saying that carmakers have gone to insulation made from soy or corn protein, claiming that they are trying to be environmentally sensitive. It probably has more to do with cost cutting.

I feel that BMW should make repairs for free and should replace the damaged wiring, which may not be possible. But, in any case I don't feel that I should continue to pay the cost repairing a poorly designed car. I love the car, but I can't afford to pay for constant repairs.

Joe

I use and recommend Ultrasonic repellent with multiple frequencies which can be connected to car battery. It is working fine for me.

Yes, mine left right away after I put dryer sheets under my hood.

Well I've read almost everyone story and decided I'm gonna try them all. This squirrel has cut into my 2013 Ford edge engine brought in some pretty clean white feathers cut all wires that were in it's way engine check lit up 2.400bucs,while I get that fix I get a rental Ford escape park different spot, wake up get ready to go to work that's right you kno brake light low fluid look under Hood early stage tearing at Hood liner and for sure brake wire's, the two squirrels in the middle of the road no linger funny

Our problem is Squirrels, the brown ones that we have here in Central Texas. I've had now three different wiring repair jobs, two of which were done by professional mechanics at cost close to $300, and have no idea how to stop the pests, other than to permanently give up using the car port which the squirrels seem to know is where I park my truck. Does anyone have any positive experience with:

* "Stop The Rodent" commercial anti-rodent spray

* Paradichlorobenzine (moth balls - very toxic vapors)

* Acoustic pest repellers

I've seen all of these recommended, but don't know if the recommendations are plugs or real reviews. I also have a 22 rifle and am about ready to start exterminating the little bastards, which I'd rather not do. Help!!!

Damn tree rats!

The guy at my dealership recommended using Brillo pads to place beneath the hood. Any thoughts or better proven solution? Thanks!

Check out rid-a-rat. I found it in a hardware store and it is working great for keeping the rats out of my car.

I wrote here about 5 months back. tried many ideas from this blog. unfortunately, still did not find full proof solution.

Has anybody tried high intensity strobe light at regular interval, placed under the hood? May help. I am devising such gadget and I will post the result.

Thanks.

There are several studies proving the ultra sonic doesn't work, along with a government warning to stop saying they work. We put a Rid-a-Rat in the car that we got at our local hardware store and it helped. I also read all of the instructions. They took longer to read than to put the device in.

Rid-A-Rat is a strobe the runs off the car batteries. It's already invented. They say it works 99% of the time with a money back guarantee. I am very happy with it and don't have rodent chewing my cars wires any more. Kyle

It is reassuring to know that strobe lights are successfully used as repellant. Unfortunately such device is not available here and I will be thankful to Mr. Perreaud if he provide some detail so that I can try to import the same. Thanks.

Rid-a Rat works and is a proven method! If you Google ultrasonic devices you can find that they were "told" buy the government to stop claiming it works. Rid-A-Rat works on a new Hi tek system using lights. It is sold in Tucson Az and hardware stores and almost every garage. They have a may were they are sold. They are very helpful.

Moth balls are poisonous and dangerous to use. Poisons can kill natural predators if the sick animal is eaten.

I have been asked so I am posting the web site. They ship all over the world...Rid-A-Rat.com If you call them they are very friendly.

The product works on rabbits, squirrels and rats.

Kyle

I always recommend a multi approach due to the fact that Mama rodent keeps popping them out faster than fast. Rid-A-Rat has been tested on numerous types of rodents and works. The technology affects the eye and makes the area hostile to the rodents. I recommend using a Have A Heart live trap and relocating the rodent.

It can be terrible if you kill your favorite hunting dog or the neighbors cat using poison.

My last post must have gotten a veto. I don't see it here. We have hard core fact that this product works. Patent pending....we do not pay for advertising so we don't get talked about only word of mouth. Rid-A-Rat is also being use by several car dealers. We have major rodent problems in the South West but it is amazing that this seems to be a world wide problem.

My wife's car (Audi) has had the wiring underneath her car chewed up twice while my vehicle (Jeep) had been unharmed. Any guess to what we can do to stop the mice/squirrels/rabbits from doing this damage?

This is not spaming go to the rid.a.rat.com web site and read in. Als0 you need to clean up the area were the car is being parked. Raise the vegetation from the ground not to leave hiding places. Get a black light and check if they are marking the area with urine. Many times critters will mark their turf letting others know it is a safe area. If urine is found spray with deodorant enzymes. They can be found near the kitty litter. Spray area of car with a mixture of Pinesol and eater 50-50 mix.

Put our live traps like a Harv a Heart. If worse comes to worse use glue boards. You have to get ride of the critters.

Kyle

I have to assume your Audi is very similar to the VW's and per recommendation from our dealer we installed a mouse blocker a couple years ago and found it to have solved our problem. I can only speak from experience with our vehicle however we did not try other deterrents because this has been working for us since having it installed. Good luck with yours.

yes Rochelle, they wired it to the battery in the car. The dealer stated they had many success stories and we were desperate so we had it installed. Very happy that we did and happy to share our success to such a crazy problem.

The rid.a.rat is also electronic and is 100% guaranteed there is no need to have a mechanic install it. There is a video if anyone has questions. Simple to install takes less than 5 minutes.

It gets great reviews on Amazon and is used in the Tonto National Forrest Preserve.

They needed a method to keep their cars and trucks safe without killing wildlife.

The device works on the acting of the eye towards light and makes the area inhospitable to the rodent.

Rid.a. rat is a small private company that ships 1,000 of units around the world every year.

Calling a device electronic only says only how it gets power. It does not say how it works...

Kyle

This is the time of year when cats not infrequently get sliced and diced by the fanbelt when you start your still warm engine after parking it for a few hours. Many outdoor cats have discovered that the warm engine bay of a recently parked car is a nice place to escape from the winter’s cold for a few hours. Then when you start your car, catastrophe! But installing an underpanel keeps cats out of your engine bay, gives you faster warm up times, reduces your car’s aerodynamic drag, and keeps the mud and salt out so you can keep a cleaner engine.

That's a great problem. Mice in car committing suicide in the car engine and making their nest. And you just showed how to get relief from the problem Rochelle Frank.

I have a 2006 Dodge Ram. 2 1/2 yrs ago had my first mouse problem....had to have a new wiring harness. Dodge dealer service said it was cause the wires are now coated in silicone or soya and the mice love it. Since then, I have had 5 more occasions of wiring problems due to these darling critters.....very expensive. Doesn't matter if I park outside or in the garage....I've tried pure peppermint oil (bought it by the quart) and have to spray every couple of days or the smell dissapates (sp). Every mechanic I have talked to is aware of the problems of the coatings on the wires.....somebody should do something about it. I have read all the posts here and am going to try the mouseblocker...if that doesn't work...going to sell the truck...PS I have a 2006 Chev Trailblazer they haven't touched. (knock on wood)

Spray Rataway Fragrance to protect your car engine, home, business....

safe around children & pets.

Ruined the engine of an Audi S3 I had years ago in London. Rats loved keeping warm under the bonnet and chewing the cables whilst they were there!

Do these mouse/rat repellents work on squirrels/chipmunks as well? I had a Volvo wagon sitting during the Winter and in the Spring there were nests in the glove box, under the rear carpet, in the engine bay where they'd chewed through much of the wiring. Luckily most was just for the windshield washer reservoir and coolant reservoir.. Which is right next to the engine computer harness, but that is all protected by plastic shielding which they left alone.

Took about a week to fix everything, but would have cost most people hundreds for rewiring.

I have a 2011 Acadia Danali... I came in today and my car smelt like Antifreeze leaking...I carried some things in the house and came back out...My car started pouring out fluids that was antifreeze...We popped the Hood and under the Motor Mount cover..Mice has been in my car...Tearing up my Insulation and starting to make a nest...I have it in the shop and hope and pray that they haven't done too much Damage.. I am assuming that is why my antifreeze was leaking out..Everything else seems to be okay and No lights are on..

I have a 2014 Mazda 3. Today when I went to start it for work after I turned it on it smelled like rotten eggs REALLY bad. That was my first clue. Then I put it in reverse to get out of my garage and my car started sputtering and dying out. I was so mad, it's literally an 8 month old car!!! So I got it towed to Mazda and got my rental for the day. I followed up with them around noon and that's when they told me. A rodent (probably a rat) made a giant nest in my engine and ate a bunch of stuff to the point if disabling my car from driving. 300$ later I'm about to pick my car up nice a fixed. I will not be parking anywhere near my garage tonight though and will try the peppermint oil. They better not come back. :( I should probably warn my neighbor so they don't try to move on to his car. I didn't even know this problem existed until today. So annoying.

I am having a similar problem with mice but its not with my car its with my custumers fork lifts.l am inhouse at large company with over a 100 various fork lift. The mice are camping out inside the lifts after hours and chewing on the wire, these are eletric fork lift and can be hard to troubleshoot. I have tried moth bolls, mouse magic

Pillows and dryer sheets.so far nothen has worked and its costing

The customer a mint on repair.

Some really good ideas. I have seen "indications" that they have visited, but so far no nesting. Did have a car where they were eating the air filter. I thought I was just at their mercy, but now you have provided some options to deter them.

I used to live in the country and mice were a very real issue. Our kitties helped out tremendously though in the home. Now that I am in town we have never had any trouble with these pests but I have been reading a lot of online articles. One technique that I was very thrilled to see was simply putting out cotton balls dipped in peppermint oil. I guess they just cannot stand the smell so I really like that suggestion. Natural and would smell great to us but not the rodents.

Recently, my brakes went out as I was driving into work. I had my foot floored and still wouldn't stop. Luckily I wasn't going fast and used the emergency brake to stop the car. I had the car towed and come to find out I have over $1,500 worth of rat damage to my BMW. Chewed through the main line through my brake booster hose, ate through the coolant hose. Once the mechanic took apart the intake manifold found that it chewed up and destroyed other wiring. I have seen the pictures of the nests from the insulation in my car along with the mounds of rat poop. The mechanic says it reeks of urine under my hood. I cannot afford to have this happen again. I will try to have insurance cover this and make sure the traps are inside my garage, as well as the front of my house. I officially hate rodents. This is no laughing matter. Thankfully I didn't get in an accident and hurt anyone else as a cause of these pesky rodents.

My handicap van was in the shop for several weeks and had thousands of dollars of damage and all of it is still not fixed. Being on a fixed disability income I cannot afford it. I am thinking about having a hardware cloth cage made for my front 2 tires and electrocuting them. I live in the city so I have to make sure it is clearly marked. If I were in the country I would make a cage using 3' tall 1/4" square hardware cloth that my car would fit inside leaving an opening to drive in and openings for the doors. I would close that cage tight and wire it with a 110 or 220-volt charge. Make sure there was no way to crawl under it and the openings in the back and on the sides were TIGHT so they wouldn't squirm through. No matter if they tried to get out or go in that would be the last thing they did. Make sure it is clearly marked on all sides so people would be aware of it. That is a fool proof way of making sure they don't bother your car again.

My mechanic told me that making sure I run my car once a week during the harsh Wyoming winters should solve the problem. I just had to get 6" of wire replaced. I was lucky that the damage wasn't worse. Thanks for the additional ideas to prevent this from happening again!

I had rodent accessing my truck when left in the garage while in Arizona. First winter my truck was damaged, next year I tried the home remedies on the Lexus, nothing but gnawing results. The past three years I installed an item called the Rodent Diverter System or R.D.S. for short. Best $49.95 plus shipping & handling I ever spent. Bought it direct from the inventor, he only needs the vehicle tire size. Works on all vehicle axle configurations including aircraft.

I just found a mouse nest on the intake manifold side of the air filter in my diesel van (E350), MEANING it must have come through the tail pipe - I guess. The van was running rough, and not accelerating to over 40 without a downhill to help. I removed the nest with 4 "pinkies" in it and the shredded tissue. No sign of mom - I suspect she was sucked in and has clogged the fuel-air injection area... ANY SUGGESTIONS (other than expensive repairs)? Thanks in advance!

I will surely try all of this to get rid of the pest in my engine....I will update you if it worked!!!

I just had to have all my engine wires replaced in my car from a Rat eating through all of them. Now that the wires are replaced it seems like I have a blown head gasket. My car was in the garage from Thursday evening through Monday morning when I went to work. Oddly my emergency brake light was on. I worked all day and drove home Monday evening and went out to start the car Tuesday morning and it wouldn't start that's when we found all the rat damage . My insurance paid to repair the wiring and now they look like they are gonna deny the blown head gasket.

Rochelle: Thanks for posting your article. Here is my story:

https://hubpages.com/autos/Did-you-know-your-car-m...

I've been working in the auto industry for 30+ years and I've repaired cars with this problem. They just cleared out the field across from me and my wife's GMC had wiring damage yesterday morning. They chased the rodents out of their home to look elsewhere. I AM going to try the mouse blocker and a few other ideas I have read here. I am NOT going to blame the auto industry and blame poor design. We have a rodent problem, not a car problem. Do defective, poorly designed forks make you fat? Do defective, poorly designed pencils misspell words? Come on, you have got to be kidding me with that stuff!

We found a fresh nest as big as a person's head on the motor of my Ford Escape. Built out of a pile of clean white fluffy pillow stuffing with a top layer of fresh yellow straw. Don't know where the pillow stuffing came from, but the straw had probably covered spring flowers someone planted too early. Don't see any nearby, though. The critter - whatever it was - also shredded the hood liner and added that to the mess, and it's going to cost me almost $200 to replace. I have to park outside, but I'm parking about 150 feet away for now, to my great inconvenience!

best solution i have found successful is used coil springs wound on the electrical wires. Yesterday i found fuel pipe is chewed, again i used the same technique and found it is safe.

It crazy how this thread keeps going. Wanted to update everyone that the Mouse Blocker we had installed 2 years ago is still protecting us today. We thank our mechanic every time our vehicle is in for service he and tells us he has saved 100's of cars with this unit. What an amazing device this has proven to be. Just wanted to share our success story and hopefully help others with this same issue.

I took a roll of 18in roof flashing and stood it on its edge,with stakes, and went around a vehicle to stop these pests. It is too high and too slick for them to get over. If they dig under just make a trench to set the flashing in.

When our son was living with us(on 80 acres) he drove in after work but the next day his car would not start. Popped the hood and there was a mouse nest. What to do

??

Ok, the mechanic found a mouse nest under the hood of my car. (didn't even know mice made nests)

I live on 5 acres. My car is parked under a carport.

This may sound like a ridiculous question but can can you strategically place the dryer sheets under the hood so you can drive the car with the dryer sheets under the hood? And replace them once a week?

...or are all these methods for when you are storing a car.

I drive my car almost everyday and can't imagine I'll have to open and close the hood every time I leave or come home to remove and replace dryer sheets! Help???

When I started my new car which was parked for three weeks, it displayed indicators along with a message 'Check Brake System' on the dashboard monitor. Car has to be towed to the service center because it didn't let me release the hand brake! Reason: Rat/Rodent bit of wires inside the hood costing me hundreds of dollars :(

Just wanted to know if any one knows where the hole or if they had this problem I guess I have to lift car up and look under 2002 pt

c ruser

last 2 days i have caught 2 mice in the trunk of my car, with tomcat mouse ytraps. just started seeing mice droppings n my car. since i use peppermint candy in my house in my kitchen drawers 3 months ago ,i have not seen any mice droppings at all, so i am gonna put in my car. i have heard of irish spring soap working, just might add that also.

Some sort of critter is wreaking havoc on my truck tires. ONLY my 3/4 T truck - not my SUV or a smaller truck. Seem to particularly love the right passenger tire. Have spent about $2K in replacement tires - another one ripped this AM on the outside so cannot be fixed! It appears that whatever is doing this extremely costly and maddening damage has a sharp, probably pointed tooth that it stuck into the tire and then pulled across and leaves about an inch or so long tear that resembles a pencil line. Usually more than one place. WHAT is doing this and what can we do? We've tried wolf urine, critter repellant spray for vehicles, have built wooden covers that they can apparently get under. I'm broke and so upset at this point. We have a camera to use if I can get it set up - not very technical, but have called a friend for assistance. Anyone???? Thanks --pls email BGarzarek@aol.com.

I tried many things. Unfortunately (for the critters), the only thing that really works, and that I now continue to use, is a pellet rifle I bought for less than $100 -- a lot less than the $500 I spent to fix the cables the last time.

I just had the same problem as one of your contributors. A rat had eaten a large proportion of the rubber tube of the windscreen washer, replaced it yesterday, the rat has now eaten through further down where I can't reach it. I need to get to the washer bottle,thank you Nissan for putting it in such an inaccessible place, I've only got to take the front wing off!

I had this happen about a month ago. $150 to repair my 2012 Dodge Ram truck. We live in the country and just about all of the suggestions above are not possible. The mechanic advised us to spray peppermint oil mix all of the inside of the engine. We did that. Last week my engine light came on again. Took it in today and again rat damage.

Wow! I've had rodent issues on 4 cars, including my new, 2017 Forester, where a little bugger was chewing at the insulation on the firewall, and recently had a check engine light on my 2005 Mercedes C240. I had it in the shop today and a critter got into an area near the gas tank, made a nest which jammed a solenoid open, tripping a trouble code on the computer. This can be real trouble: dead or damaged vehicle, including a real chance of a fire. Thank you for your article – as you point out, it isn't a panacea, but it's a great place to start.