Posted on 08/09/2017 12:57:24 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Residents on the peninsula have begun comparing repair bills and horror stories about mice and rats devouring car wiring and insulation. In recent days, social media forums have reignited an issue that worsens with temperature shifts.
One Tiburon driver said she racked up thousands in costs after her BMW i3 had wires eaten on every side of the car and underneath it. Many vehicles are built now with organic materials using soy, rice husks, wood, sugars and sweet-smelling substances such as vanilla and peanut oil.
Marcel Etcheverry, owner of Marin Auto Works in Mill Valley, said chewed car parts have been an issue for years.
Rodents look for a warm place to sleep, he said. Once theyre in those areas, they see plastic wiring and tubing that they find appetizing. Etcheverry sees the problem mostly in BMW, Mercedes and Volvo.
We find wire damage and rodent droppings, with nests under the hood. One of his customers saw $8,000 in damage covered by homeowners insurance. He said placing scented dryer sheets in corners under the hood deters pests. Animals dont like the smell.
A Tiburon woman said BMW told her to put Ivory soap under the hood after rats chewed wires on her BMW X5. A Sausalito woman advised Irish Spring soap.
Use of poison outdoors is discouraged. A lot of owls, hawks and other animals are admitted to WildCares wildlife hospital in San Rafael dying from anticoagulant rat poison from having eaten poisoned rodents. Mothballs, Pine-sol and ammonia are also toxic.
(Excerpt) Read more at marinij.com ...
Okay, who’s got the Rid-O-Rat?
don’t leave food in your car or leave it a filthy mess
Cats may leave paw prints on the exterior but they will stop that problem.
I used to have a ‘68 Plymouth Belvedere. Had a really nice 318 in it.
I left my rider mower in the lawn one night so I could finish mowing in the morning when it was light. When I got to it, it was out of gas. I added gas to no avail.
A bunny had chewed through my rubber fuel line. I had a dead spot in my lawn for a year.
A Scottsdale friend of mine lost her BMW to rodents. The problem was so bad she ended up trading in the car for a newer one. She didn’t mention trying to get her home insurance to pay for it. By now I’m sure it it’s too late.
Michael Savage: Alert!
LOL
Easy fix—Park in the garage!
I don't like the smell either. Going on a neighborhood walk on laundry day, I hold my breath to get past the worst offenders.
Get a bad ass cat or a blacksnake. Both have worked well so far in the shop, barn and garage for parked vehicles.
From what I understand rat teeth grow continuously. They have to chew on things to keep them trimmed. They’ve always chewed on car wiring.
Desert packrats are the worst.
Non-venomous Rat Snakes were literally named for their proficiency at this very job. Non-venomous King Snakes will do the job AND take out any rattlesnake as well.
A guy here had a wiring problem with his motorcycle, or so he thought.
Took it to a local motorcycle shop for repairs and they found a live rat living inside the bike’s tool kit space!...................
Squirrels, too.......................they eat house wiring and pole wires..............
Notice how these rats go for the expensive cars?
They’re trying to hot wire them.
They heard about Rat Rods, and wanted one.
Get a job and buy a car you thieving rats!
Dryer softener sheets don’t work, rodents have been observed using them for nesting material.
The automotive OEM used to use mice and rats in controlled experiments to determine wiring insulation palatability. This is not a new issue, it goes back 70 years at least. Whatever they are using in the insulation is the problem, they should dust off the work that was done long ago.
Using soy or any food based material will not help anything. Some kind of bittering agent is probably needed. I’ll bet that’s what GM and Ford discovered too. It’s really sad to watch everyone make the same mistakes over and over.
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