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 ...
This has been a problem in our neighborhood. 2 Toyotas and a Honda had their engine wires chewed badly. Seems it is the squirrels after the soy based wire covering.
None of the folks got any satisfaction from the car manufacturers; one found relief from their homeowners insurance. Thousands in damages.
**Class action lawsuits have been filed against a number of auto manufacturers alleging that vehicles contain soy-based wiring insulation and that such insulations attracts rodents to chew on the insulation. Honda believes that the class actions filed against it have no merit.**
Sorry, that's not always successful. During an especially hard winter I had a rat problem. They somehow got into my very clean neat suburban garage and made a nest between the interior and exterior. Chewed through the wiring harness. I found out the hard way when the electrical system went out suddenly in the middle of a intersection at dusk. Just peachy.
Because mice can never get into a garage.
A Sealyham terrier.
I found some INSIDE my car...
You'd be surprised how they can get into your house. I was in my attic and found sunflower seed shells up there.
One evening I had my sister and brother-in-law over for a small summer bar-b-que on my back deck and while seated at the table, I saw a mouse actually scamper up the bricks of the chimney and enter a small crack into the roof between the flashing and the chimney bricks........
Squirrels can climb brick walls too but that's another story........
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