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Mighty Mouse
updated 3 months, 1 week ago
8 Members
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11
Posts
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Mice are eating my ’18 Accord and did $2500 in damage to my F-250. 80% of friends and family are experiencing same. I’ve yet to see any manu make much effort to deal with this. They were nesting inside the car and I noted that the cabin intake was not screened!! All it took was $0.25 worth of screen to fix that, also did the engine intake as they get to the air filter and eat through it and cause damage. They packed acorns in my turbo after building a nest from the handy filter paper.
I fully realize that lots of exterior components and wiring just cannot be protected, but it is no challenge at all to secure the interior from them. PLEASE make this modest effort, it is a near impossible job to get nests and dead mice out of the air ducts that fill the cabin with stench. I suspect that a nasty tasting wire insulation or wrap can help a lot as well.
Continued progress!!
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Do you have a cat? If she’s not doing the job perhaps a water bucket trap would work assuming you have the heart for it. You need a tall bucket, fill it half way with water, float sunflower seeds on top of the water and then put a ramp up the side of the bucket. I’ve used this for chipmunks, don’t know if it will work for mice. It killed several chipmunks per day until I started to feel like a murderer and stopped using it. There is a variation of this where there is a wheel that you hang on the edge of the bucket, you put peanut butter on the end of a paddle, the mice go to eat the peanut butter and the wheel spins and drops them into the water.
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They like to chew in general and in dark protected places and when a warm car returns as the evening cools they are draw to that comfortable dark setting
The resins in electrical wires have animal fat or soy All very tasty to them
Don’t park near trash, high grasses or debris
These are techniques used too….
Leave hood open as they like dark protected spaces
Usr a light or strobe light, like Rid A Rat, as that annoys them
They don’t like the aroma peppermint oil BUT that can overwhelm your vehicle too!
Caution Baited device might draw them into the space too
Good Luck
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The glue traps that have come on the market in the last several years work extremely well left in the trunk or under a seat, so long as you check them frequently and discard when appropriate. Some may balk at the lack of humaneness of them though. Non toxic, at least.
I have applies scrap patches of bronze wire insect screen mesh over my vehicle air intakes. Even rats will decline to chew thru copper alloy mesh.
Guess we will see just how vermin proof the enclosure of the Aptera is.
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My experience is they love coming through “air pressure relief flaps” for the trunk (Mazda 3) and any poorly sealed penetrations in the firewall (steering column). They were also coming in through the air vents, before I stuffed 20$ of stainless steel wool in every hole I could find, and doused them with peppermint oil.
Bounce sheets in your car can help also.
Some motion activated solar lights around your parking spot should help, but I have not gotten there yet.
Now we have a screech owl that lives/sleeps under our deck, so that may make the problem more tolerable.
Aptera relevant : it would be nice to at least consider mice and mice ingress in the cabin when the design is being finalized. Maybe make the exposed wires less delicious…As many have noted, some areas on some cars are not even screened (Mazda 3 intake air vents), with holes plenty big to allow mice in. This can be fixed with 50 cents worth of plastic.
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Some auto companies were using soy-based wire insulation on their wiring looms. Mice love chewing on the stuff. While I appreciate Aptera thinking about using nature-derived materials I really hope they avoid this type of wiring!
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Honda, like most manufacturers use rodent repellent in the wiring coating, the rodents in different areas have different tastes and some actually liked the repellent coating. The use of mint oil is a good one and steel wool is excellent for allowing air to pass through but yet blocking the holes so the rodents don’t get through. If you park inside a garage or a barn, cats are awesome for reducing the rodents. Park outside, avoid high grasses, dirt mounds, and areas with garbage. Manufacturers have no control of the vehicle once the customer chooses to park it anywhere they wish. I’ve repaired so much damage done by rodents and reptiles that some of the vehicles were actually totalled by the cost of the repairs.
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I agree manufacturers can’t prevent you from parking in rodent infested locations, but they should at least think of rodents when they are designing their cars. Non edible wire insulation, simple reverse plastic collars on steering columns and screened air intakes with no easy access to the cowl area would already go a long way.
Aptera solar recharging feature is pushing “outdoor” parking options, so they should also be aware of potential rodent issues with a lower percentage of garaged vehicles to be expected.
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M T, there is only some reasonable things that manufacturers can do. But with multiple suppliers, it is hard to know if everyone building a specific vehicle got all the holes covered. Good thing is that there are only 3 points touching the ground, less areas to climb up. If you own any vehicle, no manufacturer will warranty any animal damages. Sometimes they will do a Good Will repair. Some homeowners insurances will cover rodent damages at home. It comes down to owners responsibility.
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I understand that some manufacturers are using soy-based wiring insulation that attracts rodents and squirrels. I’ve read one post that claims some also like to eat tubing and hoses. T
here is one product I’ve seen that goes by the name of ‘RatMat’. It claims to be more humane. It’s a PVC mat that has stainless steel zig-zag strips embedded in it which attachet to a very low voltage, pulsing transformer that delivers a mild, non-lethal shock. They recommend forming a perimeter around your car with them. I suspect such an installation would be expensive, though, but maybe less than replacing a wiring loom!
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After living here in the mountains for over 40 years, I have tried everything mentioned several times. Some work for a while, but nothing works as a permeant solution. Hawks eat my cats. They have gone after all liquid containers – plastic radiator res., Washer tank and even the brake res.!! Before I installed the replacements I mixed cayenne pepper into paint and coated all plastic surfaces, so far so good. I have the best luck with putting out a water dish and bait. A poisoned mouse does not have enough poison to harm an animal large enough to scavenge.
Bottom line this is a near impossible task for the manu. EXCEPT for keeping them out of the cabin!!
Please Aptera don’t make me have to tear into my new car to do this simple task that is far more easy during design and assembly.
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