Changed cabin filter, found mouse nest!

Out of curiosity, where is the cabin filter located on the v? I've changed them on other cars and know where a 2012 Avalon filter is but haven't done so yet on the v.

 

The filter cover is the "back" of the glove compartment. Easier to change than my G2 Prius, itself pretty easy.

 

Not from my house, went to go check mine and look. Mouse droppings..... were is this darn hole at?

 

Well I have mouse poo on my dash, in the glove box, and back of the cargo area. I put two mouse traps in the car, one under the hood and one in the glove box. Bingo got two field mice last night. I am going to the dealer tomorrow and I am pissed.

 

This extremely common. No one is at fault but your little mouse buddy. I see this at my shop at least once a month in various forms.

 

Do you park your car in a garage or leave it outside? Just curious.

 

Yes I do park outside, my pole barn is full of toys and also full of mice. It's wooded all around my house. But I have had multiple cars and trucks and non of them had holes to allow rodents to get inside. Under the hood yes but not inside. Got the traps set again last night and when the sun comes up gonna check them before I head off to the dealer.

 

Went to the dealer today to complain about the mice getting in my car. They told me that there is no fix and did nothing. He claims they get in all the Toyota's on the lot. I said good my wife wanted a new Camry so now I won't buy one.

So I drive home and decide to investigate how they are getting in. As the picture above shows the air filter, notice the three holes above the filter. The mice ate right through that, so I put 1/4" hardware cloth behind the plastic holes. I used wire and twisted it around the two vertical thin pieces of plastic. I then cleaned the filter (ordered a new one $27) and mounted a thin strip of hardware cloth to the back of the filter. I used a hot glue gun to attach cloth. Cleaned every thing up and hope it stops them.,

The dealer would not even record my complaint, so Toyota doesn't even know how many people have this problem. Oh what a feeling.

 

trust me, toyota knows. at least he admitted it, most say they never heard that before. if you're serious, read up on some of the mouse threads here, you may want to do more blocking before they start eating your wiring.

 

I went to change the 12v battery and found a mouse nest beside the hybrid battery. it was right after I bought the car so I don't know how old the nest was, but now I'm thinkin I better check again and buy some 1/4" chicken wire to block off any possible entry points. haven't seen anything in the cabin filter yet.
btw, rodent excrement can give you Hanta virus which can be fatal. wear gloves and a mask if you got to clean up after rodents.

 

For anyone with rodents problems, please contact Toyota directly and voice your extreme displeasure at what can be a serious health hazard also make sure you get a case number. This has been going on for way too long.
All for want of one dollars worth of hardware cloth.
Time for you all to do some screening and don't forget the hatch area.

Good luck,

Dan

 

are the mice coming in from the factory in Japan. perhaps a geiger counter could tell us (due to Fukushima) ?

 

You will never stop them from entering the engine compartment. The concern at least for me is the free access to the interior, via the airbox and or under the hatch storage area. Both areas can successfully be screened off and don't forget to slap a piece on the engine air intake.