Well not sure if this has bee covered in the forums. Apparently rats or mice got into the filter through the fresh air vents and ate holes in, made a nest out of, and basically destroyed the filter. The tech at toyota recommended I switch to recirc prior to shutting the car down. Has anyone had this happen? (yes there a were little mouse turds around too!)
You may not want to switch to recirc before shutting down. That is believed to promote mold formation in the HVAC system.
Looks like you are in a bit of a pickle! On the left you do not turn on recirculator and deal with rats or on the right turn on recirculator and deal with mold!! I guess you must pick your poison!!
I would put some dishes of mice food all around my car that has poison in it! Just do it in a way the birds cannot get at it. Hal
Yes I know , but it works! They have a habit of chewing threw the orange cables and you don't want that! Hal
Actually, this only "sort of" works. It's not like the spy movies. The mice live for a few days (two - three) before bleeding out. Plenty of time for them to do damage. Trust me. Lots of experience. I see their neon blue droppings (caused by the dye in the poison bait) on the filters, in the engine compartment, etc. Additionally, I am not really a fan of poison. Even with the professional bait stations I use, other critters do, occasionally, get inside and eat the poison. Whatever the case, if you use poison bait, I would encourage you to get a professional bait station ($15 or so), to protect other creatures, such as birds, squirrels, dogs, cats, etc. I've just started using Victor electronic traps. They electrocute the mice. About $20 at the local stores and the mice die right away. Maybe not the most humane way, also. But I think better than poison. Snap traps work, but "from the store" they are not very sensitive. So, I adjust the foot and then end up catching myself -- SNAP. And snap traps also catch birds and other creatures. Mice often manage to steal the bait irregardless. And sometimes, they catch only a leg or other body part. They drag away the trap and suffer a slow death many yards away. Just as full disclosure, I have so many mice I do use bait stations. Near the cars I have gone to a couple of the mini-electric traps. It is discouraging to open the filter case and see brightly colored "neon blue" mouse droppings.
Mold doesn't form THAT fast. I turn off recirculation just about every other day to air/dry out the HVAC system.
After constant rodent intrusions into the airbox, I screened off the front cowl area as in this link. http://priuschat.com/forums/knowledge-base-articles-discussion/51005-mouseproofing-prius.html No more problems so far, I have not done the hatch area yet.
The mouse proofing instructions are great. Very very good. However, it does not keep them out of the engine compartment. I bought the Victor electronic traps on a whim a couple of weeks ago. I was in the store, saw them and brought two home. Since I'm lazing around this a.m., I have actually googled the Victors and found mixed reviews. They seem to work for me, but at the moment my mouse population is at low ebb. Agri Zapper brand -- I think that is right -- gets high marks, but they are apparently around $80 each.....of course if it prevents one expensive repair....
Even protecting the poison so only the rodents can get to it doesn't help the cat that eats the poisoned vermin. I don't have this problem since I park out in the open. When I had other rodent problems a long time ago I got a really good mouse hunting cat... no more mouse problem.. or voles... or squirrels... or chipmunks... or small rabbits. And less birds too, unfortunately.
Eating the poisoned mice does not hurt cats, birds, dogs, etc., at least accordingly to several studies I read regarding this issue. I researched it pretty completely as I was worried about the same issue. And, apparently so were lots of other people and government agencies and there are lots of reassuring papers about this particular issue. I know it doesn't make particular sense, but you have to trust the government, right!! LOL! Actually, if said cat or bird ate (and forgive me, I forget the REAL number), a few hundred of said poisoned mice in a certain time frame, it could be harmful, but the numbers were so far out there it is basically impossible. Anyway, lots of data on that point. As for cats....I had a very great mouse-catching cat, but no way could he keep up with the "meeces." Finally, parking outside is no cure. My rigs are all parked outside. Free and open to the mouse public.
The safety of the cats is good to know. The cat we had certainly helped us and kept up with the problem we had, but everywhere is different. I now live in an apartment in a small city and there's good street lighting etc... I don't think I'll have a mouse problem here as no one seems to here unless living out of town... maybe there are too many cats for them to get a good foothold. There are lots of squirrels. I had a problem with them chewing all the weatherstripping around the windows in my corolla once when I parked at work with the windows down an inch and a bag of nuts in the back seat... partly eaten by the one squirrel small enough to get in... the others chewed my car trying to join him.
Wow did not realize there was like an epidemic of mice on the west coast! down south we only have to deal with fruit rats the size a small cat so no problem with them getting in .
A mouse once took up residence in my old Corolla's squirrel cage fan. When I switched the fan on, the mouse lost its mind. I cleaned up mouse from everywhere I could, and it still stank. I finally had to take it in to the dealer, who washed out the air ducts with a soap solution.
My Prius was parked in a stable in rural Maryland prior to my ownership. It had a rough first five years of life before me. Before driving it home to the west coast I found the mice had nests, nuts and poop in front of the engine air filter. Then I found Priuschat and really started maintenance. I was horrified to see the nests hidden in spare tire compartment and worse yet a huge nest above the cabin air filter. The smell was unbearable and I spent hours and hours cleaning and poking bamboo skewers with sticky slime to grab particles of crap from around the squirrel cage fan. If you have a strong stomach look at photo.
No matter where I park rodents are finding ways to get into my car. I do not keep food in the car and I have done several different things to prevent them getting in. Including moving my car around to places other than my designated covered parking spot. It would appear that Toyota switched over to more environmentally friendly insulation materials in recent years. This car is something I purchased brand new: a 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid. This has been going on for almost a full year now and it would appear I'm not the only person experiencing this as is apparent from the links below. I have extensive pictures of what has happened to my car. This also hasn't been an issue for any of the other vehicles in my parking lot and my previous car was parked there for years without issue (a different manufacturer). I also park our older Toyota Matrix (2003) and Toyota MR2 Spyder (2000) in that spot and I have not had any issues with either vehicle. I believe our older Toyota models have very different materials that aren't as attractive to rodents. I firmly believe this has to do with Toyota's move to more environmentally friendly materials. Just tonight I finally have had enough because these creatures chewed into my TRUNK and were chewing up the materials in my trunk near the Hybrid Battery. I'm parked in a completely different area and it's still happening. This isn't a coincide! This needs to be investigated ASAP.
And just to clarify. I drive this car regularly. Some guy posted something about a car sitting for 6 months and suffering a lot of damage...that I can understand, but this is just ridiculous!
