Toyota claims not aware of mouse problem

When I had the VW, I kept a mouse trap under the hood. The mice liked the car more than I did.

 

I don't post a lot on here. I have a 2012 Camry Hybrid that I purchased brand new. No matter where I park they are finding ways to get in. I do not keep food in the car and I have done several different things to prevent them getting in. Including a metal guard over my cabin air filter. I also keep moving my car around to places other than my designated covered parking spot. My dealer has told me to piss off. As has Toyota, but it would appear that Toyota switched over to more environmentally friendly insulation materials in recent years.

Aside from the rodent issue the car has been fantastic! Most reliable thing ever, but no matter what I do...these rodents keep attacking it!!!!

This has been going on for two years now and it would appear I'm not the only person experiencing this.

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 (2003) in that spot and I have not had any issues. I believe our 2003 Toyota used 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 snapped 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!

 

Motormouth auto Q-and-A: How to keep rodents out, fuel pump woes and more - chicagotribune.com has some possible solutions and a hyopthesis.

 

I've used a spray called Critter Rid to keep away rodents from a variety of materials. Have not tried it on a car yet as I have not had an issue with mice. Also, peppermint oil is supposed to work to some degree or another. It does smell better than Critter Rid which is a pepper-based spray.

The only animal which seems immune to Critter Rid are bats. They could care less.

 

If you think mice are bad, try living in the high country of Colorado and elsewhere, where marmots (a sort of groundhog) rule the land. They gnaw on wood, rubber, metal and anything they can reach. They chew the hoses and wiring out of cars just for amusement. Remote installations like microwave and radio towers have to be made marmot-proof. Marmots will even chew the studs out of a house and collapse it.

 

Next time you clean it, then go through a thorough steam clean of the entire car. Pressured steam sprays with some sort of disinfectant or something. I would think the mice can smell they have been there before and keep coming back. Eliminate all traces. It is like exterminating 95% of your home. That remaining 5% will come back and it will all be for nothing. You must get it 100% for it to be effective.

You might try some electric high frequency buzzer things too. I don't think the rodents like sounds spooking them. Might piss off some neighbour dogs too.

 

No mice problems yet on my 2013 but I had a VW Touareg that feel victim once. VW warranty won't cover mice damage.

 

I don't get it? Unless the manufacturer especially put a family of rodents in your car, is it even their fault? Just like if your new house becomes roach, mouse, rat infested...do you also blame the manufacturer for it? Cars/homes are warm, have nice little spaces, tunnels, crevices, etc, what pest/rodent in their right mind wouldn't want to live in one???

We're in a day and age where some/most issues are blamed on everyone else but ourselves...and some issues are borderline just stupid, yet we can make jokes about lawyers taking on ridiculously retarded cases.

 

Let me try to explain the issue. There are several gaping entry areas that allow free access to the interior of the vehicle The open areas allow entry to the airbox and also the hatch area, which is ridiculous. These areas could be easily and cheaply screened off during manufacture. I understand that critters may still get into the engine area and cause damage. However there is no acceptable reason for Toyota to allow entry to the interior of the vehicle.

 

I at first thought this was just a one off insane issue that couldn't possibly be Toyota's fault, but this has been ongoing for over a year new. And I blocked off that point of access this DGH just mentioned and that only pissed off the lil critters. Now they've burrowed into my damn trunk and got into the interior that way!

SwhitePC, I implore you simply google "Toyota Rodents" and see all the hits that brings up...

 

Where do you draw the line?

So rodents like little field mice are bad and Toyota's fault. What about grasshoppers or praying mantis? If there are moths and flies that get in? What about spiders?!

Mazda has recalled lots of vehicles because they have a pesky spider problem weaving webs and blocking air-flow. They are coming that way from the factory even after fumigating the entire car, but that is a lot smaller than a mouse. If you want air in your engine to make it move, you will have a hole big enough for a spider.Then if it clogs your air vent with webbing, is that Toyota's fault too?

 

You can easily google "make/model + rodents" and see all sorts of hits that comes up. So I still don't get how the issue should be seen as being a manufacturer's fault, and not seen as a more general issue of car = nice warm, tight, nifty hideaway places and are bound to get rodent infested, should they live nearby or the car be left alone long enough.

Rodents can easily chew/find their way through tougher things then cars, so no matter how much "foul" you cry about it being a car manufacturer's fault for not sealing up their cars well enough, the issue still should just be seen as rodent vs. car and not rodent vs. manufacturer (unless ofc toyota starts making their HV orange out of bright orange cheese).

 

I guess if you have mice in your house, you expect the home builder to come over and take care of it? A rodent problem is just that, its not a car problem. Even more so if you have mice in your garage.

 

wha

Did you screen off the access areas that have rubbers flappers above the rear wheels?

 

I'm trying to keep it real simple. If $1 of screening can prevent mammals from entering my cars interior it is Toyota's problem. Your reaching insect analogies have no validity in this conversation, hence the title of the thread.

 

Picture if your builder left about five several inch in diameter holes in your house, would you be upset?
Do you think you might then blame the builder when various mammals start cruising through?
Maybe that helps you understand?

 

Double post

 

I would hope that your home has some "five several inch in diameter holes" built into it...these "five several inch in diameter holes" are called "vents" and are part of the engineering, and no matter if they are built in or not, rodents can and will find a way into your home/car by means of the vent or by means of burrowing under, through your walls, or just straight up knocking at your door and getting your invite.

I'm not defending manufacturers or w/e, but I've seen that rodents chew through anything in the world if given the opportunity...heck even Fort Knox has rodent issues, when it's supposed to be one of the most secured places in America, even ships have rodents when they are supposedly out on open water most their life.

You seem to miss the one most important factor that causes rodents...the "human factor". Rodents for the most part are like humans, they want a nice warm shelter, free food, etc...and who can provide that? Humans and their stuff

 

Aha, I bet you your house vents are screened or have a nice grill on them don't they? And no, mice do not chew up hardware cloth.