Yep, rodents seem to like rubber used in cars. Soon after we got our 2007 Prius, a rat ate through the windshield washer hose, which I was able to fix. Started setting traps under the hood for a while, and killed 5 rats over a period of a few days. (We live in the woods.) Gave it no more thought for almost a year, then had ABS warning light come on. Dealer's scanner diagnosed problem as a bad speed sensor (left-front wheel), but after replacing sensor (under warranty) warning light was still on. They dug into it and found wiring harness had been eaten through. "Fortunately" this cost us only $112 (they were able to splice the wire), but rodents could easily do thousands of $$ damage if they ate the right wiring. Sounds silly, but we now religiously set traps under the hood and under the car every night, a real nuisance. We prefer this to repellant (various things have been recommended), because with repellant we'd never know if not having a problem (for a while) meant the repellant is working or if just no rubber-liking rats were around for a while. They don't stop at rubber insulation -- they eat clean through wiring, even heavy-duty outdoor extension cords, as we have found out.
Rats and squirrels like to gnaw plastic lawn furniture legs also. Check all four legs before sitting! Falling on your butt in mixed company isn't half so bad as spreading your favorite beverage all over the patio.....
I also suspect that the increased use of soy-based or food-based cable covers, wire covers, hoses and plastics are more attractive to rodents. There are some spray-on repellants you can use. Here's one of my prior posts on the subject:
My combo attack of Boo's horseradish spray, "just one bite bait bars II," three snaptraps, one live trap and one 13-year-old kitty seem to have done the trick. I caught more than 70-some mice in a month in the live trap and snaptraps. Have picked up several dead mice "around" and have also cleaned up several "part mice," which I assume are the work of the cat. Kitty is much less effective than he used to be...but now that the weather has warmed up, he has gotten a bit more aggressive....Meow....
I discovered yesterday that an animal destroyed the windshield washer fluid hose on my 2008 Prius. What a pain. Not sure what's involved in replacing it. The dealer wanted $80 just to diagnose the problem and I told him "no thanks." found the problem myself. Guess I'll call around, and maybe find out what my comprehensive insurance can do for me as suggested by Boo above.
I keep two large, hungry cats around the house; Chairman Meow and his consort, Madame Meow. Haven't had any rodent problems. Helps keep brown tree snakes and chickens at bay, too.
