Dealer sold 2015 with mice infestation

sorry to hear about your troubles.

it is certainly worthwhile pushing the dealer for whatever you can get. in the end, if you have no luck, i would do some more reading. iirc, old mouse droppings are not a problem.

all the best!

 

It sounds like you want to get rid of this car. I don't blame you. Mice are incredibly destructive.
What does your contract say about returns?

It's hard to prove who is at fault in this situation. It's been a month since you signed your life away. Who knows where the mice came from or how long they have been stowaways.

I would be nice but stern with the dealership you purchased the Pri from. Milk as much repair work out of them as you can.

 

the article makes it sound like you have to touch it. plus it's not one of the more dangerous mouse diseases

there are a lot of prius chatters with ongoing mice problems, including in the hvac system. i don't recall anyone getting ill.

 

Trade cars with Bisco. Out of sight, out of his mind.

I have never fallin ill to salmonella, therefore, it doesn't exist. Seems legit.

 

you can be proactive, or paranoid. i choose the former

 

Second Bisco's sentmeint -- sorry for your hassles.

My guess is that the paperwork sold the car "as is" with a very limited warranty that covered specific things, of which "mouse crap" probably isn't listed.

Again, just guessing but absent specific knowledge and a cover-up effort (fraud), the dealership probably doesn't owe you anything but might help out on a "good will" basis.

And I also agree with bisco that this is probably one of those things that might be technically bad if there was a ton of crap, but not going to be an serious issue in real life at all. Like zero.

You liked this car when you bought it. I'd either try to forget about this issue asap or get the cheapest headliner that gives you peace of mind. Bottom line -- you need to get back to liking this car!

 

Ask them for a cat that can live in the Prius and eat any remaining mice...

 

even certified, they would poly say it happened after you took ownership. so in the end, maybe spend some of the cert money on a headliner and antiseptic.

don't be afraid to try some other dealers/private mechs and upholstery shops, along with a used headliner.

 

Drive around in one of these for a few months. Scare the crap out of passerbys while breathing confidently.

 

Funniest thing I've seen on this forum in a while.

Don't forget to add a small set of devil horns on top as well...

Also, consider the fuel mileage improvements from never having any passengers in the car when they see you strap that mask on.

 

I went to a funeral some years back for a three-year-old baby girl.
One of my co-workers had a granddaughter who contracted some three letter acronym (TLA) disease caused my mouse poop.
According to the Googles, it was Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.
To make matters worse, it seemed at the time that house renovation may have been how the little girl was infected.

VERY few things in life are sadder for me than seeing a mother weepiing over a too-small coffin.

So yeah.
I get the whole mouse-disease thing.

However (comma!!) meces in Priuses are a very common thing.
One of the many reasons for this is the soy-based wire insulation which to the rodents are irresistible to munch on.
One of the other reasons is that there is a direct path from the cold, dangerous, cat-infested world outside your Prius into a ready-made, spacious mouse-house which is the cabin air filter box.

If you're going to be worried about some TLA disease ending in 'syndrome' (they all do. it's a rule.) then clean that first.

If there was as much as a 1 in 1,000 chance of mieces making car owners sick, then the CDC would probably have figured all of this out by now....and Priuses are BY FAR not the only car that this is a problem for.
Remember also that getting sick isn't getting dead.
If you're very young, very old, or your immune system is compromised, then you're more likely to get some 1:1,000,000 sickness, BUT, since you've already been driving this car for most of a month, and since people aren't crawling all over your house wearing haz-mat suits and using portable air samplers.... I think you're gonna be OK.

So....

I would disinfect the air box, and run the car through a few car washes to see if any more electrical problems crop up.
If you're worried about meece droppings I would also clean out the spare tire well and yank the back seat out to see if there's anything interesting there and I'd do a little bit of the old vacuum and Lysol thing all over the rest of the car.
The meeces got into the headliner from somewhere else that they pooped and peed in first.

As far as the dealer is concerned (and I don't say this about many dealers!) I think that they've tried to honor the warranty.
I do not think that they owe you a new headliner, nor do I think that you should replace yours....NOR do I think that this is the most serious thing that might be wrong with the car!
Think about it from a mouse's point of view.
Why would you pass up all of those yummy wires between the driveway and the dome light just to munch on those wires?

If all of this is creeping you out, then you may be better off writing off the car and getting another one, but the dealer is either obligated to take the car back or they are NOT.
It's in all of the paperwork that you signed when you bought the car.
My Spidey senses are telling me that for a 4-year-old car, they're NOT.
However (comma!) without getting into the politics that is poisoning every discussion, different people in different states have different rights.
(Hint: You identify as living in NY)
Sometimes there are consumer rights that a dealer might not inform you about.....or, frankly not even KNOW about......but as long as they are working with you, you're really better off working with them BACK.
They might work with you to put you in another car - or - they might not, but whether they HAVE TO do so or not depends on what you signed when you bought the car.

Re-read all of those papers.

I wouldn't try to strong-arm my insurance company with this either, because either this was a per-existing condition, in which case if I were the insurance company I would say that you bought it that way......OR....it's happened in the weeks since you bought the car which would clear the dealer from any warranty obligation.
Either way, it's going to be a 4-figure claim and if I were your insurance company I'd be sure and write that down somewhere...

 

What do the wiring harnesses look like? Soy-based insulation is a buffet for mice.

 

How about applying some type of spray on sealer to eliminate/greatly reduce the possibility of breathing dust from the headliner?

 

I'm not worried about mouse crap. I am worried about mice chowing down on my wiring. Where is said "cabin air filter box" and can it be easily mouse proofed?

 

The cabin air filter is in the glove box.
If you're reading this and you own a Prius and you've never changed it yourself you may want to consider finding it and making sure that it's not filled up with acorns or dog food.

There are threads that detail how you can use wire mesh in the air intake to prevent meece infestation.
I haven't done this myself because my Prius is a work car, and my office is across the street from a for-real 'cat lady.'

Meces are not a problem for me.

 

You usually remove the glove box to access it. It is not in the manual, so apparently Toyota expects a dealer to do it???

2015 Toyota Prius Owners Manual and Warranty - Toyota Owners

 

You mean the filter in the glove box where you have to get the door to swing down to access? Yeah, I've change that one several times.
I guess I thought they'd have a sneakier path in!

I should have done a search earlier. Apparently, leaving the car in "fresh air" mode rather than "recirculate" leaves an 8x10 opening and practically a welcome mat inviting mice in.