Toyota claims not aware of mouse problem

You were just lucky with the other cars or the mouse problem has become worse where you are. My brother over many years in a car port had mice in every car he owned and none were Toyotas. Finally he built a mouse proof garage. I helped him remove mouse food and nests out of doors, dash areas, heater and airconditioners, air vents, air filters, and also find and repair hoses and wires chewed through.

 

How could this possibly be a Toyota problem? Are you insinuating they use materials that attract rodents?

Can I call Toyota cause my neighbors cat decides to walk on my car at night and leave paw prints on the car?

 

Yes, you can. You will become the butt of many jokes at the call center, but that's another issue.

 

I think your cat is keeping the mice away Perhaps Toyota should sponsor some cat adoptions for people reporting rodent problems.

 

At a meeting of new Prius owners, our dealer told us that we should put the car's ventilation system into "recirculate" before shutting the car off. That closes a vent to the outside world and supposedly prevents mice from getting into the passenger compartment. The dealer also mentioned that he'd seen a lot of cars with mouse damage, so it's nothing new.

Toyota cars aren't the only brands that have mice problems, though. I used to park my Chevy pickup outside near some brush and the mice did $1300 worth of damag to its wiring. I cleaned the brush out and the mice went away. So, I suggest you do the same. If the mice don't live near your car, they are unlikely to migrate into it. Parking the car in a garage is also a good idea, but it won't guarantee that mice won't find it, especially if mice habitat is near the garage.

 

This post brings up a couple of intriguing questions:
(1) Do they even have mice in Japan?
(2) I wonder why we don't have more posts from Japan Prius owners on PriusChat? I know Ken is out there.

I think we had mice in our Prius but we cut them off at the pass by closing the vent in recirc mode. I also put those sticky traps in our garage.

 

Bull, I have complained to Toyota USA several times. Yes it IS a Toyota problem, due to their lack of screening of multiple areas that allow easy access to the interior of the vehicle. Most manufacturers do screen these entry points but not Toyota. As for the lippy comments, vermin on the exterior or checking out the engine compartment is to be expected. But when carelessness by Toyota allows the vermin to set up shop INSIDE the vehicle it's a whole different ballgame. Lastly, closing the vent in recirculating mode will NOT prevent entry to the interior.
Hey Toyota spend the $1.98 and screen off the MULTIPLE access points.

 

How long until someone finds a snake in their Prius? I can assure you that if a mouse climbs into the Prius, a snake will eventually follow it.

 

I agree it's a good idea to report rodent/mouse problems to the automaker, so at least it shows up as a data point.

I don't feel it's a common problem for Priuses, judging by the types and quantity of various issues posted. Going by Prius owners who I personally know, I've never heard the complaint from any of them.

It's definitely not a Toyota only problem. I posted this last year: A Rat Ate My Chevy Volt | PriusChat.

 

Bubbledogs,

I called Toyota again today and set up a file.
If you can, check your engine air intake and air filter for mouse signs.
The other area to check is behind the rear wheels, and requires you to remove the pieces next to the rear storage area in order to inspect. I wonder how many people have this problem and do not know it. It would be easy to miss if they are living around the storage area..

 

Keeping the snake in the Prius should eliminate the rodent problem. A resident hawk should also work.

 

??? must be 10 thousand posts on meeces in Prii (if I have my plurii correct)

...better than rats, I must admit.

 

Hey, nOna,

In the 1st paragraph of your post #7, you said your dealer told everybody to put the ventilation system into recirculate before shutting down & that would prevent the mice from getting in. Well, to be honest, I don't think that will help any of you very much. I have always closed off the vents in all of my cars before shutdown (even the old manually operated ones in cars from many years ago), so ever since I got my new Prius back in 2005 I have always done what your dealer has recommended.

Well, it wasn't long before I discovered I had a mouse problem too [both in the engine air filter box & nut shells, berries, & white soft fluffy insulation (from who knows where) above the cabin air filter], & a friend had the mice chew through the cabin air filter & all that same kind of debris wound up down in the blower motor box & stopped the fan motor operation. With the wire mesh I screened off the 5 holes under the plastic tray below the windshield wiper transmission arms as well as the OUTSIDE end of the tube to the engine air filter box (no sense letting them get into the tube in the first place to choke it off with their debris). I haven't gotten around to tearing the rear interior of the car apart to do the same to the 2 side vents in the rear.

It was after having gone through the screening off process that I discovered why setting the ventilation system to recirculate didn't help. I began to notice in the very cold weather that no matter whether I set the system to recirculate or not, as soon as I started to move (without the fan blower being turned on), I would feel freezing cold air on my face (the vent always wound up in the fresh air position without my having touched the system at all). Sometimes I could hear the vent door squeekily changing position (if the radio was already off) right after powering up the car, but other times I couldn't hear any change-over sound at all, so I couldn't tell for sure if the change-over occurred at/after shut-down or at power up. So leaving the system in recirculate has never helped to keep mice out of my Prius---only the DIY screening off at the 6 places mentioned (with my own wire mesh material) has done the job.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

10,000? I've seen some posts for them but I don't think they're anywhere as common as posts about FE, weirdness due to a dying/dead 12 volt battery or people's Gen 2's w/failing inverter pumps. Maybe I just ignore the mouse/rat posts...