Mice in the car

[goldencut]

So seems as weather is getting colder mice are getting adventurous. Came back from countryside and parked my 1.8 estate for 2 weeks. When went to drive it again noticed some shredded plastic on back seat - someone had successfully chewed a hole through the bottom of a plastic water bottle I had there. Seat was only bit moist. But when I opened the glove box it was a total mess - full of chewed up napkin papers, pieces of instant coffee packages (I have few of those in car for longer rides, just in case) and my beanie all chewed up there. And smell of *****. Panic! Ok, calmed down, cleaned it all up, drove away. Later left some cheese in the car to verify the bugger was gone. Started to check what had happened and discovered that most likely the mouse got in through cabin fresh air vent. There's a pollen filter to block the passage (it had nibbled on it a bit) but on the side of the filter housing, directly above glove box there's a small slit covered with flimsy strip of plastic (some sort of foam) and it gone through it like nothing. And decided to stay for a while. Guess it ran out of food at some point. Looking at the air filter housing from inside (the pipe that goes outside) I could see its attempts - it was covered with tiny claw marks. Never had this happened before to me, have had many other brands before Toyota. I thought there was some sort of grille or mesh to protect the air intake surely. But maybe not...
Anyone know where does the fresh air come in to the cabin on Avensis? On my other, older cars it was the grille just below windshield, where wipers poke through, but Avensis doesn't have a grille there, it's just all fully plastic. So the intake is maybe somewhere lower in the engine bay? Would like to have a look at that thing.

[TonyHSD]

I feel for you, I had exactly the same case with a Mitsubishi 4x4, I had to sell it afterwards. Rodents does indeed get inside a car from this point, cabin air intake. This is by default behind the wipers no matter if there is a grill or not, still will be an opening somewhere under the plastic gutter. In my case they had destroyed the hvac filter housing , chew on wire harness, air bags wires and rear parcel shelf and some more plastics in the boot, horrible and hangry creates. You may need to remove this gutter and see , clean what’s left behind from the invasion. Check all wires for chew on traces and fit new insulation.

[Shared]

One of the channels I follow on youtube is a tech who worked at a toyota dealership and regularly came across infestations that are really quite shocking, not exclusive to Toyota of course, he found the same when he moved to an Audi dealership, pretty sure he's in the greater New York area, they do seem to suffer badly from it.

Anyway, here's a video, there is some mildly colourful language contained within ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKw_a7WQv_g

 

[goldencut]

Goddamn, I really didn't need to hear this, and see that video... Life always finds a way to punch you from a new angle. Guess I have to go over the car again and really make sure there's no more surprises waiting in some nook. I replaced the air filter and sprayed it over with some essential oils/fragrances, as this was recommended on the interwebs, maybe need to also spray some cayenne pepper or vinegar on the filter. I'll have to look into taking the gutter apart also probably... Lesson learned (hopefully) - never leave ANY food in the car.

[Bper]

10 minutes ago, goldencut said:

Goddamn, I really didn't need to hear this, and see that video... Life always finds a way to punch you from a new angle. Guess I have to go over the car again and really make sure there's no more surprises waiting in some nook. I replaced the air filter and sprayed it over with some essential oils/fragrances, as this was recommended on the interwebs, maybe need to also spray some cayenne pepper or vinegar on the filter. I'll have to look into taking the gutter apart also probably... Lesson learned (hopefully) - never leave ANY food in the car.

Put repellent and traps under the bonnet this can help. Avoid parking near wooded areas and do not leave any food in the car that will attract them. Hope this helps

[Shared]

I was genuinely in two minds whether to post it, I decided that at least being aware trumped the "Oh no" element, seems you've only had a stray one and hopefully it's left/been evicted, I'd certainly be investigating how it got in & what measures to take to try & prevent a recurrance. 

 

Also bear in mind those are extreme examples and you'd have to be pretty lax not to notice the tell-tale signs in those examples, you seem to be ahead of the curve there. good luck :)

[Guest]

Maybe eliminating or trying to deal with the problem to try and deter the mice from the car might be in order. 

Under or around the car, maybe make one of these traps?  They're easy to make, effective and can give you a real visual on the severity and how many there might be.  You can use an old bucket or anything with a string / something slippy to put some bait on... they fall in and can't get out. 

It's a nightmare situation you've got though. Hopefully any damage can be found, replaced and the car saved. 

You know where the cabin filter goes, why not take it out, get a small sheet of 'metal net' or grid, that is fine but won't impede airflow... cut it to size, slip it in along with the filter.  So that they can't bite through it but the air can flow. One idea? 

[Willss]

My avensis and auris have both been invaded several times. They ate the leather round the gearstick and round the auris handbrake on their last visit. 

 

Ways to fix: 

Park somewhere else for a few nights whilst you eliminate the mice.

Lay multiple traps round the driveway and in the car.

Don't park near a fence or hedge as they follow boundaries.

Get an undercar car wash as they will follow the scent from previous mice even if you catch the first one (I caught 9 in the space of 4 days in the avensis).

Leave no food in the car and certainly nothing in the glove compartment as that is the easiest sniffed area.

Remove child seats overnight as they usually have crumbs in them and the soya based foam is particularly tasty for mice - they destroyed an expensive seat in one night and ate the lap fixing seat belt on another as there were crumbs on it.

Good luck!!!

[yossarian247]

I once had this problem with a Citroen BX I owned. I lived on a farm at the time, used to park the car in a barn at night and had foolishly left a multipack of crisps on the back seat. I returned the following morning to find that something had chewed a few of the crisp bags open, presumably to try some of each flavour! It turned out that the mouse had found its way in around the rubber grommet (which had been loose) where the speedo cable came through the firewall. I removed any traces of food from the car, fixed the rubber grommet firmly back in place, and set a few mousetraps around the car with peanut butter in. Next morning there was a mouse dead in the trap. I only ever caught one but there was no more chewing after that.

Could be worse, a friend worked at a breakers yard which was situated on a river bank near the council tip. He'd left his sandwich box on the passenger seat of his car all morning and returned at lunchtime to find that something, presumably a rat, had chewed through the rusty metal of his car floor, up through the carpet, then chewed through the plastic sandwich box to get the sandwiches out! No sign of the rat or the sandwiches, just a hole in the floor of the car.

[goldencut]

Thanks for the suggestions. So finally got some time and took the cowl apart (had to google that word). And found smallish mouse nest on the driver's side there, under the cowl, with pieces of my stuff from the car in it. So the mouse had its main house in the glove box, and smaller cottage outside, under the cowl. Pretty nice..
Seems the problem stems from how Avensis (maybe also other Toyotas?) is constructed - everything is very loose, with big caps, and it's very easy for small rodents to get under the cowl. The cowl is just a flimsy plastic cover, and it's separated from the outside by some flimsy rubbery separators. There is one rubbery separator in the middle and in the ends, and piece of foam where the A-pillars start. Mouse had just nibbled a little on that foam and rubbery separator, and pushed through. Looked like an easy job. The entry for the outside air is just a hole in the car body under the cowl, on the passenger side, that leads directly to saloon air filter box. Pretty under-engineered stuff.
Have to find some metal mesh as suggested, and try to cover the hole where air comes in. Otherwise this will most likely happen again..

[Avensis tourer]

I live in the countryside, and it's a common problem to have rodents around. It has become worse since I lost my furry pet. I have a large plot of land, so it's often difficult to keep it tidy. Anything like a pile of wood, stored things, or high grass can attract rodents. I am planning to invite owls this year, hoping they can help to solve the problem.

I can recommend using white traps. I usually catch something within a few hours, and I have never had an empty trap. Another alternative is to use a bucket filled with water. I have attached some pictures what you can buy, easy to get from places like eBay or Amazon.

The other guys have given you some other suggestions. However, I don't think there is a single solution that works for everyone. If you have mice, you don't have rats. I believe in rat stories as I used to watch them on my cameras.

 

[Avensis tourer]

I always coat bulbs in ash to deter rodents from eating them in the ground, but I don't have enough ash to scatter all over ha ha 

[Willss]

Back in my avensis and auris this week. Took lumps out of my son's car seat, holes in gaiter round hand brake and gear lever and now a hole on side of driver's seat. Not impressed - declared war. 10 traps set Saturday night 8 mice caught, 4 more last night.

 

Perils of the countryside. A reminder to permanently have traps out and keep on top of them rather than letting them go forth and multiply merrily.

[Avensis tourer]

After installing my traps, I caught them in the act after just 20 minutes.