[nitnab]

Originally Posted by Mile10

My Toyota Innova Crysta has been heavily damaged by rats including chewing up wires and tubes inside the engine bay as well as the fuel lines (return hose) from the fuel tank. The return hose damage came to light when the fuel started leaking on my last visit to the petrol bunk. So to prevent we have decided the only option is to build a garage, expensive but something of a permanent solution! (right now we have an open covered parking for 2 cars with 3 sides open) This construction activity is going to take a couple of months, so decided to do a temporary fix. It has been working for 3 days now so far and hopefully will keep the rats away till we get the garage constructed. Fingers crossed.

The product we bought from amazon is called Bird Out spikes, it comes in a pack of 10, each unit being 12 inches approximately. So bought 4 packs and have them nailed to a wooden beading. We place this around the car after we park everytime. Takes about 5 minutes to place it around the car.

Product link (Disclaimer: I'm no way associated with this brand / product, just sharing for the benefit of members)

https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B08...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Some pictures of our setting now:

This is just my view and not any discouragement of the method used. As you said, these are bird spikes and not meant for rats. These rats are intrepid animals and can find their way through even very narrow gaps. initially they may be disinclined to try entry into the newly placed spikes but ultimately they will get curious enough to try entry through the gaps onto the front wheels. Once they can get in (as per photo, the gaps between adjacent spikes and gaps between the spike assemblies placed at right angles to each other seem big enough for the rats to enter the wheel area) they will be back in business. This is just my observation from the pictures you have put up.

[hi_on_torque]

My first experience of rats cutting wires / tubing in my car was about 18 years ago with my Maruti 800. Since then, I have had different cars and faced this problem. I have also seen many friends having this issue and I discussed with a lot of people about the solutions they had tried.

The service garage guys told me they know of no solution that is fool-proof / permanent. People who tried sprays told that some sprays work, some don't and many of them cause some unpleasant smell. And those that work, also don't work for a long time.

Not just car, I had this problem with my washing machine too!

After trying / evaluating different ways, I am happy to tell you that I have found the permanent solution that is fool-proof. This solution is tried for many years, and it has been proven on a car that was being targetted repeatedly by rats. Once this was done, problem was permanently solved.

Rats cut wires / tubes in an attempt to grind and sharpen their teeth. They usually cut wires / tubes at those locations, where they can sit and access that wire / tube with they mouth.

The only thing that can stop them is a stainless-stell mesh. Please note, a GI (Galvanised Iron) mesh looks similar, but is not effective. Rats can cut Copper, GI, aluminium. But they cannot cut stainless steel. General hardware store owners might try to sell you GI mesh even when you ask for stainless steel mesh. You need to ask them 5 times to be sure what he is selling you is really stainless steel mesh :-)

Besides the fact that GI mesh may not be effective, it will also rust in time causing it's own issues. So, make sure you use ONLY Stainless steel mesh. Attached is an image of how I have protected the wires and tubes in my car's engine bay using stainless stell mesh. For small ones, I took out a wire from the mesh and just wrapped the wire.

I did this when rat ruined the wiring harness in my car and I had to pay 17 thousand for the replacement and labour. When I did this, the service center guys had a problem with it. So, I told them, I will take these off, but then next time, rat causes any damage, then they have to pay. Then they reconciled.

Please take care of some important aspects when doing this:
1. Make sure no sharp edge is left pointing inwards towards a harness or tube. When the car moves, it would puncture the harness / tube.
2. Many metal parts of the engine become very hot. Make sure that the mesh is not installed in such a way that it starts conducting that heat towards plastic parts or anything else that could get damaged if such heat is passed on to it.
3. Engine is mounted on rubber mounts and it shakes quite a bit when running, don't install this mesh such that it prevents such free movement of the engine / creates a stress / push / pull in the wires / tubes when the engine moves in this way.

No matter how much you try, you cannot cover entire engine / entire harness / all tubes in this way. As I told, rats cut where they have a position to sit and cut. So, look for such places and protect the wires / tubes at those locations, and you should be good. It has fixed this problem for many years now.

[maddy42]

This monsoon we parked our Ford Figo in the garage which also has the Paddy storage which turned out to be a very bad and expensive mistake. A rat built a nest below the gear lever and has 4 babies in this nest. Nest was built using two car wipe towels, couple of wet wipe cases and a lot of tissue papers!

Along with this nuisance, it has chewed the wiring at multiple places, including the AC wires.

I was of the belief that the rat entered through the Air intake upfront, but the service advisor states, it has come from the rear. Currently getting a steel mesh placed at the entrance to prevent the rat!

FYI was in the car for 5 hours and managed to chew a water bottle after we cleared the nest and its babies out! Holy ratotuile!

The service advisor is advicing on some Ultrasound rat repellant from amazon, anyone has tried this before?

Rat damage cost: 25,000. Next time if anyone advices you to park in a garage which stores food items, just argue or fight like Alexander and do not do it! This is definitely not worth it.

The steel mesh on the pipes and wires is a good idea too and next i have to add the steel mesh to our toyota too as the cabin air filter has a gap big enough for the china man from Oceans Eleven to get into the car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD5uTBjvuTg

Any suggestions is welcome! That no rats in car spray worked, but is a pricey product.

Tobacco leaves do not work!

[maddy42]

To find the nest had to remove the dash to find ac wires were chewed and the wiper wash pipe chewed!

Entry was through the rear. A steel mesh was installed but let’s see if it works

[Thad E Ginathom]

OHMYGOD! That much disassembly. This is really shocking.

Good luck with the new defences.

[maddy42]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

OHMYGOD! That much disassembly. This is really shocking.

Good luck with the new defences.

A foul smell still exists but we are unable to figure from where it is coming. Planning on installing either the Varna rat defense or the Carcat.in audio deterrent.

Total damage just by the rat 20k.

Maddy

[srsriharsha]

Originally Posted by ramnaresh_2000

How is the peppermint oil holding up? I also ordered the same on Amazon. Waiting for delivery. I had seen video on YouTube where they mention to dilute it with water and spray generously over engine bay and wiring. Also will use cotton balls with peppermint oil drops. Many say the smell will last for a week, and then we need to spray again. Any insights on this?

I put the peppermint oil liberally and the rats stayed off for a week or more. Then i was out of City and one i came back i did not put the peppermint oil and a rat hat skinned the headlight wiring. Luckily the contact is not broken and it has only chewed the plastic wrap and the wire lining. I have placed cotton balls with peppermint oil again and also put a few tobacco leaves in engine bay. Also these rats have chewed up the engine lining

Originally Posted by One

A basic question- what do you do after the rat gets trapped, how do you dispose of it? Does one need to open the trap, handle the rat and do something?

Yes, once the rat gets trapped the lever needs to be pulled to release the rat. Can use a cutting plier or a strong hook to release and dispose it. Have cought a total of 5 big rats and 2 small mice till now. Not sure how many of these buggers exist. I am keeping this trap inside our compound in the night for safety and the car is parked outside on the road yet we have a rat land in the trap everytime we set it up.

[Mortis]

I've been parking one car in the garage due to my parking spot becoming inaccessible since my building is covered in scaffolding for repairs.
It's been a few months and guess what ? After the recent heavy rains, rodents have been making merry in the garage. Noticed a lot of fresh rat droppings on the floor and lots of footprints all over the dust in the engine bay. Gave it a thorough check and luckily didn't find any damage whatsoever. I guess since my car is 10 years old whatever attractive compounds are present in the wires and plastics have offgassed which is probably why they weren't nibbled. AC filter, air filter and hood cladding also haven't been nibbled.

Immediately put the rat poison cakes in the corners near the garage shutter and next to each tyre. Also ordered a rat repellent spray with bitterant (Knock Down) and sprayed it liberally around the garage, tyres and engine bay. It has almost zero smell so that's good. Not seen any fresh droppings after that so one of them worked.

Last night rats were climbing the bamboos and trying to enter through the AC pipe hole so today I sprayed the outside area as well

Unfortunately my usual feline security team can't enter the garage as easily as the rats so my primary and most effective anti rodent team has been benched. Nevermind that they have now become fat and lazy because one neighbour has become a cat lover during lockdown and feeds them excessively.

[Anees_Offl]

I am facing the rat menace too for the last 2 years. I have tried different steps/procedures but somehow things don't seem to improve.

The peculiar issue in my place is,

1) the rat always bites the windshield water hose. Luckily it doesn't touch any other wires.

2) Towards the front bumper of the windshield the rat always places a few pieces of sponge. Even though I notice it and remove the sponge, it places regularly. I need to open the bonnet and physically remove it everytime.

What I have done so far,

1) Tried different sprays available in the market. It works for a week or two. But somehow the rats & sponges finds its way.

2) We tried placing the tobacco leaves as well, this also worked for just a month. Subsequently, the issue still persists.

3) With regard to the windshield water hose, I have changed it 3 times in the last 6 months, but within 2 weeks the rats bite the pipe.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Anees_Offl

Towards the front bumper of the windshield the rat always places a few pieces of sponge. Even though I notice it and remove the sponge, it places regularly.

Anees bhai, if I were you, I would be worried about the source of the sponge. The rats obviously pulled them from somewhere in your car. It is some insulation. It is a prelude to more disaster.

[Anees_Offl]

Hi Bro, thank you for the input. We did a lot of thought on it. We are clueless about the source of the sponge. Its an individual house and hence we are unaware of the neighboring place where it takes it from.

[Slush_Traveller]

I think the below solution will give you a peace of mind,
You can opt for wire sleeving or wire coating were they cover 95% of the wires in engine bay with aluminium mesh and then cover it with a black tape. I got it done for my creta from Hyundai workshop for around 6500.
You can refer to the below video on how it looks

https://youtu.be/jI7V0IQKEAY

Engine bay

[Swarup5]

Found this very innovative rat trap. Easy to use and above all keeping a bucket around the car isn't going to be difficult.

On the side note, the channel content creator has tons of videos just to trap mice or rats. This guy sure is obsessed about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHwvVPT202Y

[deepfreak15]

A family of small mice have considered the air intake of my in laws Spresso as home. I would have preferred to put chicken mesh here but I was running short of time and grabbed the nearest net I could. My concern is, has this made the air intake too restrictive?


I'm not too concerned about the mice chewing through the net, if they do they deserve to call that place home.

[renney.varghese]

I have been using the NoRatsInCar spray from over many years now. Tried on all the cars I have owned / used. A complete DIY spray, pleasant smelling and stays longer.
I have experimented with the commonly used Tobacco, the marginally expensive solutions that the dealers provided, and also rat traps. This product has been much more effective than the above methods.
I have used this in my cars at Mumbai, Nashik and also keep sending this to my parents to be used in their car at Kerala. Have also used it on the cars in my neighborhood and office as well. Proved more effective than the other solution for me.
I am not sure of heavily infested zones, and haven't tested it that way (would be suicidal to do that)
Rats are bound to enter the engine bay, but the harm comes when they start to chew. That's specifically what this spray targets.
Damages caused in my cars due to rats: Cut wires, Cut windshield washer tube, Cut Cowl panel and foul smell and rat excreta everywhere.
Need of the hour since most of the cars are standing parked with high fuel costs and WFH scenarios.