[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by GTO

Won't work Naren. It was effective only in older cars which had simpler engine bays. Today's cars offer enough hiding places (e.g. under the engine cover) even if bonnet is open.

To those still looking for a solution, see my post here. Touch wood, 3 months up and seems to be keeping the li'l rascals away.

This method is working very well for me . Whenever I forget to open bonnet, I could see foot prints of rat on engine cover. Rats prefer new cars for some reason. I am worried about my S-Cross 1.6. It has sponge and thermocoal covering on engine to reduce NVH. Rats would love to chew this along with wires. I had horrible experience of rat getting into blower unit. Now I have placed custom made metal mesh under wiper compartment to prevent rat access to blower unit in SX4.

This method is not convenient for many. There are various drawbacks like safety. Recently we built a fully closed garage to park 4 more cars. Current garage can accommodate only 3. I am sure not even a mosquito could enter new garage, forget rats .

[somrajaec]

Guys...need your help urgently !! My brio has been attacked by rat and seems on the pipes leading to car engine has been chewed badly . I have attached the picture. I am from bangalore, and need to know how much will it cost me to repair and what will be best way to protect the bonnet

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Got myself two cans of SWE Rat repellent and sprayed it generously in the engine compartment of my X3 and Polo.

Precautions to be taken :

• Do not spray on hot engine. Engine must be completely cooled down
• Do not start the engine until the coating has dried. I sprayed it at night and by morning it had dried and the coating is quite visible
• Advisable to wipe off dirt with a wet sponge and dry off with a drying towel so that the engine is as clean as possible before applying the product.

Adding to the above precaution list.

• Make sure you cover the car's body panels and windshield with news papers or some kind of sheets before spraying.

The spray forms on a coating on the area sprayed on. So loose/ fine droplets that get thrown up settle down on the body and glass areas to form a kind of coating of sorts. Now those areas feel rough when felt by hand. The coating is not soluble in water so washing won't help. I have a bottle of (Meguair's?) bug and tar remover. Will try cleaning up with that and see its able to dissolve it.

[abhayankara]

Originally Posted by somrajaec

Guys...need your help urgently !! My brio has been attacked by rat and seems on the pipes leading to car engine has been chewed badly . I have attached the picture. I am from bangalore, and need to know how much will it cost me to repair and what will be best way to protect the bonnet

1. Get your interiors cleaned thoroughly, regularly.
2. Always clear all foodstuff from your car. This will ensure rats are not attracted to the car.
3. Put a few naphthalene tablets inside the car interiors, on the battery stand. Refill this whenever required.
4. Clean up the area around the car and make sure there is no garbage lying around.
5. Put tobacco leaf inside the bonnet where ever possible. You may have to change them every month.
6. Put some hot pepper around the area where the rats are living. Place some substance in the area where they are chewing up wiring.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by abhayankara

3. Put a few naphthalene tablets inside the car interiors

Probably not in the cabin; this stuff is poisonous

6. Put some hot pepper ...

Can we use chilli powder?

(giggling, thinking of the rats: "Mmmmm! Curried wire tonight! )

[abhayankara]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Probably not in the cabin; this stuff is poisonous

Yes I agree. It is very dangerous/poisonous, so should be kept in a place where it is out of reach from the children's.

[/quote]
Can we use chilli powder?

(giggling, thinking of the rats: "Mmmmm! Curried wire tonight! )[/quote]

I meant using some pepper spray, Rats hate that smell.

[Mortis]

Seriously get cats. Its the best solution for rats. Hungry cats who are fed occasionally so that they hang around your car, but not enough so that they ignore the rats because they are well fed

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by Mortis

Seriously get cats. Its the best solution for rats. Hungry cats who are fed occasionally so that they hang around your car, but not enough so that they ignore the rats because they are well fed

Cats would kill rats. But cats would jump on the car and make scratches everywhere.

I used to keep the bonnet open. Now I have a fully closed garage and parked all my new cars there. It is also used as store room for coconut, arecanut etc . Since it's fully closed all the time, 100 percent rat protection guaranteed .

[SRK72]

My Liva is parked under a tree and of late I find lot of rat poops inside the cabin, boot area and engine bay. Not sure how they manage to get into the cabin. Coins kept near the dashboard had magically shifted into the boot!! looks like the rats are upto something.
Tried keeping tobacco leaves everywhere but still they enter the cabin and leave unwanted evidence of their presence. Any suggestions as to where they may be entering the cabin from?

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by SRK72

My Liva is parked under a tree and of late I find lot of rat poops inside the cabin, boot area and engine bay. Not sure how they manage to get into the cabin. Coins kept near the dashboard had magically shifted into the boot!! looks like the rats are upto something. Tried keeping tobacco leaves everywhere but still they enter the cabin and leave unwanted evidence of their presence. Any suggestions as to where they may be entering the cabin from?

Are you sure you didn't inadvertently leave a door/window/hatch either fully or partially open? That's the only way they can get into the cabin.

Rats are know to get into the AC duct via the engine bay if the fresh air vent is open. But then the louvres/grilles should prevent them from getting into the cabin.

I'd also take a quick look under the bonnet to assess if there's any damage.

[SRK72]

Hi R2D2, the windows are always rolled up. Also the a/c vent is kept in recirculation mode. Tried checking various possibilities, but unable to figure out how they enter.

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

Cats would kill rats. But cats would jump on the car and make scratches everywhere.

I used to keep the bonnet open. Now I have a fully closed garage and parked all my new cars there. It is also used as store room for coconut, arecanut etc . Since it's fully closed all the time, 100 percent rat protection guaranteed .

Mine dont climb on the car at all, not even on the tires. They usually sit under or on the garden wall just behind the car parking. I thought it might be because of the wall, they get a place to sit so they stay away from the car itself but they dont seem to sit on any of the other cars also. Cats generally dont scratch as much as dogs I feel because their claws are retractable.

[batman]

Guys, any easy method to get rid of a lizard, that had entered into the car (Skoda Rapid). My wife drives it to her office; Today while leaving her office, it had jumped into the car, when she opened the back door, for keeping her things on the seat.

She is so scared of lizards! But somehow she managed to reach home.

After she reached home, I tried to locate it and noticed it was in the rear seat floor mat. Before, I could take the mat out, it moved to the front and somewhere hiding in the area around floor pedals, which made my wife, even more scary!!

Any solution?

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by batman

Any solution?

Yes! I have an idea... leave the door open, and put a small, bright light nearby.

Insects will come to the light, and lizards know that, so they will go there too.

You could advise your wife as to the absolute harmlessness of the poor lizard, but I haven't had much success in doing that with mine.

EDIT...

Second idea. The last time I had to remove a lizard from somewhere, I got it to run onto a cloth and then, whoosh, whipped out the cloth very sharply, bringing the lizard with it.

[SRK72]

Maybe you can try using a powerful vacuum cleaner to suck the lizard out of the car cabin.