Rats destroy wiring of my 2 month old Taigun; fixed by VW for Rs. 6000

The parking camera didn't pop on the screen, and the steering felt heavier than usual. We drove it around and realized everything wasn't right, so we stopped and called the service center.

BHPian MismatchD recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello everyone! I was planning to do an ownership review/mini travelogue of the experiences with our Taigun here, but something else was in store for us to face.

A few days back, after having it idle for around a week, we turned on the car, and heard a loud beep followed by continuous beeps, with (almost) every single warning light on the instrument cluster on and the following messages:

Of course we were flabbergasted, as the car isn't even 2 months old. Hopeful that it was just a glitch, we started the car, and everything seemed to be normal, until we put the gear on reverse. The parking camera didn't pop on the screen, and the steering felt heavier than usual. We drove it around and realized everything wasn't right, so we stopped and called the service center.

In 15 minutes, two people from Volkswagen Madurai arrived and checked the car, and came to the conclusion that it's not possible for all parts to fail and the same time. They open the bonnet and look around and behold, a RAT NEST!

Here's a picture of the rat nest. Sorry for the blurry picture, the nest was inside the wiper frame, and I couldn't capture a good picture.

Our SA told us that we could tow the car to the service center or have one of their service people drive it there. I didn't want to tow the car nor risk someone's life on a faulty vehicle, so the SA told us we could book a flatbed through roadside assistance. Did the same through the toll-free number and the flatbed arrived the next morning.

And off it went to the service center! (Couldn't click a picture as I was away, dad took care of everything)

Both, the sales advisor and the Service Assistant were very responsive and informed us of every step they were doing. This car being our first German, I was quite scared thinking about the bill after reading countless horror stories about German car service costs.

We were informed that only the wiring was damaged, and the final bill amounted to around 6000 Rupees, including additional requests like wire protection, rat repellent coating and car wash. This was a BIG relief, as I was expecting a way bigger bill. Looks like VW 2.0 is doing well on that part.

We had the car delivered to us by this evening, with a perfect job done everywhere, especially the cleaning. Oh boy, I could never match that shine with my cleaning, experts are indeed experts. A big shoutout to Ramani Volkswagen, Madurai for their amazing and fuss-free servicing.

Now that our Taigun is back to its former glory, is there anything I could do to protect it from future rat infestations? I would love to hear some ideas from the community.

Here's what BHPian prabhu7944 had to say on the matter:

Nice to read about the responsiveness of service center. Time-tested idea is placing small bunch of tobacco leaves which you can get from bunk shops and maybe you can change the parking place of your car a bit every now and then.

Here's what BHPian kaushiksudra had ro say on the matter:

Had the same issue a few years back. And it had made a nest in my Ecosport and got simliar issue wherein almost everything stopped working. Not just once, but thrice. Used tobacco as suggested by Bhpian Prabhu. But even that wasnt of much use. The best way is to shift your car to a different location for a few days (if you've an alternate car park that, though not stationary) and park it in reverse one day and other day facing front. Hope it helps. But be careful and vigilant as once they find they just never go away.

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