Mice & rat problems
 

Mice persist in trying to live in all my cars which are parked outside any ideas about deterring them?

Running the engines, pressure washing, ultra sound and cats reduce the problem but it persists. They wrecked the inside of a restored daimler250, eating through cables, fuel pipe, carpets, seats etc.While the 75s & zts even though regularly used are having nests under the bonnet & nibbled cables.

The source of the mice is the neighbours large garden which has a deep ground cover which hasn't been cleared for years.
Sadly there isn't much chance of any change there.

I don't want to put poison down because of the cats willingness to eat the mice they do catch. Any ideas

This has been a problem for many folks and businesses alike for many years, and in terms of answers for dealing with it - seem to be very few.
Mercedes had problems with some of their vehicle storage areas a few years ago where rodent ingress was an issue, engine bay and interior wiring was munched, although the vehicles would run ok initially, the damage was already done, my parents car suffered with this on their E class 220 cdi. Injector wiring was all but ruined, MB treated it as a customer issue, and was happy to deal with it at £120 labour an hour. My Father told them to not bother, we dealt with it ourselves and replaced the wiring with our trusty soldering iron and heatshrink. My current workplace is a disued steelworks, and much industry has moved into the area, much nature has been disturbed locally allowing an increase of visitors of all types, largely uncontrollable with it. We see cars with engine and transmission errors on a regular basis, the funny side is seen by us, but for the business it is a real problem, and costs are significant. Many of the rodents build nests inside gloveboxes and use the service history and driver packs as bedding, so impossible to read at this stage. It looks like confetti ! Howver at this place, there is a level of encouragement - uneaten foods and red-bull spills alongside discarded rubbish left in the cars, windows left open, boots left open along with bonnets left up, various condirtions are favourable for the rodents to explore and they will find comfort there as well as forming their unique exit when required. There seems to be some recognition regarding this problem based on a Google search, but no definative cure or long term fix for this issue.

Peppermint oil keeps them away.


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I'm not really a cat person so this may not work, but how about putting a cat on a long lead tied to the car at the other end? :}

Better remember to untie the cat before you set off or its gonna get more exercise than it was planning for.

My motor was in to have the rear shocks replaced recently, and he said mice had been living in my boot - I can't quite figure out how they got in there, as there's no obvious entry point, and they don't appear to have been anywhere else in the car.


Until recently, I had an enormous Maine Coon cat, but they learned his habits, and how to work round them to avoid him...


The peppermint oil sounds like a possible winner :shrug:

Mate of mine had a taxi business, based in an office at a local golf club. He got a big Fiat minibus which spent most of its time parked at the office. He started getting electrical problems, booked in to to Fiat for a warranty examination/repair. The garage phoned him to come in, rats had been at the wiring . . . . that ain't covered by the warranty!

Contact your local council regarding your neighbours garden condition. Chris.S.

I went to a customers car and the wiring loom for the injectors was made of odd bits of spare wire! Mice had eaten the wiring during lockdown! The engine was covered in an orange powder and I asked was it the remnants of the soundproofing. No replied the lady its chilli powder! Hadnt had a problem since.:}

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/292804335368


Sticky coating worked for me against the mice eating from the under bonnet insulation! Every couple of months some spraying and no more problems since.