Damages that Rodents and Other Pests Can Do to Cars

I wanted to share a story that happened in our shop today while my personal vehicle was getting serviced. My manufacturer recommends oil changes every 10,000 miles and based on our years of experience we recommend no more than every 5,000 miles for many reasons. One of them being that a technician should be inspecting your vehicle regularly.

Yesterday while my car was receiving its 75,000 mile service our technician found a rodent nest atop my engine compartment! We have seen rodents do thousands of dollars in damage to vehicles – even prompting home owners insurance claims! I would have never known the little critter was making its home in my vehicle for the winter…but because I get my car serviced every 5,000 miles we were able to remove it and take preventative measures to discourage it. Had I have waited another 5,000 miles…that rodent would have likely spent those months chewing through the engine cover (he/she already did some damage to the inside of the cover) and making a meal out of important wires under the hood.

There are ways to prevent this – one of them being having your vehicle regularly serviced and inspected. Here are some other ways to keep critters from making a home out of your engine…

• Avoid parking or storing cars or trucks in areas with rodent problems, especially wooded areas or tall grass. Instead park or store your car on gravel or pavement -placing a bucket of mothballs under it or sprinkling fox urine powder around it might help, too
• Remove any food sources from vehicles
• Place deterrents such as cedar wood, dog hair, human hair, or peppermint oil inside
• Set mouse traps inside the vehicle to catch any rodents that enter – or try reputable sound repellant devices
• Put Decon or other rodent poison around the perimeters of your garage
• Open the hood of a parked car to eliminate the dark, warm environment that mammals seek when building a nest

If you’d like to get your car checked for critters, request an appointment with Clark’s Car Care in Naperville, IL, now!