Notice a strange smell in your car or signs of chewing or nesting? Mice or other rodents could be making themselves at home inside your vehicle, chewing on wires and causing damage.
Scratches, chewed wire, droppings, urine and nesting materials: If you’ve noticed these telltale signs, there may be furry visitors shacking up in your car.
“Mice are dirty. Certainly, there are respiratory health concerns. But not to mention, they just tear the car up,” said Michael Crossen, with Consumer Reports.
Crossen maintains testing vehicles for Consumer Reports. That means he has the unenviable job of cleaning up after mice get inside, often through the air vents.
“We noticed some debris down on the floor of the vehicle, a little bit of a smell,” Crossen said. “We went right to the pollen filter and sure enough, that’s where we found the mouse’s little home.”
If you suspect a problem, take your car outside and clean and inspect the vehicle.
“We want to clean it up and disinfect it,” Crossen said. “We need to take care of any repairs that need to be done due to the mouse being in the car. And then we need to prevent it from happening in the future.”
Deal with the mess using protective gloves, disinfectant spray, and disposable towels.
“You definitely don’t want to use a vacuum cleaner because it turns all that stuff into airborne contaminants and then you can breathe them in and cause respiratory problems,” Crossen said. “Then you want to disinfect the area, replace that pollen filter with a brand new one and put everything back together.”
If you see any wires where the coating has been chewed through, your car might not be safe to drive. Consider hiring a mechanic to come take a closer look.
“There are things you can do to prevent this from happening in the future. There are peppermint oil pouches that you can put inside your vehicle, and there’s also a tape that actually has capsaicin in it. That’s the hot part of a chili pepper. If they try to chew on the wiring, they hate the way it tastes and they go find somewhere else to live.”
Remember to keep your car clean of food debris. If you park in a garage, keep the door sealed tight and put mouse traps around. Plus, if you move your car regularly, it’s less likely that mice will move in.