[BugKiller]

New car with 800 miles was parked two days. Started car and got check coolant msg. Looked under hood and found animal droppings and wires to coolant reserve level sensor chewed thru very close to where they entered the plug, i.e., very hard to splice/solder etc.

Two takeaways:
-- A replacement plug was easy to find via Google (for an ex-electrical engineer; $1.38 each at Mouser Electronics).
-- Wife's contribution: Spray Squirrel Mace (we use it to keep varmints off her fruit trees) under the hood (when cold!), wait a while, then spray under the car on the undercarriage and ground.

Had a similar varmint chewing issue on my '07 SLK55. The dealership said the sensor involved was good and suggested replacing the wiring harness, possible corrosion etc. (all $$$ without id'ing the real problem). My tire shop (Big O) said leave the car with them and they would trouble shoot when things were slow. Two days later they said the had found where wiring had been chewed on, spliced the damaged wires, and charged me $256. Incidentally, my 'garage' then was an old barn and the only way to keep varmints out of such is an animal counter measure like a Jack Russell terrier.

[Turbodu07]

That sucks, sorry to read this.

I had the similar thing happen to me (lucky no wires were chewed).

When I had the break-in service done, they found a mice nest.

I sprayed deterrent where the nest was, around all tires and the entire car (on the ground) put glue traps in the engine compartment when cool (never caught any in the car but many outside the car in my shop.

I think they have moved on because I check often for any droppings and so far it's clean.

Fought this with my old car and it went on forever. I caught many inside the engine compartment with glue traps but I was lucky with no wires being damaged. I never used the deterrent with that car.

Good luck, try everything!

[2011ninja]

I just went through something similar couple months ago.

Mouse ate through a wire that provides information for the fuel guage. Fuel gauge stopped working.

$1,200.00 repair

I still got a little lucky. I was able to make a comprehensive claim with GEICO. Paid the $500 deductible and car was repaired and has since then been stellar.

I’ve since taken some extreme steps to prevent this from happening again.

[pdx]

the sprays, the dryer sheets, and the "irish spring" soap tricks did not work for me.

i added a couple of the Loraffe widgets under the hood, and put a Tomcat bait box on either side of the car.

there have been no repeat $2,800 adventures since november 2020.

[StreetLethal]

I had an issue with this too. Took my car in for an oil change which went smoothly, but they went to reset the oil level indicator (since this car doesn't have a f*cking dipstick) and it wouldn't let them. They started investigating and found a bunch of chewed up wires under the car, and quoted me $3000 in labor to take the front end off so they could replace the wiring. Progressive didn't really know how to handle it when I called to ask, but I think I'm going to file a claim under comprehensive and get it all repaired. Saw an article this morning that there have been increased reports of this type of thing, apparently they attribute it to the soy-based wiring these bastard rats/rabbits like to chew on...

[BEAR-AvHistory-2]

Had my pickups wiring munched by a varmint. Was lucky it was just a few wires I had easy access to so I patched them myself.

[2011ninja]

Originally Posted by StreetLethal

I had an issue with this too. Took my car in for an oil change which went smoothly, but they went to reset the oil level indicator (since this car doesn't have a f*cking dipstick) and it wouldn't let them. They started investigating and found a bunch of chewed up wires under the car, and quoted me $3000 in labor to take the front end off so they could replace the wiring. Progressive didn't really know how to handle it when I called to ask, but I think I'm going to file a claim under comprehensive and get it all repaired. Saw an article this morning that there have been increased reports of this type of thing, apparently they attribute it to the soy-based wiring these bastard rats/rabbits like to chew on...

That’s total BS!

(I was a claims examiner many years ago. You either spoke with someone who takes the first report or a new poorly trained adjuster/examiner.)

They are supposed determine if you’re covered immediately.

I just had a claim with GEICO. A mouse chewed some wires that provide fuel level. It stopped working.

I think total repair was $1200

Geico covered this under comprehensive coverage damage from animal.

Chech the language for comprehensive coverage with Progressive. Unless they have a very rare exclusion for rodent damage you’re covered.

Definitely want to hear back on this one!

Good luck!

[colo3Kid]

Intesting thread. My wife experinced wire destruction under the engine hood of her Missan Maxima, about 12 years ago. It was repaired and I believe she had the policy's comprehensive cover it. Recently and now in a new home the rats have been back this winter and have made nests on top of the engine. She had to park her car outside for a few weeks, during cold weather. But they have made there way into the garage.

Our dog had made "chew toys" out of the plastic parts of the rocker panel and the rear wheel fender area. Got a quote last week for the repair - I may check comp coverage for this damage repair estimate was $1200 this was on my 22 M4CX.

[nosbocaj]

I had this happen years ago to my M2 (thread). I was parking my car outside near a large tree that had tons of squirrel activity. I didn't know there was an issue until I took it in for service and they tried to reset the oil indicator. It ended up being a $2500 repair that took six weeks (new wiring harness had to be ordered from Germany). My comprehensive covered it, so I was just out my deductible. My shop said they would see around a dozen cars a year with similar damage.

My fix was to park across the street 50 yards from the tree. Never had another issue. I also bought some humane animal traps and peppermint oil, but never used them. It sucks, but I don't think there's a 100% solution, except for parking inside a garage.

[SwankPeRFection]

Everyone loves German food… including animals. 😆

[FighterV4]

Originally Posted by SwankPeRFection

Everyone loves German food… including animals. 😆

I saw your screen name and knew it from somewhere other than here but I couldn't place it and then I noticed the S4 under your name. Now the question is do you I recognize you from Audiworld, Audizine or Quattroworld?

[BugKiller]

Update. The Squirrel Mace had no effect. I pulled the engine cover and found a nest made of something 'I fear to know' (looks like sound proofing and includes the BMW parts bar code label in pieces, so I may learn that way). Saw lots of YouTube videos on using peppermint oil, so applied it everywhere. No joy. When I opened the hood I could even hear the critter moving down lower. Put out rat sized sticky traps with cheese, bacon, and chorizo and eggs. It looks like my pets choice was the latter and it knew how to avoid getting stuck! I went nuclear by sealing off the garage with garbage bags and duct tape on vents etc., and opened up the rest of the house. Then I ran the engine in idle for two hours. Seems to have worked. I have two ultrasonic/strobe/odorizer repellent units (Amazon $19) arriving later today.

[deanomytee]

I had the same issue on my wife's brand new car back in 2020 and they migrated over to the Alpina which was parked right next to it. Thankfully, my wife's car took the basically all of the damage and no wiring issues to the Alpina. Round cotton disposable makeup remover pads soaked in peppermint oil worked for a while, but they got used to it. My local SPCA has a program called working cats!!!!! They're cats you can get for free that live outside and that fixed my problem permanently. They're one step above feral cats..... You place food in a designated location an basically they stick around the house and rodent proof it. I basically never see them anymore unless its late at night just chilling in the driveway. Oh.... and my neighbors were very thankful as well. Apparently, they were harboring the fugitives and didn't tell anyone that they couldn't get rid of their problem.

[SwankPeRFection]

Originally Posted by FighterV4

I saw your screen name and knew it from somewhere other than here but I couldn't place it and then I noticed the S4 under your name. Now the question is do you I recognize you from Audiworld, Audizine or Quattroworld?

Lol. Audizine

[RPM33]

Originally Posted by 2011ninja

I just went through something similar couple months ago.

Mouse ate through a wire that provides information for the fuel guage. Fuel gauge stopped working.

$1,200.00 repair

I still got a little lucky. I was able to make a comprehensive claim with GEICO. Paid the $500 deductible and car was repaired and has since then been stellar.

I’ve since taken some extreme steps to prevent this from happening again.

Have you checked to see if your insurance premium has gone up due to a claim?

[G07xG80]

What a total nightmare. I'm constantly checking the garage and under the hood to make sure I don't have this issue. I try and clean out the garage and declutter every few weeks. Only found mice droppings one time in 2 years so hopefully they have moved on.