First significant problem with LR AWD after 2 years and 28k miles

[Roger61]

Rodent damage.

I hit a Pheasant that jumped out of the hedgerow and got stage fright. Required front bumper repair.


And ran over a fresh kill fox - side of car looked liked someone had thrown a litre of red paint over the passenger side doors.

 

[TangoDiva]

My dad's M3 has already fallen victim to this as well. The first casualty of his desert lifestyle was a honda element (which is when we learned they were using a soy based wire cover) which I helped him fix, because my hands are smaller ;-) and his Prius twice (in a month!) at more than $500 each time. Packrats are the problem in his case. I shudder every time I stay over night there. Garaging is best, but for guests he has a light strip that you pull over and it flashes all night. Motion activated strobes might be even better. So far, so good though. (my profile pic is actually parked in front of his garage)

 

[ZWinters]

There is a guy on YouTube that has a real love/hate relationship with tesla. He bought a used X and there was a family of rats in the engine area. The guys at the electric garage said this was common and they are ex tesla employees.

You gave. A home to that squirrel or rat. Its good for the environment lol

It turned out to be what Tesla called rodent damage. We actually think it may have been a squirrel based on where the car stopped running. I've never had rodent damage to any car over the last 40+ years of car ownership. Do Teslas have particularly tasty wiring? They repaired the wiring harness near the front drive unit. It cost $232.50. They initially thought they were going to have to replace the harness, but then decided to repair it.

Here's a picture.
View attachment 607855

 

[ZWinters]

This is one the videos. Rats in the

My dad's M3 has already fallen victim to this as well. The first casualty of his desert lifestyle was a honda element (which is when we learned they were using a soy based wire cover) which I helped him fix, because my hands are smaller ;-) and his Prius twice (in a month!) at more than $500 each time. Packrats are the problem in his case. I shudder every time I stay over night there. Garaging is best, but for guests he has a light strip that you pull over and it flashes all night. Motion activated strobes might be even better. So far, so good though. (my profile pic is actually parked in front of his garage)

 

[lw03tor]

Anyone have any advice for those of us living in squirrel country? We're planning to put up a carport just to keep the squirrel poop off, but have been worried about possible damage. Haven't had it in the past, but we've got some nasty ones here, and any helpful hints would be appreciated.

I had a chalet in snow country and squirrels got at a snowmobile. Put several moth balls in strategic places. No more problems.

 

[boxer93]

My son used ultrasonic deterrents for mice over the summer in NM and had good luck. May work for squirrels if there is a spot to plug them in. He bought a no-name product from Amazon (3 pack).

 

[fpatton]

I haven’t had any issues with either of our Model Ss, which are parked outside, but a rat decided to nest in my Dodge Challenger’s engine, and ate the serpentine belt. Apparently, they like the warmth of the engine. No problems since trading it for the Tesla though. I don’t think I would remember to plug in a rodent scarer every night...

 

[STEWIE 911]

On "wish" they have an ultrasonic rat repeller based on ultrasonic sound waves. Listed for $22.00 .
Recommended by a friend , but have yet to purchase.

 

[thewallaby]

I am sure he is happy a serious car fault only cost 230 to fix given it was animal damage and not warranty. VW would have charged 250 to diagnose alone and I'm sure many other mnfr the same.

Any decent diagnostic or plainly lift of the car would show the issue in 20 minutes. 250 dollars for 20 minutes job, what are they pretending to be now, heart surgeons?

 

[thewallaby]

What makes me wonder the most though, besides the ridiculous hour prices they charge, is why do so many Teslas are being eaten by rodents? Or is it happening to other cars but because they are not in the spotlight we never hear about it? Or does Tesla use especially tasty recycled plastics? I genuinely wonder what the issue is here. Never had a car in the past 20+ years that had a rodent issue... maybe because they find easily proper food where i live.... i am just guessing at this point.

 

[SteveBaker]

It turned out to be what Tesla called rodent damage. We actually think it may have been a squirrel based on where the car stopped running.

I have to tell you a story about that...

Back before I was a Tesla fanatic - I was a MINI Cooper fanatic. One morning my car had that kind of damage - I was able to limp to the dealership on Saturday with all manner of exciting warning lights flashing.

It was a MINI/BMW/Cadillac dealership - but the MINI guys weren't working on weekends back then. I chatted with the BMW guy - and I said "I think my cables have been chewed by rats". He replied "Oh no sir! At BMW we always tell people it's "Squirrels" - it sounds so much nicer!" ...and then from the far corner of the showroom, the Cadillac guy yells "MINK...it's mink that chew the wires on our cars!"

On Monday when they did get to fixing the wiring - the MINI guy laughed and said..."No, here at MINI, it's definitely rats."

It's comforting that the rigorously science-based Tesla guys say "Rodents" - it's a nice compromise!

And that's the truth - squirrels nest in trees - but rats (and to a lesser degree mice) do like a nice warm, dry place to nest...and they're quite happy to strip some cable insulation to make their nests. Get some rat poison and push it up against your tires when you park at night...problem should solve itself very quickly.

The big concern with the MINI was that the rat had chewed through the airbag wiring and there was a risk of the airbag going off when it shouldn't.

 

[TomT]

I can't remember the last time I had a car with a carburetor... Certainly last century.

Tesla has eliminated one issue I had, there's no carburetor for the creatures to nest in!

 

[Koolio46]

About $175 per hour I think is teslas SC shop rates, at least where I am in California.

The Tesla SC rate is $195 / hour in MA...so $230 to diagnose and repair it ain't bad at all. Like someone said earlier, other manufacturers would've charged at least 1 hour just to diagnose it plus an additional 1-x hours to fix it.

 

[XLR82XS]

The big concern with the MINI was that the rat had chewed through the airbag wiring and there was a risk of the airbag going off when it shouldn't.

How would an airbag deploy if the connection to it is terminated?

 

[jjrandorin]

What makes me wonder the most though, besides the ridiculous hour prices they charge, is why do so many Teslas are being eaten by rodents? Or is it happening to other cars but because they are not in the spotlight we never hear about it? Or does Tesla use especially tasty recycled plastics? I genuinely wonder what the issue is here. Never had a car in the past 20+ years that had a rodent issue... maybe because they find easily proper food where i live.... i am just guessing at this point.

it totally happens to other cars. Even in this thread, people are mentioning their hondas etc, and I can tell you that on the BMW boards i used to frequent, this was a big issue for people that park outside. Most of the manufacturers went to some sort of soy based wrap around their wiring harnesses that rodents liked to chew.

I had a co worker that had this happen to his motorcycle parked in his garage. So, no this is not a "tesla" problem. It depends on where one parks, how much they invest in things like repellants etc (I have rodent bait traps around my home that my pest control person puts down) and how inviting the car is to the animal vs what else is around (and how much in "nature" one lives, in some cases).

 

[RedTesY]

I've always cursed auto makers for not being aware of, and designing to prevent, rodent damage. It's very common and costly. My only success has been to put a piece of 1/4" "hardware cloth" (metal screen) over the top of the cabin air filter in my 2006 Highlander Hybrid (recently sold). At least this kept the mice and native wood rats from getting inside the car. Still had to repair damage in the engine compartment, and most of the soundproofing has been chewed up for nesting material. Agh! Trapping and removing other food sources and nesting sites has helped some. I've tried some repellants, but none were successful, and some I could not tolerate the smell of!

 

[GM EV1]

It turned out to be what Tesla called rodent damage. We actually think it may have been a squirrel based on where the car stopped running. I've never had rodent damage to any car over the last 40+ years of car ownership. Do Teslas have particularly tasty wiring? They repaired the wiring harness near the front drive unit. It cost $232.50. They initially thought they were going to have to replace the harness, but then decided to repair it.

Here's a picture.
View attachment 607855

I had a similar thing happen with my Chevy van several years ago. I left it parked outside for a month while away. A chipmunk took up residence and ate some wire. Many systems acted up. Some automotive wire is now made with tasty soy based insulation rather than older petroleum base plastics.Thankfully, not as bad as the guy I knew who had a muskrat eat a hole in his outdrive boot that sunk his boat

 

[SteveBaker]

How would an airbag deploy if the connection to it is terminated?

I presume if it shorted to some other wire with voltage on it? I don't know. But in any bundle of wires, there's pretty sure to be one at ground voltage and another at 12v or whatever - so when a wire is shorted to some other wire - then more or less anything is possible.

 

[SpartyTM3]

I’ve always parked my cars in our garage and still had mice building a nest around the air filter of our Prius. It was during winter and apparently they love the warmth of that area. The odor from their bathroom needs also had to be removed!

 

[SteveBaker]

it totally happens to other cars. Even in this thread, people are mentioning their hondas etc, and I can tell you that on the BMW boards i used to frequent, this was a big issue for people that park outside. Most of the manufacturers went to some sort of soy based wrap around their wiring harnesses that rodents liked to chew.

I had a co worker that had this happen to his motorcycle parked in his garage. So, no this is not a "tesla" problem. It depends on where one parks, how much they invest in things like repellants etc (I have rodent bait traps around my home that my pest control person puts down) and how inviting the car is to the animal vs what else is around (and how much in "nature" one lives, in some cases).

I heard that in cold weather, the residual warmth in the engine compartment of a gasoline car is what attracts the rodents - but with an electric car - you'd think that wouldn't be the case. But evidently, it's still an issue.