Rodent damage

[pgkevet]

I got a call this am that the power steering failure on my S is due to rodents..wiring harness replacements over £2.3K and I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop re having been towed and hire car...
Reality is that this is a farm and no rodent proof enclose possible (it gets parked in the yard). My previous car did have one bit of nibble on a plastic trim piece (£7.50p).
If it happens again (heaven forbid) then Tesla will have to go and get swapped either for something cheap or soemthing high off the ground so there's less hiding places (from the cats) underneath....
Ultrasonic repellers aren't reported as effective but for a few squid worth sticking one in a waterproof case underneath.....bugger.

 

[j1mgg]

That's *sugar* to hear, what kind of cars have you had in the past, similar clearance, or do you usually get a cross-over/4x4.

Basically, is it poor Tesla design, or you have changed style of car?

 

[pgkevet]

That's *sugar* to hear, what kind of cars have you had in the past, similar clearance, or do you usually get a cross-over/4x4.

Basically, is it poor Tesla design, or you have changed style of car?

I've got my aged 200sx which gets parked under cover further away from the main barn - never damaged. Previous car was a GT86 so also quite low but the damaged part on that was one of the plastic drain covers under the windscreen from the outside. Wife had an Xtrail and now Qashqai undamaged (but she hardly uses it). I'm sure it's down to nice warm places to shelter in the cold...so parking a car with a hot engine or presumably a plugged in Tesla...
Without seeing the amount of damage it's impossible to guess whether replaced wiring harness at tesla prices was necessary as opposed to splicing out a couple of bits of chewed wire.

 

[Mark_T]

Sadly since wiring insulation shifted to using soy based materials to help meet waste directives, the incidence of rodent damage seems to have increased...

 

[IanB]

Option 3, fill the barn with cats who don’t get fed much.

 

[Plagued]

I've got my aged 200sx which gets parked under cover further away from the main barn - never damaged.

Yea, but it'd be hard to distinguish between rodent damage and usual Nissan wiring failure
The inlaws had a rat climb into the engine bay of their camper and eat it's way in through the firewall behind the dash and then into the camper.
The damage was amazing, there were huge bite marks out of just about everything including the battery and it must have eaten at least 50% of the loom behind the dash before finding a bottle of cooking oil which it drank and then ate the bottle.
The camper ended up getting written off.
I'm not sure what you can do to prevent that sort of thing without parking you car in one of those inflatable bubbles.... which would probably get eaten with the first night ... a flaming moat around the car?

 

[jmaddr]

That’s a pretty expensive fix. See if your insurance will cover this without raising rates. I had an Audi S5 that had the under engine heat shields and padding eaten away by fruit rats in Florida so it’s not just a farm thing. Luckily only cosmetic.

 

[Adopado]

That’s a pretty expensive fix. See if your insurance will cover this without raising rates.

I'm afraid I have to say ha ha and ha to that one! The insurance company now knows that you are parking in an area where there is the prospect of further damage. They probably won't even want the business and will be happy to raise their rates until you cut and run. Sorry to be so pessimistic but the idea of a UK insurance company being helpful in this sort of situation is not to be expected.

 

[pgkevet]

I'm afraid I have to say ha ha and ha to that one! The insurance company now knows that you are parking in an area where there is the prospect of further damage. They probably won't even want the business and will be happy to raise their rates until you cut and run. Sorry to be so pessimistic but the idea of a UK insurance company being helpful in this sort of situation is not to be expected.

Yeah, I wasn't planning on trying that on. I might just be worth it if it happenned again and one was dumping the tesla for a cheap car and cheap insurance.....rather puts me off my plans for a Roadster...

 

[PagodaY]

Thanks for the heads up on rodent damage. My cars have been plagued by rodent damage over the years. I've taken to placing traps (mouse) inside the car and have been successful in prevent further seat/insulation/filter damage. I'll continue the regimen with my MY.

 

[araxara]

Here in Arizona we have problems with pack rats. I park in my garage and don’t have any problems, but some neighbors that park outside have resorted to placing lights under their cars at night. I don’t know how effective that is, but the idea is that rodents are nocturnal and don’t like being around lights.

 

[pgkevet]

The barn rats around here are pretty ubiquitous... see them in daylight too. Not helped by my wife thinking they're cute and feeding them. She has at least agreed to put the food well away from any car areas. she feeds the wild pheasants, assorted small birds, her hens, 4 stray cats, 9 stray sheep......It doesn't help..
I don't think lights would help. Ultrasonic deterrant are reported crappy too but for the few squid they cost I'll stick the most powerful one I can source under there. Just need to make it weatherproof.

 

[Leilani]

Option 3, fill the barn with cats who don’t get fed much.

 

[pgkevet]

A sympthetic call from tesla today - part way through replacing the wiring loom they found damage to an aircon sensor and pipe... add another £1K to the mounting bill.....and further delay..

 

[cfcubed]

... some neighbors that park outside have resorted to placing lights under their cars at night...

...I don't think lights would help. Ultrasonic deterrant are reported crappy too but for the few squid they cost I'll stick the most powerful one I can source under there. Just need to make it weatherproof.

Somewhat active on other forums, just joined here. Here's my experiences combating rodents in vehicles outside.
The only things I found to work against them are frequent use or light.

ICE-related experiences: Have a little-used truck outside used for towing & one winter critters decided to make it their home. Grasses, leaves, etc packed under the hood, caught it before a fire. Cleaned thoroughly & re-wrapped some wires, underhood tried peppermint oil - no effect - critters back within a week, cleaned & added two 12V sonic repellers - no effect - critters back within a week. Finally added two bright 12v LEDs + timer w/15 sec on / 4 min off duty cycle underhood, 2 yrs & no critters. 15W or so cigarette lighter solar panel on dash maintains charge. I've no outside outlets close otherwise would have rigged up a weatherproof LED droplight w/similar duty cycle to drive over when parked. Drive truck every week or two so it gets use.

TL;DR - Think rodent prevention falls into two categories; deter (scent, sound, light) or kill (traps, cats, baits, etc). Light is the only deterrent that worked for me. Other scent based deterrents or stronger sonic ones might work. IMO once critters build a nest their smells & habit make them return. Traps & baits are a PITA to maintain & questionable outside as they could impact non-target species. And our Teslas present unique issues because more areas are shielded, inaccessible, perfect critter homes plus you wouldn't want to tap their 12V like I did for ICE vehicle.

Good luck & please post back with your experiences at combatting them.

 

[pgkevet]

I do have outside weatherproof outlets so no harm in adding an led floodlight under there on your recommendation as well as the strongest ultrasonic repellant I have sourced.
I have asked for a chance to chat with the techs when i (finally) collect to see if they figured the access to see if I can come up with a rodent-proofing. Whatever solutions I try will be an unavoidable PITA 'cos it'll have to be moved into/out off position each time car used. Car gets used most days so not just left idle BUT one issue has to be that when charging it presumably gets cosy warm from a rat perspective..

 

[MrBadger]

I feel for you. We had (hopefully past tense) that seemed to find a way round the roof. Recently, had front of the electric consumer - it/they seemed to have found a way into that via the cavity and had filled the inside of the CU with insulation beads - to cap it off, one wire had been chewed. A fire waiting to happen.

As for deterrence, car parked on chicken wire connected to a type 2 might do it... not sure about safety though

 

[cfcubed]

I do have outside weatherproof outlets so no harm in adding an led floodlight under there on your recommendation as well as the strongest ultrasonic repellant I have sourced.
I have asked for a chance to chat with the techs when i (finally) collect to see if they figured the access to see if I can come up with a rodent-proofing. Whatever solutions I try will be an unavoidable PITA 'cos it'll have to be moved into/out off position each time car used. Car gets used most days so not just left idle BUT one issue has to be that when charging it presumably gets cosy warm from a rat perspective..

Sounds like a good plan to me & yep critters like warm in colder weather.
Maybe your ultrasonic repeller would work alone? The problem is a failed test could be expensive (again).
My reservation WRT always-on LED under car is that, though it would repel some critters it might attract others like bugs, though I've heard LEDs / some LEDs don't. Could attract pests like neighbors too For my truck, if I'd an outside outlet, I'd consider a "Short Period Repeat Cycle Intermittent Timer" (AMZN) in weatherproof enclosure to duty cycle the light & maybe ultrasonic thing too, starting with like 10 secs/min... That's what I started with prior to pulling back to 15 secs per 4 mins.
Thinking the pulse could frighten more than constant on, only a guess tho.

As for deterrence, car parked on chicken wire connected to a type 2 might do it... not sure about safety though

Yes, some DIY shocker bits around and just stumbled on this likely expensive "RatMat".. Says its good indoors or out. No idea what it'd cost or even if its really available but had fun watching their rat avoid it:

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Thanks for the heads up on rodent damage. My cars have been plagued by rodent damage over the years. I've taken to placing traps (mouse) inside the car and have been successful in prevent further seat/insulation/filter damage. I'll continue the regimen with my MY.

"What's that rattling sound?"
"That's not rattling, it's rat killing."

 

[.jg.]

When I lived in Germany, I learnt that many folk there have problems with pine martens (Marder) chewing through wiring, pipes and other components on vehicles. I didn't have problems on my own cars but I understand that high voltage repellent systems (like a miniature cattle fence) are effective - this sort of thing:
SWISSINNO Anti-Marten Car Protection - Electric Shock + Ultrasound