Another reason to beware of rats : Car’s wires get gnawed!

Early this morning, my car started vibrating abnormally when I switched on the ignition key. Quite alarmed, I first believed that the cold night was probably to be blamed and that everything will get back to normal after a few kilometers. But the vibration did not stop. Even at a stand-still, its presence could easily be felt!

Visit to the car dealership

When I gave a call to the car dealership, I was requested to drive there for an inspection. After opening the car’s engine compartment and removing the engine’s cover, I could not believe my eyes!

As you can see above, there were pieces of bread in the engine compartment! That’s it!

These damages to the car wiring explained the car’s abnormal state. One or more rats have been messing around and they had also bitten wires, including the one circled in red:

After a quick look at the wires, I was informed that the wires were not that bad damaged but nevertheless, the reparations would cost around Rs6,000.

Similar cases

Several car owners have got the same problem in the past and some of them even had to spend over nearly Rs 100,000 to replace the entire car wiring! I was also told that one of the customers’s car was grounded for several weeks because his dog had badly damaged the car wiring while trying to chase rats under the car.

Vehicles are more prone to rat attacks during winter because these animals will look for every possible place to hide from the cold. And a warm (or hot) car boot is like paradise to them. This explains why in my case, the rat(s) has / have carried several pieces of breadcrumbs into the car!

What can you do to prevent this to your vehicle?

You might be one of the greatest protector and defender of animals but believe me, I don’t think that you will think about their well being if ever they ‘attack’ your vehicle costing hundreds of thousands of rupees (or even, millions in some cases). Unfortunately, you can’t just gather all of them and request them to stay away from your valuable asset, especially during the forthcoming winter months.

Unless you plan to keep an army of cats to guard your vehicle from these nuisances, some other ways to protect your vehicle are :

• Use rat poison but be careful. They can be poisonous to other animals, for example, dogs…
• In your garage, install electrical mice repellent which emit ultrasound waves to keep mice and rats far away. I even read that it was possible to connect them to your car battery so that it automatically switches on once your vehicle is not in use.
• Spray rats repellent anti-nuisible spray around your engine compartment and tyres.
  For example, the one shown below can be purchased for around Rs200 in car gadget shops, supermarkets or car spare parts shops. Car dealerships can also sell these to their customers. It is advisable to spray it very regularly, depending on the amount of threat your vehicle is subject to, lol.

Some last words…

This simple wires reparation was not that cheap but fortunately for me, the damages were not that critical. And of course, car repairs at the dealership cost more (and also, because of the warranty). For now, I won’t say which car I drive or since how long since I have been carefully keeping this secret for some time now. And if you are the lucky ones who know about this, please keep silent 🙂

It is worth mentioning that if ever such repairs had cost a fortune, you can opt to go for your car insurance if it is has a “Tous riques” cover. From what I heard, some insurance agencies do cover this specific reparation cost. So, do give a call to your insurance agent if needed.

I’ve never imagined that this could have happened to my car. And for most of you reading this article, you never though that this was possible too. But yes, it did happen. If you fear that rats might cause the same problem, then you should probably think about using one or several of the above proposed solutions to protect your vehicle.

Don’t hesitate to share this article to spread the word!