🐭 In the winter, rodents may seek warmth inside your car

🐭 Infestations can cause thousands of dollars in damages

🐭 Insurance companies are not covering such damage


When the bitter cold and winter storms hit New Jersey, that’s when animals like to seek warm shelter.

One of the warmest places for rats and mice to hunker down in a storm is inside our cars.

So, if your car doesn’t start, it may not be a dead battery. It could be rodent damage, said Ken Huening, an electrical engineer, and CEO and founder of Cover Seal.

Huening is no stranger to rodents in his car, having had his BMW I8 invaded twice by rodents costing him damages to the tune of $25,000 total.

He says rodents go into our cars before there are many nooks and crannies that they can reside in, feed, nest, and protect themselves. Plus, after we’re done driving our cars, they are nice and warm.

Rodents can cause extensive car damage (Canva)
Rodents can cause extensive car damage (Canva)
loading...

Rodent Car Damage

If you’re not sure if your car has rodent damage, check under the hood first. The evidence may be clear.

You’ll see signs of them like rodent droppings, bits of acorn, and things that they’ve ingested left as garbage under the hood, Huening said.

But there could be evidence of rodents hiding out in your cars that you don’t see, he said. That’s when they claim into the car’s air filter box.

“Unbeknownst to you, when you turn on your air conditioner or heater, you’re cooking their fecal remnants and residue, and sometimes their babies. You just have to be careful of them because they carry a lot of disease and do a lot of damage,” Huening said.

Rodents can cause extensive car damage (Canva)
Rodents can cause extensive car damage (Canva)
loading...

The Cost

The average claim for an insurance-damaged car is about $2,500 and insurance companies are starting to drop that out of their comprehensive insurance.

That’s because as global warming increases, it allows conditions for rodents to breed more often. Huening said they can breed one to 12 babies every other month, growing their population immensely.

Cases of rodent damage are becoming way too common.

He said that according to statistics from Terminex, in New Jersey, there is one rat per person in population.

Rodent car damage has become a billion-dollar insurance claim problem every year, Hoening said.

In New Jersey, he said the average claim cost is about $2,000. But they range anywhere from $800 for a simple cleaning and replacement of parts in the engine compartment to up to 25 grand for severe damages.

Rodents can cause extensive car damage (Canva)
Rodents can cause extensive car damage (Canva)
loading...

Damages can be extensive because newly-released cars have thousands of dollars worth of electronics in them.

Huening said rodents nibble on the wiring harnesses and that becomes very problematic for years to come because you can’t always find the damage since the wiring harnesses go all the way from the engine to the rear of the car.

He also warned that if your car engine light comes on during the winter, that could be a sign of a very bad rodent infestation.

“The check engine light comes, and then they have to find the fault and that can range anywhere between the engine compartment in your main ECU, engine control unit, which is in the cabin of the vehicle, and that back into the rear,” Huening said.

It could take hours to find the fault which requires a lot of labor and a lot of restoration.
Huening said his BMW sat in the auto shop for three months, costing him $25,000.

He said he also had a customer who, when they opened the hood of his car, had four squirrel nests and 300 nuts, which left hefty, costly damages to his vehicle.

Mice and rats can cause car damage especially in the winter (Canva)
Mice and rats can cause car damage especially in the winter (Canva)
loading...

Preventing Rodent Car Damage

There’s not much that can be done. Huening said using Irish Spring flakes, feline spray, moth malls, and dryer sheets in your car are urban legends. According to rodent control experts, rats are used to living in sewers, garbage dumps, and other smelly places, so these things and their scents won’t deter them.

Traps work but they don’t stop rodents from filling their stomachs with your car’s wiring before they get caught.

Check under your car hood constantly during the winter. If you see an infestation, take a hose and wash the stuff out because rodents will follow their own scents and make their way back repeatedly.

Rodents can cause a lot of damage to cars, especially in the winter (Canva)
Rodents can cause a lot of damage to cars, especially in the winter (Canva)
loading...

Don’t park near downspouts. Downspouts near your house or sewer drains are superhighways for rodents. So don’t park near or over them. That just provides an inlet and an outlet for mice and rats, Huening said.

You may want to invest in a car cover with a weighted apron seal. This will block animals from getting into and under your car, he said.

Rodents also like to reside between 100 and 400 feet from their food source. So, keep garbage away from your cars, and if you live near a restaurant, park as far away as possible.

Fun fact from Huening: A rodent can jump four feet horizontally and three feet vertically. Yikes!

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom

How N.J. voted in the 2024 presidential election

Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris won New Jersey's 14 Electoral College votes but her performance against Republican former President Donald Trump trailed President Biden's victory in 2020. Below is a county-by-county breakdown.

Gallery Credit: New Jersey 101.5

More From New Jersey 101.5 FM