Keeping mice out of vehicles. Who has tips or tricks?

[andersonjk4]

After dealing with car issues potentially cause by mice chewing on wires, I figured I would start a thread to see if there are any good tips out there for keeping the little critters out of your engine compartment. I'm going to go through and make sure my garage is sealed up better to prevent them from getting in in the first place, but there are some times when we have to park outside or mice find a way into the garage. I have also set a small trap line worth of traps in the garage. Is there anything anyone does to deter mice?

[headshot5]

One of my neighbors was having trouble with mice.  He figured out it was during the colder weather.  If he drove his pickup home after dark, the mice would flock to it, because it held the heat.   If he came home earlier during the daylight, and his truck cooled off before it got dark out he didn't have any troubles.  He was parked outside during all of this. 

Personally I'd set up a bucket trap starting in November through March inside the garage.  Not much you can do outside.  Maybe a cat.   

Mouse chewed wiring is perhaps the hardest repairs to troubleshoot, you got lucky with your F150 (solid job)   .

Edit to add:  Poison works great, but is hard on cats and dogs etc.  I prefer not using poison personally.     

[Skyvalhunter]

This winter seems to be a particularly high number of rodents and car wiring issues. One of my friends had a pack rat raise havoc on his Ford Ranger engine wiring. Just got his vehicle back and after finding out some of the connectors and parts were obsolete it cost him $3K.

[RadSav]

Only fool proof method I know of!

[MADMAX]

I use the bounce original sheets and stuff them around under my hood on vehicles
I had one nest in my cabin air

Pray for no packrats, they are the worst

I heard peppermint oil works also
I use the tomcat poison traps and put them down where my boat and RV is parked and sticky traps also all around the walls

[andersonjk4]

We have 3 dogs, a cat and a 1 1/2 year old toddler, so poison is out of the question.

I like Radsav's idea, but I'm already having moisture issues with my pickup (see F150 thread) and I'm not sure that would be the best thing for it. 

I may try the dryer sheets and peppermint oil. Couldn't  hurt to try.

[Pinetar]

I used to have lots of problems with mice in my motorhome and muscle car. I bought some spearmint oil and poured it into small containers, then placed two in each rig. Instantly stopped the problem. That stuff is so strong it will give you a headache if you hang out in there.

[bearpaw]

Cats...

I used to have some serious mice problems, cats moved in, not even our cats, but we let them hang around and the problem was solved.

[DaveMonti]

I had rats or mice get to my truck twice this winter.  This past year it seems like the rodent population exploded.  We had more bunnies around the house than ever before, and I'm sure that whatever caused the population boom did so with rats and mice.  Then, the colder than usual winter here on the West side had them looking for warmth.  I've heard of a lot of people having similar issues.
The cost to my truck was over $1000 both times, but it was only the fuel injection harness that they got to.  They did not get to the main harness.  That would have been several thousand.  Many insurance policies will cover rodent damage. 
I had to move my vehicles to another part of the driveway where there is less vegetation close by.  I also have several clusters of moth balls under the hood.  I have the moth balls wrapped in cheesecloth and zip tied to a few different places.  I read about this, as well as the dryer sheets.  I had multiple traps out and caught mice and a few rats, but I don't know if I got the guilty party. 

[Squidward]

I keep seeing cut up the green Irish Spring soap and place under the hood. Good Luck!

[Woodchuck]

Irish Spring soap. Shave slivers off the bar and place strategically. Glove box, under hood etc. Also works well if placed along the wall in a garage. 

[KFhunter]

I use mothballs, place it in a dish or container under the hood.  Then some on the floorboards inside, and some sprinkled around under the truck.

No mice, but the interior smells like mothballs for a while.

[Skyvalhunter]

What do mothballs smell like?

[quadrafire]

What do mothballs smell like?

You're on fire today Sky......LOL

[jackelope]

I've heard of a bunch of suggestions.

Moth Balls
Irish Spring soap
WD-40 sprayed around under the hood
Spearmint or peppermint oil
Keep a cat around

This year was horrible from a rodent damage/car repair standpoint. Earlier this winter, there wasn't a day that we didn't have a car or 3 in the shop with rodent damage. That lasted a solid couple months. Anything from a couple hundred bucks in damage to a few thousand. We had a brand new F150 here with 2k miles on it that we replaced the engine harness on. Wasn't my ticket but as I recall, ended up being around $3k to fix.