MAJOR effin' PROBLEM.....RAT(S)

[Kracken]

That's right!
I was out in the garage smoking and noticed chewing sounds behind my front bumper...WTF??
Popped the hood and saw a nice collection of half eaten eggcorns lying on the plastic behind the rad so I thought it was a squirrel-no, it's worse, I actually saw a naked rat tail gliding past as I was shining a flashlite down there..oh the horror.
So far everything on the car still works & glad I noticed this now before systems started failing due to chewed up wires. 3 Spring loaded rat traps with roast beef for bait are now spread around the garage. I guess they really love how the undercarriage is almost completely covered in plastic underneath the car. Great for nesting apparently
Wish me luck and ill keep u posted.... ugh

Any other suggestions greatly appreciated. Cleaning the clutter in the garage is the first thing up to prevent this from happening again

[AntonV]

How many did you see? 3 traps won't do it. You need bait boxes.

[Walter_Sobchak]

Bummer, glad you found 'em quick-like. I had a (single) rat problem and it took 15 minutes. I got a spring-loaded plastic "pac man" style trap at the hardware store and some cat food. Went out for a cup of coffee and returned. Done.

[lovesacdc]

Bloody hell! Good luck.

[kleach18]

Walking through the auto parts store out here in Germany I came across something interesting. It was a little box that had a speaker grill/hole. It was a battery powered radio looking thing that sends out a sound/pulse that the rodents can stand.. Not sure if it actually works but it looked interesting. Maybe you can look around for something like that until you solve the infestation problem of your garage?

[bmw1racer]

Originally Posted by kleach18

It was a battery powered radio looking thing that sends out a sound/pulse that the rodents can stand.. Not sure if it actually works but it looked interesting.

I think those gadgets are bogus... They have ones for the home as well that you plug into the outlet.

[shah269]

OK...stop!
Take pictures!
If there is anything wrong with the car it should be covered by home owners insurance.
And good luck they are bastards! Buy a cat!

[mike the snake]

Be careful with those bait boxes. Poisoned rats and mice sometimes will wander around before dying, and are easy for dogs and cats to catch and eat, which then poisons the pet.

This happened to a few pets in my neighborhood.

[MrClean514]

Kill it with fire!!!

[KingOfJericho]

My friend's mother had an E46 M3 Vert that she literally never drove (2,000mi in 6 years), and she brought the car in to the dealer because several signals were not working properly. The dealer called a few hours later and asked her to come in. An entire family of mice had made a mouse city beneath the carpet throughout the entire car and ate several wires in the process. The repair cost her $16,000 out of pocket. Dealer said it was the worst infestation they had ever seen and they even considered totalling the car.

Lesson? Make sure they're gone!

[madsedan]

A buddy of mine in KC had a racoon chew the wires to his O2 sensor under his 135, these cars must be delicious.

[Ammonia]

I had a customer come in who had a fully grown fire ant colony in his car that he was about to trade in. He even had a can of raid in his cup holder. We laughed until tears when we neglected to tell my used car manager who appraised the car... he sat in it, and while he was taking pictures of the mileage he starts doing the ants-dance.

[Got_///M]

I feel you man. I have a 2009 Toyota Sequoia. Chewed the hell out of many wires. Cost me a lot of money. My SUV is always parked outside though and gets used very rarely

[bkbeagle]

Originally Posted by Kracken

That's right!
I was out in the garage smoking and noticed chewing sounds behind my front bumper...WTF??
Popped the hood and saw a nice collection of half eaten eggcorns lying on the plastic behind the rad so I thought it was a squirrel-no, it's worse, I actually saw a naked rat tail gliding past as I was shining a flashlite down there..oh the horror.
So far everything on the car still works & glad I noticed this now before systems started failing due to chewed up wires. 3 Spring loaded rat traps with roast beef for bait are now spread around the garage. I guess they really love how the undercarriage is almost completely covered in plastic underneath the car. Great for nesting apparently
Wish me luck and ill keep u posted.... ugh

Any other suggestions greatly appreciated. Cleaning the clutter in the garage is the first thing up to prevent this from happening again

I feel your pain my friend. Same thing happened to me with my '06 525xi except I didn't discover the little boogers until an oil change and the babies in the nest had been dead for a while - EEEWWW

Anyway , I live out in the country so mice are a constant problem. Solution - I put out bait http://www.d-conproducts.com/products.html and it worked like a charm. I hate the spring loaded traps as they are not reliable so I also bought the "no touch traps" and baited them with peanut butter (Ortho® Home Defense MAX® Kill & Contain® Mouse Trap) - Mice go coocoo for peanut butter. Go figure.

Just make sure that if you have any pets that they don't go near the bait.

Good luck.

[Kracken]

Update:
Thanks for all the suggestions!!
1 dead rat in the spring loaded trap when I woke up;
Took car to dealer today to drop the undercarriage plastic cover & inspect. Only slight signs of nibbling and no rat reported....I could have done this myself and saved 139 bucks but didnt want to wait til the weekend to do it.

Dodged a bullet but will continue to bait traps..I'm guessing there must be more than just one rat in the garage.

Have a cat and a dog so the rat poison isnt a good idea

[Bimmer B]

Try Aspirin,
-Take 3-4 Extra strength aspirin and crush them into a powder.
-Take 2 Tblspoons of peanut butter(irresistible to rats and mice)
-mix the powder into the Peanut butter throughly
-Distribute generously around your garage on a plate close to the walls. Or as bait for your traps, if the bait is stolen without the trap triggering result is still the same.

You now have a rat/mouse trap/poison that if one of your pets was to eat it would be fine.

Best of all your unwanted guest soon after eating will have a Heart Attack!!
The little bastard will go out clutching his chest.

It's worked for me.

[Got_///M]

Originally Posted by Bimmer B

Try Aspirin,
-Take 3-4 Extra strength aspirin and crush them into a powder.
-Take 2 Tblspoons of peanut butter(irresistible to rats and mice)
-mix the powder into the Peanut butter throughly
-Distribute generously around your garage on a plate close to the walls. Or as bait for your traps, if the bait is stolen without the trap triggering result is still the same.

You now have a rat/mouse trap/poison that if one of your pets was to eat it would be fine.

Best of all your unwanted guest soon after eating will have a Heart Attack!!
The little bastard will go out clutching his chest.

It's worked for me.

Lol you seem to be enjoying this whole rat killing thing aren't you

[doublevanosrc]

Originally Posted by madsedan

these cars must be delicious.

[ahfunaki]

What's an eggcorn?

[m7ammed]

Originally Posted by Bimmer B

-Take 2 Tblspoons of peanut butter(irresistible to rats and mice)

And I thought cheese was their favorite food!! Damn you cartoons

[dorkdog]

Acorn?

[Bimmer B]

Originally Posted by Got_///M

Lol you seem to be enjoying this whole rat killing thing aren't you

NO freeloaders! The rat/mouse splits the bills they can stay!!!