Rats can't resist wiring in newer cars: Here's why Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press Published 11:58 a.m. ET May 7, 2018 Janice Perzigian has a unique evening routine. But this one doesn't include drinking a glass of wine, taking a long soak in the bath and applying a facial mask. It has to do with her car. Every evening, the Royal Oak resident puts Pine-Sol on the ground around her 2017 Ford Mustang. Dryer sheets go under the front seat and in the trunk. Spray made with essential oils is applied to the tires, the sides and the back. Why, you may ask? Why does she go through this five-minute routine? She has a simple answer. It's to avoid another $600-plus repair bill after a rat chewed through wires under the hood of her car, leading to starting problems last month.
Aside from gnawed wires, the rodent literally left a trail of bread crumbs. And rat feces and urine on the engine, which she now sprays weekly with peppermint essential oil. "I m gonna do everything possible to eliminate this, and make sure this doesn t happen again," she said. She's not alone, either here or across the country. A class-action lawsuit was filed in 2016 in California against Toyota claiming the company should cover under warranty damage from rodents chewing through insulation for wiring that is now soy-based versus petroleum-based. In the same year on the East Coast, AAA car care center technicians were finding a similar problem of rodents chewing through vehicle wires, particularly in cold weather. As of the winter of 2017, a spokeswoman for the group told the Free Press last week, the problem still exists. While advances in car construction can be beneficial to the environment, there may also be unforeseen consequences such as making your car more appetizing to rodents, Tracy Noble, spokeswoman of AAA Mid-Atlantic, said in a 2016 press release. As residents in communities throughout metro Detroit try to find ways to battle rat infestations using everything from poisons and traps to feral cats and owls (one Macomb County city even considered a rat bounty five years ago, but the idea later died) the one place folks may be surprised to find the rodents is the one place they don't see them. Under the hood. But if the varmints have been there, and nibbling away, oh the damage they can cause. John Pappas, owner of Main & Hudson Service in Royal Oak, said he gets a vehicle about every month suffering from rodent-chewed-through-wire-covering syndrome. Pappas, whose family business has been there for 53 years, said he's noticed more of this type of problem in recent years. "They're going environmental on the wires," he said. "There's good and bad in everything. It is a common issue." Pappas said problems can range from the vehicle not starting, to the check engine light coming on, to the vehicle running poorly. It might take a couple of months or going over a hard bump to spark a previously-chomped on wire problem to the surface. The cost of repairs?
"That's the magical question," Pappas said, depending on the damage that's been done, whether it's one spot or many. It ranges from "minor to significant." He said he hasn't noticed that rodents seem to prefer a specific make or model. "It doesn't discriminate," he said. Brian Kabateck is taking on Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. over the issue. The Los Angeles attorney is involved in a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of Albert Heber of Indiana, whose 2012 Tundra had its soy-based insulated wiring chewed through by rodents three times, the first in 2013. Total damages were about $1,500 damages that Kabateck said Toyota wouldn't cover under warranty. "Our contention, why soy is certainly it's laudable they're trying to be more green, at the same time, it's becoming a potential food product for rats," Kabateck told the Free Press, adding that he believes rats find it "delicious." Kabateck said once it started its investigation, it learned that Toyota and some other vehicle manufacturers started using a soy-based product as an insulation for wiring under the hood about a decade ago, probably in an effort to make vehicles more green and to get rid of older-style, petroleum-based wiring insulation. He said he has heard that in the past, rats periodically chewed through wires in vehicles for nesting materials and to sharpen their teeth. But, he said, "we think the addition of soy in the insulation has taken the episode of rats chewing through the wires through the roof."
Kabateck said while Toyota claims this is not more likely to happen with soy-based than petroleum-based products "we continue to have a hard time believing that" based on the number of people calling the firm and its own investigation, including talking to service employees and others at dealerships. He didn't have a specific number of people impacted, but said it's possibly "tens of thousands affected." The lawsuit is filed on behalf of Heber and owners and lessees of 2012 to 2016 model year Toyota vehicles. A similar lawsuit was filed against Honda in 2016 and dismissed later that year by the plaintiffs, according to federal court records in California. Kabateck said he's not looking for billions of dollars from the automaker. He wants the people who have paid out-of-pocket to be reimbursed and a change in the policy and plan so that the warranty would cover this type of damage. Often, this type of damage isn't covered under warranty. Some insurance companies may cover if owners pay the deductible, while others won't, and folks often are left paying out-of-pocket. Kabateck said the damaged materials are replaced with the same soy-based products the rodents chewed through. He said there is an additive that could be added to the soy that would make it less attractive to rats. Toyota released a statement when contacted by the Free Press. Rodent damage to vehicle wiring occurs across the industry, and the issue is not brand- or model-specific. We are currently not aware of any scientific evidence that shows rodents are attracted to automotive wiring because of alleged soy-based content," the company said. The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association an automotive supplier trade group said it was unaware of any issues with soy-based products used as coatings on vehicle wiring.
"Quite honestly, we have never heard of the issue you are describing, so I don t have any information to share with you," Cindy Sebrell, vice president of communications for the association, said in an email.