My rear wipers were acting screwy (out of sync, when working at all), so I took Carmen into the dealer. After 3 days of checking, replacing motors, and calls to MINI hq, it's been determined that rodents of some sort have been eating the wiring in the rear quarter panel . Not covered by warranty .
$500-1000 to replace wiring harness, but I can't afford that right now so I'm going to learn to live with it .
Anyone have any ideas how to control critters? It's parked under an open carport and I live in the country unfortunately. And no, I'm not getting a cat.

 

Good God! That's horrible! I wish I had some advice for you, but
I'm no pest control expert. Hope you get it resolved!

 

Do you have full coverage insurance. I had the same thing happen to my motorcycle and insurance covered it, minuse deductable.

 

Will call insurance people tomorrow... thanks...

 

Probably squirrels, they will screw up anything they can get their teeth into.
Gotta shotgun???

I have many of the little critters here in SC, I dont use a shotgun but I do use a pellet gun

good luck ..................Hey you could splice the wiring harness back together, if you can get to the damaged area it should be a easy fix.

 

A friend at work was having major engine issues with his minivan. The dealer took off the air filter housing, and there was a mouse nest (mice nest?) inside. Apparently, lots of animals can and do get into the innards of a car, and can do real damage. A while back there was a post on NAM about squirrels that had eaten the sunroof molding on a MINI. It's a jungle out there!

 

Heeeeerrreeee kitty, kitty, kitty!

 

I say you need to convince them it was the massive wharf rats in Southampton that did the damage . Just took this long for something to get shorted. Seriously though, call your insurance company.

Oh...and I have a friend that accidentally locked a raccoon in her minivan for a weekend. Interior damage was over $5000.

 

+1

Cats are the best, and I mean BEST to rodent control. Cats aren't too hard to maintain either since most are quite independent. Unfortunately I'm allergic.

You can always get a cat from the pet shelter and just let it loose in your yard.

 

forgot...

http://cats.suite101.com/article.cfm...s_pest_control

 

Rat and mouse traps may work. Just kidding. But, I wonder if you can get some type of sonic device which will keep them away. Also, many car fires are caused by the shorting out of wires due to rodents.

 

Find out how they access the inner parts of your doors and then stuff brass wool into the openings. You ever put a penny in your mouth? The critters will get the same sensation when they bite into the brass wool,ugh!

 

get one of those glue traps and put a wad of peanut butter on it.

 

Get a cat. We have a Maine Coon Cat 28lbs and all muscle. Act more like a dog. Will fetch a ball, run dogs, squirrels and any thing else out of our yard. When he see you coming he love to but heads too.

 

When I lived in Germany, (Ramstein 1999 - 2005) there were rodents similar to a ferrett that would get under the hoods of cars and eat the rubber. The solution was a product that was sold in Germany in almost every car parts store that was some kind of solution, maybe a chemically manufactured urine that would keep them away.
I would do a search in the internet and see if you can find anything like this. Since my return to the US, I haven't had to worry about this.

 

Home Depot always sell those sonic devices that you plug in that is suppose to get rid of rodent and bugs. Claims to be good for a few hundred feet...

 

I think those are in the same category as the miracle devices that increase your car's mileage by 50%. If a simple ultrasonic device could eliminate all rodents and bugs in your home, exterminators would all be out of business by now.

 

Nothing beats a cat for rodent control.

 

Put some moth ***** in the compartment under the floor. The smell won't be to bad and it does the trick. Dan

 

I currently use a couple of the sonic devices in the house and my prior mouse visits have stopped so I think I'll go with that for a while - plus some mothballs and other chemical "solutions."

 

Cat urine will work great...they will not go near it

 

Ya cause they sell that in the stores right?

 

Mothballs...? Do those keep rodents away?

That is so funny...

 

Any idea how they're getting up in there? I've done a great deal of wiring and air-line plumbing in the back half of my clubman and can't think of any open holes where they could be entering.

If you can find the hole....plugging that will be your best bet.

I worry because I know the chipmunks have nested in my previous MINI, and now I see them going under the clubman

 

rats and squirrels and other rodents only need about a 1/4 of an inch opening to squeeze through. When I lived downtown (DC) and worked late night, I would park in an alley behind my house. I needed to change the battery one day and I opened the hood to find: a piece of pizza, french fries, a chicken wing, a cookie and various pieces of food wrappings. The rats would take all this stuff up in my engine b/c it was the warmest spot in the alley.
I would google the problem and see what others have done to prevent it.