If you’re a car owner, you’ve probably imagined worst-case scenarios involving collisions with other vehicles on the road, bad weather, vandalism, or a break-in. But you may not have considered the considerable damage that can be caused by tiny crawling creatures.
From chewing on essential wiring to building nests and hiding pounds and pounds of food inside your engine, rats and other rodents can cause an incredible amount of damage to your vehicle — and headaches to you.
The Damage Rodents Cause
The biggest concern from rodents is the wiring issues the can cause, which can be particularly tricky for a mechanic to fix. Rodents generally chew on wires close to where they’ve built a nest inside your vehicle, which could be in a difficult to find and reach area. Those nests themselves are also an issue — some mechanics have reported finding as much as 25 lbs of dog food and hair inside an engine, choking it up in the process. The diseases and bacteria rodents carry are also worrisome: if rodents have built a nest near your air filter, every time you crank up the air, you’ll get a fresh blast of rat poop and dander.
Yuck!
"That has to be an ideal way to spread an airborne virus," Brian Amman, a disease ecologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Popular Mechanic magazine.
Are the Damages Covered By My Auto Insurance Policy?
The damage rodents cause to your vehicle can be very expensive. If you have had the foresight to purchase comprehensive coverage on your vehicle.... read more
