[₹itzylove]

Buy good quality pepper mint spray, dilute in water and Spray once in a week. It can keep the rats away. It worked well for me.

[m2avg]

Originally Posted by RD150

My Polo had to suffer from rat damage some years ago. One fine morning, the car refused to start and had to be towed to the service center. The service guys shared me the photo, some harness and hoses were chewed and also they found some dead sparrows, not sure if it was done by a rat or a cat. They changed the damaged wires and fortunately they did not charge me. They put 3 packets of "Gaychaap" under the bonnet and asked me to change every 6 months. It works !!

Did they just put those packets as is? Several members here have emptied the packet in a cloth or a sock and placed that in the engine bay.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by soji

What's more funny is that MG dealerships insist you buy their "rat mesh" add-on when buying a new car which makes it all the more evident that they're well aware of these issues, to a point I feel this is intentionally provisioned.

Thinking about, I may have said the same as you, why not provide it from the factory. For the price we pay for our cars and the hassle one has to go through, I will not think twice again to buy these extra's for the car. The time, effort and money wasted isn't worth it. Once the car is stripped like the way you've shown, it is difficult to put it all back, the way factory did it.

I had a mouse taking a piss inside my Ford Ikon every night. This was a car being used everyday. Was lucky it did not damage anything. It was making its way into the car via the fresh air vent, like it is in most cars. It somehow made its way through the tight air con vents and into the car, took a leak on my spotless mats and made its way out. This happened for a few days to which I realized it was living somewhere in the car. I found it inside the front fender, tried to smoke it out with no success. I finally took the car to Ford and while they were dismantling the hvac inside the car (to find the mouse), the little mouse scooted out. Hopefully not into another car at the workshop.

Don't think twice about these rat protection systems, even if they are optional. Or DIY one based on the original design.

[pawank]

Originally Posted by soji

Apart from the rat mesh and sprays and what are some other humane ways to keep the rodents away?

I have also faced this issue on my Honda Amaze. I have done some preventive measures and till now it is successfully keeping the rodents away.

There is only one entry point for the rat to enter your car. There is an opening above the cabin AC filter to let the fresh air inside the car. You need to cover that opening with a metal mesh sheet. You can access that from outside by removing the plastic cowl which sits around the vipers. That's it, you are all done. I have also covered the air intake of the engine with the metal mesh sheet, now the rodents can't bite my air filter too. Any car can face this kind of problem because they all have these openings.

You need to be patients with the rat cage, I caught two rats after ten days of keeping the cage there. Once placed, Do not change the place of the cage, till the rodents are caught. Also, rat-kill and sprays won't work, I guess rodents have developed an immune system against it.

[kpkeerthi]

I tried every jugad - commonly recommended here and on YouTube (traps, rat sprays including peppermint, coriander, tomato garlic chutney, camphor, soap, you name it) - nothing worked until I installed CarCat (https://www.carcat.in/). I also bought some rat poison and dropped them in all the burrows I could find in the compound. No problem after that.

The device seem to drain the battery in about 16 -18 days if the car is left unused that long. Not a big deal but something to make note of, especially during the pandemic.

[RD150]

Originally Posted by m2avg

Did they just put those packets as is? Several members here have emptied the packet in a cloth or a sock and placed that in the engine bay.

Yes, they just placed the packets as it is. It has been effective so far. Also this way it's much easier to replace it, just swap the packets. With cloth/sock one needs to be sure that the extra part of cloth is not interfering with any hot part.

[PaneristiHobbes]

Originally Posted by RD150

My Polo had to suffer from rat damage some years ago. One fine morning, the car refused to start and had to be towed to the service center. The service guys shared me the photo, some harness and hoses were chewed and also they found some dead sparrows, not sure if it was done by a rat or a cat. They changed the damaged wires and fortunately they did not charge me. They put 3 packets of "Gaychaap" under the bonnet and asked me to change every 6 months. It works !!

How do you secure the packets under the bonnet? I assume you don’t pour the stuff out of the packets over the engine bay.

Won’t simply leaving the packets under the bonnet dislodge them when the car is moving etc.?

Could I also request you to post some pics showing the set up under the hood?

Thanks mate!

[dhruvtanwar]

My sincere condolences. Having recently experienced the same on my Toyota Etios Liva's engine bay, and before this on my 2007 Tata Safari Dicor, I feel your pain.
The only thing I can add to this already very informative discussion is no matter which of these solutions you adopt, they have to be iterative (keep doing them every few days -- refresh the repellants, spray once a month, avoid long term parking). Hopefully a combination of solutions will prove effective; I know from experience that a single one seldom works.

[RD150]

Originally Posted by PaneristiHobbes

How do you secure the packets under the bonnet? I assume you don’t pour the stuff out of the packets over the engine bay.

your assumption is perfect, why would anyone pour it over the engine bay, highly dangerous to do so.

You have to do a bit of trying where to keep it, it should be a snug fit. I will try sharing the snap of the same.

[dhruvtanwar]

Originally Posted by RD150

My Polo had to suffer from rat damage some years ago. One fine morning, the car refused to start and had to be towed to the service center. The service guys shared me the photo, some harness and hoses were chewed and also they found some dead sparrows, not sure if it was done by a rat or a cat. They changed the damaged wires and fortunately they did not charge me. They put 3 packets of "Gaychaap" under the bonnet and asked me to change every 6 months. It works !!

I'm using the same presently for my Figo and Liva's engine bays. I swap out the packets every month / month and a half.
Definitely going to try spraying the parking with black Phenyl as well.

[dhruvtanwar]

Originally Posted by PaneristiHobbes

How do you secure the packets under the bonnet? I assume you don’t pour the stuff out of the packets over the engine bay.

Won’t simply leaving the packets under the bonnet dislodge them when the car is moving etc.?

Could I also request you to post some pics showing the set up under the hood?

Thanks mate!

I use plastic ties to secure them. They didn't move despite a drive from Pune to Delhi and back.

[landcruiser123]

Disappointing to see such a glaring design issue. There shouldn't be large holes that invite insects and other creatures. Since cars are warm places (especially where they are packed with insulation) such an oversight in the design is a recipe for disaster.

Rats are very everywhere in the world - I've seen many of them roaming around in Chicago and NYC. Imagine if they start getting into cars and creating colonies.

I'd suggest physical barriers at home, rat repellant tape, and the rat guard that the dealer is offering. Short-term parking at work and other places shouldn't be much of an issue as rats (just like humans) need some time to get familiarized with the environment and then explore.

[SN88]

I have heard getting a few cats in the building help, not the princess type, but the street ones. I have heard London does the same in many buildings and it helps.

[maddy42]

Originally Posted by kpkeerthi

I tried every jugad - commonly recommended here and on YouTube (traps, rat sprays including peppermint, coriander, tomato garlic chutney, camphor, soap, you name it) - nothing worked until I installed CarCat (https://www.carcat.in/). I also bought some rat poison and dropped them in all the burrows I could find in the compound. No problem after that.

The device seem to drain the battery in about 16 -18 days if the car is left unused that long. Not a big deal but something to make note of, especially during the pandemic.

Anyone compared this one against the Varna suraksha as the car is not used daily and i do not want the battery to die due to this device.

Currently dealing with a really foul smell coming inside the car which smells like a rat. Any ideas.

These manufacturers leave so many gaps for a rat to come and build a nest, its impossible as a customer to close all gaps!

Maddy

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by maddy42

...Varna suraksha...

Had one and it works, but won't recommended for a car that's NOT a daily driver. Whatever their current draw claims might be on paper, you can't park the car longer than 8-10 days without battery issues (reference, 35AH and 60 AH batteries on two different cars at home). Plus if usage is then limited to short trips, battery issues are inevitable.

Varna used to offer a wall-mounted option for their device, not sure if that's still the case. If yes, it's worth considering if you have a secured parking spot and a power outlet handy.

Edit: check this out.