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Rat-Proofing your car: Lessons learned & effective methods

13th November 2024, 11:13 by Ananth Iyer

Another method that one of my colleagues suggested was the use of strong bleaching powder.

BHPian r0rshack recently shared this with other enthusiasts

I have been a victim of rat menace at our earlier place of stay at Erode, where our Altroz parked in a shed surrounded by wild vegetation was regularly visited by rats, early 2022. Somehow, me and my wife couldnt realize that the faint urine odour in the cabin was one of the major signs of a space being - i would say marauded by rats. We drove a few hundred kilometeres with this, thinking it would have been a stray dog urinating/a dead lizard somewhere in the engine bay, only to park it back at the same shed again.

A few weeks later, the car wouldnt start and only after it was towed to the service center, post diagnosis, the rat infestation was revealed - fuel line cut, hard plastics chewed aplenty, a cut seatbelt, with all sorts of foam padding remnants. Fortunately, we could recover costs covering the seatbelt assy under insurance and some other things, costed us around 6K i think.

Fast forward to 2024 April, we bought our Baleno MT Delta and using it in Chennai. It is being used sparingly - only on weekends and holidays and is parked most of the time.
We did know about rat presence at our apartment, which is a small block consisting of 4 Houses with basement parking. Once, there was an intrusion at our 1st floor house, but in 2 days - after careful tracking and baiting with glue pads, the threat was eliminated. Time and again we have tried to tell the landlord about keeping the basement clean and free from stray food items, but they just dont get it, even as their own verna gets hit by rats multiple times. There are two eateries and fruit stalls nearby with an open plot adjoining our place which adds to the woes, so i realized that attack was not a solution at all. Btw we do have cats as well which help to an extent, but there was a lean period with no cats around and thats when our Baleno got hit.

Gladly this time, the problem was detected soon enough, with damage to the front fender padding revealing stray foam particles near the driver door. Since then, multiple options were tried. The second step being tobacco leaves. You can get it from the shops selling pooja articles and medicines and a "strip" costs 10 rupees. Bought three of them and these shouldn't be in the fully-dried state. Only then you get that odour and would last for about a week and you need to replace it. I hung them at various areas in the engine bay alone.

The first step was to get back at the rats - traps near the tyre area, glue pads and zinc phosphide paste as toppings on tomato pieces and dried prawns. There were 1-2 initial small kills and then after 2 days a monster about a foot long was taken out, and from then on, the baits were undisturbed. The baits and the traps were used at a time when there were no cats around our place.

Another method that one of my colleagues suggested was the use of strong bleaching powder. I bought a Kg of this for 80 rupees and spread it around the car and on the floor under the bonnet area using an old talcum powder dispenser. The smell is strong and will require frequent cleaning and recharge for a lasting effect.

Then i went forward and bought the Steel Coil as @papr23 had suggested. You will get these at metal marts, some hardware shops etc. This piece is usually used in roofing at the apex, and is available as a single coil of 0.47 mm thickness. The piece that im using is of around 50 feet length and with a height of 1 foot. Rats are known to jump over heights of one foot, hence, just having fingers crossed.

Ive included a small video of the setup:

Download steel coil 50 ft.rar

Benefits and drawbacks:

+ Peace of mind, and the car feels safe - mostly, since we also have some cats around now.
+ Quite useful for people who park their cars on even surfaces, for long periods.
- Bulky. If you plan to use it on a daily basis, you would tend to do it under motivation only, since the coil weighs around 12-15 Kg. If you go for thinner steels, you would run the risk of it bending easily and causing frequent cuts. Higher width coils would add to the weight. I start uncoiling the sheet from the front number plate, run a full course around the car and the sheet ends at the rear left tyre. Ideally, a metre or two lesser would also suffice most hatchbacks. The sheet is held in place by placing bricks around it and also with some binder clips. Covering the car and setting up the steel coil complete around the car would take around 8-10 minutes max. This much time i can easily afford.
- Since the edges of the coil are still sharp, they tend to cause scratches and also have caused a tear on my car cover. This could be negated by use of some tape/rubber. I was just lazy to try anything.