Hey Scotty,
Wife has a 2010 Prius that has been great, but twice now this year a rodent has gained access to the HVAC system and died inside. What can we do to stop this from happening again?
Thanks!
Cars do NOT draw air from under the hood. That would be a serious problem.
Either they're not coming in the way you think they are, or you have some kind of damage that should be fixed.
Decon!
When I lived in the San Bernardino mountains a lady whose house I was remodeling had a rodent problem with her car. She hired an extermination company to come out and the guy opened the hood and tossed down three Decon blocks and charged her $150. It eliminated the problem, lesson learned.
How would that prevent new rodent from entering?
Because they eat the bait and it kills them.
Sure but it might kill them inside my HVAC where they cannot get out - the crux of the whole problem here.
When you're finished driving, close all your vents and find out where they are getting in. Block it off.
Tie a fine metallic mesh onto the outside of the fresh air intakes.
If they still manage to enter the vehicle, you’ve got another entry point to discover..
The problem is they are entering under the hood where air comes through the firewall and they get trapped. Toyota provided zero barriers to stop critters from getting into the car this way. I want to stop them from getting inside in the first place. Wanted to see if Scotty and friends had a different solution other than pulling out the intake cowling and the entire wiper assembly to get at the openings and cover them with hardware cloth. Thanks Toyota!