This is a story of love, hate, revenge and triumph. The initial attack ensued late 2016. We had just moved to a new house and little did we know, the vermin were waiting.
The first car to go was our 2015 Honda Civic. It was about 7am on a weekday and I was getting ready to leave for work. I fired up the engine and literally every single warning light is going off: Check Brakes, Check Engine, Check Power Steering, etc.
Given that this is a pretty new car, I figured that whatever the case may be it must be covered by warranty. So, to be honest, I wasn’t really worried at all. I thought maybe some wires came loose or there was a malfunction with the computer. The car seemed to be running perfectly fine.
Few days later I drop it off at the Honda dealership and as I am filling out the paperwork, the technician tells me (without even looking under the hood of the car) that it could be caused by rodent damage. I find it interesting but I’m really kind of half listening. He also tells me that if it is rodent damage, it is not covered by warranty…
At that moment, it was as if a light had been shut off in the world and dark times loomed ahead. I had never heard of such a thing! Questions start zooming through my head ( initially “What the f*ck?!”, and so forth). I start wondering if this is some sort of scam and how this could even have happened. The technician goes on to say that this is a common issue…
I’m thinking “Common issue!? This is insane!”..
Sure enough, I get a call later that day and they confirm that that damage has been caused by rodents. They had chewed through my entire wiring harness… and it is not covered by warranty..
At this point the technician suggests I contact my insurance to see if it is covered. I call them up, go through the claim process and luckily it is covered up to my $500 deductible. Over the next couple of days a rep from the insurance company visits the car and approves for the repairs. Total Bill:
$2,470.35 with $500 out of pocket…
After about 2 weeks of taking Uber to the train station and back ( I commute to work via the train), I finally get my car back.
I’m still licking my wounds from the initial attack, but things are pretty much back to normal. Then about 1 week later, the engine light pops on our other car.
The Second Wave of Attacks..
The second car to go was our 2012 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. At this point I felt so dumb not thinking that our other car could be at risk. I dropped our Sonata off at the dealership and sure enough, more rodent damage.
Now this really was the tipping point for me. I’m 0-2 now and out at least $1,000. I also take a look under the hood of my 2015 Civic (that just got fixed!) and notice new rodent damage and droppings..(“F*CK!!!” I blacked out but I am pretty sure I yelled this at the top of my lungs in my drive way.)
My personal vendetta against the rats begin.
A massive search online is conducted on how to prevent this from happening again. There is so much conflicting information on the web that I am literally tearing my hair out trying to figure this out. I review every website/comment/review I can find on this subject and piece together a master plan. I even start studying rat psychology and behavior. Once the master plan was in place, I would catch myself getting up in the middle of the night to take a peek at the traps and a quick look under the hood. I even started parking in specific spots at the train station since I know they are less likely to be exposed to rodents.
To say that this hadn’t affected me would be a lie. The rats were a part of me now, whether I liked it or not..
We didn’t get our second car back until a month and a half later. The mechanics literally had to take the entire car apart and piece it back together. Total Bill:
$9,346.81 with $500 out of pocket..
And in the aftermath of this whole debacle, howtopreventratsfromeatingcarwires.com was launched. I decided to make it my mission to help as many people as possible who are dealing with this super frustrating situation.
I hope that you find the information on this website helpful. Thank you for visiting!
