Mice in car after 1.5yrs stored, what should I do

[Ava92]

Hey guys, so I left my car covered up in a field for 1.5 years and now there are mice in it. The recaros got all chewed up, it smells very bad, and there are 100s of little mouse droppings everywhere.

Honestly I just took one look inside the car and shut the door in despair! So I'm not sure how bad the situation really is yet.

Has anyone experienced this in their car, and what do you guys think I should do? I have been reading up on the safety precautions needed for the mouse hanta virus.

Gut out all the carpet and strip it out? I kind of pride my car on its MINT black interior, I guess the main problem will be the carpet and backseats right? The seats are just jdm DC2 Recaros which I grabbed for quite a good price, but they were in near factory condition.

I don't want to just have no carpet so I guess I could go all the way and strip out everything behind the B pillar right?

Just feeling really depressed and annoyed at myself for not putting it on jack stands, I never meant to leave it there so long but I got caught up in my GS400 project (on the bright side that car is almost "complete"). Anyway what would you guys do in this situation?

here is the car it's just an old AE92 with a blacktop, bilstein coils, volks, that's pretty much it, I feel like if I gut out the interior it won't really suit the rest of the car, like too "racey" inside. Also it has a sunroof which I feel would clash with a stripped out interior


Here is where the mice came from

[Glock30]

I would be more worried about if they crawled into the dash and chewed any wires which I've seen a lot on other car forums. Without a doubt I would be wearing gloves the whole time. Maybe you can fumigate the car?

[ae90tuner]

Most common place the mice would nest would be glove box, the vents and blower motor and the fenders. I've been told that when storing a car to keep the hood open or off, the mice don't like any place they cannot hide. The worst that can happen are chewed wires, dead mice giving off a stench you cannot get rid of.

[jondee86]

Seems that only certain types of mice are liable to carry the virus.

What animals can give people hantaviruses?
Only some kinds of mice and rats can give people hantaviruses that can cause HPS.
In North America, they are the deer mouse, the white-footed mouse, the rice rat, and
the cotton rat. However, not every deer mouse, white-footed mouse, rice rat, or
cotton rat carries a hantavirus. (Taken from CDC fact sheet).

So if you know what kind of mice invaded your car, and it was/could have been one
of those, then here are some suggestions.

If you must work in an area where contact with rodent urine or feces is possible,
follow these recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
- When opening an unused cabin, shed, or other building, open all the doors and windows,
leave the building, and allow the space to air out for 30 minutes.
- Return to the building and spray the surfaces, carpet, and other areas with a disinfectant.
Leave the building for another 30 minutes.
- Spray mouse nests and droppings with a 10% solution of chlorine bleach or similar
disinfectant. Allow it to sit for 30 minutes. Using rubber gloves, place the materials in
plastic bags. Seal the bags and throw them in the trash or an incinerator. Dispose of gloves
and cleaning materials in the same way.
- Wash all potentially contaminated hard surfaces with a bleach or disinfectant solution.
Avoid vacuuming until the area has been thoroughly decontaminated. Then, vacuum the
first few times with enough ventilation. Surgical masks may provide some protection.

If it was my car and I wanted to keep it, I would get a proper breathing mask like a
spray painter would wear, some disposable coveralls and gloves, and rip out the seats
and all soft coverings. That includes any soft material under the carpets... get down
to a painted surface. Then wash all the hard surfaces, painted, plastic or glass.
Vacuum out all the little ducts, vents and hiding places big enough for a mouse to
fit inside, and then spray with disinfectant. Let the car dry... vacuum again.

Buy new seats and carpets, or if they are not chewed up bad, talk to a carpet
cleaning outfit and see if they will wet & dry vacuum the carpets and seats. If they
can get out dirt and dust, they should be able to clean/deodorise the carpet. Seats
could be more of a problem if the urine has soaked into the foam. Spray them with
disinfectant and try the wet and dry vac... might be all that's needed.

Cheers... jondee86

[riddleyo]

I have battled mice in my AE86 - you can find my journey in my build thread. Basically, they nested behind the dash, under the carpet, behind plastic panels, and under the back seat. The chewed threw my seat foam, made nests everywhere, wreaked havoc on the wiring, and **** everywhere. My car stunk no matter how much febreeze I sprayed. I had to disassemble the entire interior and disinfected everything with a respirator on. I even rebuilt my hvac fan. It sucked.

[Moto_Club4AG]

Oh god....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[riddleyo]

Benefits of living in the country...

Look at the bright side, I have a sparkling fresh clean interior that smells like flowers now. After 28 years, there is a lot of gunk that builds up in your dash vents and under your carpet

[Grant]

I also dealt with some kind of mice in my car. Luckily they didn't get a chance to chew anything, but they did leave a bad smell, and some presents in the blower motor housing...

Like riddleyo said, I now have a completely fresh and clean interior after washing every part with soap and water. It felt good to get all the built up dust out of the air ducts too.

[Ava92]

Thanks for the replies, good to know it may still be salvageable

[Jinsoku]

I hate mice!!!!
remove the seats, carefully remove the carpet(might be able to wash and re-install), open everything and get to work...

then you'll be so fresh and so clean!

goodluck

[sirdeuce]

Oh no! My friend just went through this. Replaced the carpets, you'll never get that out. I had a set of seats I gave him. Disassembled the entire dash, scrubbed the inside of the ducts, installed new foam seals on the flapperdoors and duct joints. Replaced the wiring under the dash. Replaced the trunk and frunk lining. removed the fenders and pressure washed every nook and cranny. Put it all together and it stilled smelled bad. took it all out again and had to clean all the body channels that could be accessed. Put it all back together again. After 2 weeks of scrubbing the car and replacing many parts the smell was still there. It's been 2 years and it still reeks when it's warm and the humidity is high. You can get the little turds out, but the urine permeates everything and seems it will never go away. He loves his MR2,had it since he was 14, so He'll probably never get rid of that car. So the question is, how much do you want this car? Cleaning nature out is a long and tedious task that may never be complete. I'd burn the car! But that's just me.