In 2016 in California, a class-action lawsuit against Toyota claimed the company should cover — under warranty — damage from rodents chewing through insulation for wiring that is now soy-based rather than petroleum-based. The suit is ongoing.
ROYAL OAK, Mich. — Every evening, Janice Perzigian puts Pine-Sol on the ground around her 2017 Ford Mustang.
Dryer sheets go under the front seat and in the trunk. Spray made with essential oils is applied to the tires, the sides and the back.
Why does she go through this 5-minute routine?
She has a simple answer: to avoid another $600+ repair bill after a rat chewed through wires under the hood of her car, leading to problems last month starting her car.
Aside from gnawed wires, the rodent — literally — left a trail of bread crumbs, rat feces and urine on the engine, which she now sprays weekly with peppermint essential oil.
"I’m gonna do everything possible to eliminate this and make sure this doesn’t happen again," she said.
She's not alone, either here or across the USA.
John Pappas, Main & Hudson Service in Royal Oak, Mich.
In 2016 in California, a class-action lawsuit against Toyota claimed the company should cover — under warranty — damage from rodents chewing through insulation for wiring that is now soy-based rather than petroleum-based.
In the same year on the East Coast, AAA car care center technicians were finding a similar problem of rodents chewing through vehicle wires, particularly in cold weather. As of winter 2017, the problem still exists, a spokeswoman for the organization said last week.
“While advances in car construction can be beneficial to the environment, there may also be unforeseen consequences such as making your car more appetizing to rodents,” Tracy Noble, spokeswoman of AAA Mid-Atlantic, said in a 2016 press release.
Residents might not see the varmints under the hood, but if they've been there, nibbling away, they can cause damage.
John Pappas, owner of Main & Hudson Service in Royal Oak, said he gets a vehicle about every month suffering from rodent-chewed-through-wire-covering syndrome.
Pappas, whose family business has been in this Detroit suburb for 53 years, said he's noticed more of this type of problem in recent years.
"They're going environmental on the wires," he said. "There's good and bad in everything. It is a common issue."
Problems can range from a vehicle not starting, to the check-engine light coming on, to the vehicle running poorly, Pappas said. It might take a couple of months or going over a hard bump to spark a previously-chomped on wire problem to the surface.
"That's the magical question," Pappas said. It depends on the damage done, one spot or many.
He said he hasn't noticed that rodents seem to prefer a specific make or model.
"It doesn't discriminate," he said.
Brian Kabateck is taking on Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. over the issue.
The Los Angeles lawyer is involved in a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Albert Heber of Delphi, Ind., whose 2012 Tundra had its soy-based insulated wiring chewed through by rodents three times, the first in 2013. The costs of repair totaled about $1,500 — damage that Kabateck said Toyota wouldn't cover under warranty.
"Our contention, why soy is certainly — it's laudable — they're trying to be more green, at the same time, it's becoming a potential food product for rats," Kabateck said. He believes rats find it "delicious."
In research for the lawsuit, Kabateck learned that Toyota and some other vehicle manufacturers started using a soy-based product as an insulation for wiring under the hood about a decade ago, probably in an effort to make vehicles more green and to get rid of older-style, petroleum-based wiring insulation.
In the past, he said he had heard that rats periodically chewed through wires in vehicles for nesting materials and to sharpen their teeth. But "we think the addition of soy in the insulation has taken the episode of rats chewing through the wires through the roof."
While Toyota claims this is not more likely to happen with soy-based than petroleum-based products "we continue to have a hard time believing that" based on the number of people calling the firm and its own investigation, including talking to service employees and others at dealerships, Kabateck said.
He didn't have a specific number of people affected but said it's possibly tens of thousands.
The lawsuit is filed on behalf of Heber and owners and lessees of 2012 to 2016 model year Toyota vehicles. A similar lawsuit was filed against Honda in 2016 and dismissed later that year by the plaintiffs, according to federal court records in California.
Kabateck said he's not looking for billions of dollars from the automaker. He wants the people who have paid out-of-pocket to be reimbursed and a change in the policy and plan so that the warranty would cover this type of damage.
Often, this type of damage isn't covered under warranty. Some insurance companies may cover if owners pay the deductible while others won't, and folks often are left with the bill.
Kabateck said the damaged materials are replaced with the same soy-based products the rodents chewed through. But he contends that an additive could be put in the soy that would make it less attractive to rats.
“Rodent damage to vehicle wiring occurs across the industry, and the issue is not brand- or model-specific," Toyota said in a statement to the Free Press. "We are currently not aware of any scientific evidence that shows rodents are attracted to automotive wiring because of alleged soy-based content."
The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, an automotive supplier trade group, said it was unaware of any issues with soy-based products used as coatings on vehicle wiring.
"Quite honestly, we have never heard of the issue you are describing, so I don’t have any information to share with you," Cindy Sebrell, vice president of communications for the association, said in an email.
► October 2016: Is your city one of the rattiest in the U.S.?
Jim Stevens, a sales representative at Suburban Ford of Ferndale, Mich., said finding rats chewing through wires "is a pretty common thing around here," with two or three vehicles coming in a month.
Though he's been aware of the problem for the past five or six years, Stevens said he doesn't buy the theory of the soy-based coating.
"it's just like your home, it's pretty common (rodents) just chew on stuff," he said, noting that he lives in the country and has a pole barn, where rodents have chewed on wires in his tractor.
Stevens said rodents can burrow through the firewall that separates the engine from the interior of the vehicle. They can damage every type of wire from headlights to fuel sensors.
"It's a very tedious repair," Stevens said, adding debris from nesting materials could even start a fire if exposed wires get hot.
Technicians have found everything from peanuts to bread crumbs to chicken bones to dead rodents under the hood, he said. They've noticed more problems during cold weather, when animals hide to get warm, and if a vehicle has been sitting for a few days.
That falls in line with what AAA Mid-Atlantic region technicians saw in 2016 and continue to see in vehicles, Noble said.
"We were seeing vehicles coming in with mystery ailments, so to speak. People didn't know why the car wasn't starting," she said. "Typically, it came into play during cold weather months when rodents were seeking shelter and they were climbing into vehicle compartments for shelter and were additionally finding food in the way of vehicle wires."
Since the early 2000's requirements to manufacture cars more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly, some wire coverings became soy based because they were "animal friendly and biodegradable materials," Noble said.
In the 2016 news release, Noble said soy-based wire coating is one example along with insulation from natural products such as sisal and flax and seat cushions made from coconut fiber.
She didn't have a specific number of claims but said the problem came to light during conversations with technicians at the group's car-care centers. The problem isn't limited to street-legal vehicles but also off-road vehicles and farm equipment.
Noble encouraged drivers to look under the hood of a vehicle in a garage for a long time or not used much. Look for nests or debris that could indicate damage, such as frayed wires or additional twigs and branches used for a nest or bedding.
Some people advocate using moth balls or pepper spray under the hood, but fumes from these products are unhealthy for humans, Noble said in her 2016 news release.
Alternatives include cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil. Other non-toxic, plant-based rodent repellents and copper screening could be used to seal off air intake openings because rats don't like the taste.
One of the best ways to reduce rodent damage is to reduce the number of rodents in an area in general. That includes keeping garbage in cans with tight lids, picking up pet waste, not putting pet food or water outside, keeping garages and properties clean, securing compost in vessels, cleaning up under bird feeders, not throwing food outside, removing wood piles and ivy from buildings, and sealing off holes or other points of entry.
Dana DeBenham, wildlife director at the Howell Nature Center, advises against using glue traps or fly tape to catch rodents.
If a trap is used, use it only inside a dwelling, such as a house or garage, so other wildlife is not caught, she said. Owls also can become stuck in leg-hold traps because they may be attracted to the bait.
"It has to be a communitywide effort to use non-toxic methods of rodent control," DeBenham said. "If you attract an owl and your neighbor is using poison, that can be bad."
Perzigian also wants to use environmentally conscious, home-remedy approaches to keeping her community — and her car — rodent free.
She steam cleaned the engine where the rat marked its spot. She's willing to spend a little more for the peppermint and other natural products, forking out as much as $20 a week for them.
While some products might work to deter rodents and others may not, she's just trying everything and plans to continue to do so.
Perzigian also wants community leaders to help combat the rat and rodent problem.
"It's costing residents. It's costing insurance companies money," she said. "How do you combat that? I don't want this to happen to me or anybody else again."