Why are animals chewing holes in my car plastic and gas tank?
Rodents and wildlife chew on vehicle parts like plastic wheel covers and gas tanks because modern engine components use soy-based wiring and materials that attract pests. This leaves vehicle owners dealing with expensive physical damage and rendered equipment that cannot be safely used until repaired.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Spray some deterrent on it
- 2use cayenne pepper
- 3ignore it
- 4Using ultrasonic rodent repellents
- 5Spraying peppermint oil or using repellent bags
- 6Putting mothballs inside old socks and placing them under the hood
- 7Parking in a garage instead of outdoors or near fields
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Returned from a trip and saw these holes on the plastic cover above my wheels.”source ↗
“They chewed a hole in my lawnmower gas tank 🤬”source ↗
“Do you have any other ideas to stop rats from getting into engines?”source ↗
“Only outside parking, I live in the woods :/”source ↗
“Damn, they had to replace my wiring bc the rats chewed through it.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 2Can I fix major car body damage myself?
- 3How to fix small rust spots on a car yourself
- 2How to fix a paint scratch on someone else's car without a shop