9/2 update - all - thank you for your feedback. I live on 20 acres, rural area, so parking at a neighbor's isn't feasible. I'm going to take the Subaru to the Dealership next week and have them go through the car and plug any holes that I have missed and look for any place that the mice could be hiding. I'm wondering if the mice did enter the car originally from the car lot where it sat?? That's good feedback to consider. Since I am desperate to catch these critters I will try moth balls and the dryer sheets. Heck! I have tried everything else and can't catch them. It is quite frustrating to see the mouse droppings all around the traps and buckets of water and the d-con because they have gotten so smart they avoid everything. My car is vacuumed completely every week-end because I'm trying to "enjoy" my new car, but right now it's hard to do... I'll keep you posted on what happens next week after I take the Impreza to the Dealership.

 

8/30 posting - I have a brand new Impreza and mice have found their way inside. I have plugged every conceivable hole/crawl space that I see that gives entry from the outside to the inside of my car. I have tried to catch them with sticky mats, conventional mouse traps, plastic traps, $50 boxes, d-con, and buckets of water. Nothing works! They are mocking me and I'm going crazy! Every morning I remove all my traps from the trunk, seats, dashboard and floors, and still find mouse droppings everywhere. What else can I do? Call an exterminator? My husband says even if we are successful in exterminating the mice - how do we prevent them from coming in again? I go ballastic every morning when I get in the car to go to work. Anyone out there have severe mouse problems that they can give me some advise?

Edited September 2, 201114 yr by Dee Rein
update

wow. traps don't work? that's just weird.

 

are you sure they're living the car or maybe just visiting it at night?

 

try leaving the car at a friends house one night?

 

if you need to get rid of smells, an ozone generator will do it, they're amazing and are the only legitimate way to eradicate smells. heck - they're toxic too so if the mice are in the cabin it'll kill them if you let it run all night inside the car, which is what i do with really bad smoked in vehicles, etc. then you'll have dead animal smell....but at least that eventually goes away?

 

they tend to do bad things to wiring, insulation, etc - i'd get on this as soon as possible. is this covered under warranty!? !?!

What year impreza and trim level.

Do not leave bags of chips, food crumbs etc in there.

you need to get ''severe-car-cat'' you can order it on line or might find it at your local animal shelter. it may not actually get rid of your problem but it will DRAMATICALLY cut down on the amount of mouse droppings. you have to order the litter box separately.

 

 

i also suggest parking the car in a different place.

Mice suck. They enter our old 1982 GL wagon via the gearshift portal through the floor. We put a metal plate over the shift every night to keep them out.

We also put poison pellets on the floor of the car....just in hopes of killing a few of dem nasty critters.

 

See it that link can help you:

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=110306&page=2

Good luck,

Sam

I had a problem with mice in my car last winter. They made nests under the carpet and in the center console, etc.

 

I thoroughly vacummed and cleaned any area I could find evidence of mice. I actually had to lift up the carpet in the trunk, and the access panel for the spare tire, get underneath the plastic in the center console, etc.

 

That really helped. I vacuumed out all their nesting and food storage, and made sure to keep the car spotless.

 

It may also help to move the car and park somewhere else for a while.

 

Matt

Your real problem is there is somewhere nearby the car a large mice population. This colony of mice are only there because there is a large food source. Need to identify and remove the food source and find where the mice are nesting.

An ultrasonic repellent, or maybe something like this?

http://www.amazon.com/Mouse-Away-Concentrate-2-oz/dp/B000BBSO10/ref=sr_1_8?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1314830831&sr=1-8

you need to get ''severe-car-cat'' you can order it on line or might find it at your local animal shelter. it may not actually get rid of your problem but it will DRAMATICALLY cut down on the amount of mouse droppings. you have to order the litter box separately.

 

 

i also suggest parking the car in a different place.

 

Nice. I was going to suggest an impreza cat, too. Then I thought it would be trading mice for a hair problem.

 

A rag soaked in ammonia repels animals pretty well. Or try one of those ultrasonic vermin repellers - usually for the garage - that you plug into a wall outlet like stated above.

Edited August 31, 201114 yr by kanurys

moth balls left in the car all the time - change to fresh about once a month

moth balls left in the car all the time - change to fresh about once a month

 

That might keep criminals at bay, too.

An ultrasonic repellent, or maybe something like this?

http://www.amazon.com/Mouse-Away-Concentrate-2-oz/dp/B000BBSO10/ref=sr_1_8?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1314830831&sr=1-8

 

I have heard that ultrasonic repellent devices don't work for more then a short period of time. Critters get use to the noise, and ignore it, and go on with their mischief.

moth balls left in the car all the time - change to fresh about once a month

 

Dryer sheets.....put a sheet or two under the floor mats, under the seats, in the trunk/wagon. They work.

I had a problem similar to that with a Saab I used to own years back...they leave my Subaru alone, tho.

 

 

Don't ask me why!

 

 

--Damien

 

Hint: If you look at 'Subaru' in your rearview mirror...you may discover a planet in our solar system!

if you have never had problems before with mice in your car, good chance it sat on the dealers lot and thats where the mice originated from! it happened to my friends mom recently, she bought a new toyota matrix, garaged it in the same place she has for 15yrs with her previous car, and ended up losing radio signal one day. the dealer ended up pulling down the headliner and it was FULL of mice!! they had chewed thru the antenna wire! she had only had the car a couple of weeks. that is my best guess, they originated from the dealer you bought it from...

 

on a side note, her comp part of her insurance covered it, she only had to pay $500 deductible. that may be an option for you to pursue.

 

ive also heard the product "cab fresh" works outstanding to deter mice, and it can be found at many hardware stores (the little guy ones not the big box stores). many farmers use it in their stuff and swear by it.

 

good luck!! mice def suck, and stink, and can really mess up a car quick!

Edited September 2, 201114 yr by themoneypit

Everyone is over thinking.

 

Cat food.

 

Put out cat food by the car every dayn (or night). Everyone has stray cats, it will solve the problem.

 

Mice can make themselves incredibly flat so it is amazing where they can get into.

Everyone is over thinking.

 

Cat food.

 

Put out cat food by the car every dayn (or night). Everyone has stray cats, it will solve the problem.

 

Mice can make themselves incredibly flat so it is amazing where they can get into.

 

all that will do is feed the mice dude. ive found mice in my house before in the basement, and guess what was in their nest.... dog food!! the LAST thing i would do is feed the mice by leaving a bowl of food out for them.

Just go down to your local pet store and pick up a 2' boa. Where ever the mice go he can go go.

 

Now on a serious note dryier sheets and moth balls work wonders.

Just go down to your local pet store and pick up a 2' boa. Where ever the mice go he can go go.

 

Now on a serious note dryier sheets and moth balls work wonders.

 

dryer sheets dont do sheet! that is a myth. my buddy had two boxes of dryer sheets strewn about his camper last winter trying to keep mice out. they came in, sheet on the sheets, and ended up caught in the traps that he also set. dont waste your time and money on dryer sheets, the only thing you gain is a "fresh outdoor scent" in your car, or in his case camper...

dryer sheets dont do sheet! that is a myth. my buddy had two boxes of dryer sheets strewn about his camper last winter trying to keep mice out. they came in, sheet on the sheets, and ended up caught in the traps that he also set. dont waste your time and money on dryer sheets, the only thing you gain is a "fresh outdoor scent" in your car, or in his case camper...

 

Ah! But they were fleeing the dryer sheets so fast they got caught on the traps!

all that will do is feed the mice dude. ive found mice in my house before in the basement, and guess what was in their nest.... dog food!! the LAST thing i would do is feed the mice by leaving a bowl of food out for them.

 

 

Mice like dry dog food DUDE .. you will have cats hanging out and keeping away the mnice, sorry DUDE but that really is a common solution to the problem DUDE and highly recomended.

 

 

(guess which word I hate)

At work, I recently removed all of the carpet and interior insulation from a Ford Expedition and threw it all into a dumpster. Mice had pissed in it so much that it had solidified. It's very difficult to explain how God-awful bad that thing smelled, but it was impossible to drive without your head hanging out of the window. I'd even pried a dead one out of the blower motor fan; It was mashed all through the fins, like a hell-ride on a foul hamster wheel.

Good old fashion snap traps baited with peanut butter works for me whenever and wherever mice are problematic.

Mice like dry dog food DUDE .. you will have cats hanging out and keeping away the mnice, sorry DUDE but that really is a common solution to the problem DUDE and highly recomended.

 

 

(guess which word I hate)

hey DUDE mice will eat dry cat food too... mice will eat ANYTHING including wires DUDE. go head, put some food near your car and see if you end up with mice too. your suggestion is just f-ing assenine DUDE