Rodent cost me $600 plus time

[Bobby130]

Flew 600 miles and paid $5K over invoice to get my Maverick Lariat- Yes, I wanted it that bad.
LOVED it for 1,900 miles until I got an Engine Light warning, and had to take it to my local dealer.

Issue diagnosed to be a single wire damaged by rodent- at a repair cost of nearly $600 that was NOT covered under warranty.

I do not have rodents in my garage, and my subsequent calls to Ford are have been useless.
The Mav was produced in early Feb, and I purchased it in late March, which means Ford owned it during transit after manufacturing longer than the time I have owned it since purchasing. Additionally a $600 repair bill for a few small wire terminals is crazy.

I've since seen stories of Soy Based Wiring insulation attracting rodents, etc., but since I do not have any in my garage where this Mav is kept, I can only assume that the problem may have begin at the point of manufacture in Mexico. Then, a few weeks later the wire frayed enough to cause the Engine light to come on.

Anyone else have similar experiences? I still love the Maverick, but am extremely disappointed in Ford.

I used to work for a Honda dealership and we had lots of rats chewing up the wiring but Honda usually replaced the affected wire harness. We also put on a rat tape to stop the rats . My friend has a late model Ford and rats ate it’s wiring too. I took it to Ford and they also refused to warranty it also, I repaired the wires and wrapped them with rat tape. The tape is apps $35.00 a roll. I bought a new Nissan and the first thing I did was rat tape it. Use the rat tape on all the wiring you can get to. It will save you a trip to the dealer

Sponsored

 

[WJOHNM]

Is there anything we can do to protect the wires from being chewed on? A liberal application of spray on undercoating or something?

I use PEPPERMINT spray on my dog for fleas and ticks when we go a field and Home Depot sells peppermint garbage bags for unwanted guests in your garbage pails, rodents hate the smell of peppermint. I had a squirrel that loved my garbage bags ripped them up good, so I sprayed them with that spray and never seen him again. I get it at chewy. com or amazon about 10 bucks am thinking of spraying my engine compartment. Smells good too!!!

 

[WJOHNM]

I used to work for a Honda dealership and we had lots of rats chewing up the wiring but Honda usually replaced the affected wire harness. We also put on a rat tape to stop the rats . My friend has a late model Ford and rats ate it’s wiring too. I took it to Ford and they also refused to warranty it also, I repaired the wires and wrapped them with rat tape. The tape is apps $35.00 a roll. I bought a new Nissan and the first thing I did was rat tape it. Use the rat tape on all the wiring you can get to. It will save you a trip to the dealer

After I retired from BMW/MB I got bord and worked for a insurance company doing damage claims. had to go into a lousy area in Queens ny to look at a vehicle, when I opened the hood out jump a bunch of rats, one jumped on me and started scratching my rain coat trying to get traction to hold on, I always thought I was tuff and could handle anything well I started screaming like a baby and had to check my paints being face to face with a giant RAT on my chest....Thank god it was raining he couldn't hold on to the slippery rain coat.

 

[Yosemite_Lariat]

Had a mouse chew on the high voltage harness of my C-Max hybrid to the tune of $2800. Thankfully it was covered by the comprehensive portion of my insurance. Also I can second peppermint oil - haven't had any issues with mice in the garage since we've been using it regularly.

 

[ZogNowak]

All those NEW Maverick’s sitting out in fields and in large outdoor lots, then sitting sometimes weeks on rail cars, no way they could get any rodents in them. Come on Ford. $600 for a freakin wire that was in ALL PROBABILITY chewed by a Mexican rat.

That would be "Senor Rat" to you, Sir.

 

[greycat]

I use PEPPERMINT spray on my dog for fleas and ticks when we go a field and Home Depot sells peppermint garbage bags for unwanted guests in your garbage pails, rodents hate the smell of peppermint. I had a squirrel that loved my garbage bags ripped them up good, so I sprayed them with that spray and never seen him again. I get it at chewy. com or amazon about 10 bucks am thinking of spraying my engine compartment. Smells good too!!!

I douse the interior, the engine bay, the garage, the basement well, nearly everything with peppermint oil mixed in water now.

 

[YOBY]

I douse the interior, the engine bay, the garage, the basement well, nearly everything with peppermint oil mixed in water now.

I'm glad to see there's a good alternative to using D-CON in the garage for rodents. I lived out in the country with corn and cows about 200 feet from my house. Needless to say, I had a good supply of flies and field mice trying their best to get into my house, especially mice in winter.

I could not figure how the mice were getting in because everything was so tight being a new energy star home. My answer was to place D-CON poison in the garage during winter. Worked well, no more mice.

Then came spring. I opened up the door on my Chrysler Crossfire to drive to the carwash and the smell was so bad I had to close the door. You guessed it, the mice had a home in my car dash, ate the poison and died in the dash.

No wire damage but it cost me $3600.00 to pull the dash and get the rodents and smell out of the car. Insurance would not cover rodent damage to cars, that was 14 years ago.

I did figure out how the mice were getting in the house and garage, they would go to the corners on the house and where the siding slides into the corner strip that extends from basement to roof, they would chew away the plastic that the siding guy bent over the hole at the bottom of the corner strip. This gave mice instant access to the garage and house via the attic. A little spray in foam at each corner stopped the mouse problem.

 

[WJOHNM]

I douse the interior, the engine bay, the garage, the basement well, nearly everything with peppermint oil mixed in water now.

The smell don't last keep doing it, mostly winter months you have to worry, I dump a small bottle of peppermint oil into the spray I get from Chewy/Amazon for the dog and it really stinks, I spray my shoes when in the woods, never had a tick on me, before I used to take 10 ticks off my dog in a weekend. Much better than all the chemicals they sell and natural
its called VETS BEST flea and tick its for the home and dogs, all natural stuff. I dump a small bottle of peppermint oil in it and doubles protection and sticks to what you spray on better and lasts much longer. you can spray your garbage pails too mice, rats, squirrels, racoons wont go near it. reapply after rain washes off.

 

[Trucklet]

ONE issue for the 600 charge may be....you FLEW 600 miles and bought it at a dealer, then brought it to your local dealer...who certainly isn't "going to give you a customer deal" on the repair invoice...had you bought it at your local dealer...I am pretty confident he would have worked a much better price even if ford did not cover it under warranty. Just my .02

If he bought it at his local dealer, he likely wouldn't have it yet. Allocation system should have been abandoned as soon as vehicles stopped sitting on lots.

 

[Vongreg]

When I had a Kia Stinger a rodent chewed one sensor. That cost $4500 as the dealer had to pull the engine to get to it. GEICO paid all but the deductible.

Sponsored