kitlz

But rats can get pretty large and aggressive. I'd recommend calling the city department of health. It's a serious quality of life issue.

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Use one of these, they work great

Randy25

Thank you everyone for all of your suggestions!!

The car still stunk horribly after the engine area was cleaned by the detailing shop and the following morning when I walked out to the garage, I heard a rat scurrying around my engine. So I called the Lexus dealership and they said "We have experienced people who can help you rid the odor, but first you have to get rid of the rats so this doesn't happen again!" So I spent several hours mixing cement and patching about 15 holes in and outside the garage (in the ground) where rodents could travel. I also set some spring traps in the garage. Have caught 3 rats since, although seeing the dead bodies or half dead and still yelling is enough to make one ill. But hopefully I got the one that was living in my car.

Finally I visited the auto dealer yesterday and spent another $90 to replace the air filter and clean that area . . . . . . . . . . . still stunk!! The service tech showed me the old cabin air filter behind my glove compartment and under the dashboard of my car. There were literally dozens of rat feces lining it and dried urine!!! That's what I've been breathing the past week. I wondered why I developed a bad "chest cold" since Sunday and have been getting steadily worse!! And after a replacement filter and more cleaning there was still no change in the smell coming from the vents of my vehicle. The technician did point out small pieces of a gray foam the rat had dragged into the filter that "we have noticed rats enjoy (from inspecting other RX vehicles), and comes from somewhere under the hood, we don't know exactly where, and it's probably soybean based".

So then I visited Pep Boys to buy a $10 air freshener spray for the air ducts, and the manager informed me that Lexus had ripped me off, and the only way I could solve the problem was by using a machine they had in their auto repair facility. So for another $66 they ran a chemical through the air ducts of my vehicle to eliminate "the mold that had formed from the feces". Afterwords, I would say about 50% of the bad air had left, but there was still an odor, so I purchased the clean air can and sprayed it into both air intake ducts under my dashboard, then ran the a/c on high with the door closed for 20 mins.

$218 later I think the problem is now solved (assuming no more rats attempt to make a home under my hood). I did put peppermint oil on cotton ***** and place them around the interior of the garage yesterday. Evidently some rats don't like the smell. I visited the City Councilman's office a few days ago to request they bait the alley behind my house and backyard. They told me there is a backlog in requests and it will take three weeks before someone comes out.

And I installed a RidRite ultrasonic device on the wall of the garage. But my health has worsened. My voice has lowered an octave and breathing is a little difficult. I just hope I don't have Hanta virus.

Randy25

napstermik

cat or large glue boards usually work

Need4Speed

Wow that is terrible, hope you get better. I had a problem with mouses once, I set up an actual cage bait with marshmallows covered with peanut butter. Got those suckers every time. The hardest part was killing them.

supraken

Sorry, but you'll need to trade in for a new car. Good excuse to tell the wife right?

On a more serious note, glad you got it resolved. Next time if there are odor in the vents, take out the cabin filter (and probably change it), open all the doors, run the fan on high (without AC), and spray lysol into the air ducts on the base of the windshield. Let the fan run for a while so that it will dry out the vents. That usually will do the trick.