I would call a professional pest control company, perhaps one that services commercial accounts, and see if they can establish about when the rodent died. If it's proven that it died before you took delivery, you're entitled to compensation from the dealer, in my opinion.
Forensic pathologists do this with people on TV crime shows all the time, and if it's on TV, it must be true, right? That was a joke. I'm thinking there's a forensic animal person out there that can help you.
Good luck. I think the "ick" factor will go away if you have to keep the car after it's deodorized.
Hope this helps.
Ray A.

 

Mice can squeeze into the tiniest crevices. Maybe the snake slithered in (no idea how) because he was hungry, LOL! Seriously I haven't experienced an infestation and there's plenty of mice, chipmunks and rats in the vicinity. You can ask the dealer to use an AC refresher kit or pick up Einszett Klima Cleaner to get rid of any smells and bacteria. And clean all surfaces and rugs thoroughly. I haven't heard of using peppermint. I'll keep that in mind.

 

Mine was under the engine. No mice in the garage, but it could have been an animal looking for a warm place during the cold winter. The car was parked at work next to the woods. It could have been chipmunks or something else. They did not find an animal.

 

Never leave dog/cat food (or anything a rodent might eat) in the garage. Or keep it in a sealed container. You provide food, then they want a warm place to stay. Your engine usually. There is really no way to completely seal a car. If it was you wouldn't be able to close a door. That air has to go somewhere.

 

I store my MR2 during the winter months. I place several boxes of D-con around the garage periphery, under the hood and rear engine compartment just to avoid such an invasion while the car is in storage. I leave a reminder note on the steering wheel to remove the in-car bait come along spring. If a rodent gets into the garage, he will find plenty of D-con to dine on. Rodent's tend to stay along the walls of buildings so that's where I set these baits and when I have had an ingress, they've never made it to the car. D-con has a tendency to kill quickly, cause the rodent to be very thirsty and usually will drive them outdoors to seek water and die. Be sure that if you use this bait that it is not accessible to pets or children.

 

Doesn't have to be winter. Same reason that snakes will go like on the highway at night even during the summer. Road will be the warmest suface for them after getting baked by the sun all day. Same with your engine at night.

Rodent will look for a safe place to store it's nest and having stuff to chew on (rubber) just makes it even more cozy for them.

It happens, it's life (and death, lol). Can't take it, get rid of vehicle. Expecting reimbursement from a third party for an 'Act of God' is unreasonable expectation.

Spend half the amount you'd spend on forensics to completely detail the car. Tell the shop that you want the smell completely gone and if they can't handle the job to let you know up front. If it's an ick factor, then its your own issue and absorb the loss that may come from you selling the vehicle.

 

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...e-and-men.html
I actually opened the above thread a while ago and posted about the moth repellent (not mothballs, the one you hang in wardrobes) which seems to work fine with mice, they hate the smell. The ultimate is to keep them away from the vehicle, problem with most rat poisons, is that it doesn't kill immediately. Can give the little guy enough time to turn the electronics on a modern car into a nightmare.

 

A few more thoughts on mice and men. As nasty as the smell is when you have a dead mouse in your car, it will dissipate in a few weeks....they never found the one in my Volvo. In fact years ago a mouse died somewhere in the guts of our refrigerator...repair guy said this is common, he never found it, but we deployed baking soda for a few weeks, odor completely went away.

As for peppermint oil, I generally deploy it under the car (engine). If I'm gone for a month, I might even put some inside the car on cotton ***** (put a paper plate under the cotton ***** to reduce seepage). I also put some under the hood.... It's a proven product, I learned this from various university extension services about mouse deterrence, some basic Googling will confirm this.

A few mouse traps in the garage will alert you to mouse presence, i.e. you can see if they're eating the bait or not. Can't use D-Con if you have pets, of course.

 

Old thread, but...

This is now happening to me. I keep finding droppings in the engine compartments of my IS and RX. I have rat traps all over my garage, don't keep any food/garbage out there, and am having no luck. I will try the peppermint oil noted here, and perhaps some D-Con too. Hopefully I can put a stop to this before I have any damage. Ugh!

 

Decon Works just super. They have packages small enough to put out of the way of pets but in areas only little fury things can travel.

 

Thanks. I'll pick some up today.

 

^Definitely agree. Those little blue pellets are great. Just make sure you place it out of the way of other animals and small children. Good luck getting rid of the rats.

 

Arg.

They seem to like my RX more than my IS.

 

I strongly urge against using D-Con and other poisons for the following reasons (and much experience). Yes, the bait kills rodents. HOWEVER, often I have found that the mice don't eat all
of the pellets but rather stash significant quantities in various places around the garage where they can eat them later. I have found big piles of them in various places. If your pets or kids find them, you can have a serious problem. So be cautious.

The standard, basic Victor mouse trap and peanut butter got rid of 21 mice for me this Fall, and you have the luxury of knowing whether they're gone or not by seeing if your bait is nibbled, even if you don't catch one.

 

I set out some peanut butter bated mechanical traps this weekend, with hopes of catching any mice that do come into my garage. I think they mostly come in when it's cold out, and we've had some phenomenal (60 degree) weather this weekend, so no luck so far.

I was going to get some d-CON pellets but, like you mentioned, I am a bit concerned as I have small children. I'll try this route first.