Cars > CarsJuly 19, 2004

Smell of Mice in Car

My car broke down beyond repair and I could not afford to by another one at the moment, fortunately my parents had a car sitting in their yard that was in seemingly good condition and was only there for about a year

When I Begin cleaning it out I discovered that there had been several families of mice living in it! Fortunately they all seemed to have deserted the car, however they left behind several little presents for me to clean!

I got the car repaired (the things the mice had chewed through and I also needed a strut). The mechanic told me that not only were they living in the car (and trunk) they had also built a nest in the blowers (for the AC and heat).

So I cleaned out the car I shampooed the interior and vacuumed and sprayed almost a whole bottle of fabreeze all though out the car and the smell is still there! (although it is not as strong)

I personally hate mice and their smell makes me sick but I can't afford to buy another car for a little while so I don't know what to do. I would like to get every little bit of smell out of the car not only because it makes me sick but also it's really embarrassing (I could not imagine taking out a date or going somewhere with my friends and them having to smell mouse!)

So please, any tips or ideas would help. Everyday I drive to work in this thing and it makes me nauseous.

Matt

Answers

Read answers for this post below.

By
01/16/2010

Hi there We used a product called deodorant worked great, google it, hope it helps you. C

By
12/07/2009

Before mice move into your car they move onto your engine(especially in winter).They like the heat the engine gives off long after you shut it off. I find chewed acorns and seeds on my engine all the time. Most of us park are cars in the same spot every day, night.That makes it easy for them to return and slowly move in. I'm currently trying to get the urine smell out of a 2006 car that sat in a garage for 15 months after its owner passed away. The car is immaculate w/12,000 miles, except for that smell. I'm beginning to think the car is permanently ruined.

By BOB (Guest Post) 11/15/2008

I was told my a car dealer that an ozone machine will work.

By Collin H (Guest Post) 11/04/2008

You can use a thing of baking soda and it will dry up the smell.

By jen (Guest Post) 11/20/2007

Similar story. I went to go run an errand. I left my snakes food (two mice) in my car. It took me about and hour or so and when I got back to my car. The mice chewed threw the box and both were gone! I managed to find one under my sit. and the other I found in my dome light. I took the light of, the stupid thing kept popping his head out but I couldn't get him.

Anyway, long story short, my brand new car reeks, and I have no idea how to get it out without my costing $200 to rip open my car or for that matter I don't even know where it is. so if anyone knows how long it will take to go away or anything it would be great!

By nosarb (Guest Post) 02/07/2007

Smell! I don't think that is as bad as the diseases/breathing problems these mice can give you. Dried up mouse droppings can really mess up your health. Some of these cars are made to harbor mice and not keep them out through the ventilation system.

By e blemel (Guest Post) 05/04/2006

hi ! here at prodigious auto live in a rural area and mice damage has been a constant scource of work,we searched high and low to find an answer,and we came up with an aromatic varment deterent that works well. once youve cleaned the car again,give our product a try it has an excellant track record,my cars had fallen victim as well and one was only aweek old ,i have had no problems since.
visit our web sight at prodigiousauto.com to learn more. good luck

By Danielle (Guest Post) 06/29/2005

Any ideas on how to get the smell of mice urine out of duct work?

By Taylor Will (Guest Post) 04/18/2005

I had mice in my car while it was sitting at the farm over the winter, they have left now but they left me a hell of a mess to clean up. They got under my carpet in my hatchback where the spare tire was and had all sorts of food left behind (canola,dog food,cat food, etc.) I had to clean all of that out, then i wiped it down and used industrial cleaner on it and spray painted over it. Well after that at least every day or two the mouse smell would come out of nowhere, and would only stay for maybe 5 minutes. This was no good because if i had a date or a friend in the car they would get all grossed out and make fun of me for having the "stinky car". Well then i went into the spare tire area again and cleaned it out with Fantastik Orange, which took off some of the spray paint but also got alot more of the mouse droppings and little bit of gunk i had missed the first time. I wiped it down with a rag and the cleaner at least 3-4 times, then i spray painted over it and let it dry, then i sprayed some Febreeze over that and let it sit over night. Well it has been a week now and i haven't had to deal with the horrid stench even once. Hopefully this helps someone out with their mouse problems.

By
12/07/2004

I haven't heard anyone come back to say the smell went away. I have a Ford Excursion and saw a mouse running by the dash. We had no luck finding him and payed the dealer to take my dash out. It has been 3 weeks and the smell gets really intense when the car is running. I think he crawled in the dash and died! I am hoping someone can give me hope. It's a lot of car to search and by now we'd never find anything. Please let me know how long it takes. I'm ready to drive the car over a cliff!!!

By A (Guest Post) 10/22/2004

I had a similar problem. Mice invaded my car (don't know how) and I used humane mouse traps to catch 2 mice!

Anyway, to clean the car, my brother kindly removed all seats, all the carpet and shampoed the lot!

While everything was out, we used disinfectant to clean the car and get rid of the smell, which worked. Mind you; you can only get the smell totally out if the carpets are removed, washed thoroughly and the surface below the carpet AND the underlay are disinfected! its not easy.

After 6 months of cleanliness.... the mice are BACK! I don't know what to do..

By Linne Dodds (Guest Post) 07/20/2004

Get some OUT in the WalMart pet department .Pour it on some wads of paper towels & stick it everywhere the mouse smell seems to be invading from unless the towels could catch fire .
Fabric softener sheets would probably work wonders too.

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