Squirrels ate my car

[rgilyead]

Had 2nd service yesterday and was told that something had chewed through the rubber covering of part of the steering assembly of my PHEV so that the joint was no longer lubricated. £30 for the spare and £325 to fit it (!) as it will mean disassembling the whole lot and resetting all the sensors. The most likely suspects are squirrels that move between two sets of trees and pass my car where it is plugged in at the front of my house. Question is how I stop it happening again. Have looked into squirrel repellents but they will obviously get washed off the underside of the car by water on the road. Can't use ultrasonics as we also have protected bats in the trees. Any other ideas?

 

[SolarBoy]

Hmm, did you see the 'chewed' steering assembly or did the dealer decide that going via warranty was too much trouble and billed you directly?

 

[rgilyead]

I can see the chewed joint through the offside front wheel. How would this be covered by a warranty?

 

[SolarBoy]

If it is chewed, and not a mechanical fault that makes it look chewed, then insurance would cover it though may be cheaper to pay the dealer for the repair :|

Have the little blighters munched on anything else inside the engine bay? Might be they were hiding acorns in the engine bay? The little sods wreck my lawn.

 

[rgilyead]

I don't think they have. The joint is just the right height for a squirrel to reach from the ground. Bit like a baby chewing on a teething ring.

 

[Sharky]

Try "Corrosion Block ACF-50 Grease" it's also good for rubber and wont wash off easily, but you might have to top it up once a year. It was recommended to me some years ago when I had mice chewing some items in my garage, it stopped it happening.

 

[rgilyead]

Grease sounds good as it would resist being washed off but would it be ok to put it directly onto the rubber?

 

[Sharky]

The literature states it is good for rubber as it stops it drying out and cracking.

 

[rgilyead]

Excellent! Thanks for the tip