Rodent Damage

[lucid eye]

Here is my story. A couple of weeks ago, I drove to work and parked my Lucid AT, and all was good. At the end of the day, I got in the car and got the driver system fault screen, and the vehicle was not driveable. Had to get it towed to the Lucid service center. After a day or so of trying to figure out what was wrong, they thought it was a faulty accelerator pedal. After replacing that part, it did not solve the problem, and they had to go digging. It turns out that some of the wires were damaged by what they feel is some rodent (see photos). They concluded that after they saw the "insulation" disturbed. I have never had such an issue with any car I have ever had. I never knew this was a thing until this happened (now I hear it is very common). The unfortunate thing is that the small section of wire that was damaged has resulted in the whole harness needing to be replaced. This has required that a lot of the car be disassembled to get this done, including removing the battery pack. The job is almost complete, and apparently, it should be ready this coming week. I sure hope it drives the same way and has no issues. Unfortunately, none of this is covered under warranty, which I guess is understandable. I have decided not to go through insurance as I have a high deductable, and I am worried about what this means later on with insurance, etc.. I have been quoted at least 10K to fix as this is very labor intensive. There is some access from the wheel well that can get directly into this area, and I am sure they were able to find some tasty items to nibble on. I have been a massive advocate of this vehicle and will continue to be (hopefully), but I now have vast concerns about this happening again. I would love it if Lucid could help with some of the costs associated with this, as I feel that such an expensive car could have some way to isolate access to these areas. I don't know what to say or what I can do, but I would appreciate any advice anybody could have on what I can do to prevent this in the future or if they feel manufacturers could be doing a better job of preventing this. I know that this can happen to any vehicle, including high-end ones. What is everybody's thoughts?

 

[borski]

Sadly, this is a thing that can happen. Mice love wire insulation. @Cosmo Cruz has posted about this before.

Do you have comprehensive coverage? This should be covered under that. Given this was no fault, it shouldn’t raise your premiums but that depends on the state.

 

[lucid eye]

Sadly, this is a thing that can happen. Mice love wire insulation. @Cosmo Cruz has posted about this before.

Do you have comprehensive coverage? This should be covered under that. Given this was no fault, it shouldn’t raise your premiums but that depends on the state.

I am in Toronto, Canada. I know this will not raise my premium, but my deductible is 5K, and going through insurance, it gets automatically posted on Carfax (vehicle history reporting), which records the repair of the vehicle and affects resale...not that I am planning to sell. Still, I am debating the insurance thing.

 

[Amster]

Fortunately, I haven't had this problem. I know there are rodents around the property, but I park in the garage and have never seen one inside. But my sister had to have her Bolt rewiring redone twice, a few thousand dollars each time, dur to rodents getting in there and chewing wiring up.

 

[lucid eye]

Fortunately, I haven't had this problem. I know there are rodents around the property, but I park in the garage and have never seen one inside. But my sister had to have her Bolt rewiring redone twice, a few thousand dollars each time, dur to rodents getting in there and chewing wiring up.

I park in the garage also, but at work, I park outdoors. This is where I think it may have happened, as my garage is clean, and I have never seen any signs of rodents.

 

[jedwin]

Does that picture of the tire near the end of your set of photos show the gap that you think the rodents entered through?

If so, I wonder if that could be the kind of thing that gorilla tape is perfect for….

 

[lucid eye]

Does that picture of the tire near the end of your set of photos show the gap that you think the rodents entered through?

If so, I wonder if that could be the kind of thing that gorilla tape is perfect for….

Yes, that area is a direct route to the area of concern, shown in the photo with the circled area.

 

[jedwin]

It’s odd that the Lucid build doesn’t cover that area with plastic. Nachos rodents, but water spray seems like it can get up in there.

Does anyone have any thoughts about whether the air gap there would be serving any useful/essential purpose? It’s hard to imagine what that would be. (maybe allowing some air venting of the interior compartment where all the wiring is?)

PS
Just took a look at mine, and I see now that it’s not such a simple opening as the picture may have implied. A couple wires come out of there on both sides (part of the dynamic suspension system?), and there does seem to be other gaps that my fingers can reach up between the plastic flashing and the body behind.

I guess it does seem like a place where Lucid could build gasket designed to seal that gap…. But I can’t see a simple way that we could protect our own cars from this entry point. Go to it, DIY dabblers among us!

 

[lucid eye]

It’s odd that the Lucid build doesn’t cover that area with plastic. Nachos rodents, but water spray seems like it can get up in there.

Does anyone have any thoughts about whether the air gap there would be serving any useful/essential purpose? It’s hard to imagine what that would be. (maybe allowing some air venting of the interior compartment where all the wiring is?)

They did tell me something about air flow, I believe, but I don't know if that is "officially" the reason.

 

[jedwin]

For what it’s worth, here in Maine people swear by using dryer fabric softener sheets for keeping rodents out of engine compartments and interiors of vehicles when they’re being stored for a few months. That almost looks like the type of area where they wouldn’t be in the way, or in danger of getting into moving parts…

 

[msaunders9430]

For what it’s worth, here in Maine people swear by using dryer fabric softener sheets for keeping rodents out of engine compartments and interiors of vehicles when they’re being stored for a few months. That almost looks like the type of area where they wouldn’t be in the way, or in danger of getting into moving parts…

Make sure you don't have any food left in your car. One of my sons had a squirrel issue with one of his cars. The other two cars were of no interest to the squirrels. The one car had snacks left in his daughter's car seat and a few other places. He cleaned it out and hasn't had a problem since.

 

[lucid eye]

Make sure you don't have any food left in your car. One of my sons had a squirrel issue with one of his cars. The other two cars were of no interest to the squirrels. The one car had snacks left in his daughter's car seat and a few other places. He cleaned it out and hasn't had a problem since.

I never do and I don’t even allow people to eat in my car. But, good point and a reminder to all.

 

[Andretex]

For 10k I would use insurance. Even if it goes up, it will take some time to make up $10k.

 

[lucid eye]

For what it’s worth, here in Maine people swear by using dryer fabric softener sheets for keeping rodents out of engine compartments and interiors of vehicles when they’re being stored for a few months. That almost looks like the type of area where they wouldn’t be in the way, or in danger of getting into moving parts…

Lucid had suggested moth balls. Not something I want to have to put in a 100+K car.

For 10k I would use insurance. Even if it goes up, it will take some time to make up $10k.

For 10k I would use insurance. Even if it goes up, it will take some time to make up $10k.

But my deductible is 5k. That’s the problem.

 

[LuvLucy]

why are we accusing the op of leaving food in his car?

 

[Andretex]

Lucid had suggested moth balls. Not something I want to have to put in a 100+K car.



But my deductible is 5k. That’s the problem.

Wow ok. Mine is $1k. Well hopefully its less than 10k! Good luck

 

[Electrified]

My tech center is down in the wooded part of our property, keeping the mice away from nesting in the cars and toys is a constant battle, moth ball bags, peppermint/spearmint bags work well. Pop some of those plastic covers and drop the bags in and replace quarterly, links below.

And forget dryer sheets the mice like to shit on them.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQ4Y6Q2L/ref=sspa_dk_hqp_detail_aax_0?psc=1&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9ocXBfc2hhcmVk

Robot or human?

 

[Electrified]

Lucid had suggested moth balls. Not something I want to have to put in a 100+K car.



But my deductible is 5k. That’s the problem.

Read post 17, it works.

 

[lucid eye]

My tech center is down in the wooded part of our property, keeping the mice away from nesting in the cars and toys is a constant battle, moth ball bags, peppermint/spearmint bags work well. Pop some of those plastic covers and drop the bags in and replace quarterly, links below.

And forget dryer sheets the mice like to shit on them.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQ4Y6Q2L/ref=sspa_dk_hqp_detail_aax_0?psc=1&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9ocXBfc2hhcmVk

Robot or human?

Thank you for the advice.

 

[Electrified]

Thank you for the advice.

You're welcome!!

I also throw some bags under the cars, while the repellants are pungent I have had no issues with the smell coming into the vehicles.