Incredible Edible Car

[BlackWorksInc]

Everyone seems to have switched to a "Soy Based Wiring Insulation" to be more "Eco Friendly."

Well, eco friendly means tastier to the local ecology. I deal with rodent cars pretty regularly out here. Totaled a '13 Sienna due to rodent damage and will probably end up totaling this '12 Prius I have in the shop now (caught a rather pudgy mouse when the Adjuster and I were looking it over for preliminary tear-down quote).

I find it funny how people are suing the companies for doing what the "people" wanted and being more environmentally friendly, you can't have it both ways.

 

[jrandom]

I find it funny how people are suing the companies for doing what the "people" wanted and being more environmentally friendly, you can't have it both ways.

Agreed.

If they would just change the entire car disposal eco-system, to be more recycle-like instead of... hah 100+ years of junkyards and crushers, yeah right. Then they could have just continued the way it was.

 

[kott3670]

It can definitely be a problem. A co-worker had $5000 of wiring damage to his Prius from squirrels a couple of years ago, and this was in front of his house (he owns a 5 acre place with a lot of trees.) He was trying to figure out some kind of electric fence around his parking spot.

You're kind of asking for it driving a Prius.... I swear just the sight of a Prius gives me road rage.

 

[Ghostrider]

Someone on the forum said their neighbors use Lemon Pledge on the engine bay and the rodents hate it.

But yeah, basically everyone is using more environmentally friendly insulation for their wiring, which means the environment likes to eat it up quite literally.

and they deserve the lawsuits for a stupid design. IMHO they chose the eco design because they could save a few bucks not because it's green. Unfortunately the people who choose junk like this ignore the fact that lawyers love this type of choice. Honda now has a tape that can be applied which contains some hot spice or something. The fact that they needed a remedy means they knew it was a potential problem. If Toyota is marketing the truck for outdoor use they absolutely should have made the vehicle with environmentally resistant components

 

[Simpleman74]

He's from Brooklyn, probably doesn't know what a forest is. :jump:

probably not rats then... probably giant cockroaches! lol

 

[BlackWorksInc]

and they deserve the lawsuits for a stupid design. IMHO they chose the eco design because they could save a few bucks not because it's green. Unfortunately the people who choose junk like this ignore the fact that lawyers love this type of choice. Honda now has a tape that can be applied which contains some hot spice or something. The fact that they needed a remedy means they knew it was a potential problem. If Toyota is marketing the truck for outdoor use they absolutely should have made the vehicle with environmentally resistant components

We have that tape, some mice seem to not mind it.

The reality is that it's more complicated than "it's cheaper", regulations and mandates pushed by "Eco" people who don't really pay attention to the whole picture tend to also be a driving force. Much in the same way lead is not used in solder for industrial applications, despite a minimum of 5% preventing Tin Whiskers in electronics that cause anything from Dreamliner battery systems to catch on fire, to the strong possibility of unintended acceleration issues in various vehicles, to your XBox going evil red eye.

Same thing with the whole VW thing, it was partially about saving money; but more about circumventing restrictive and mostly unrealistic expectations (meeting CO2 and NOX regulations vs. fuel/performance economy)

 

[Ariakas]

Keep a cat under your hood?

[MENTION=131371]Yukon4Runner[/MENTION]

I used to do mechanic work and once had to pressure wash cat out of a lady's engine compartment because it had gotten in the radiator cowling for warmth and was mangled when the engine was started.

Just one way to skin a cat, lol.

 

[Roncu]

My brother lives in a fairly dense residential neighborhood. Squirrels did a number on his 2017 Taco. Main wiring harness. The little bastards even chewed a big chunk out of the plastic cowling covering the motor. They had to take out the whole dash and a bunch of other stuff to fix it. Cost was near 6K. I believe his homeowners insurance covered it.