Buying a car with rodent damage?

[Leicesterdave]

I've found the perfect car for me.

A4 S line Auto with low miles, Full Audi history (serviced 2000 miles ago also) and at a great price.

All was fine until I discovered mice have obviously had a good chew in the engine bay- and the foamy bits have been chewed.

Buy the car or not??

[shih tzu faced]

Depends if you like the rat look

[A1VDY]

If its cheap enough (it needs to be) and a new loom isn't too expensive then buy it. If its not far off the full retail just look elsewhere for another.

[stevemcs]

The little buggers get everywhere, are you sure they are no longer in the car ? does everything work ?
Electrical issues can be a right pain to try and fix.

[J4CKO]

We left the kids Citroen C1 and a mouse got in the ventilation, the smell was incredible, had to have the dash out to try and get rid of the smell and bits of beech nut in the blower motor, including a trip to casualty for a gash on my hand and a tetanus shot.

[autohead]

They don't always chew the loom, its surprisingly fairy common to see evidence of rodents in an engine bay. If n warning lights are on its probably fine.

[Warcloud36]

If it's the tfsi engine from around 2006 to 2013, be aware they burn a lot of oil, worse car would be 0.5 liters per 1000 miles.

[tomic]

shih tzu faced said:

Depends if you like the rat look

I’d say squirrel it way until it becomes a classic.

[KAgantua]

tomic said:

shih tzu faced said:

Depends if you like the rat look

I’d say squirrel it way until it becomes a classic.

If the rod end(t) has been damaged it may not be worth it.
(Really tenuous)

[Pica-Pica]

Warcloud36 said:

If it's the tfsi engine from around 2006 to 2013, be aware they burn a lot of oil, worse car would be 0.5 liters per 1000 miles.

Our 2013 1.2 Skoda doesn’t consume oil (that has an Audi developed engine).

[Skyedriver]

autohead said:

They don't always chew the loom, its surprisingly fairy common to see evidence of rodents in an engine bay. If n warning lights are on its probably fine.

We lived on the Isle of Skye for a while, in laws car suffered mouse damage to plug leads, breather pipes, etc, all sorts of warning lights on the dash as a result
Wifes car too, they chewed the red cut off button on a diesel peugeot. couldn't understand why the car wouldn't start....
And under bonnet insulation moved into corners for nests....

[strath44]

We're in a rural area and the mice seem to like sleeping on the strut tower of our A6 - there is some foam up there they chew. Pretty clever and determined little creatures - they had chewed a hole in the wheel arch liner and made their way in!

Last year the kids insisted I turned my efforts humane within the house as one was turning into a bit of a pet!
Said little critter was duly captured and put in a shoe box for release on the way to work. An hour down the road I got out opened the box and he wasn't there, assumed I was given an empty box I got on with my day! The next morning I got in the car and he was sitting on the passenger seat looking up at me! Very luckily he was caught quickly I can imagine it would do a fair bit of damage!

On topic I wouldn't worry too much, however do a very through check of all buttons and functionality of anything electric, you really need to get an obd scan done as well to ascertain if there are any issues!

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd be worried about the rodent eating into the loom so making sure everything works would be a big thing for me, but I'd probably swerve as loom issues get expensive.

[Noyzboy]

Friend had a RS4 front loom replaced due to rodents

[nikaiyo2]

ZX10R NIN said:

I'd be worried about the rodent eating into the loom so making sure everything works would be a big thing for me, but I'd probably swerve as loom issues get expensive.

It really can.

the old man had an Aston Vanquish, that he drove very infrequently.

A family of mice ate through various looms etc, it cost about £15,000 to repair!

[strath44]

autohead said:

They don't always chew the loom, its surprisingly fairy common to see evidence of rodents in an engine bay. If n warning lights are on its probably fine.

Fairies & Rodents this is getting out of control

OP we need price, age, mileage and spec - what have you got to loose!!