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I took my car in for it's 15,000 mile service the other day and they planned to change the ICE air filter and the air conditioning filter. To save money, I told them I'd do that. Well, I just did and.............I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS MESS!!!!!

I posted here at a thread about 8 months ago where the mice problem was discussed. I even had some insulation fly out of the dash vents when using the AC around that time, before I stopped using it for the winter. Since that thread, I have been remembering most of the time to engage the recirc. when parked. Anyway, THANK GOD I didn't use the AC today despite the 80 degree weather (I am very close to a 55 MPG tankful and didn't want to use it)!

There's quite a bit of insulation mixed in with the leaves. I will have to call service about this for any suggestions. Maybe I gotta keep a cat in the car permanently!!!

Has this happened to anyone else this bad?

Well, umm, congratulations on your great tank?!?

Holy cow! Looks like the mice were using the air filter as a nest!

Funny, I had a rabbit problem once with an old Honda Accord. A bunny would crawl up into the warm engine overnight during the winter. One day, I couldn't start my car. I found that the bunny had chewed right through the spark plug wires, which were colored a bright orange!

Those aren't mice... Those are PTERYDACTYLS!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!

That is so weird. I had exactly the same problem last week. I took Phoebe in for servicing and they showed me my filters and I about died. They looked just like those. I never thought about making sure the AC is on recirc. when I shut it off. That should help quite a bit. Thanks for posting!

Ok, I needed an incentive to check the cabin air filter...that'll do it. Thanks!

What a mess, bet your FE gets a boost!

Yeah, mine just turned 30K miles so I replaced the air filter and cabin filter. I was shocked when I pulled the cabin filter out and saw it covered with leaves and other debris -no mice though. Took me all of 30 seconds to replace it and the air filter. Cost was $24 parts.

Just checked mine...After 5000 miles (service appointment is today!) there were some small leaves, dust and dried seeds from the trees in my front yard.

No mice, though!

The mice have destroyed one cabin filter, and have enlarged a hole into the glove compartment. All winter I have been trapping them in the car; I caught one each day for four days in a row last month. I was getting desparate and started leaving out poison; one mouse expired in the glove compartment, which was a good place, because it was easy to find.
The poison seems to have exterminated them.
Scott

I'm going in Monday for an oil change. Maybe I should have them check the cabin filter too? Mice don't freak me out, but not in my Prius, please!

Hmm, perhaps the Prius was actually someone's attempt to build a better mousetrap! We live near a wildlife refuge, so we have, well, lots of wildlife in and around the house. My favorite thing is how mice eat the bait off the spring traps and never get caught in them. Maybe I'll put a little peanutbutter or cheese on the cabin filter and see if that works better than our expensive annual contract with Terminix. Better than trying to catch them in the pantry, I guess.

Susan
04 silver BC
50.2 mpg this tank
37000 miles

We've had more than one clever mouse who's eaten the peanut butter and gone on its merry way. Eventually we get him ( ), but sometimes it's not easy. My husband, the vegetarian, tries to catch the mice in live traps and drive them a mile away to let them loose again.

As an update, yesterday I checked the new cabin filter I installed on Thursday. There is already evidence of mice again--despite engaging the recirc. button. There was one piece of a leaf, one mouse turd and a bit of black fabric. I'll be out of town for a few days but I'll call the Toyota dealer. This is a rural area and I'm sure they've encountered a lot of this...perhaps they'll have some suggestions. Maybe I'll have to resort to poison...they are destroying the car! In the meantime, I'm parking in another part of the driveway, but I doubt that'll make a difference.

I bet one of those sticky traps would fit pretty well into that slot...bait it with a little peanut butter and you can catch your nemesis.

Thanks for the suggestion, Doc. I just can't do that. My mother has a mice problem in her apt. and her housekeeper brought in sticky traps. Sure enough, it worked...unfortunately the mouse was still alive 24 hours later. Ok, so I could kill it, but it'd just be a never ending parade.