Mice in new motorhome not paid for yet
Hi We bought a new motorhome at the NEC last Feb and are now arranging a collection date. The dealer asked us to come and look at the van before adding a couple of extras onto the van. We found a lot of mouse droppings in the bathroom and the dealer said not to worry as there is not food in the van they wont have stayed. I am more worried about damage to pipes and wires. On another forum have been advised to get an independent check done to ensure vermin free at the dealers expense. We know vermin damage is excluded from insurance. Any advice? We paid the deposit on a credit card thinking of contacting them for legal advice.
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You should also contact the club's legal department for advice. I think you might have claim against the dealer, although both your Credit Card company and the club's LD would know better.
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Make sure you check the engine compartment as well, many years ago i garaged a car for the winter months, when i came to put it back on the road mice had eaten most of the electrical cabling , fortunately it was a Renault and they used to put all electrics in a plasitc cover so the mice had only eaten the outer cover but they did make a very nice nest in the rear seat
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"the dealer said not to worry as there is not food in the van they wont have stayed"
Ask them to pay for an independent inspection and sign a waver for any subsequent rodent damage found.
If they say no, would you really like to be doing business with them. Then take legal advice for return of deposit, lost interest etc.
Finally I think it would be useful for prospective buyers to know who the offending dealer is.
Colin
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The fact that mice and their droppings are there would suggest a food source is relatively close at hand, maybe not in the van itself. The damage they cause is the issue not their food source. We too had mice nest in a previous motorhome engine bay gnawing the electric cabling and causing issues. No human food, or that you would consider suitable for rodents were kept in the van. However, a hazel and other fruiting trees were within 20 metres from the van annd available to them.
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It’s well known that rats and mice chew on cords and wiring in vehicles. Coating has an attractive smell, and they chew on the wires to keep their teeth sharp!
Go down the legal route, and reject. You don’t need this kind of hassle before taking delivery and paying out huge sums of money. There’s always another vehicle out there, but never trust any dealer, no matter how nice, genuine, etc… they seem. Good luck with things.
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I totally agree with Ttda. Phone the clubs free legal helpline for advice and walk away. The results of a rodent infestation might not be noticed for a long time, too late then to do anything via that dealer. The fact the dealer denied a food source shows to me he doesn't want the hassle.
Quick story. Back in 2019 whilst overwintering in Spain I did some work at a storage yard. One day while we were getting a celtic rambler fifth wheel ready for sale I had to do some welding on the chassis at the front under the bed (just corrosion). All the furniture and bed etc had to come out but there had been at some point a large infestation in the insulation under the floor, everything was wrecked and we ended up pretty much rewiring the whole front end and putting in new woodwork and insulation. The owners were using it until a week before we took it on. They did report that the front marker lights never worked!
JK
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Only on slightly similar lines, we found we had got mice in our loft at home. How they got there I don't know but what I do know is that there is no 'normal' food up there for them but something attracted them to be there. As far as I can see there is no damage to any of the electrical wiring etc but they must have eaten something in the couple of weeks or so that we knew that they were up there. I put bait in the loft together with a wildlife camera which showed them still active for at least a couple of weeks. Not had them again as far as I know.
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"RATS AND MICE ARE AGILE MAMMALS. A mouse can get through a small, 6-7 mm hole (about the diameter of a normal-sized pen) and a rat can get through a 20 mm hole. They can also jump several decimetres at a time"
so just imagine the imaginative places a mouse could get to in a MH, when we lived in Scotland we had them in the loft every winter, we could hear them sometimes, no food but they seemed to love the loft insulation, they ruined my prize motor car that was garaged and no food in the garage not even a freezer.
We used to put lots of poison down and the mice take this back to the nest which seems cruel but we would have had hundreds otherwise, when they die within a very short space of time they just disintigrate to a very fine powder.
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