Mice issues in Gen 5?

Listen to your wife... Or buy a Gen4 Prius... Gen5 are not available to purchase without a long wait and are ridiculously overpriced. They also have significant design defects, currently undergoing a recall for months that's shut down production. They also are more expensive to operate than a regular Prius and have less interior space, as well as lots of people are having problems with the control panel and entertainment system.

 

It's not that deep. It's a rear door issue, it's not that big of a deal since the "lock doors while in drive" is default enabled and negates the issue. And it seems like a fairly quick fix where they swap the module for a better sealed one. There's the rear trunk plastic breaking for a few people but it's not critical nor is it widespread. So why make it sound like these things are rolling disasters? It's not a cybertruck lol.

 

I had the same response to this post as Soft_R had. I've had none of these problems. The production shutdown that was mentioned was implemented so that the new door parts could be obtained.

Even so... Every time in the last year that I've been to a dealer to evaluate a Prius they have had one available, and when I decided to buy I drove one home that day. For that matter, In 2002 my local dealer told me that there was a 6 month wait for a model shipped from Japan. The next morning I picked up the exact car that I wanted at a dealer 15 miles away. In 2019, I was told by a different local dealer that it was hard to find a Gen 4 Prius Prime. I drove one home that afternoon. In January of this year I was told that they were hard to get. I noticed one in the sales lot. My wife OK'd the color and I traded my 2017 for the new one, then drove the Gen 5 home.

If you only look once, they may seem hard to find. If you check daily you are likely to find a car quick than you expect.

 

The issue isn't the size of the holes in the undercarriage that allows mice and other rodents to get into the engine bay. It's the soy-based plastic harnesses that they like to chew on which attracts them.

Your best bet is to make friends with stray cats or set mice traps around the car.

 

The engine bay is always wide open; no way to avoid that.

The cabin “can” be protected, and that’s what I’d do. With our 3rd Gen I’ve put anti-rodent mesh over the cabin air intake (under metal cowl below windshield), the engine air intake, and the two cabin air exits (under hatch floor, in the corners).

I doubt Toyota’s done anything, say to prevent cabin rodent incursion, with 5th gens.

 

I have a hard time seeing "mice issues" as a reason not to buy Gen 5. I had a VW Golf before that has some mice evidence in the engine area, but have not had any mice issues with my Prius, now over a year old.

Seeing this thread, I will now set up some mice traps, the old style spring loaded ones, with peanut butter, throughout the inside passenger area. And spread some coyote urine (collected organically) around the engine area. And for good measure, just in case, I have set up a "have-a-heart" live trap in the hatch area. Not sure how large the holes are but if a groundhog or skunk gets in, I will be all set!

 

If you have mouse issues with the prius, the problem may lie more in the fact you have mice issues than with the car itself.

There may be better solutions than trying to worry about plugging every possible gap a mouse can squeeze through into your car. As this issue will present itself to any car, because mice want shelter and they also like to chew wires. Both things pretty much any modern car will provide since we're long past the days where almost everything was mechanical or driven by physical connections in cars.

If you live in a rural area, with a ton of fields around you... they'll hide in the car assuming that its the best place to hide. Offering alternative options, might serve you better.

Even in my suburb, I was told some people have mice issues. My house is not particularly mouse proofed, and in 5 years never had a problem. Not a big one anyway, I had 2 mice in my garage one fall when the garage wouldn't close properly but that was it. Some neighbours have had them get into their homes and cause havoc, but I havent. I happen to have rabbits that live behind my shed and sometimes under the shrub out front, and I and one neighbour share a cedar hedge. Mice/birds/squirrels hang out in there a lot. Maybe that's helped me? No clue. But we also dont let our cars sit too long, so this could be a factor for them in particular.

 

Best things I've done to prevent mice (1) set traps inside (2) seal the exterior of the home and (3) living in the country, got a couple of cats that stayed outside and used the garage for shelter. I recall hearing about certain cars with organic based wiring insulation that was attracting rodents. Electrical systems were being destroyed. Maybe that type wiring was discontinued? Anyway I don't live in a rural area any more and haven't had a mouse problem in many years. Both of my cars are garaged.

 

If it was a quick fix it wouldn't of led to Gen5 sales in US being close to zero in recent months.

 

The SF Bay area market is entirely different than other areas...