Post by Deleted on May 20, 2020 15:04:30 GMT
Learned a few lessons yesterday about newer cars and living in this area. Kind of a long post so bear with me…
Rodents are pretty popular around here (Central Texas) and like to crawl into car engine compartments, get hungry, and chew on cables. The cabling in newer cars is made of soy in order to be more environmentally friendly. Rodents find soy cabling more attractive to eat. If you car sits for an extended length of time - like our car did due to COVID-19 stay at home orders - it makes it even more likely little varmints will find your car, move in, and have a banquet no matter how clean you keep the yard and driveway areas around your home.
We bought a smaller silver car (2018 Toyota CHR) in February with the intent it will end up being my youngest's high school + college car. The car has lots of technology related to newer “active” safety features (lane departure, pre-collision, auto high beams, dynamic cruise control, etc.). This newer technology equals lots of cabling. The newer cabling needed to support these active safety features comes in one or two longer cables with lots of little sensors attached and spread all along the front and sides of the car.
Due to COVID-19 these newer parts are on a minimum two weeks backorder. Service manager said it will more likely be four weeks then will take another week to actually fix. Car is not safe to drive because the pre-collision system is attached to the braking system which means I could be driving at 70MPH down the interstate and the car could suddenly brake for no reason while in front of an 18-wheeler.
This newer cabling is not only more expensive for the part but also for the labor to reinstall. Like $7000 dealer quoted expensive repair bill. Normally this type of damage is covered by insurance (the comprehensive portion of insurance minus your deductible). Since we have an awesome insurance company with a mid-range comprehensive deductible the financial hit won’t be so horrible.
The lessons learned - increase the sinking fund for auto repair bills. Make sure you have enough coverage on your comprehensive insurance plan. Add your weekly house routine some type of spray into the car’s engine compartment that repels varmints and drive the car around every three days.
Good luck!
Rodents are pretty popular around here (Central Texas) and like to crawl into car engine compartments, get hungry, and chew on cables. The cabling in newer cars is made of soy in order to be more environmentally friendly. Rodents find soy cabling more attractive to eat. If you car sits for an extended length of time - like our car did due to COVID-19 stay at home orders - it makes it even more likely little varmints will find your car, move in, and have a banquet no matter how clean you keep the yard and driveway areas around your home.
We bought a smaller silver car (2018 Toyota CHR) in February with the intent it will end up being my youngest's high school + college car. The car has lots of technology related to newer “active” safety features (lane departure, pre-collision, auto high beams, dynamic cruise control, etc.). This newer technology equals lots of cabling. The newer cabling needed to support these active safety features comes in one or two longer cables with lots of little sensors attached and spread all along the front and sides of the car.
Due to COVID-19 these newer parts are on a minimum two weeks backorder. Service manager said it will more likely be four weeks then will take another week to actually fix. Car is not safe to drive because the pre-collision system is attached to the braking system which means I could be driving at 70MPH down the interstate and the car could suddenly brake for no reason while in front of an 18-wheeler.
This newer cabling is not only more expensive for the part but also for the labor to reinstall. Like $7000 dealer quoted expensive repair bill. Normally this type of damage is covered by insurance (the comprehensive portion of insurance minus your deductible). Since we have an awesome insurance company with a mid-range comprehensive deductible the financial hit won’t be so horrible.
The lessons learned - increase the sinking fund for auto repair bills. Make sure you have enough coverage on your comprehensive insurance plan. Add your weekly house routine some type of spray into the car’s engine compartment that repels varmints and drive the car around every three days.
Good luck!
I'm sorry for yours.