No, this is not a new B movie coming straight to DVD at a shop near you soon.

I had a Christmas tree of brake warnings come on the other day (ABS, BAS, EBD, VSC etc) and a significant loss in pedal feel and available braking performance. I promptly took the car to the Toyota dealer to find out what was wrong, presuming something like a fuse, a failed ABS pump, a computer failure etc.

After spending a day looking at the car, they called me. The problem?

Rats ate the wiring loom!

The mechanic pointed at another car in the yard and said "See that one? From the same village as you and has the same problem!"

Apparently rats are known for this (who knew - not me!) and like the warmth and shelter so climb up under the bonnet. For some reason they regard wire as a food source (which bearing in mind that our place grows apples, pears, quince, medlar, plums, cherries, macadamias, almonds, pecans, persimmons, feijoas, walnuts, hazelnuts, loquats and olives amongst others, makes me think rats have very odd food skills!).

I'd guess the bill for this will be somewhere in the vicinity of $1500 by the time the vehicle is repaired (I have filed a claim on the insurance who are sending an assessor) but I thought I would mention it in case anyone else has the problem.

The mechanic recommended attaching solid rat bait blocks to various areas within the engine bay that do not get too hot as that will give the rats a more obvious food choice and kill them to boot.

I've baited the area this afternoon too.

So, this is a public service announcement to watch out for rats eating your car!!