[TonyR]

Hadn't driven my 2019 Touring model this week until today and was surprised/frustrated to see evidence that a mouse had eaten about a 2 inch gash in the middle of the passenger seat bottom. Totally bummed me out since I love the car and the Java leather seats and have been taking really good care of it.

Has anyone tried the leather repair kits on Amazon and do they work?
Is it possible to order a matching leather seat bottom from Subaru and replace it myself?

Also, does anyone have suggestions for this not happening again? I put a couple of traps down and some poison for now.

 

[GaryInMI]

Hadn't driven my 2019 Touring model this week until today and was surprised/frustrated to see evidence that a mouse had eaten about a 2 inch gash in the middle of the passenger seat bottom. Totally bummed me out since I love the car and the Java leather seats and have been taking really good care of it.

Has anyone tried the leather repair kits on Amazon and do they work?
Is it possible to order a matching leather seat bottom from Subaru and replace it myself?

Also, does anyone have suggestions for this not happening again? I put a couple of traps down and some poison for now.

Really sorry to hear about the damage, that stinks.

I've had mice get as far as the cabin air filter, chew through that and pack the blower fan, which is right below the filter, with bird seed. The next time I turned on the fan it was like a bird seed party, blowing out all of the vents.

If you set the HVAC to Recirculate when you park that will block access to the inside of the of the ducting. I also put a piece of metal window screen on top of the cabin air filter just in case I forget to switch to Recirculate.

You should check your cabin air filter behind the glove box to see if that's where they got in just to be sure, it will need to be replaced if that's the entry point. If it's not, I have no idea where else to check.

I also spray a mixture of water and peppermint oil under the hood every month or so to discourage them chewing on the wiring.

Stupid mice!

 

[Ey31]

Mouse eating a cow , amazing. Must be some good wagu beef hide.

 

[2020SAL]

Hadn't driven my 2019 Touring model this week until today and was surprised/frustrated to see evidence that a mouse had eaten about a 2 inch gash in the middle of the passenger seat bottom.

Sorry to hear about your seat. Don't know of any kits which can patch leather, and look right. Same with patch kits for plastic interiors. Even if you get color mix right, I never been able to get texture to look right.

Did you find out how the mouse got in?

 

[RobertD]

Perhaps you should quit using cheese based leather conditioner....

 

[GaryInMI]

I forgot to suggest taking it to a custom auto interior shop if you can find one. I've seen some amazing repair work done by guys like that.

 

[Titanrx8]

I forgot to suggest taking it to a custom auto interior shop if you can find one. I've seen some amazing repair work done by guys like that.

This is probably the best bet for a reasonable cost repair. A good shop can remove the damaged section, match the color and grain and go never know is a repair.

The other option is to search salvage yards like https://autopartsearch.com/ You might find an entire seat for less than the repair cost.

Good luck.

 

[TonyR]

Thanks everyone for your advice and suggestions!

Here is what the damage looks like😢

As to how the mouse got in, as suggested, it looks like it came through the cabin filter. I looked around in the engine compartment for how it got that far and found a couple of mouse-sized gaps in the air intake cover. I stuck a wire through there and verified it reaches the filter area. Here is the gap I found:

This is the left back corner and there is a similar gap on the right side. For now, until the weather gets warmer, I've stuffed some fiberglass insulation in there to close it up.

 

[Titanrx8]

I've stuffed some fiberglass insulation in there to close it up.

Mice laugh at fiberglass. Try to get some stainless steel wool, the kind restaurants use to clean grills.

 

[Scoobydoo]

Wow a mouse fit through there? So, GaryInMi's recommendation of putting it on recirculate may have prevented the mouse from being able to get in through that area?

 

[TonyR]

Mouse 🐭vs Ascent: The Final Chapter (?)

Got the little &%^%# 🤬

 

[Scoobydoo]

Mouse 🐭vs Ascent: The Final Chapter (?)

View attachment 11160

Got the little &%^%# 🤬

Did you catch it in your car?!

 

[TonyR]

Yes. I put the trap on the passenger seat floormat. Took a couple of days for it to take the bait.

 

[SkiPro3]

I place sticky traps under the hoods of all my cars to prevent rodents from doing any damage. These work great and easily disposible.

 

[pro10is]

Wow a mouse fit through there? So, GaryInMi's recommendation of putting it on recirculate may have prevented the mouse from being able to get in through that area?

A mouse may look plump, but they can fit through openings as tiny as the opening on a typical plastic water bottle. I came into work one day to discover a full-sized mouse inside a Kirkland plastic water bottle I had left open on my desk. It had managed to get into the bottle where it then drowned in the water left inside. No one at work could believe it.

In another instance, a mouse was trapped inside a wall in my house. I had to cut a hole in the sheetrock to get it out. When I examined how it got in, the only opening I could find was a very small hole where an electrical wire passed through, no bigger than a half of an inch.

Never underestimate the size of a hole a mouse can crawl through. A full-grown mouse can crawl through a dime-sized hole, an adolescent-sized mouse can crawl through a pen-sized hole according to this article.

Also, keep in mind that they can chew through almost anything other than metal. I once had a mouse chew a large hole right through a thick, smooth, hard plastic fertilizer spreader in my shed.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

Pro', I think whomever drew that diagram didn't measure a dime. The 1/4" figure is correct, but the dime is about a half inch. LOL And yes, the little beasties can get into places that are unbelievable sometimes. I'm sure that water bottle incident was fun...at least the part of being able to be amused by the looks on peoples' faces when you showed them it!

 

[Titanrx8]

Also, keep in mind that they can chew through almost anything other than metal.

Actually, they will chew through sheet aluminium quite easily. People get their soffits aluminum clad and it doesn't stop them. They just need to find an edge and start chewing.

 

[Graves]

If you have a small deductible you could always file an insurance claim, rodent damage is covered, we get rodent related claims all the time, especially for chewed wires.