A Rat takes apart a 993

[TD2015]

My 1997 993 2S has been mauled - no joke - by a Greek fruit rat!! The little bast**d has chewed its way through a good part of the wiring loom, the plastic panels under the bonnet, the sound proofing in the front and above the engine, the spark plug leads, the boots above the engine and so it goes on.

I'm on Crete and the closest Porsche garage is in Athens. I found an auto-electrician in Chania and low and behold he trained with Porsche in Athens and is also old enough to know the 993. How lucky was that?!

The engine and gear box is out, all the interior is out and the dials have been out but are now repaired and back insitu. I'm now waiting on parts to come from Germany.

Has anyone else experienced this type of rodent disaster and if so do they know if UK insurance companies cover this kind of damage?

Jon

ps they found the rat - dead - at the back of the engine!!

 

[TD2015]

Pic

 

[dommorton]

My word that's the stuff of nightmares! [&:]

I would certainly hope UK car insurance would cover such a disaster!

 

[TD2015]

the culprit

 

[verysideways]

If that rat wasn't already dead i'd be hunting the little b*stard down...
Glad you're getting it sorted, hope it's as good as new when it's all done.

 

[TD2015]

What has impressed me re the whole sorry tale is just how solid and well built these cars are. Everything has been stripped out and if you want to see the full disaster then follow the URL below to my day by day picture board of the damage and the car stripping process.

The car is solid through and through with no sign - at all - of any rust. It's amazing considering it's 13 years old.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14760633@N03/sets/72157623376418655/

Jon

 

[dommorton]

Thanks for sharing! it's rare to get such a good look at a 993 under the skin.

Mind you that's some serious damage! was the car stored off road for some time?

 

[GeoffB]

I have had mice in the intake of my old SC.Had only been stood for 2 weeks, they had taken dog food from storage in garage and started hoarding it inside the heater ducts. Only found out when smell of BBQ came through vents! No damage but had to remove all pipework to clean out.
Friend had a rat get into her cab Beetle (new shape 07 plate) whilst parked in street outside house in centre Rugby.Made nest between engine compartment and bulkhead.Again ate through wiring loom, insurance covered repair (new loom!!!)
Good luck
Geoff

 

[carrerasport]

i once saw a mouse store enough bird feed (from inside the owners garage) inside the bellhousing that it bound up the recently fitted genuine clutch of a 993 that we had to put in a complete new clutch kit.The owner was not best pleased.
Also plenty of chewed through pollen filters on boxster and water cooled 911 though
C

 

[TD2015]

I'm comprehensively insured by Saga so it will be interesting to see what their position is re the cost to repair the car. I've contacted them and explained the situation but have yet to hear whether they will / will not cover the cost to repair.

The garage in question (Chania Car & Truck) charges €35 per hour and the man in charge - Adonis - is Porsche trained which is a definite stroke of luck on my part. Crete may well be the largest Greek island but has no Porsche garages, the nearest one being Athens - a 9 hour ferry ride away! It's also obvious from the attention to detail that Adonis loves Porsche cars and wants to return it to its original pristine condition.

Jon

 

[verysideways]

Funnily enough i've got an old Mercedes which is similar.
15 years old, 250,000 miles, and everything on it still works exactly as it did when it left the factory.
Not sure if it's still got 272PS but it pulls well enough for an old estate!

 

[Super_Marv]

ORIGINAL: TD

What has impressed me re the whole sorry tale is just how solid and well built these cars are. Everything has been stripped out and if you want to see the full disaster then follow the URL below to my day by day picture board of the damage and the car stripping process.

The car is solid through and through with no sign - at all - of any rust. It's amazing considering it's 13 years old.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14760633@N03/sets/72157623376418655/

Jon

Very interesting - thanks for sharing. Looks like your car was in absolutely fantastic condition, bodywise before the little critter wreaked havoc []

 

[Mark Elder]

That's just horrific - and from memory you have not had it on Crete for long. Is this a common problem for the locals?

 

[TD2015]

Mark,

Apparently yes, it is a common problem over here - according to the auto-electrician. The is particularly true if the car is kept in a garage - so perhaps the insurance companies should weigh up the chance of theft versus the chance of rodent attack?

Jon

 

[vic cohen]

Think of the poor guy with a Ferrari Testa Rossa, in the barn over the winter..............one spring morning, goes out to fire it up , little rodents had gnawed thru the cam belts ..........whirr whirr BANGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Quite expensive !
Good luck hope u get sorted ..................

 

[John Maddox]

I was in local OPC a few years ago and they showed me a rodent damaged 996 where mice had made a nest on top of the engine and knawed all the wiring. Guy went out to start his car and got it towed to OPC when it didn't start. Engine was coming out and a big bill was imminent !!

Very bad luck for you to suffer such extensive damage - hope your guy knows where all the bits go.

 

[TD2015]

John,

That same thought had crossed my mind too - there certainly are a lot of parts spread around the car. But Adonis seems to know his onions so I'm hopeful that it will all go back together without too many problems. They also have a rolling road so will test the BHP / Torque etc at the same time to see just what the engine produces. I guess they have to do this to ensure themselves that everything is back and working as it should be.

Jon

 

[TD2015]

Rat Update:

Porsche in Athens have come back to the auto-electrician here on Crete and the price for all the chewed plastic parts and associated hoses etc. is around €3800 or £3500. It just goes to show that cheap plastic parts are not so cheap when sold by Porsche!!

There will of course be the labour charges over and above this - can't wait to hear that number!!!!

Jon

 

[Mark Elder]

Is the loom OK then? My concern was that you were going to have to replace the whole wiring loom - which I suspect might easily be that kind of cost my itself (and a lot of labour).

Plus you need to add on the cost of some rat poison!

 

[TD2015]

The loom was chewed in various places - see pics but because he's an auto-electrician by trade he said it would be "easier" to repair rather than replace the whole loom. I was worried it would compromise the look if anyone removed the carpets etc. but the repairs so far are excellent. The mechanic said they'd recently replaced a Merc loom and it was €1500 from Mercedes. They've checked the whole loom i.e. through the front wings, into the car, out the back etc. and luckily the rat doesn't appear to have got into the cabin itself, although you've got to wonder how it got from the front to the back of the car. It drove to the garage so although wires and sound deadening foam was chewed in the engine bay the worst damage was at the front i.e. plastic boxes, pipes, hoses chewed as well as the wiring loom. The only reason I noticed was the dials didn't work and when I turned on the aircon the chewed sound deadening foam blew into the cabin.

Bad news though and yes, I've already got some Greek made anti rodent spray - especially manufactured for cars.

I might begin selling it !!!

Jon