spider infestation in my car - WAH! (Star: dangerous, safety) - Page 18 - City-Data Forum

Severin1 · 10-12-2011, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maggie Girl

Hi. We are also facing a spider infestation similar to what barndog experienced. We live in Minnesota. We drive a 1998 Honda Civic. It became infested about a month or so ago or that is when we started to notice them. Had one absolutely terrifying night of spiders coming out of the mirror, the wheel wells, up the hood, etc. These are yellow sac spiders like barndog had. Our daughter was parking her car right up against a pine tree (literally under the tree and almost touching it) that was too close to our driveway. Pine tree is now gone to the tune of $300 and we have baked the car twice at an auto body shop in the paint booth - 170 degrees for 2 hours and then again 170 degrees for three hours to the tune of $100 an hour. We did the baking thing because it was recommended somewhere on the forum as the "Car Talk Guys" on NPR radio recommended that method and because pesticides do not work very well on spiders, and hopefully the baking would kill them at all stage. We, $800 later and we are still seeing spiders - not as many but still seeing them. Saw a baby the other night and an adult one last night. They should all be dead - babies, eggs, and all, but we are still seeing them. The baking seems to slow them down but then they start to ramp up again. The other day, we didn't see any at night but their movement webs - they don't make a full web, just use webbing to get around, was across the driver's door and across the trunk in the morning. Completely freaked my kid out - it's her car to drive. We have called out insurance agent and he has said we could try to claim it. It has about 141,000 miles on it right now. It is in good working condition and we have always taken care of it and been preventative, but I don't want to battle this hard. We will go into winter shortly and it's starting to get cold out and we see them but not as often. Will they survive the winter here where it gets below zero? Will the eggs survive and this will all just start again in the spring? We are getting the car cleaned and the engine and wheel wells power washed today. They are doing it for free because the place is just nice like that and they feel bad for us. We don't know what to do? Claim the car?...or can we win the battle? Anyone have any more info. or thought? Thanks!!!!

Given the age of the car, I would not spend anymore money into it.
The colder weather must slow them down and harsh Minnesota winter must kill them. If you still have a problem next spring, I would get rid of the car.

Maggie Girl · 10-12-2011, 10:01 AM

So, you would wait till next spring and see what happens? I can ask our agent about that. Maybe we can still claim it in the spring. Thanks for the input. I also saw that someone used peppermint oil as a deterrent. Sometimes people seemed to make fun of this issue at times - just a few people on the forum, but until it happens to you, you have no idea how traumatizing it can be. An occasional spider on or in your car is no big deal - spiders swarming your car could cause a big distraction for the driver besides being traumatic.

Severin1 · 10-12-2011, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maggie Girl

So, you would wait till next spring and see what happens? I can ask our agent about that. Maybe we can still claim it in the spring. Thanks for the input. I also saw that someone used peppermint oil as a deterrent. Sometimes people seemed to make fun of this issue at times - just a few people on the forum, but until it happens to you, you have no idea how traumatizing it can be. An occasional spider on or in your car is no big deal - spiders swarming your car could cause a big distraction for the driver besides being traumatic.

I said spring if the problem is no longer there, due to colder weather.
One thing is for sure, I would not feel safe for my daughter (or anybody) to drive a car with spiders inside. It is a real safety problem and needs to be solved.
Since so many people have this problem and obviously it is not an easy fix, getting rid of the car might be the best solution. Foremost try to get a fair value from insurance since it is a safety problem, not only for your daughter but for anybody else that she might involve in a possible accident.
Good Luck!

Maggie Girl · 10-15-2011, 09:40 AM

I just talked to the exterminator who does our house in the spring to keep ants out - he does the outside of the house, and he said they won't survive the Minnesota winter in our car. If they were in the leaf litter under the snow - yes but not in the car which is metal and will get too cold. Should I believe him?

DianeV · 10-16-2011, 03:10 AM

Interestingly, here's an article from last March:
Yellow Sac Spiders Spark Mazda6 Recall: Do These Creatures Bite? [VIDEOS]

bugguy · 10-18-2011, 07:13 PM

ROFLMAO...No, don't believe him!!! Ask your "exterminator" if that's why there are NO spiders in Minnesota!! LOL...Of course there are spiders there, because there is not enough cold weather for a long enough period of time to kill them! DUH!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maggie Girl

I just talked to the exterminator who does our house in the spring to keep ants out - he does the outside of the house, and he said they won't survive the Minnesota winter in our car. If they were in the leaf litter under the snow - yes but not in the car which is metal and will get too cold. Should I believe him?

bugguy · 10-18-2011, 07:15 PM

If this was true, there wouldn't be any insects or bugs in Minnesota! It's not true - not even close to being true!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Severin1

harsh Minnesota winter must kill them.

Maggie Girl · 10-21-2011, 09:58 PM

Well....our exterminator said they need to be in the leaf litter and under the snow to survive - that the car will be too cold - will be the cold of the air temperature. We also read online that they will die if it gets below 11 celsius for them, which it definitely does here if they are not insulated by snow, etc.....

But, I am not sure they can't survive in the car in hibernation even if the care does get very cold. I read that yellow sacs overwinter at juveniles and I think they would die. But, what about the eggs? I feel like I don't trust anyone anymore because they all act like because they have never heard of such a thing that it can't possibly exist...a car infestation, yet we are living it. What should we do? Should we dump this car? We just went out tonight earlier and at just under 60 degrees, a baby yellow sac was crawling on the car. If we get another car, do we have to worry about it infesting that? One car has to be parked outside or did we just end up with a perfect storm - kid's car parked under and up against a pine tree? (Again, pine tree is now gone). I don't know what to do? Help!!! Entomologist at University of Minnesota was singularly unhelpful and skeptical.....so dang annoying when you have sacs in wheel wells and mirrors and spiders crawling on your car. Note what we have done so far: - baked the car twice at 170 degrees, 2 hrs. & then 3 hrs. and engine and wheel wells hi pressure sprayed. We could assume winter will get them but I don't believe anything anymore. Help!!

Native_Son · 10-22-2011, 05:48 AM

I would suggest therapy to help you with your irrational fear... your *phobia*. Everything else is burning money and time.

Maggie Girl · 10-22-2011, 09:20 AM

You have NO idea what you are talking about. It is a big issue for night drivers to have spiders crawling all over the car - out of side mirrors and also onto the steering wheel inside. Thanks for being a judgmental jerk.