Originally posted by Fenwoodian I would have thought just the opposite. Here in Northern Wisconsin, it's the heat of the car engine during cooler months (especially in the fall) that actually attracts the critters because they are looking for a warm place to spend the winter.
We're in Manitoba, northwest of Wisconsin (beautiful state I must mention
) where our winter temps are a fair amount colder than Wisc....but that's what the company that fixed the wiring told us to do.
Now in older car's such as our '07 Buick sedan with it's iron block and iron heads large V6.....heat was retained in the block for significantly longer. But in the newer Toyota and Nissan, which each had smaller 4 cylinder aluminum block and head, the aluminum construction engines would dissipate heat faster, than a cast iron block, which would retain the heat for a longer period.
In both the case of the Nissan and the Toyota, they were not run every day. In fact they were parked, with maybe a drive once a week. The Buick on the other hand was driven every day.
My understanding from the guy who rewired the cars after rodent damage, was that cars that sit for longer periods of time, are attractive to rodents for precisely that reason.