Please help, I am about to pull my hair out

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Old 08-15-2008 | 10:04 AM
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Please help, I am about to pull my hair out

So I get into my car this morning and I notice an ant on the shifter...not a big deal ,right? I kill it and get going, when all of a sudden I see ants not only on the mirrors and glass, but also pouring out of my A/C vents!!! I get home and open the doors and there are literally thousands upon thousands of ants who have decided to call my baby their new nesting grounds. I've got ants coming out of every bodypanel gap and I am about to have a nervous breakdown because not only is my car my pride and joy, but I have a serious hatred for ants. Sorry for the rant, but I am going nuts here. Should I get a fogger and bomb the inside of my car? I am going to get it fully detailed first thing after work and I'm hoping the water will kill most of them. Much thanks.
Old 08-15-2008 | 10:08 AM
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Old 08-15-2008 | 10:10 AM
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On a serious note, I'd say find out where they are originating from. And go from there. Before you spent all that money on getting it detailed. You should atleast see if you can break apart a few panels and find out exactly where its coming from and go from there.
Old 08-15-2008 | 10:12 AM
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holy shit wtf, dats crazy
Old 08-15-2008 | 10:18 AM
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Sorry bout no pics, my camera is non-op. The worst part is that I am leaving for Dallas for a week on Sunday. I am at my girlfriend's place and she has no tools either. The majority were coming from the passenger side rear door by the lock striker and from the front passenger side A pillar by the mirror and hood.
Old 08-15-2008 | 10:21 AM
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That is unbelievable...
Old 08-15-2008 | 10:22 AM
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Originally Posted by SR-71TL
Sorry bout no pics, my camera is non-op. The worst part is that I am leaving for Dallas for a week on Sunday. I am at my girlfriend's place and she has no tools either. The majority were coming from the passenger side rear door by the lock striker and from the front passenger side A pillar by the mirror and hood.
Hmmm I'd just say it would be important to find out where they are coming from. Instead of just trying to clean them out, and get it detailed. Cause that is not going to fix getting rid of them if you don't figure out where they are coming from.
Old 08-15-2008 | 10:26 AM
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When I had an ant problem (in my house though) I used this stuff I got at walmart called Terro. You buy the gel and stick it on a little card board square. The ants love it and eat it all up and take it back to the nest.. and in 2-3 days after that, I haven't seen an ant since.

Maybe you could put some of those in your car before you leave for your trip.
Old 08-15-2008 | 10:31 AM
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Wow, that sux.

Lots of ants in Florida, but I never had any take up residence in my car (but the occasional roach is nasty ).

Disclaimer: I am in no way an expert and I don't kill bugs for a living, nor am I affiliated with the "Verminators" TV show.

I suggest two steps:

1) Fog the car. The issue I see here is it's a very small space. Most foggers are aerosol, so I think you'd want to cover the surface of your seats and dash before setting one off, to keep "overspray" off the leather. I know that YEARS ago Raid produced a fogger product that actually produced "toxic smoke" via a chemical reaction with water. You put some water in a container supplied with the fogger and then put the fogger in. The result was very smoke-like. This *might* penetrate better than aerosol. You may want to fog the trunk too.

2) Bait the ants. In Florida and maybe elsewhere, a product called Terro works pretty well. Ants take it back to the nest to destroy the root of the problem. I'm sure this or a similar product is available.

So fog for quick knock-down, bait for elimination.

Good luck and please post what you end up doing and the result. Hope this helps some.

Steve
Old 08-15-2008 | 10:32 AM
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Originally Posted by HobbesGTS
When I had an ant problem (in my house though) I used this stuff I got at walmart called Terro. You buy the gel and stick it on a little card board square. The ants love it and eat it all up and take it back to the nest.. and in 2-3 days after that, I haven't seen an ant since.

Maybe you could put some of those in your car before you leave for your trip.

I'm going to have to try that, there is a Walmart right down the street. Im guessing I would put it near where I have found the majority of them (A pillar/hood area)
Old 08-15-2008 | 10:41 AM
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Boycott walmart! They are killing small town America!! Call a pro. Orkin or someone like them. Don't fog it smell up your TL! Call a PRO!!!!
Old 08-15-2008 | 10:46 AM
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That happened to my brothers old car once. Eventually they will just die off
Old 08-15-2008 | 10:52 AM
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man.. sorry to hear about this.. where did you park your car? was it out on the driveway or in the garage...?
Old 08-15-2008 | 10:57 AM
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Originally Posted by AZN.M3NACE
man.. sorry to hear about this.. where did you park your car? was it out on the driveway or in the garage...?
Well, normally I park it in the carport at my place, but I think that they got in my car at my girlfriends place last night. I parked it on the street next to a field (10 bucks says they came from the field).
Old 08-15-2008 | 11:00 AM
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Also just wanted to point out that I neither eat nor drink in my car aside from a bottle of water, lest the Aziner's think I a slob and that is the cause.
Old 08-15-2008 | 11:06 AM
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Ants don't like vinegar... you may want to dilute vinegar in water, and wipe around the area were you've found them.... You may have a dead bird or insect somewhere, and the ants are there to clean it out..ants usually move on once no more food is found...

Once you'll clean it they will disappear.
Old 08-15-2008 | 11:08 AM
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hey i had a chipmunk in my car!

Old 08-15-2008 | 11:15 AM
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My dad had a boa in his car once..........boy was that fun to remove....... Good luck with the ants....
Old 08-15-2008 | 11:19 AM
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Originally Posted by jdmitr22
hey i had a chipmunk in my car!


Haha! That just made me feel better. Truth be told, I'd rather have a cute fluffy ball of rabies than the ants....but at least they aren't Fire Ants.
Old 08-15-2008 | 11:23 AM
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I had some ants crawl onto my car before. I parked it very close to a bush and I guess the car wash solution(Meguiar's Deep Crystal) I used attracted them more to the car. I was lucky I spotted them on the car and sprayed water on it.
Old 08-15-2008 | 11:24 AM
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No Fog

I'd be very careful about fogging up the inside of your car with insect spray....unless you get off on Raid fumes. You'll be living with the smell for a loooong time. Ants and other crawly critters are attracted by a food source and once that's gone they will move on. Other posters have found creatures when cleaning their cabin air filter, you might check there. The Terro bait sounds good, one good thing about ants, they don't smell up the place when they die.
Old 08-15-2008 | 11:26 AM
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The entire group will be dead im less than a week if you simply move the car from the location that it was at when you first niticed the ants. This is besause ants cant "nest" in a car. they make their home in the ground and send out thousands to find food. (pays off to listen to the orkin man)must have found something good in your car lol. but if you wnat to kill the remainder of them faster then I suggest getting the terro, i;ve used it and had good experiences with it. just my op.
Old 08-15-2008 | 11:35 AM
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Originally Posted by jdmitr22
hey i had a chipmunk in my car!

What a man does in the privacy of his own car is his business!
Old 08-15-2008 | 11:48 AM
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wow, never heard this happen to anyone before. houses infested with ants maybe, but cars.

good luck.
Old 08-15-2008 | 12:29 PM
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i would be pulling off door panels or even fenders to find the nest
Old 08-15-2008 | 12:40 PM
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Find the queen (big ant with a crown on her head) and take her down...
Old 08-15-2008 | 12:42 PM
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Originally Posted by jdmitr22
hey i had a chipmunk in my car!

that's awesome
Old 08-15-2008 | 12:45 PM
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My buddy had the same problem in his suburban. terro worked great on it.
Old 08-15-2008 | 01:31 PM
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was that alvin or theodore
Originally Posted by jdmitr22
hey i had a chipmunk in my car!

Old 08-15-2008 | 02:02 PM
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lmaooo
Old 08-15-2008 | 02:30 PM
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!! That Alvin's pretty cute. Anyways, the ant situation would of drove me insane too. Hope that problem gets fixed.
Old 08-15-2008 | 02:34 PM
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Old 08-15-2008 | 05:50 PM
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Originally Posted by jdmitr22
hey i had a chipmunk in my car!

ROFL, even chipmunks love the TL. Looks like he's trying to chew on your tasty floor mat.
Old 08-15-2008 | 06:56 PM
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Dang bro, Sorry to hear about those damn ants, I don't know what I would do if that happened to me...I guess I'd go with Terro based on what everyone is saying, Good luck and keep us posted to what happens.
Old 08-15-2008 | 08:14 PM
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I've had good luck with the Terro product in my house.

boxstock
Old 08-15-2008 | 08:58 PM
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You should just buy one of those traps where the ants walk in and pick up the poison laced stuff, and then they bring it back to the nest and it kills all of them. I use Grant's ant traps, I think they're called Grants Kills Ants and they work good.
Old 08-15-2008 | 09:15 PM
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the problem with killing them is that you have ant bodies everywhere, so you turn on the a/c you have millions of them shooting out like mini missiles. You can kill em then take apart the car and try to shop-vac them out.
Old 08-15-2008 | 09:45 PM
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Originally Posted by csmeance
the problem with killing them is that you have ant bodies everywhere, so you turn on the a/c you have millions of them shooting out like mini missiles. You can kill em then take apart the car and try to shop-vac them out.
Yikes this would be embarassing (but funny)! Taking a girl out on a date and having this happen to her in an Acura TL...she'll be weirded out for sure
Old 08-15-2008 | 09:50 PM
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Originally Posted by carlos9827
Yikes this would be embarassing (but funny)! Taking a girl out on a date and having this happen to her in an Acura TL...she'll be weirded out for sure
ahh its the attack of the zombie ants
Old 08-16-2008 | 05:17 AM
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I've heard of rats chewing up the cables... they love coolant lines but first time hearing of ants....


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