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Bug infested cars and Car Talk (tm)

Can you fumigate for cockroaches, and other "bugs", in cars?

Most of you probably know that Car Talk is a popular radio talk show on NPR where two brothers, Tom and Ray, talk about cars, car repair and the like. They take calls from car owners about everything imaginable having to do with their cars.

Every once in while Tom and Ray get a call concerning insects, or other critters, that have invaded someone's car. A recent show included a caller whose car was infested with cockroaches but there have been other recent callers that had cars infested with wasps, honey bees, flies, mice, snakes, and so on.

The most common insects that invade cars are of course cockroaches and ants but wasps can build nests and a number of so called "stored product" pests like carpet beetles are common as well. It is, however, very unlikely that bed bugs would infest cars unless someone is actually living and sleeping in the vehicle. The reason for this is that bed bugs become active and feed at night and hide during the day.

So, what should you do if you discover an infestation of insects in your vehicle?

Don't use insecticides or other poisons!

First, don't spray insecticide or use foggers inside your car. If you contaminate the car with insecticide you will have to "live" with the residues every time you are in the car. Depending on the insecticide these residues can be dangerous, or at the very least smelly and unpleasant.

Clean the interior as thoroughly as possible

Second, carefully clean out the car's interior of any food scraps. Check under, between and beside seats, clean carpets, and so forth. Cockroaches are world champion scavengers and will exploit any food source you leave for them. A few Cheerios (tm) can support a cockroach for weeks. Don't make it easy for them to set up shop in your car, or your home for that matter. See these articles about the life history, identification and control of cockroaches for more information.

Social insects like bees and wasps might construct their nests inside car doors and under the hood especially if the cars are not driven frequently. A relatively new, non-native, species of paper wasp in the US, the European paper wasp, is notorious for constructing nests in car door frames. Cleaning alone, of course, won't get rid of bees and wasps so one of the next steps may be necessary.

Use Heat and/or cold where possible

One of the best and safest ways to eliminate an insect infestation is with heat or cold. Most insects will die at 20 degrees Fahrenheit (home freezer temperature) or above 140 degrees Fahrenheit (hot, but not scalding water). For example, freezing in a standard home freezer will kill all stages of most stored product insect pests like meal moths, and high temperatures will do likewise.

What about the insects that hibernate through cold winters, you say? Insects like meal moths and cockroaches are not adapted to survive low winter temperatures like some species that are native in cold climates. Virtually any freezing temperature will kill stored product type insect pests, most of which originated in the tropics.

So, the trick is to find a way to safely heat or cool the car to these temperatures for at least several hours. If you live in a hot climate your problem is solved. Park the car in the sun on a summer day, close the windows (leave them cracked slightly otherwise expanding hot air might pop them off the frame!), and come back in a few hours to a completely sanitized interior. Don't leave anything in the car that you value such as pets, kids, etc.

Short of this your options are more limited. Finding a place to heat a car to 140 degrees is probably easier than cooling something this large (drive-in freezer perhaps?). One idea I had is an auto body shop that paints cars. I've not yet checked with our local car repair shop but I think these paint drying rooms are capable of heating to at least 140 degrees.

Carbon dioxide fumigation

Another option is carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide gas (the stuff the makes cola fizzy and contributes to global warming) is lethal to most insects. Carbon dioxide fumigation is routinely used, for example, to dis-infest horticultural plants like fresh flowers prior to shipment.

I'm not really sure how well the following might work because as far as I know it has not been tested. But, carbon dioxide is easy to get in the form of dry ice. Many ice cream stores and grocery stores have dry ice for sale that they use to keep ice cream frozen. It is cheap and easy to transport in an ordinary cooler. If one placed a plastic tarp over the car with the edges weighted down and put a block of dry ice (a pound or two would be a good starting point) inside the car you might be able to safely fumigate the interior in a few hours as the dry ice "melted" to carbon dioxide gas. Be sure to completely air out the interior before you get in to driving away!

Ideas? Someone must have other good ideas for applying the principal of insect control with heat, cold or carbon dioxide to a car. Leave a comment.

RIP Tommy

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Comments

honestabbi said…
I recently purchased a Hyundai sonata. it was infested with ants
I brought it back the next day
they offered to spray it, I said
no I don't want to breathe it in.
this was a brand new car. the ants
were coming out of the inside of the windows!! without much argument
they ordered another car for me
in 2 days. now the spiders in the
Toyota I think this is a large problem with new cars.
Unknown said…
I wish I had a suggestion. However, this was helpful.
Unknown said…
Visited friends out of town and my car has invisible Japanese flying invisible bugs. Idk what they are but passangers feel it jumping.
Alissa Yeager said…
My car is infested with food moths. I had a bag of bird seed that I had forgotten about in the trunk and now they have made a home in my car even after removing the bag. It has been months and the problem is just getting worse. I don't know what to do to get rid of them. Please help!
Unknown said…
If ants are the problem those bait traps placed inside the vehicle when not in use (i.e. overnight) work a treat.
I wish I would have read this before I used a raid spray bomb in my cr. I have been spraying and feel like I tried everything. I went online and someone suggested this. It said to be away form the car for three hours. I can go to bed and at 7:30 get in the car. I clean, vacuum and try to do everything. I have had other cars where I have not cleaned like this and never had troubles like in Hawaii. What should I do to be safe now that I have done the bomb. Believe me, I was desperate and so very tired of the Hawaiian flying roaches. they don't die with the spray. They don't mind borax. I certainly would have tried the dry ice. But for ow, the dry ice is an after thought.
I used a raid spray bomb in my cr. I have been spraying and feel like I tried everything. I went online and someone suggested this. It said to be away form the car for three hours. I can go to bed and at 7:30 get in the car. I clean, vacuum and try to do everything. I have had other cars where I have not cleaned like this and never had troubles like in Hawaii. What should I do to be safe now that I have done the bomb. Believe me, I was desperate and so very tired of the Hawaiian flying roaches. they don't die with the spray. They don't mind borax. I certainly would have tried the dry ice. But for ow, the dry ice is an after thought.
SunnyLady said…
Yes! Why didn’t I think of that. My car is infested with ants and I’ll go get some tomorrow.
MS said…
I used a 15K btu propane Mr.Heater to kill bed bugs in my car. It cost $50 at Walmart. If the car does not stay hot above 120 degrees for minimum of four hours a few bugs will survive and reinfest the car. Junk in your car creates hiding places for the bugs from the heat. Fan blowing hot air down onto carpet and fan blowing on burner to keep it from melting car. Fan blowing backward in car to circulate hot air.

5 HOURS
930am 97deg. Car in sun, hot dash
938am 118deg.
1122am 184deg. Car in shade at end.
1126am 184deg. gas out
1129am 164deg.
1201pm 140deg.
253pm 120deg. fans blowing all day
RESULTS
Success no bugs for 4.5 months
Anonymous said…
how did you use your propane mr heater in your car, how did you put it in there can you give me directions please thank you
Anonymous said…
could you explain the directions of how you used the mr heater to kill bedbugs am interested in doing this but want to be safe in doing it and need to know how to do this thank you
Unknown said…
One idea is to put a small electric heater in the car while garaged. That should raise the temp. Another? Cover the car completely with cheap paint drop cloths. Put bricks on the edges of the plastic cloths. Start the car and let it run. The CO2 should kill them. Might want to monitor the engine overheating.

Another option is to drive your car to a really cold climate. Stay a few days. lol
Unknown said…
Look up springtails, I think their official name is collembula maybe? They are in my house and my car too. Can feel them jumping but can’t see them. I’ve been spraying watered down ammonia and it seems to be decreasing.
Unknown said…
What about Fleas in car?I Recently Started Feeling Flea Bites While Im Driving My Truck and Also Having Visuals of Them on my Clothes While in The my Truck,Think im Gonna go Ahead and Bomb my Truck Even its Not Recommended.
Unknown said…
You know that car exhaust is CO, not CO2 right?
Unknown said…
Won't work :(
Unknown said…
I feel something itching me while im driving also i get bit and i cant see what bit me but it stings so bad i feel like the infestation is getting worse i already sprayed Raid but the prpblem got worse .I've noticed that when i get out my car i am full of little black dots and i have to shake them off but i dont kno what it is i just kno they itch and hurt really bad when they bite us ... I got bit so bad and woke up with. A bad rash . does anyone kno what could it possible be???
Unknown said…
Recently got a car back that was impounded for three years after they said that it was sold. I have large jumping spiders and small red centipedes in the car. finally got the outside washed but the inside is scary! One of those huge black jumping spiders was running across the dash and moving too fast. I could not get out of that car fast enough.
Shannon said…
Use bay leaves...just throw them around they hate bay leaves.
Shannon said…
For ants and cockroaches you need landlord paste...mix boric acid with condensed milk and put it in coke bottle lids. Don't kill any you see eating it, ants gone in a week it takes longer for roaches keep putting it out you'll see 4 generations before they are gone. Keep away from children and pets tho.
Shannon said…
91% rubbing alcohol is all you need.
Unknown said…
I feel like u should be able to use a fogger like u use in the house jus need to thorough clean the car like u do your home
Unknown said…
I have carpet beetles. I used a spray lol didn’t read this first and vacuumed like crazy and then I also went through a car wash. Still seeing beetles. It’s been a while now. Any suggestions
Unknown said…
Did you find help? I have the same issue right now
Unknown said…
Need help getting biting bugs/lice out of my car tried everything and getting bit up trying to get rid of them and trying not to spread them from one house to next help

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