Cockroaches In My Car

Clark's son · June 27, 2016

I bought a second hand car about 5 months back. And few days later noticed a Cockroache was inside it then removed him and parked it in the sun with doors opened

Again another appeared

So I did an interior cleaning where they said they found a lot of insect dropings and eggs in the back of the car and removed them

They didn't remove the roof and upholstery or the carpets (original velves ones) saying that needed to be cut to be removed.

He also told that insects couldn't be there on the roof as it gets heated in the sun.

But again Cockroaches.

And a service and few months of sun bathing later still Cockroaches.

It's been few months so it's past the life cycle of a roach so they may be reproducing in the car.

I would like to ask experts what should I do.

I didn't use poisons yet as it would be bad for the occupants also and if they all die inside it would be smelly inside.

I've noticed that they usually come out in the evenings.

Would be thankful for any ideas or suggestions on this matter

Edited June 27, 2016 by Clark's son

Crosswind · June 28, 2016

Actually Baygon should do the job. Contrary to the popular belief, Baygon is generally harmless to humans. The chemical compound in Baygon consists of pyrethroids (Prallethrin, Cypermethrin, Imiprothrin) which are neurotoxins to insects and they decompose fast under sunlight. What I would suggest is give the car a dose of Baygon and leave it out in the hot sun for a day.

Kavvz · June 28, 2016

On 6/27/2016 at 6:09 PM, Clark said:
I bought a second hand car about 5 months back. And few days later noticed a Cockroache was inside it then removed him and parked it in the sun with doors opened
Again another appeared

So I did an interior cleaning where they said they found a lot of insect dropings and eggs in the back of the car and removed them

They didn't remove the roof and upholstery or the carpets (original velves ones) saying that needed to be cut to be removed.

He also told that insects couldn't be there on the roof as it gets heated in the sun.

But again Cockroaches.

And a service and few months of sun bathing later still Cockroaches.

It's been few months so it's past the life cycle of a roach so they may be reproducing in the car.

I would like to ask experts what should I do.

I didn't use poisons yet as it would be bad for the occupants also and if they all die inside it would be smelly inside.

I've noticed that they usually come out in the evenings.

Would be thankful for any ideas or suggestions on this matter

Its the same as getting rid of them elsewhere: Don't leave food out / don't eat in the car and lay traps.I'd start by vacuuming the car and setting out traps in the front and back including the boot. Glue traps would work the best I guess...

Jor-el · June 28, 2016

What's the car clarkson? is it a mitsu?

Clark's son · June 28, 2016

Thanks crosswind

With BayGon will the insects die inside and leave a bad smell

And I did a service and an interior cleaning which includes vacuum and I do it myself at home too. But still there.

And will glue traps etc work for insects it's for rats and mice right

asrock · June 28, 2016

On 6/28/2016 at 1:38 AM, Crosswind said:
Actually Baygon should do the job. Contrary to the popular belief, Baygon is generally harmless to humans. The chemical compound in Baygon consists of pyrethroids (Prallethrin, Cypermethrin, Imiprothrin) which are neurotoxins to insects and they decompose fast under sunlight. What I would suggest is give the car a dose of Baygon and leave it out in the hot sun for a day.

+1 for Baygon and probably Mortein, kills these buggers instantly. Sure they would die inside the car but I guess its better than them living, pooping and laying eggs inside the car, which produce a foul smell.

sathyajithj99 · June 28, 2016

On 6/28/2016 at 2:21 AM, Clark said:
Thanks crosswind
With BayGon will the insects die inside and leave a bad smell

And I did a service and an interior cleaning which includes vacuum and I do it myself at home too. But still there.

And will glue traps etc work for insects it's for rats and mice right

Glue traps won't work as effective as they work on mice. From where do you think they get in in the first place. If it's through AC vents, would it be helpful if you keep them closed when the car is parked?

Ruslan · June 28, 2016

+ for Baygon or Mortein, used it and it worked Nicely, Spray it inside boot, inside upholstery panels etc, and close the doors for a while (5-10Mins) and then opened the doors under the Sun.

Sampath Gunasekera · June 28, 2016

Cockroach is an insect prefer dark environment always. That is why they appear in the night well.

Since you are reluctant to use chemicals, make the environment unhappy to Cockroach.

(1) In the night, light a lamp/s inside and surrounding area of the car for few days. It will make uncomfortable to cockroaches and they may tend to leave.

(When I design my pantry cupboards, for wall mounted upper cupboards, I used glass panels for top. (It cannot observed from front side). So inside cupboards are rich with light. Cockroach never enter in to that cupboards. Now I am going to install some glass boxes for lower pantry cupboards as well)

(2) Park the vehicle in different places for different nights. They may survive with the outside food and back to vehicle in the night.

How about their population? Do you get everyday or rarely?

Edited June 28, 2016 by Sampath Gunasekera

LashNeo · June 28, 2016

On 6/28/2016 at 4:13 AM, PreseaLover said:
There is a probablity that the cat would shit and it wouldnt... anyway just 3 hours would be in the safe margin and has a higher probability that he would do his job within that time frame.. but its a speculation so... Anyway if the cat sense that there are insects, he would wait until he catch those bugs he would not pay attention to shitting in the car..

Cats inside the car !?! Seriousely? Cat’s have a tendency to stretch themselves and scratch on whatever soft firm material they can find. Have you ever seen what cats do to sofa’s? God bless the seats and interior panels of the car in the hands of a locked up cat

Baygon or Mortein would be the best solution and you can also try the chalk variant as well.

Once I had the same cockroach problem some time ago. After transporting some goods in the boot while shifting houses and leaving them in the boot for few days; my car got infested by roaches who were actually hiding inside the boxes. The buggers have found a nice living space inside the car even after the boxes were removed. I just used one of those chalks and drew several lines on a cardboard and left in the boot for few nights and all the buggers were dead inside the boot itself.

Only drawback with this option is that one or two may die in places hard to reach as it’s not quick to take effect than the spray. Luckily for me the infestation was not that severe and therefore all of them died in the boot itself and did not find any during the thorough interior cleaning which followed.

Twin Turbo · June 28, 2016

----Start with a complete clean up by removing everything inside.all seats + all carpets

then spray roachkill

.any animal needs, oxygen, water , food. Deny any one thing and they die out.

Edited June 28, 2016 by Twin Turbo

trinity · June 28, 2016

Put a cat inside the car and leave it over night?? what kind of f**kery solution is that?? I see so many wrongs in that I'm gonna pretend I didnt see PLs reply. Shall we mark Crosswinds reply as the best answer and move on please. Cuz I believe that is the best solution given here and it would get the job done without any issue.

gNaveendra · June 28, 2016

On 6/28/2016 at 1:38 AM, Crosswind said:
Actually Baygon should do the job. Contrary to the popular belief, Baygon is generally harmless to humans. The chemical compound in Baygon consists of pyrethroids (Prallethrin, Cypermethrin, Imiprothrin) which are neurotoxins to insects and they decompose fast under sunlight. What I would suggest is give the car a dose of Baygon and leave it out in the hot sun for a day.

The insecticides mentioned here is oil-based synthetic sprays.

Therefore, more chance it could deteriorate/fade the car interior including hood upholsteries.

Instead of this I suggest to use Cockroach Chalk.

On the park floor, try mark all the car's tyres and entire car parked area for several days (keep the door/shutters open in a safe manner to make sure that roach can come out).

I'm sure you will see all the Cockroaches die outside the car.

Edited June 28, 2016 by gnaveendra

Clark's son · June 28, 2016

Thank you very much for the inputs.

I think I should go for the Baygon method.

I don't know where they are coming from so where should I spray it to.

Anybody with experience?

Are they coming in or are they breeding inside the car.

If I could get to know the place they are coming from is it advisable to remove the upholstery carpets roof or dashboard to remove the dead insects and their dropings and to repair any defects they may be entering from

Any method to find out where they are coming?