Do you want ants? Because I have ants

[opticsguy]

A week after buying my Genny in March, we took it on a road trip and saw a few ants in the car. I assumed they had crawled through the vents somehow.

Today I opened the passenger door after letting the car sit for a week and a half and there were hundreds of ants just outside the door seal (but not for long). With some bug spray and a vacuum I was able to collect most of them, but they keep showing up. I'm wondering if they made a nest in the door while sitting at the dealer lot for 4 months. This is TX, so ants are moving all year round.

Is there something about the new car that attracts ants? As much as they like my car, my friends now call it the "antmobile".

Is it worth having the dealer take the door apart?

 

[coolasice]

Maybe try putting a flea coller in yhe problem area. I think bugs hate the smell.

 

[Lord Humunculous]

It could be worse....

but seriously, if you don't want to start pulling panels, I would def have the dealer do it. Unlike mites or spiders (I was a PCT for years, insects in vehicles is a surprisingly common and sometimes obnoxiously expensive problem) they need a place to dig and create their home, this often means foams like seats or padding behind leather.

if that can't be done immediately then here is your best option short of you tearing it apart... http://www.amazon.com/Maxforce-Ant-Bait-Stations-BA1074/dp/B004A2UEOG That will attract and kill pretty much all ants in texas short of carpenter and fire. Also be aware, most bug sprays use aromatics/solvents, bug spray may stain or weaken your fabrics or leather.

jm2c

 

[ksoze]

What a great site - someone has a bug issue and a Pest Control Technician who likes Hyundai's pops in to help out.

 

[Huddleston]

id let the dealer deal with it if the above mentioned remedy doesn't work lol. great site we have here!

 

[Aquineas]

opticsguy man that sucks. I too live in Texas, and fire ants are unfortunately ubiquitous here. Whenever I see a commercial where people are having a picnic or are lounging on blankets in the grass, I think, "Man I wish we could have picnics in Texas."

 

[opticsguy]

Well, these are not fire ants. I call them "mailbox ants", because there was a colony of them in my mailbox the last two summers. The whole nest is small, about 100 ants and a few dozen larvae. When I would leave the mailbox open, they would move the whole nest under my mailbox. If I left the mailbox closed for a day, they would move back. They don't bite. It seems that they like dark places, and the space between the door and the frame was nice and dark, until you open the door.

When I stopped using chemicals on my lawn, the fire ants went away, though my neighbors have them.