How to Get Rid of Pests in Your Car
Most people associate pests with homes. But any living area for humans can also be attractive to pests. One such example is your personal vehicle. Cars, trucks, and other automobiles provide the shelter pests look for, as well as the food and water they need to survive.
Some pests, like spiders or flies, might invade one at a time, taking advantage of an open window. But others, like ants and bed bugs can invade by the hundreds, and if you have bugs in your car and want to get rid of pests like roaches, ants, and bed bugs, this resource is for you! Lets get started.
Common Pests in Cars & Car Pest Control
To an insect, your car is essentially no different from your home. It’s a warmer space with places to hide that provides protection from predators and possible access to food. As a result, almost any pest can find its way into a car. Some of the most frequent invading insects include:
- Ants – An ant infestation in a car is usually caused by a food source such as leftover food or a spill. Ants can smell food from several meters away and enter the car through a small crack to reach it. If your car is regularly parked near the ant colony, ants will be able to remember it, and it can provide an ongoing food source if not properly handled. You can also get rid of ants in a car naturally.
- Roaches – You will most often find cockroaches in a car when they have a source of food, such as leftover crumbs, and water. They can crawl in through tiny cracks or be carried in on clothing or belongings. Roaches are known to carry bacteria and cause diseases like salmonella. They can survive off very little food, so a cockroach infestation in a car can grow quickly, even if you clean.
- Spiders – Most spiders are harmless to people, and can be killed or captured and removed if you find one in your car. If you are frequently noticing spiders in your car, this can indicate a presence of other bugs that are serving as their food source, or a more significant problem with local pests in general.
- Bed Bugs – Despite their name, bed bugs can be found in locations without beds, including your car. Bed bugs feed off of your blood and are one of the few pests that can be sustained in even the cleanest cars. They prefer feeding at night but have no problems feeding in the day, and they often hide so well that those with bed bugs in their cars rarely know they’re there.
- Carpet Beetles – Carpet beetles are a unique invading bug. The larvae for these beetles eat natural fibers, such as wool and leather found in cars. Larvae can eat holes in seats and flooring, and can also irritate the skin. Adult carpet beetles feed on pollen instead of fibers, but their presence in your car could mean eggs or larvae are nearby.
Once inside, each pest’s behavior depends on the insect. They all require a continuous source of food, and will often leave a car if food is no longer available. Most regularly used cars, however, can provide the sustenance that pests need, making it possible for the infestation to last. Because pests are also survivors, abandoning your car is not only impractical for your life – it may not even be enough.
How to Get Rid of Roaches, Spiders, Ants, and Bed Bugs in a Car
Taking these preventative steps can make your car less appealing to bugs and reduce the risk of an infestation:
- Keep Windows Closed – When the car is parked, keep windows rolled up. Even a small gap can be enough space for most bugs to enter through.
- Remove Food and Drink Containers – After eating in your car, the smell and residue on the containers that held your food can attract pests.
- Clean Up Spills – As soon as possible, clean up any food or drink spills. Use a gentle cleaning solution and cloth on plastic surfaces, and carpet shampoo for floors and cloth seats to remove any residue.
- Vacuum Regularly – Vacuuming removes stray crumbs that could be a food source for pests. It can also catch pests like ants and bed bugs to keep the population under control.
- Check For Hitchhiking Pests – Before loading your car, check all boxes, bags, and luggage for any pests that may be riding along.
- Get a Car Wash – A regular car wash can remove any pests living outside, like spiders before they can make their way into the interior.Many of these steps can be enough to remove insects that have invaded your vehicle. Cleaning spills and crumbs eliminate the bugs’ food source, forcing them to go elsewhere. Vacuuming can physically remove bugs and their eggs, though some pests – like bed bugs – are very likely to need additional support.
Professional Pest Control May Be Needed
A single bug in your car is often not a cause for concern, and you can simply remove it with a napkin. But consistent pests in the car – or an infestation of one type of pest – indicates a much larger problem. If you find your car overrun with ants, cockroaches, carpet beetles, or other insects, professional pest control can help you exterminate them.
A single-vehicle pest control treatment can cost anywhere from $295* and higher depending on the type of vehicle and treatment needed.
Many reputable pest control companies will include your vehicles in your home plan if you request it.
At Nextgen Pest Solutions, we use a range of techniques and treatments to eliminate pests. Each solution is tailored to the type of pest invading your car with options that include traps, insecticides, special vacuums, and more. All of our methods are eco-friendly and safe for use inside your vehicle.
If you’ve noticed strange pests, like little black bugs in your car, but aren’t sure what pests you’re dealing with, our pest control professionals can also identify the pest and use their knowledge to find every spot bugs are hiding.
Removing Pests From Your Vehicle with Cryonite (Freeze Treatments)
To remove common pests from a car’s interior, trunk, or even engine area, Nextgen Pest Solutions offers cryonite treatments, also known as freeze treatments. We use a special cryonite nozzle to direct carbon dioxide gas, chilled to negative 140 degrees, toward any spot a bed bug might be hiding. The CO2 kills the bugs instantly without damaging the interior or electrical fixtures of your vehicle.
Contact Nextgen Pest Solutions to Remove Bugs in Your Car
If bugs have invaded your car and can’t be removed through simple cleaning alone, Nextgen Pest Solutions is here to assist. We can apply treatments that eliminate bugs completely and make your car unattractive for future pests. Give us a call at (470) 336-4315 today to learn more about what we offer and get a free quote for your vehicle pest control.
*Pricing is only an estimate. An exact price based on the best recommended treatment option for your vehicle and pest problem will be provided when discussing with our customer service team.
13 Replies to “Get Rid of Pests In Your Car”
Think a wasp went in my car cracks near windshield what do i do?
Kayla, thanks for asking. We would recommend that you call a pest control company in your area to come out and inspect and treat for wasps if you’re seeing more than just one indicating that they may have made a nest in the vehicle. Also, in many states, your insurance will fix a broken windshield at no cost so you could contact your auto insurance company to see if they can fix the crack to keep the wasps from returning. Hope this helps!
Help! I found a few cockroaches in my car one night. And then I saw one more again. I need to fumigate my vehicle asap but no one seems to do vehicle fumigation can point me in the right direction. I m desperate.
Sandra, give us a call and our reps will guide you in the right direction.
Do you serve Melbourne FL?
That is slightly outside our coverage area. We stop in Martin County. Sorry.
I live in Melbourne too, have you found any good service provider in the area?
Hello! I need the info for car fumigation for ants.
Thanks
Arthur
Give us a call Arthur and we will be glad to help. Just scroll to the bottom and choose the number of our office closest to you. Thanks!
After I read your article about ants in the car, I realized that do parked my car near our wastebin.
They’ve taken over my car as their headquarters especially in the night.
It’s too annoying and embarrassing.
Kindly recommend a powerful insecticide to r
use, so that I can peacefully reclaim my car as the soul owner not cockroaches!!!
My father passed away unexpectedly and unattended very recently. My vehicle was sitting in a garage for about six years untouched. I inherited my fathers jeep and saw stink bugs on the outside and it absolutely attracts them. Then I just got it on the road and gave someone one single ride one ☝️ and now I am itching and getting bed bug bites, flea & spider bites. I saw a big white venomous spider on the outside of my Jeep Wrangler sport and it went into my mirrors and left spider webs and don’t know if it’s inside my vehicle or not. I live very clean and in an apartment building and do not want to transfer this into my home that I’ve worked so hard to get into a beautiful environment. I can’t live like this and I never have garbage or anything in my Jeep it’s basically a brand new vehicle. I called a local pest control company that used stera-fab and that did not work and just got it heat treated but I am still absolutely paranoid and exhausted. I can’t live like this please help me I need to tent my entire vehicle.
I left my car at a body shop in the TL for about half a year due to an accident and shortage of supplies… later learned that there were cockroaches in the car and they tried getting rid of them 3 times now. I recently encountered a cockroach again (this time on my steering wheel) after I thought all was fine… Do you guys have a way to get rid of these guys for good without damaging my leather, alcantara, and rubber seals? The car in question is a 2015 BMW M3. What sort of estimate am I expecting and is this mobile?
Thanks!
Stanley,
We use a cryonite freeze treatment to eliminate roaches and their eggs in your car. It does not affect the car’s interior and is not a chemical; therefore, it doesn’t leave a damaging residue on any surface it touches. Using liquid CO2 that hits the pests and their harborage with a below-freezing blast (-110°F) from our Cryonite treatment system. This kills all pests and their eggs instantly. The best way to get an exact quote is to call or chat with one of our representatives. We come to you for the treatment, so the car can be anywhere in our coverage area and doesn’t have to be in your home.