Greg Ward of Greg’s Restorations took delivery of a zero-mileage 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser only to discover that the “almost new” car had been sitting in a damp place infested with mice for the past 17 years.
You might think that tiny rodents aren’t that bad at ruining vehicles, but they absolutely are a nightmare. Since the SUV didn’t even start, it had to be torn down to the bare chassis, meticulously repaired and repainted. It also had a broken brush guard, non-functional headlights and stuck running boards, but Greg was able to bring them back into working order without costly replacements. The interior needed its HVAC replaced for something that hadn’t served as a mouse nest in the past, and the thoroughly gnawed wiring had to be redone from scratch.
Now, the drivetrain of a rugged SUV doesn’t sound like a thing that mice should be able to ruin, right? Apparently, their urine can. The engine and the five-speed manual gearbox had to be dismantled and repaired with all gaskets and O-rings replaced just to be on the safe side. The same fate awaited the ruined fuel pump, the alternator and the rear axle, which had rusted into a clump over nearly two decades.
Remarkably, the owner of the unfortunate FJ Cruiser purchased it as an investment but neglected to pay attention to its condition. Despite taking around 1,000 hours of work to restore and a hefty repair bill, we hear that they were quite happy to get their SUV back in fine health. Hopefully it finds a better place to be now that it’s been cured of its pesky rodent condition.
