Reggie1

At some point during the past year, while the LX was not being driven, a squirrel chewed into the wrapper of the main wiring harness. Lexus says no repair is possible, just replacement. The wiring harness must be shipped from Japan, My auto insurance company, advertised by an emu, will pay $6,700 on the claim. The dealer estimate for wiring harness replacement is over $9,000.

I’m not posting for advice. I just wanted to caution those who have to park outside about this possibility of animal damage. I have bought ultrasonic rodent repellent devices for all my outside parked vehicles, and now keep them plugged in along with their battery tenders.

hankinid

You need something like my avatar. Rodents get attracted to wiring. Don't ask why but Toyota used wire insulation made from soy oil. I'd say you're lucky it wasn't mice or rats or both. It's not uncommon this time of the year.

You might get a better price on a harness from partsouq.com , or at least a bargaining chip at a dealer. They're in the ME, ship very fast...3-4 days to SW Idaho. They're FAR cheaper for anything I've ordered for our LX or Land Cruiser. I'd also check out a good indy shop for the installation. A main harness R & R will definitely be pricy. I'd also take some pictures to an indy shop to see if the harness indeed needs total replacement.

OT...Outside traps also work well. Best is a garage cat. No evidence here of critters in the garage with plenty of rodents in our pasture and hay field. We've got half a dozen outdoor feral and barn cats as an initial kill zone and they earn their keep.

Pls post back on your progress.

Reggie1

Barn cats don't last long around here. We have coyotes, lots of them. The trappers here use live cats to bait their coyote traps. The local animal adoption clinics learned that and made it difficult for trappers to "adopt" cats. One trapper I know just feeds a colony of feral cats so he can pick them off for bait.

LX is parked outside at my barn, nose to nose with my truck, and next to my trailers and tractor. I guess the Lexus has tastier wiring than the rest. Maybe the soy oil, I didn't know that. Garage stalls are taken up by my wife's Lexus and BMW.

PauloFR

Ouch. I often see squirrels around here but they dont do anything to cars. Maybe it was another type of squirrel of another rodent, but I was aware about that eventuality regarding cars with organic wiring wrapping.

The dealer will most likely have to disassemble the whole interior to replace it, hence the cost.