Squirrels ate my Toyota: Briton

A British driver has claimed squirrels ate’ his new Toyota Aygo after the Japanese company began using eco-friendly plastics to boost its green credentials.

Tony Steeles from Croydon in South London said his car was repeatedly attacked by the rodents only days after it was delivered.

“The aerial’s been chewed off twice, the oxygen sensor’s been damaged and various rubber-like trim parts have been chewed and damaged.... the car’s been back for repairs four or five times,” Steeles told the UK motoring magazine Auto Express, according to the British Daily Mail newspaper.

As no other vehicles parked nearby have been attacked, Steeles questioned whether Toyota’s use of plant-based plastics might be attracting the hungry squirrels.

Daily Mail said that door trims, seat cushions, spare tyre covers and boot liners are among the parts that the Japanese firm now makes with materials derived from natural sources, such as the castor oil plant

Steeles’s dealer, Jemca Croydon, insisted there was no link between his car’s plastics and the rodent attacks. But it paid for the repairs each time he returned the car, and eventually swapped it for a new Toyota Yaris.

A Toyota spokesman described the problem as unusual and said :”We have very few complaints of this occurring in the UK.”

But he added that the firm’s research and development teams would investigate if any improvements can be made to the design of its products to “deter rodents.”

Steeles said he was not taking any chances with his new Toyota Yaris adding that he now stores it in a garage overnight.