Ants intestation..... probably man-made, seeking for advice

[hwillz1227]

So I'm currently living in an apartment and yesterday when I was unplugging my charger at the charging station, I see a whole bunch and ants climbing from the charging cord onto my car and they are all over the place. It is disgusting and I was shocked because I always keep my car super clean like it is in the showroom. There is no way that ants could find anything delicious in my car so they moved their entire army to transport food.
The ants are majorly gathering in these two spots I circled in the below picture.

The reason why I say this is probably man-made is that when I get close and smell, there is a very obvious sweet scent like a milkshake or something that was intentionally poured into the nook. And these two spots are exactly symmetrical. But it is all guessing I am not certain about this.
So here are things I tried:
Physically eliminated every ant I see on the surface, but after a while, they magically reappeared.
Trace their route, but they just seem to make a circle around the windows. Checked every corner that is reachable, not a single trace of food.
Using pesticide, but concerning it will damage the paint
Ants bait, because my car parks in the "wild" I'm afraid it's gonna attract more ants and that's gonna be even bigger trouble.

Really frustrating now, every time getting in the car seeing a bunch of ants wandering below the mirrors and I'm really running out of solutions. Either I'm gonna call pest control or ask the dealership for help.

Any thoughts or advice are welcomed! Thanks in advance!

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[TycanNewHampshire]

No thoughts, as you most likely have already answered your question.
Only a comment: this and other reasons, are why I think Porsche needs to find a software update to have a 'porsche cam' similar to Tesla's security camera, using the existing 360/3D parking cameras.
That said, they also need to fix the functional glitches. However a company like Porsche should be able to have two divisions working in parallel and not in series on this and push the update/feature to customers.
Here is to faith! ?
Sorry, don't mean to hijack, hoping that you find a resolution....take it to a car wash and should be okay moving forward.

 

[B61]

AFAIK, ants don't like cinnamon.... so maybe you can try before any chemistry?

 

[schad]

To deal with the ants in the car, get some Terro baits and put them in one or both of the spots you've indicated inside your car. Leave them there for a few days, changing them out if they get full (be ready for a horror show). Put the baits somewhere that they can't easily be tipped over, since you suspect sabotage. If that means putting them in a suboptimal place, like on the floors, that's fine. The ants will still find it, it'll just take longer.

To keep more ants from getting in, pick up a bag of diatomaceous earth at any store with a garden section, and use it to draw a barrier around any place that the ants might get from the ground into your car. So if the charging cord rests on the ground, pour some earth over it. Also draw circles around your tires on the pavement. Check frequently to make sure nobody (or nothing, like strong winds or rains) has messed up your barriers. Diatomaceous earth is cheap and a little goes a long way, so no need to be stingy when applying it.

 

[hwillz1227]

No thoughts, as you most likely have already answered your question.
Only a comment: this and other reasons, are why I think Porsche needs to find a software update to have a 'porsche cam' similar to Tesla's security camera, using the existing 360/3D parking cameras.
That said, they also need to fix the functional glitches. However a company like Porsche should be able to have two divisions working in parallel and not in series on this and push the update/feature to customers.
Here is to faith! ?
Sorry, don't mean to hijack, hoping that you find a resolution....take it to a car wash and should be okay moving forward.

Thx for the tips. I’ve already got a detailed hand wash but it didn’t help. Just call my local dealer to see if they are capable installing the Porsche dashcam in case of future incidents :/

 

[hwillz1227]

AFAIK, ants don't like cinnamon.... so maybe you can try before any chemistry?

Just tried black pepper, waiting to see the result. But I’m also concerning that temporarily expel the ants might result in food source left in the car, is there a chance that ants will be back agin?

 

[hwillz1227]

To deal with the ants in the car, get some Terro baits and put them in one or both of the spots you've indicated inside your car. Leave them there for a few days, changing them out if they get full (be ready for a horror show). Put the baits somewhere that they can't easily be tipped over, since you suspect sabotage. If that means putting them in a suboptimal place, like on the floors, that's fine. The ants will still find it, it'll just take longer.

To keep more ants from getting in, pick up a bag of diatomaceous earth at any store with a garden section, and use it to draw a barrier around any place that the ants might get from the ground into your car. So if the charging cord rests on the ground, pour some earth over it. Also draw circles around your tires on the pavement. Check frequently to make sure nobody (or nothing, like strong winds or rains) has messed up your barriers. Diatomaceous earth is cheap and a little goes a long way, so no need to be stingy when applying it.

Thx for the detail explanation! I will definitely try making a barrier. Luckily I did not get any ants inside the car. Will there be more and more ants coming for the bait if it is placed outside in the wild? My car parks at underground garage and im concerning attracting the entire population of ants in my neighborhood.

 

[mokre]

I believe those two corners are also near the drains for the windshield area, where water is flushed down off the windshield, through the body and onto the roadway below. If someone was malicious and poured something sweet down, it's probably covering a good portion of those drains and their piping. You could try flushing it with warm water (I'd avoid hot water) for 15-20 minutes and see if that cleans it out.

I had something similar happen a while ago (not malicious though) to my old car where ants were foraging on a berry tree and the wind and rain dumped a pile of them onto my car. I was finding ants crawling around the car for a few weeks afterwards. Every week I'd wash the car and make sure to flood all the drainways. After all the washing they eventually stopped showing up.

Without a food source, a car isn't really a great place for ants to live - if someone did pour something down those drains, getting rid of it as quickly as you can is probably a good idea. Eventually they'll go away.

 

[hwillz1227]

I believe those two corners are also near the drains for the windshield area, where water is flushed down off the windshield, through the body and onto the roadway below. If someone was malicious and poured something sweet down, it's probably covering a good portion of those drains and their piping. You could try flushing it with warm water (I'd avoid hot water) for 15-20 minutes and see if that cleans it out.

I had something similar happen a while ago (not malicious though) to my old car where ants were foraging on a berry tree and the wind and rain dumped a pile of them onto my car. I was finding ants crawling around the car for a few weeks afterwards. Every week I'd wash the car and make sure to flood all the drainways. After all the washing they eventually stopped showing up.

Without a food source, a car isn't really a great place for ants to live - if someone did pour something down those drains, getting rid of it as quickly as you can is probably a good idea. Eventually they'll go away.

Good point, never thought about using warm water. Thanks for the tip!

 

[schad]

Thx for the detail explanation! I will definitely try making a barrier. Luckily I did not get any ants inside the car. Will there be more and more ants coming for the bait if it is placed outside in the wild? My car parks at underground garage and im concerning attracting the entire population of ants in my neighborhood.

Sorry, I guess I misunderstood. I thought you were saying there were ants inside the car. If they are only outside, 100% do not use any baits.

 

[TycanNewHampshire]

Thx for the tips. I’ve already got a detailed hand wash but it didn’t help. Just call my local dealer to see if they are capable installing the Porsche dashcam in case of future incidents :/

search the threads here on the Porsche dash cam...last post I read on it, said it was faulty and they were providing a refund and uninstalling. Also, I don't think it has 'sentry mode', which is what you really want.
I also would love a Porsche designed 'sentry mode camera', but one does not exist as far as I know. So, was hoping that if we make enough chatter as a community, this will be the next software update....the hardware is already in our vehicles, they just need to develop it

 

[chrisk]

Catch a spider ? and put it at the same place as the ants ?

 

[Austintin]

You'll need to clear out the seats and remove the carpet. Have the vehicle deep cleaned, put in silica gel packs all over. Dry it with 2 table fans overnight, park under the sun for a couple of days.
https://cararac.com/blog/get-rid-of-ants-in-car.html

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