It seems that Mazda has an issue with pest control, and has a thing or two they could stand to learn from termite treatment and pest management companies. For the second time in less than five years, the car company has been forced to issue massive recalls (over 100,000 total vehicles between the 2 recalls) due to issues with spiders. So what are the problems, and what could Mazda stand to learn from termite treatment and pest control firms like Kilter Termite?
The most recent recall involves 42,000 total vehicles, all Mazda6 sedans produced in model years between 2010 and 2012. The problem is related to the fuel tank; inside, there is a vent hose, and spiders apparently take up residence inside this hose and weave their webs. Consequently, this partial blockage of the hose causes negative pressure inside the fuel tank of the vehicle.
This can cause some serious issues for a car – in some cases, the fuel tank itself can actually crack and begin leaking fuel, which could potentially start a large fire. It’s amazing to see how termite treatment and spider prevention can both cause such serious property damage, isn’t it?
Even more oddly, this isn’t the first time Mazda has had issues with spiders, specifically.
Another recall was issued back in 2011 for vehicles originally produced during 2009-2010. This time, instead of a spider web blocking a fuel hose, the problem was the spider itself. Yellow sac spiders were for some reason incredibly attracted to the innards of the car. While the reason for this is still not fully understood, Mazda researchers suspect the spider is attracted to elements of hydrocarbons inside the cars on a pheromonal level. The problem with this situation is that yellow sac spiders are mildly poisonous to humans – whoops.
This previous recall was solved by Mazda installing covers on the fuel tank vents to block the spiders preferred point of access.
So what do Mazda’s problems have to do with termite treatment and pest control? In a nutshell, it seems they aren’t addressing the root cause of their infestation issues, which is what is leading to multiple issues over different model years. They would do well to bring in some expert pest and Termite management companies to isolate and eliminate the root cause of their pest problems with Integrated Pest Management techniques.
If you are looking for a free pest evaluation for your home contact us today!