Chris O'Rourke is one of several Dubbo residents to have recently fallen victim to car damage inflicted by mice.

According to Central Western Mechanics, mice are seeking out warmth in car engine bays upon the colder weather.

Mr O'Rourke said the damage had gone unnoticed for some time until his partner Tammie Marshall had been driving out in "the middle of nowhere" and the car battery died.

"That's how we knew something was wrong," he said.

"The car battery light had been flashing.

"We had leant the car to a mate and he was the one who noticed that the light had been coming on."

Upon inspection, Mr O'Rourke came to notice some of the wires had been chewed.

"The mice had chewed through the plug on top of the alternator, so the battery wouldn't charge or anything.

"They literally chewed the top where the wires run into the plug."

Damage to cars from mice includes, but is not limited to, chewing through brake lines, radiator hoses and fuel lines and chewing holes in the windscreen washer water reservoir and through the brake fluid reservoir.

Mice can also chew away at plugs and plastic.

Mr O'Rourke said he luckily was able to fix the issue himself, but it was still "annoying".

"We're just out of town, about two kilometres out," Mr O'Rourke said.

"Luckily I had a spare car laying around, so I just swapped them around. It took me about half an hour to do it. But it was annoying, because my partner had been out driving by herself in the middle of nowhere when the car died on her."

Mr O'Rourke said since the incident they haven't experienced any further damage, but that could be the result of preventative measures the couple have been taking.

"When the cars aren't being driven we've been leaving the bonnet up so the engine is cold so they don't hide up in them and nest anymore."

Another Dubbo resident, Cody Owens-Richardson said upon recently checking her car, she and her partner had also found evidence of mice trying to nest in the vehicle's air conditioner filter.

Dubbo car detailers JR Car Detailing took to social media late last month, stating there had been "more dead mice in vehicles" coming in.

Molong Tyre and Mechanical's Sandy McKenzie said the best thing people can do to try and prevent mice getting up in cars was to "try and cool off your engine bays after driving".

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