Can Bed Bugs Live in Your Car? What You Need to Know

Most people associate bed bugs with mattresses and bedrooms, but bed bugs are opportunistic travellers that can infest almost any environment where people spend extended periods of time. That includes cars — particularly if you’ve been transporting infested items, or if someone who has bed bugs at home is a regular passenger.

Yes, they can — but a car is not an ideal environment for bed bugs, and a car infestation is significantly less common than a home infestation. Here’s why:

• Bed bugs need a regular blood meal to survive and reproduce. If the car is only used for short journeys, they won’t feed often enough to thrive
• Cars can reach very high temperatures in summer, which can actually kill bed bugs if the interior gets hot enough (above 50°C for a sustained period)
• There are fewer harbouring sites in a car than in a bedroom, though there are still plenty of crevices in seat seams, under seats, and in carpets

However, bed bugs can survive for months without feeding, so even infrequent car use doesn’t make them impossible to sustain.

The most common routes are:

• Transporting infested items — moving a second-hand mattress, sofa, or luggage in the boot
• Passengers — someone with an active infestation at home can carry bugs on their clothing or in their bag
• Luggage from a hotel stay — placing a suitcase on an infested hotel bed and then putting it in the car

If bed bugs were present in a car, they’d most likely be found in:

• Seat seams and the gap between the seat cushion and backrest
• Under and behind car seats
• In seat belt mechanisms and their housings
• In door pockets and under carpet edges
• In the boot, particularly in any fabric lining

If you’re concerned about bed bugs in your car, carry out an inspection using a bright torch:

1. Remove any items from the car, including seat covers if you have them
2. Inspect all seat seams closely with your torch — look for dark spots, shed skins, or live bugs
3. Check under and behind each seat
4. Inspect the boot, particularly fabric lining and carpet edges
5. Check any pockets, cup holders, and storage compartments

What to look for: Small reddish-brown flat insects (apple-seed sized), dark brown spots (excrement), tiny white eggs, pale shed skins, or small bloodstains.

Treating bed bugs in a car is challenging, but there are options:

• Heat treatment: A professional pest controller can use specialised equipment to heat the car interior to temperatures that kill bed bugs. This is the most effective option.
• Steam treatment: A commercial steamer can be used on seats, seams, and carpets. It won’t penetrate deep crevices as effectively as heat treatment but can kill surface bugs and eggs.
• Vacuuming: Thorough vacuuming can remove live bugs, but won’t kill eggs. Dispose of the vacuum bag immediately in a sealed bag outside your home.
• Insecticide sprays: Use with caution in an enclosed space. They’re less effective on resistant populations and won’t reach eggs in deep crevices.

Important: If you’ve found bed bugs in your car, you almost certainly have them at home too. Address both at the same time — treating one without the other will lead to re-infestation.

If you suspect bed bugs in your car, the priority should be investigating your home first. Car infestations almost always originate from or are secondary to a home infestation. Deal with the home professionally, then address the car.