Neighbour idling car at 6.30

[Magenta82]

I'm after some advice on what to do in this situation.

The last few mornings a neighbour over the road has been starting his car on the drive at between 6.15 and 6.30 and then leaving idling for 5 to 20 minutes. He did it this morning (Saturday) at 6.30.

It's a stupid flash super car that probably cost more than the house and it is really loud, much louder than a normal car. It either wakes us up or shakes us out of a doze and makes it impossible to get back to sleep.

DP has PTSD and anxiety and ends up shaking stress/anxiety/anger about the noise, the time, the inconsiderate neighbour etc. I know shaking is a MN cliche but I'm not exaggerating, mental health can have serious physical manifestations.He is getting treatment but it is obviously a very slow process, I'm worried that one morning he is going to go over there.

It's summer so there is no ice to clear etc so I have no idea why he needs to do it, but I'm assuming there is a reason and he isn't doing it to annoy people. Is it even reasonable to ask him not to?

Absolutely reasonable to ask him not to. It's antisocial.

See if he does tomorrow
if so, just pop a polite and drama free note through door asking him not to at that time please.

no need to mention all the ptsd stuff. It’s about courtesy plain and simple

New car?
how long have you been neighbours?
no other issues?

He leaves his super flash car idling and goes back inside his home?

If you are lucky some chancer might come along and steal it

Dont put a note through. Just speak to him.

Id be tempted to hop in and drive off & park it around the corner. Bet he would never leave it idling again.

Although you would probably get into a lot of trouble so maybe try having a word with him, it must be waking up everyone in the neighbourhood.

If he leaves the key in and buggers off I'd be tempted to go down and turn it off

Ask him not to because it is waking you up. Perfectly reasonable.

Some very high end cars have things like Park Heaters in them, which are on a timer to warm the car, demist the windows, heat the seats etc. but shouldn’t take 30 mins.

My DH very not posh BMW had this (he's changed it now to a VW) and it didn't need the engine on to do it. It really annoyed me on icy days that he swanned out the house and just drove off and I had to sit and wait for a defrost 😂

This

If the car is so loud, wouldn't it wake you anyway if he just started it up? 5minutes idling isn't that much different.i think vehicle noise is something that you just need to learn to live with

It's not so much being woken up that is the issue, if he started the car and left it would be over and we could go back to sleep. Part of the problem is not knowing how long it will last, and the effect that laying there listening to it has on DP.
We live on a quiet street, 20mph limit, no through traffic etc so this one car is really noticeable.

Ram a big potato into the exhaust. Every night.

Our old neighbour used to do this. Would leave his new work van idling on the drive for up to 30 minutes every winter morning. No idea why, I assume because his little sensitive hands didn't want to touch a cold steering wheel. The rest of the street had to listen to the idling and put up with the exhaust fumes.

No advice here, just sympathy. He did eventually stop, but I think that was after a spate of car thefts. We moved away in the end (for lots of other reasons).

I would be tempted to send a note asking him to stop due to the noise, could also perhaps add a white lie that you suspect someone has been trying doors on your car the other day i.e. his new car might not be his for much longer.

It's actually illegal. Ask him to stop or report him. Utter cunts..

If he has started it up and then left it running on its own and it gets nicked his insurance won't pay out.

You haven’t confirmed whether this is a new car

or a car he has suddenly started doing this with

and how are your relations otherwise?

Is it a sports car? Some of those need the engine warming up before they handle properly. Although that’s more of an issue in winter. Regardless, it’s antisocial at that time in the morning and I’d knock and ask if they’d mind not doing it. If they persist, white noise overnight for your DP?

Engine idling law
Is it illegal to let your engine idle when parked?
Rule 123 of The Highway Code looks at ‘The Driver and the Environment’. It states that drivers must not leave a parked vehicle unattended with the engine running or leave a vehicle engine running unnecessarily while the vehicle is stationary on a public road.
Can I get a fine for idling?
Some local authorities charge a £20 fixed penalty notice (FPN) for emission offences and stationary idling under The Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (England) Regulations 2002. There’s potential for the fine to increase to £801.
However, it’s important to note that fines are imposed only if a motorist refuses to switch off their engine when asked to do so by an authorised person. According to RAC research, 44% of drivers support the measure.

Forget posting a note

You'll need to have a short conversation, just explain how loud the noise is

Neighbor probably doesn't realise

Hopefully they will stop leaving it to idle

If it was Winter I could understand slightly more

People above mentioning cars with demisters, heated seats, heated windscreens, heated steering wheels. I work in the trade and I can assure you it doesn't take twenty minutes for these to warm up.

The idling laws only apply to cars on the road. OP has said neighbour's car is on his drive.

But I'd definitely have a word. It's totally antisocial at any time (noise factor plus idling cars are three times more polluting than moving cars) but especially at that time in the morning.

Is it in a public road? Or his drive?

So he leaves a car worth hundreds or thousands of pounds running idly without anybody in it?

Just knock on his door and tell him not to. Simple.

We moved in 18 months ago, he has had the car the whole time, he did it a couple of times last year but not as much or for as long, plus DP was in a better place mentally so it was annoying but not so upsetting.

Don't really know him, just to nod at.