to tell my neighbours to get their car repaired?

[5amfury]

I have name changed for this, because I have moaned to so many friends about it that I am totally identifiable.

We live in a city, in a fairly noisy area. Our house is one house away from a side street which is very short and has a dead end, so we are not the corner house, but the one next to the corner. Our bedroom is at the back of the house and from the window you can see and hear most of what happens on the side street.

We sleep with our windows open and can hear a fair amount of traffic, including planes and trains - which we mostly manage to sleep through because it doesn't start too early. However somewhere between 4am and 5.30am every week day (8am on Sundays), one of the neighbours in the side street starts up their car. We hear the door slam, and then they do a twenty-three point turn or they reverse out of the street. There is something very wrong with their car - DH thinking their clutch is slipping - and it screeches extremely loudly throughout the whole manoeuvre and after it turns and goes all the way down our street.

This wakes us up almost every morning. AIBU to ask them to get their car fixed? And if not, how do I do it? We are not sure which house it is, and have never met them. I want to take the coward's way out and stick an anonymous note on the car but DH thinks we could just knock on the door and ask.

Honestly I needed my brake discs repairing for a long time, I didn't notice the squealing because when the windows are up and the air con was on I couldn't hear it. I replaced them about a month after I drove with the windows open and realised . In my case the delay was due to cash flow.

I leave for work at 830 though so no outrageous morning manoeuvres.

I probably wouldn't do or say anything because I'm a coward, but I don't think you're unreasonable for being pissed off about it and I don't think you're unreasonable for considering saying something. If your DP wants to I'd let him.

It's a noise at an unearthly time of morning! If this was a dog barking would you do something about it? Perhaps a gentle enquiry as to what is making the noise on the car would be a way of showing interest and may be lead on to "goodness I didn't realise that could cause so much racket". You would be kind of sympathising but at the same time mentioning that it does make an unacceptable level of disturbance. If no action/notice is taken then complain to local authority. If the person has no knowledge of what is causing the noise then highlight may be something unsafe, best get it checked at least.

YANBU to be pissed off about it. YABU to expect that you can tell them to get it fixed, or that they will take any notice of you if you do.

Some good ideas here - thank you so much.

Something like 'You may not realise because you drive with the windows closed but your car is making a very unusual noise and it might be worth having it checked out.' Perhaps go on to an apologetic light sleepers thing if necessary.

Not that I will be doing any of this (if we decide to say something), mind you. DH is friendly and warm AND brave so it is totally his job to knock on their door.

Some good ideas here - thank you so much.

Something like 'You may not realise because you drive with the windows closed but your car is making a very unusual noise and it might be worth having it checked out.' Perhaps go on to an apologetic light sleepers thing if necessary.

Not that I will be doing any of this (if we decide to say something), mind you. DH is friendly and warm AND brave so it is totally his job to knock on their door.

I don't think yabu at all and I cannot believe people are saying you are! Your neighbours have absolutely no right to wake up that early every day. Go round and tell them to sort it out but either fixing their fucking car or parking it somewhere further away from your house else.

They're either idiots or they can't afford to fix it. Neither of these things are your problem.

Just re-read thread title - should have said 'ask' rather than 'tell'. And yes, they are perfectly within their rights to ignore us.

YABU Get some earplugs. Zzzzzzzz

And yes, they are perfectly within their rights to ignore us.

No, they are not.

They are making anti-social noise, well outside the acceptable hours for making noise.

And they have been doing it for over a year.

They are dicks, whatever excuse they have for not repairing their car.

I would be worried that they are driving without it being taxed or insured, if it is not roadworthy. I think there is a website where you can check if it is taxed/insured. You could take down the licence plate and check with the DLA or whatever it is called. I think that is really antisocial (and possibly dangerous) to drive a screechy car though, don't agree with the YABU's.

Would be sensible for them to reverse into parking spot so the car is ready go in the morning, maybe they haven't thought it might save them time in the morning.
Might be the fan belt, they can make a noise when they are wet.
I agree -antisocial noise at unacceptable hours.

YABU and I say this even though I am In a similar boat, my neighbour has a big diesel truck, he goes to work at 4.30 every morning and wakes me up. The only difference is that his truck is healthy just noisy. I'm sure they are aware that their car has a problem. If you say anything you are going to look like a twat.

Our cars both make that noise too. As do many others in our street. Have repeatedly asked the car servicing people to look at it - they always say there is nothing wrong. (We do not have a clutch but we are most certainly taxed and insured.)

If you say anything you are going to look like a twat.

Seriously?! What's twattish about telling someone they're waking you up every day at 4 am?

At the very least, they could turn around the night before when they park, so they can take off more quickly, with fewer screeches. The fact that they don't do this tells you that they haven't considered how their noise is affecting their neighbours. If I had a noisy car and no money to fix it, I would at least try to minimise noise at 4 am.

Tbh if they haven't had it fixed for over a year, I doubt it's money - more likely they just do not care.

We had a similar issue with one of our neighbours whose car made a terrible noise (luckily he wasn't an early riser!).
We are quite friendly with them and OH mentioned it a few times in a lighthearted "ooh sounds like your -whateveritwas- has gone!" After a while we got so fed up that OH offered to fix it for free (ex-mechanic) and they turned him down because they literally just did not care about it.
Eventually their car broke down and wasn't worth fixing by that point as it had so many issues so they scrapped it and got a new one.
It got through the MOTs because they took it to the local dodgy garage who passed anything for £50.

It's scary that so many people drive around in cars like this but it happens more than you'd think.

I don't know how it has got through an MOT because it really has been going on for over a year.

It may be something that wouldn't make it an MOT failure...Our car has its power steering motor failing and it does make a bit of a noise, and we did put it in the garage as soon as it started. It would cost more to repair than the car is worth and doesn't affect the safety of the MOT...

Can u stick an anonymous letter thru their door ? u know made out of cut up magazine 'sort ur shite car' 😁

I had this exact same problem a few years ago!
The neighbours clearly knew their car was noisy because they lived in the middle of the terrace, but parked well away from their own house, and outside mine. And they used to rev rev rev rev rev rev the engine for what felt like hours before driving off.

I eventually just put a note under their windscreen saying the noises their car was making suggested it wasn't road-worthy, and would be reported to the police in the next week if it wasn't fixed. And in the meantime, it was unfair on the 5 houses who had to listen to the noise so why didn't they park outside their own house instead of disturbing us all.

It was fixed within days...

Of course it's not unreasonable to ask/point out it's turning you into sleep deprived zombies!

It's often louder outside the car, so they might not even be aware it's bothering anyone.

Definitely ask them to park facing the other way & to give you an idea of when they will get it fixed.

Could you ask them to turn the car round when they arrive back home the night before? That way they don't need to do the 3 point turn early in the morning?

If your DH is as nice, calm and charming as you say then let him go and talk to them and see what happens. Worst case they tell him to piss off and do nothing. Best case they will at least turn the car at night so it's facing the right way, or possibly even fix the noise. OK so maybe they can't afford the repair, but it's equally as likely that they can't be bothered, none of us know the answer to that. Do you know them at all?
Personally I'd never go round, I'd find it so embarrassing and tend to shy away from any potential conflict (although I deal with conflict as a job, but that's other people's conflict and I'm better at that!!). But if your DH is happy to do it, and you think he'd be good at handling however they respond, let him!
YANBU - you would be if it was an 8am start, or if it was ordinary car noise, but it's in the middle of the night ffs! At the very least you could just ask them if they'd mind turning their car around which will minimise the noise.

I feel really sorry for you. Reading the comments is interesting though, not every noisy car fault means it's not safe to drive! Plenty of things that are minor faults can make a lot of noise but the car will still pass an mot.

Our car has a horrendous oil leak which will cost us £300 to fix and we just haven't got the money. We check the oil levels regularly and keep it topped up. It has left an oil puddle on our driveway but it's passed its mot with flying colours. The oil leaking is just noted on it as an advisory and the garage said its not dangerous, and it's not noisy either.

I do feel however for people who live next to very noisy cars!

Say something to them. I use to start work at 4pm sometimes and used to be very concious of the noise on the street coming from my car. Just be really nice about it they probably don't have a clue how it's affecting you.