Neighbour splattering my car while washing their own

[Ghostoast]

I know this sounds petty, but my neighbour is a bit of a petty person who seems to do lots of little things to irritate me.
There's a family of 6 adults living next door, they have 4 cars, 1 parked on their drive and 3 elsewhere. We both park in a bit outside our houses, there's a diagram below.
Basically their cars surround my car, when i wash my car i use a bucket. My car is quite new and i take really good care of it. They've been washing their cars suddenly since lockdown and they use a hose and don't do it on their drive, they do it surrounding my car and my car is getting splattered with muddy water and it looks rubbish.
They do it as a family and run about being silly and I've seen them aim it at my car a few times. They've now washed them 3 times in 5 weeks and my car looks stupid as one side is filthy and one is clean and waxed.
I won't say anything, i imagine its partly on purpose, they're the type who do things like move their car very close to mine to wind me up, slam doors when my children make a sound outside, so its not worth the aggro.
But i just need to know I'm not being unreasonable and they're being idiots.
Btw i can't park elsewhere, I've got 3 toddlers and need to be next to the front door to get them in together.

(I'm reading it back now and I know sound petty )

Best picture ever.

Isn't that just water marks? Turn your car round so other side gets "muddy" 🤷‍♀️

I think you need some fairy liquid, a bucket and a sponge.

Don't use washing up liquid!

It's far too harsh and strips the protective wax off paint, leaving it exposed the elements and potential cracking over time. You won't notice immediately but over a couple of years....sure.

Just spend £5 - £10 on a decent wax safe liquid. I've been using the same bottle for a year or two as you only need about 15ml per bucket.

And a wash mitt (£5 from Halfords) is infinitely better than a sponge. A wash mitt with long microfibre strands/pile will absorb the bits of grit between squeezing the mitt out into your rinsing bucket. A sponge traps bits of grit against the paint (nowhere for them to go) and you then scrub them across your nice paintwork like sandpaper.

Not petty at all. We have 6 adults next door (age 17 upwards). Thank god detached. Lockdown is hard enough without endless DIY to keep the furloughed manchild eldest son occupied. I just bide my time until one by one they move out. I left home properly at 24 so don’t really get anyone older than that still shacking up with mum and dad

I honestly wouldnt react.
If you start trying to do it back, then they will likely be petty enough to keep escalting it and the only person suffering in the end will be yourself.

But not going to lie it would piss me right off. But it's best to just not react.

Nobody will notice. My ds washed my car for me the other week and the next day it was all sandy - presumably from the Sahara? No harm.

Get a grip

Moment of carelessness costs someone else £600.

Buying a car so ridiculously designed you need extra space is what cost you money. Buying a car so specialist it costs 600 quid for a minor repair is what costs you money.

One of my worries at the moment is the trend of self-appointed lockdown police egging cars which are supposedly on non essential journeys.

If they egg your windscreen do not use your wipers- it'll smear so badly you'll need to pull over.

Are you parked on the road? Why do you park that way, side on, & why do they park bumper towards their house? Are they actually blocking you in? I wonder if they try to wind you up because they want you to park bumper on but a little bit over so they can park their 3rd car next to their other two?

They sound annoying but, if they are slamming doors when your children make a noise, maybe they find your noise too much. However, a car doesn’t look silly if it’s dirty.

They are pricks but just let it go.

Awesome diagram.

Ask them to clean yours while they're out there one more won't hurt

Turn your car around then they would get your car an even clean

It's definitely time to find a hobby op. Most people wouldn't have noticed, and even if you do, why would you care?

It may sound petty, but I know their type and when someone targets you over a period of time, it can be a very seemingly tiny thing which sends you over the edge.

It mounts up.

I do think that previous advice regarding ignoring them (go full grey rock) is sound advice. Yes it's irritating that you care well for your car and they keep doing this, but in the grand scheme of things it's not too bad.

I would get a cheap cover for your car.

Buying a car so specialist it costs 600 quid for a minor repair is what costs you money.

The difficulty of removing a dent from a crease line has nothing whatsoever to do with the model of car - it would be just as difficult on a 20 year old banger. It's simple physics. Ironing out a dent in a flat surface is much easier than on a sharper edge/corner which does not just pop back out again - you can literally demonstrate this with an aluminium baking tray. The paint is also much more likely to crack on an edge, at which point you need serious restorative work.

In my case I was lucky but a woman on the FB page spent £600 for an almost identical dent. What costs money is people carelessly bashing things into your car.

Buying a car so ridiculously designed you need extra space is what cost you money.

This is a more logical point, but I'm not the first and definitely won't be the last person to buy a sports car/4x4/pickup truck/van/caravan. In my case the person parking really close to me had plenty of space not to. There aren't even bays at my workplace, we just park in a huge gravel yard where you could literally take three normal sized spaces to yourself if you wanted.

But if I owned a Bentley it'd still not be my fault if somebody bashed their door into it. You never see people with expensive cars doing this. It's usually women with their children and old people who do it.

@Tootletum whats wrong with 4 cars? We have 6 cars and 3 motorcycles. Not sure what the issue is

It would annoy me a bit but really not worth spending energy on. I'd be glad to be able to consistently park outside your house if you don't have a drive.

I'd be really fucked off with somebody parking really close to me!

The OP's done a lovely diagram, but I'm not sure its 100% accurate on scale.
PS - don't move to London, no option but to park v v close.

Fantastic journey.

Can you go out next time they are washing and watch them with a cuppa guarding your car.
Just watch if they splash tell them but don't get mad just shout oh wow just sound a bit crazy.

PS - don't move to London, no option but to park v v close.

I'd have an aneurysm (or probably buy some of those magnetic door protection strips).

If people are egging cars now, is that why there are no eggs in the shops? (First explanation I've heard for the shortage.)

OP, if this started during lockdown, maybe it'll stop soon. Hope so.

You never see people with expensive cars doing this. It's usually women with their children and old people who do it.
Elitism, misogyny and ageism all rolled into one. What a lovely specimen you are.