Neighbours sat in car for hours on end with engine running. It this weird

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Names changed as could be outing

we got some new neighbours across from us about 6 months ago. A man and a women. I was talking to another neighbour and she asked if I had noticed they sit in their car for hours on end with the engine on. Now I had noticed them a few times sat in the car but though nothing if it. The car is parked outside this neighbours house a lot.

Now the neighbour has said to me DH and I have been more aware of it, especially with doing lots of work in the garden. And the fumes from the car as well have been more noticeable since we have been outside a lot. Neighbour is a bit nearer so has noticed them doing it during the day and at night as well. Usually between midnight and 6am.

Basically they sit in the car sometimes it’s the man, sometimes the women, sometimes both. The engine is running all the time (yesterday it was about 7 hours). They seem to be always on their phones and then one of them will get out go in the house and then come back out again into the car. Sometimes they will just get out of the car, walk round it and get back in.

yesterday the other neighbours husband went out and asked them to turn the engine off as his son has asthma and the car is right outside his window and was told very forcefully to mind his own fucking business.

now if it was not for the engine being on all the time I probably would just shrug and think “each to there own”. But this is very strange is it not?

One of our old neighbours used to sit in the car with the engine running before 4am until at least 5:30am regularly outside his house. Sat there reading a book.

And polluting the air

There’s no need to keep the engine running at this time of year.

Watch proceedings LIVE on the Ring doorbell and/or get a good pair of binoculars. Free entertainment.

I'd sit all night and watch through a crack in the curtains, but I'm very nosey and would be fascinated and a little worried about what's going on!

Why do they need their engine to be running while they do this?

Which is precisely why I allowed for this possibility in my comment. Bless you - too hard to understand? 🙄

Why? God I’d be on the phone every bloody hour if that was happening outside my house.

I don't see why dealers would be sat outside their own house for hours.

A lot of them are idiots, obviously, but you'd have to have absolutely zero smarts to park up outside your own gaff for hours at a time, engine on, in a flash car, with a load of gear on you. If he's selling direct to customers or handing off to distributors, that's possession with intent straight away if a random copper drives past and asks them what they're doing.

Also, if he's selling direct, there would be people getting in and out of the car constantly for him to be sat there all night. You'd have noticed that surely?

If he's distributing to dealers, he'd do it in the house (or anywhere more discreet) away from prying eyes and ring doorbells. He certainly wouldn't be sat out there in the open for hours at a time with a load of gear in his possession.

I'm not saying it's not drugs - just doesn't sound like anything I've ever come across before.

Mind you, my dealer drives a fucking Tesla, absolute clown. You could be dealing with a similar kind of idiot 😅

Why would they sit outside their own house dealing drugs. It seems very strange as they are bringing attention to themselves.

Leave them be for goodness sake. To each their own.

No, I completely agree - keeping the engine running is appalling and there's no excuse for that.

But some people on here are criticising them for just sitting in their car for so long - which isn't necessarily doing anything wrong, as long as the engine is off.

Maybe company car and fuel allowance? Using car for heat or air con? Unreasonable of them an frankly weird. Anyone else live there? How do they sleep?

You are in the wrong. The air we are breathing is being polluted

What’s your drug of choice?

Never you mind officer! 😜

A plain clothed police officer, in an unmarked car, would NOT keep their engine running as that immediately draws attention to themselves! Ditto for a Private Investigator...
I think I am agreeing with your thinking
@JockTamsonsBairns.

Some new cars have hotspots that you can connect to, independent of your home WiFi.

if you were doing something naughty, you might sit in your car to do the naughty things online so that if the police seize your IP information / websites / etc related to your broadband- it wouldn’t show up.

My previous neighbours were Polish and were forced to leave the area a few years ago due to involvement in drug-related activities. I sensed that there might have been some other questionable activities, possibly trafficking or sex work, as they often appeared quite suspicious. They would frequently sit in their car from around 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., keeping the engine running and constantly on their phones—mostly the woman, but occasionally the man would join her. They would also disappear for short spells in between those phone conversations. They were seen in the car earlier in the evening and during the day as well, though not as often. It was quite frustrating for me since their vehicle was parked directly under my bedroom and lounge windows.

An idling engine is against Highway Code, call the police next time it happens.

Before I invested in an air purifier for the house, sometimes sitting in my car with the aircon on was the only way to manage my hayfever when the pollen count was high! I’d be mortified if i thought I was annoying or inconveniencing my neighbours. That said, I never did it in the middle of the night!

That they both sit in the car is the bit that’s weird about this tbh. I could understand someone dropping someone off and them both sitting in the car to chat / finish a conversation before the one being dropped off gets out … and I could also understand if it was one person doing it - either for a bit of quiet from the other one, or some neurodivergent people need time to acclimatise to the transition of leaving the car to go in the house.

But. its them both and seemingly all times of day. That’s the unreasonable part (by them) in my mind.

I would love to find the reason .I sometimes when desperate keep the engine running when parked as it's the only way to get the baby to sleep .I never park near people or homes.My neighbours record my conversations and have ruined the party walls with overgrown trees and take my cat into their home ,some people are very odd !

This. It’s actually illegal to sit with engine idling like this https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/emissions/idling/#:~:text=Engine%20idling%20law,-Is%20it%20illegal&text=Rule%20123%20of%20The%20Highway,stationary%20on%20a%20public%20road.

You and your neighbours should report for drug dealing do either of you have cameras on the house? If you do you will have your evidence if not just ring police when they’re in the car. Say they are dealing.

Report to the police that they are obviously dealing drugs .
We had dealers move in next door to us . We reported and the police found huge grow in the house and the landlord had no idea.
Cars would rev engines outside all day/night . It was awful .
They got evicted thankfully

Could be for the heat or ac.
Do they have electricity in the house?