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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Random car outside my house, what can I do?

89 replies

RandomCar · 07/10/2025 10:52

This is a bit of a weird on. I live very rurally, everyone knows eachother and everyone’s business. Last week a car was parked outside my house. Not a usual thing but it’s street parking so not illegal. Except it’s badly parked, we get a lot of tractors etc driving past and they’re struggling to get past. I’ve been shouted at a couple of times by drivers thinking it’s mine. I’ve spoken to neighbours and it’s not their car and they didn’t see it arrive. The problem is, we live in the middle of nowhere. You sometimes get walkers but there’s no public transport, and even taxis are run by a local who isn’t online, word of mouth only.
so now I’m wondering if the car has been stolen and dumped here? It’s a very nice, new bmw. Is there a way of checking if it’s been stolen? I don’t want to call the police because it’s wasting their time, but the mystery of it is bugging me :)
any suggestions of what I can do? It straight infront of my house, hasn’t been moved in over a week and no one has been in it. I wfh and it’s straight outside my front room so I’d have noticed.

OP posts:
Adipose · 07/10/2025 15:01

You can check if its stolen by the reg very easily. And yes, it may well have been left to "cool down" and will br collected later. This happened on my Dads street. We reported it and it was retrieved by police. Had been stolen at a petrol station. Tell me the reg, I can check right now for you. It's almost certainly stolen. (But could be on cloned plates)

JRM17 · 07/10/2025 15:06

There's a website called "is it nicked" go on there and put the VRM in and if its been reported stolen it should tell u then u can call 101 to speak to police

Shr3dding · 07/10/2025 15:09

spoonbillstretford · 07/10/2025 11:53

Do you have a street Whatsapp or local Next Door/Facebook?

Put a photo on there and ask if anyone knows anything about it.

I can't help smiling at the notion that someone who has a local group of any description wouldn't have first thought that might be the best option.

Shall I ask my neighbours or the whole world, 🤔?

Brooklyn70 · 07/10/2025 15:15

i had a weird looking car parked outside my flat for a couple of days a while ago.

i literally live opposite a police station.

i called them and they couldn’t care less.

i said ‘don’t you care it could have been abandoned opposite a police station and it might be dangerous’, they said no.

the car eventually disappeared.

Bobiverse · 07/10/2025 15:16

I live in a very similar set up. We’d have called the police days ago.
I’ve lived here 12 years and in that time, we’ve had someone park up and them commit suicide off a nearby bridge and we had a walker go missing and be found a few days later quite badly injured. We’ve also just had a couple of abandoned cars after being stolen and taken for a joy ride.

Call the police.

Hatty123 · 07/10/2025 15:26

Brooklyn70 · 07/10/2025 15:15

i had a weird looking car parked outside my flat for a couple of days a while ago.

i literally live opposite a police station.

i called them and they couldn’t care less.

i said ‘don’t you care it could have been abandoned opposite a police station and it might be dangerous’, they said no.

the car eventually disappeared.

I live in N Ireland and I dare say they’d care here! My mum was dropping me off at a violin lesson once and waited outside in her car. A neighbour of the violin teacher called the police and they rocked up at our door! Interrogating my mum as to her “suspicious behaviour”!

worrisomeasset · 07/10/2025 15:26

Years ago, my Mum’s car was nicked. She got it back because the thieves abandoned it and someone noticed it had been there a while and reported it to the police.

ticklyfeet · 07/10/2025 15:26

Pleasegodgotosleep · 07/10/2025 10:53

Call the police. Maybe a walker or something has gotten in trouble and needs help.

That was my first thought.
Just call the police and put your mind at rest.

Bitzee · 07/10/2025 15:28

Lindy2 · 07/10/2025 11:56

Yes definitely report on 101.

Parking stolen cars somewhere isolated for a few days to check if they have a tracker fitted is a common theft tactic. The police will be able to contact the owner to establish why it's parked there.

This. My car was stolen a few years ago and the thieved had done exactly this and since we do have tracker we were able to find and recover it. The police were involved and were actually pretty helpful.

OP I’d report to the police (non emergency) and also the council as an abandoned vehicle and as a highway obstruction (it’ll probably be 2 different forms) if it’s blocking farm traffic.

Shatteredallthetimelately · 07/10/2025 15:32

As said it could be stolen or a walker that's got into some kind of trouble.

It could also be one of those Airport parking services that take your money making you think your car will be parked in a secure car park then scatter them over an area that's a bit out of the way.

Just report, giving the car details, if registered the police can contact the owner.

PlaceIntheClouds · 07/10/2025 15:34

Sometimes car thieves steal a car and park it somewhere for a week to check if it's being tracked.

Either that or the owner has fallen down a well somewhere.

freakingscared · 07/10/2025 15:43

Call the police , put a post in the local Facebook group and if none works get someone with a tractor to drag it out if the way . That’s what would happen where I live ( very rural )

freakingscared · 07/10/2025 15:44

Do you have an airport near you ?just remembered . My friend had. Car parked just outside her drive for 2 weeks , apparently it was one of those airport parking services where you give the valet the keys and they are supposed to park it safely , turns out this company is just parking them randomly where they don’t have to pay .

User94816 · 07/10/2025 15:45

Yes I'd report - we have similar on our road, but we live nearby an airport and a motorway so never know if it's been abandoned/stolen, or if they've just gone on holiday or for a work trip! The odd parking situation makes me think it could be stolen though

Brooklyn70 · 07/10/2025 15:48

Hatty123 · 07/10/2025 15:26

I live in N Ireland and I dare say they’d care here! My mum was dropping me off at a violin lesson once and waited outside in her car. A neighbour of the violin teacher called the police and they rocked up at our door! Interrogating my mum as to her “suspicious behaviour”!

Show quote history

oh, your poor mum!

garlictwist · 07/10/2025 15:51

you can report it online. There's a BMW that's been (badly) parked outside my house for a couple of weeks with a few bricks through the windows. If you google your local police force they'll be a way to let them know. That said, I told mine about the car outside my house and other than a "thanks for telling us" not much has happened...

Derbee · 07/10/2025 16:00

RandomCar · 07/10/2025 11:12

Ok thanks! I thought I was really over reacting and would get told to wind my neck in. I’ll check the tax, it’s a new car so doesn’t even need an MOT, it’s not got the local reg letters at the start, but I know that doesn’t mean anything really. I’ll try 101 and see what they say

I would contact the police. When this happened outside our house, it turned out to be cloned number plates. The police only found this out when they contacted what looked like the “owner”

CherrieTomaties · 07/10/2025 16:06

everyone knows eachother and everyone’s business.

Sounds like hell on Earth.

But hope you get to the bottom of it.

HeadsWinTailsLose · 07/10/2025 16:18

You should be able to email your local neighbourhood police team via police.uk there’s a search function to locate the team and there should be a contact link that you can use. Just email/fill in the online form and ask them to check if it’s ok or not.

HeadsWinTailsLose · 07/10/2025 16:19

https://www.police.uk/pu/your-area/

mindutopia · 07/10/2025 16:23

Well, if it’s anything like around here, you’d post it on the local Facebook group and then everyone would pile on you about being a busy body and 15 people would check the vehicle was taxed for you, and another 6 would complain about how anyone could drive around that and you must be a terrible driver. 😂

Yes, I’d report to police. You can probably do it online and just put all the details in. Being a new BMW, my money is on its stolen and dumped. They’re waiting to see if anyone reports it and then they’ll come back round and collect it during the night. You don’t want them back snooping round yours at 3am, so I’d get it gone asap.

JohnofWessex · 07/10/2025 16:39

The real issue is that its causing an obstruction

So get on to The Police

Wherethewildthingsfart · 07/10/2025 16:39

mindutopia · 07/10/2025 16:23

Well, if it’s anything like around here, you’d post it on the local Facebook group and then everyone would pile on you about being a busy body and 15 people would check the vehicle was taxed for you, and another 6 would complain about how anyone could drive around that and you must be a terrible driver. 😂

Yes, I’d report to police. You can probably do it online and just put all the details in. Being a new BMW, my money is on its stolen and dumped. They’re waiting to see if anyone reports it and then they’ll come back round and collect it during the night. You don’t want them back snooping round yours at 3am, so I’d get it gone asap.

Don’t forget that the owner must be foreign and dodgy.

user5972308467 · 07/10/2025 16:40

Report to 101.
It is possible its stolen - I was talking to a poor girl who’d had a medical emergency while driving, she went off in the ambulance and before her parents could get there to collect the car some bugger had stolen it!
it was found abandoned in a country lane a few days later…

Hereforthecommentz · 07/10/2025 16:47

This happened down our road it was there a few days parked fine but odd it hadn't moved. The neighbour reported to our local neighbourhood police team. It was stolen, they removed it, then came round asking if anyone had seen anything when it was abandoned. So ring 101 but I wouldn't do it after one day I'd assume the owner was coming back.