To buy a cheap car and park it infront of my house so no one else can

[originalsst58]

Yes I know I don’t own the road in front of my house, but I’m sick of selfish people parking right up to the dropped kerb, making it difficult for me to get in and out of my driveway. And I’m also sick of neighbours parking there while their own driveways are empty. The latest annoyance is my neighbour leaving his van outside my house and parking his car in front of his own house. What a fantastic view I have now, a huge van blocking most of my window. His driveway is also empty. I wouldn’t have minded if he parked the car there, but clearly, he doesn’t want to see the van from his own house. Selfish prick!! There’s a back story to this. I don’t get on with him or his partner and won’t ask them to swap the vehicles around. They wouldn’t anyway. So I’m considering buying a cheap runaround, getting it taxed and MOT’d, and just leaving it there for a year. If people weren’t so self centered and thought about others, I wouldn’t even think of doing this!!! Has anyone done this before??

Aso long as it taxed it can sit there for ever!

I think it would totally be worth the money

I've reported abandoned cars... I check the tac expiry date on the gov website, make anit thendaybit expires, check again yeh day after, then bam report it as abandoned.

One vehicle that had been parked badly for months (blocking a turning and making it awkward to get in and out - and I wouldn't have reported had they just parked 1 foot to the right) got it's notice and it got towed away. The owner came back for it about a month later, coincidentally as I was outside, and asked me if I knew what happened.... Naturally I knew nothing, and joined in the tutting at whoever it was that reported them...

I also reported another,that magically moved away overnight

Completely agree with you, totally understandable. What i dont understand is why you even feel the need to waste your own finances on buying another car. You said his driveway is free. Why dont you just park yours on the road and (if needed) say you have a neck injury and reversing into your driveway is difficult!!

Do it! I've done something along the same lines. I have a driveway down the side of my office, and unfortunately, it forms a right of way to the back gardens of the houses each side and flat above the office (all previously businesses now converted to residential), so I can't block off the drive. I had no end of trouble with one or other neighbours parking in my drive or parking across the drive, which they seemed to think they had the right to do! In fact, they only had "right of access" which legally means a strip of land 1 metre wide (the same width as their garden gates) for bins, wheel barrows, etc. We kept an old car for my son to learn to drive in, and then when he passed, he took it with him to a different city where he moved to for work. Then he moved jobs to London and didn't take the car, so he brought it back home to give back to us. Rather than sell it (for around £750 current value), I decided to "store" it on my office drive! It's still taxed and MOT'd at the moment, so I do occasionally use it, but it basically "lives" on the office drive 24/7 for probably 13 days out of 14, never moving!! Neighbours can't park on my drive anymore! Result!! Not sure whether I'll renew the MOT and road tax when they fall due to continue using it occasionally or whether to just SORN it and leave it parked on the drive never being moved! The arrogant takers need tackling otherwise they just continue to take the piss. I'd mentioned the problem to my neighbours many times over the years, had to ask them to move their cars many times, etc. What's more, whilst I used to be "amenable" to them using my drive for deliveries, for scaffolding wagons to reverse into, a few times for a skip to be left there whilst they were building work, etc., now, they've lost that benefit too and anything like that has to be navigated via the 1 metre strip I've left unblocked!! Hopefully they've now got the message not to take the piss with an initially friendly/amenable neighbour!!

I would buy a small old VW bug or Yugo, one you might have push into place. Then, I'd buy cheerful colors of paint, like lime greens, sunshine yellows, bright melon, and paint the car in all kinds of fanciful flower and happy face symbols.

I have been mulling it over. By the time I buy a car, get it MOT'd, taxed, and insured, it adds up to quite a bit. I could park my car there, but, they’re the kind of people who would just move their vehicle into that spot the moment I leave. Plus, he doesn’t seem to work that much (his van can sit there for days), so once he’s parked, he’s not going anywhere for a while! It’s definitely a cheaper option though.

Just slash his tyres.

Around here, council won't move an abandoned car until you give them proof it's been there more than three months. Their online reporting system insists on two photos of it being in the identical position, time dated over three months apart. That's for cars with no MOT and/or no Road Tax - they want the 3 months "proof" on top of proof of no MOT or road tax for over 3 months. Even then, it can still take them several weeks to actually come out and remove them. The don't do anything at all if they can contact the owner and the owner tells them it's not abandoned, so some can stay on a public road, untaxed and untested for several months, the longest was a couple of years as the owner kept telling the council it wasn't abandoned, so they kept closing the report with no action!

I totally get the annoyance, that would really bug me. Rather than spending money on a car you don't need though I'd put it towards another solution.

-Widen your drive to the full width of your garden so no one can park there? You'd need the kerb dropped the same width so he's not allowed to park on it.
-Park your own car at the front of your house? Changing your insurance to parked on street would be cheaper than an extra car
-Plant tall evergreen bushes to block out the sight of the van?
-Ask him to park the car there instead? Tell him you keep nearly clipping the van or nearly ran someone over as you can't see to get out or whatever you think has the best chance of success.

Just some ideas :)

I’m sorry about your friend. Xx

I would definitely do it, you can get the newer Minis for £300 - £400. Make sure you start it regularly so it won’t fail the next MOT.
I won’t derail your thread OP with my own tale of woe regarding CF entitled parking but if I could afford a very cheap car fully road legal to occupy a space as the CFs in my situation don’t want to use their private car park with 8 - 9 spaces then I would.

Lmao

OP I reckon tot up a realistic estimate of how much it’ll cost you, then think about whether there’s anything else you could buy for the same amount that would make you happier - like a holiday or a new wardrobe.

I do really get why it’s annoying but I feel like this way they would be winning because they’d be causing you to spend your hard-earned cash on something you wouldn’t even want if they weren’t such inconsiderate knobs.

Does the van driver not use his van all work days 9-5 though? So the view is only bad in the evening and weekends?

No, he doesn’t. He’s a window cleaner I think, so doesn’t work every day. His van hasn’t moved for at least 3 days now.

it would be cheaper to buy a moped, would that work if you parked it directly in front of your window? Add a heavy duty metal thing that you padlock it to??

I would do it! How dare they! Cheeky fuckers!!!

How much is it to extend your drop kerb?

If he waits till you leave then starts up his van and moves it into that space he will knacker his battery before long .

We have a NDN who plays Car Chess , it is quite entertaining to watch - he isn't poaching anyone's space but it does make the road narrower . I wonder how long before the engine will cough its last .

If your neighbour does try the daft shuffling his van about he'll be on pins waiting for you to move . You could try going out to your car and fetching something then lock it and go indoors . He'll be primed with his keys .

Argh! I feel your pain! I am so so SO sick to death of this happening to me. It seems to be worse in the school holidays - especially summer, because the kids (aged 5-6-ish) across the road play on the driveway more, and their parents close the gates and turn the front into a play area (front garden much bigger than the back.) And they park the car on the road while they play, right opposite my driveway. Sometimes they play for just half an hour to an hour, but then they leave the car on the road - for the rest of the day, sometimes 2 days! Until they go out again.

Last school summer holiday they went away twice - once for 6 days and once for 4 days, and got a taxi to the airport, and left the bloody car on the road the whole time they were away. Just sitting there, right opposite my driveway, making it hard for me to get in AND OUT of my driveway the whole time. Why they did this just eluded me. I generally get on OK with them - I think! I thought 'have I offended them or something?' For what reason would they do this?

Then I have the fucking wallop who lives next to this family with his wife and 2 kids (both teenagers.) They have a four car driveway, and 2 cars (one for each adult.) For some reason, some days, the bloke who has a big 4 wheel drive SUV parks this SUV on the road, often pretty much where the other woman does. (When she isn't there of course.) I spend at least half the year having to tolerate at least one of these twats parked opposite my driveway, making it hard or me to get in and out of my driveway. And BOTH have an empty driveway every time they do this... or ROOM on the driveway for them. Also, sometimes they BOTH park oposite, but she parks a tiny bit further down when he is opposite me. Now THAT is fun trying to get in and out of my driveway... (DH struggles too....)

Please don't anyone say that it's probably because they may struggle to get in and out of their driveway and it probably makes life easier for them, because if they can't get in and out of their OWN driveway properly or comfortably then they shouldn't be driving. And also, why does their need or desire to park on the road 'to make their life easier' trump MY need or desire to get on and off my driveway?!

Thing is right, when these feckers are parked there, my family (when they visit,) can't park outside my house, so they have to park a couple of minutes walk away. If they do park outside my house, they'd be blocking the road. And they can't get on the driveway because of the twats parked opposite! I mean they could with a bit of a wriggle, but they're afraid of scratching their car on the wall (my driveway is narrow.) They're not used to doing it like DH and I are, so they prefer not to risk it.

Ahhhh, that feels better. I love a good rant! Oh tl;dr yes @originalsst58 I have also been tempted to just buy an old car with 12 months MOT on it, and tax it, and wait for the feckers to be out, and then pay someone to come and park it there (so no-one sees it's mine,) and then just bloody leave it there. If anyone asks about it I'll say 'I have no idea who's it is.' Let THEM park 2 minutes walk down the road like my family have to. Or ya know, maybe they could PARK ON THEIR OWN DRIVEWAY!

Fair enough. Apols.

OP - you have a drive you put your own car on, and it’s to the side so there’s road space to park opposite your living room window, your drive isn’t directly outside your window. And there’s enough space from the road to your house for a drive long enough for your car.

So, I’m assuming in the space between your living room window and the road, you have a front garden. If the sight of a van on the road (which is far enough away to fit a drive long enough for your car to the side) is upsetting to you, has you thought about a big hedge for your front garden?

If I’ve read this right, it’s a works van and it just sits there all weekend that annoys you, right? So next Friday could you put your car on the road outside your house and take the space so they have to park up elsewhere?

but do look into some creative planting for your front garden to stop you having to see what’s on the road.

Do it. Theres plenty on Facebook marketplace under £700 and you wouldn’t need fully comprehensive insurance, only 3rd party!!