Am I being an old grumpy man?

I need 4Runners opinion, so please let me have it.

Story:
My neighbor parks so close to my driveway every single day even though there's plenty of room to move his truck up, like three car lengths. He actually parks further from his front door doing this. It makes it hard to pull in and out of my driveway.

Am I being an old grumpy man who's annoyed about nothing or is this him being a prick?



I know someone will say, "Talk to him". But, he sprints inside as fast as he can and last time the previous owner tried talking to him he said, "get off my property."

 

From the picture, he doesn’t seem to be blocking your driveway. Although, that is one narrow street.

A few options to remedy the situation.
1 - Go knock on their door and try to have a civil conversation.
2 - Check for any city/ state ordinances that prevent parking from “x” feet of a private driveway.
3 - Petition the city to mark that curb as a red fire zone.
4 - Buy a beater car and keep it registered. Then, just make sure to park it in that spot for a few months.

 

Your not being an "grumpy old man" that is definitely annoying and if he really does have so much room to move up its just silly that he would park like that. I doubt he is parking there with the purpose to annoy you. My guess is he has some weird reasoning why that's the best spot for his car maybe its shadier or easier to get out idk, but if you really cant talk to him it might be time for war. Park your car there before he does and see what happens, or move your trash cans there and see where he parks maybe if your in the way enough he will just change where he parks permanently. Or try and leave him a note.

 

There are in fact ordinances making his activity illegal, it's 5 feet from the driveway in my area. I would be in the right calling parking enforcement, who is very responsive.

I have considered the beater haha

I've been keeping an eye on the local classifieds for like a 300 dollar beater if he wants to play games haha

It kills me too because he has a 2 car wide driveway and enough room in front of his house for two additional vehicles, yet he does what's pictured.

I should also add I caught him one day checking to see where the back of his truck was after parking.

 

Park your car right up to the rear bumper and the wife's car right up to the front bumper. Box him in!!

 

what a dick

 

Yeah that neighbor is a dick. I wonder if your responses will differ on Tundras

 

I'm a 3rd gen so you know they will just tell me my neighbor wouldn't be doing that if I had a 2nd gen

 

Haha yup

 

Park your car in that spot. Do it for a few days.
If that does not give him the hint, get ready for an argument. He knows exactly what he is doing.

 

Yes.

 

This thread shouldn't of been made without a conversation with the guy first.

 

Have you tried to have a clam neighborly discussion with him and explain it makes it hard for you to get in and out of your driveway?

Maybe he doesn’t even recognize what he is doing is causing you an issue especially if you have not told him.

now if you have talked to him in a civilized neighborly way and he doesn’t care then I would call enforcement about not being far enough away per your local ordinance.

 

This is the best suggestion. Park in that exact spot for two (or more) weeks. Or, even better, park another car in that exact spot (that way, it won't move for days or weeks - if you have that option).

 

Hey, my nieghbor had a high power spot light on my back porch for two years. They finally lowered the wattage. Then the neighbor upwind burns dog shit and trash.lol

 

Your going to out live him.

 

People who park like dicks bug the shit out of me! However, I'm a grumpy old man at heart.

I can't blame you for being hesitant to call parking enforcement. I'm sure you don't want a grudge with a neighbor.

 

Agree with some others. I'm a self-identified grumpy old man so this would be my approach:
1. Civil conversation
2. Scorched earth policy

When brain power fails, brute force prevails

 

Get that beater car and park right in front of his house. To heck with using to hold a spot outside yours.

 

Well, you can't threatin anyone. An xofficer had a "wellness check" last week. They blew him away on his ftont porch at midnight.

 

I genuinely have a hard time believing he is parking his rear bumper exactly on our property line (which has zero effect on parking enforcement) and not doing this to be a cock. I'd love to have a conversation with him but it's hard to catch him, but I may have to knock on his door. I suspect however when I do he won't answer based on the previous owners experiences.

 

park in his driveway

you gotta go over the top of him

 

Write him a nice, kind letter explaining your concerns and mail it, certified. No response or action taken? Call the cops for creating a public nuisance/hazard/obstruction of safe travel/etc. Be sure and have your local ordinance(s) he's violating ready to give the cops in case they're lazy.

Do not approach someone in-person that you know has a history of being a dick to neighbors. They usually are looking for an excuse to fuck your life up. Legally I mean. Sadly, the days of neighborly interaction seem to have disappeared from our society.

 

This same shit happens in my neighborhood! And bugs the shit outta me.

When it does I park my wife's car in the street to keep people away from our driveway.

But I hate having to talk to my neighbors about issues like this. Only because you know they know what the they are doing.

 

Hey kid ! Get off my lawn! Ok just kidding. My wife tells me I’ve become “that guy” My neighbor did the same. I explained to him nicely that it makes it difficult for me to get in and out of my driveway if he parks there. I asked him not to park there unless he had no other option. He doesn’t park there anymore.

 

Put an orange cone behind his vehicle and then wait for him to ask you why you put it there.
Then proceed to give him an earful of knowledge and wisdom.

 

Amazing acting like an adult worked. To many people now have the default mode of starting off hey a** hole get bent and then wonder why it didn’t work out nicely.

 

Passive aggression is never a good idea as well as doing damage to someone else’s property. Be a gentleman

My point exactly. Thank you.

 

Since there's room, and you're concerned about how he might respond to a door knock, you could try parking in the space in front of his. Nicely, of course, leaving him room to pull out. He may initiate the conversation by asking why you started parking there. You could respond by saying you were concerned about getting hit pulling out of your driveway, or accidentally clipping his truck while backing out. Legitimate concerns that imply your concern for his truck. And it'll get his attention quickly, being a new move on your part. But as others have said, keep it friendly.

 

A similar thing happened to me. I finally saw him one day getting out of his truck after parking it and got the chance to talk to him. I told him he’s too close when parked like that and I don’t want to clip his nice truck when I back out. I offered him another solution to park away from my driveway, even directly in front of my house. Then we started talking about his beloved truck, a 3rd Gen 4R like my old one.
He wound up never parking there again, and claimed a spot closer to his house.