Tried & True ways to keep a cat away from driveway/yard?

[hopskipjump]

We have a few cats who roam the neighborhood. I'm pretty sure they're not strays - just someone else's outdoor kitties. They don't bother us (unless we are taking something outside in the dark and one of them launches across the yard right toward our feet! Eeeeeek!)

 

However...  we have a car that we keep parked outside in the driveway instead of in the garage. An orange tabby has recently taken up residence in/under the car. I sometimes look under the car before getting in it - and don't see him. But when I open the door and get inside the car, he'll go shooting out from beneath the car up to our front window/bushes.

 

I'm terrified we're going to either start the car with him inside the engine - especially as the colder weather sets in (that's a thing that can happen, isn't it? Or is it an Old Wives Tale?) or roll over him when pulling out of the driveway unable to see him (if he stays beneath the car and gets caught with a tire).

 

Has anyone used anything successfully to repel cats from their yard? This tabby is a relatively new cat to the neighborhood.

 

(Parking the car in the garage isn't an option. Three-car garage is already occupied)

Edited September 22, 2017 by hopskipjump

[Ottakee]

Beeping the horn helps....but you have to remember to do that.

[Remudamom]

Cats will absolutely get in your engine.  Most of the time it's fatal.  Bang on your hood and honk your horn.

[Lori D.]

In addition to the above techniques for scaring a potential cat out of your engine, you can also try and make the driveway and undercarriage of your car unpleasant for cats through applying a solution of citronella

 

First power wash the driveway and under carriage of your car to remove/reduce cat scent so the cat is less likely to think of those spots as "home'. Then use a spray bottle to apply . See "Using Citronella Oil as a Cat Repellent" for details.

 

Citronella has a lemon-y, rather pleasant smell to people, but is strong and unpleasant to cats and dogs. You do have to reapply regularly, after rains/snows or just after time has passed and the scent starts to fade.

 

Another option which is more expensive and may be less pleasant smelling on a driveway is Predator Pee.

 

 

[gardenmom5]

motion detector sprinklers?