Is your refrigerator running? Who cares—this Nissan Kicks was allegedly running for over 24 hours.
In a video shared to TikTok, one Los Angeles man says he was parked behind a Nissan Kicks that was running for over a day. Posted to TikTok by car content creator @petrolectric, the clip has drawn over 1.2 million views on the platform.
In the video, the poster shows there are several strange things going on with the car, describing what he has observed since parking behind it, and what he can see through the window.
“I parked behind this car, and I noticed it was running and no one was inside,” he says in the video. “Now, this is Los Angeles, you don’t just leave your car running with no one inside of it. It’s over 24 hours later, this car is still here, it’s still running, and I noticed that on the screen it says that it lost connection with the phone, so that means there might be a cell phone in there, and that’s obviously died since.”
Upon closer inspection, he says he found that the car was nearly out of fuel, and a key-shaped light lit on its dashboard.
“Then if you go around—remember, this is over 24 hours, I can’t believe this car is even still running, it has the low fuel light on right now, it’s down there—so it’s going to run out of gas soon, and it looks like the key light is on,” he says. “Does that mean maybe the key isn’t nearby and someone has the key somewhere else? I don’t know, really weird situation. What do you guys think is going on here?”
In follow-up videos, the poster shows the car had been broken into and moved, blocking trash cans in a residential area. It was then moved back to park on the street, where it incurred a parking ticket.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @petrolectric via TikTok direct message and a comment on the video.
Why was the car still running?
The short answer is that the Nissan likely has a keyless start, and that the driver started the car but did not power it off before walking away. Keyless start ignitions allow this mistake to be made with regularity, and vehicles parked in home garages have filled them with carbon monoxide. While this Nissan was parked outdoors, reducing the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, it is not at all an uncommon circumstance of keyless start.
Realistically, if a car is left idling with a full tank of gas, most models could run for at least a day.
Is it illegal to idle?
Depending on where you are, it might be illegal to leave an unattended car running in public. Many states do not allow engines to idle for more than a few minutes, with some allowing up to 14 minutes. It can be bad for the environment, with the emissions from your vehicle, but can also damage your engine.
Some viewers suggested the vehicle was left behind, under more nefarious conditions.
“Bait car or someone got abducted while getting into car,” one commenter wrote.
“Either bait, or it’s stolen and will stay off if it turns off,” another argued.
“Was probably involved in a crime,” a third added. “let the popo know.”
@petrolectric This Nissan Kicks has been left alone to idle for over 24 hours and I got a bad feeling about it. What do you think happened? . . . #nissan #nissankicks #idle #idling #abandoned #abandonedcar #car #cars #weird #strange #scary ♬ original sound – Petrolectric
Others suggested it was a simple mistake, possibly that someone remotely started the car on accident.
“Someone prolly remote started it inside without knowing?” one commenter wrote.
“Probably accidentally left it running,” another commented. “My kids have done this my kicks a few times.”
“Seems like a bug from a wireless key situation – they’re not gonna be happy when they head back to their car sometime soon,” a further user said.
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