Davis, CA Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

03 (Motor Vehicles) of the noise chapter, makes it unlawful to repair, rebuild or test any motor vehicle inside a residentially zoned or residentially planned development zoned area if the resulting noise exceeds the residential limits set in Table No. 1, measured at the property plane, the vertical plane through the property line. Those residential limits, fixed in the same chapter's general noise-limits section, run higher during the day than at night, so revving an engine or running power tools on a car in a driveway is judged against whichever time-period cap applies when the noise is measured.

The rule is written as an absolute ceiling on the resulting sound, not a ban on repair work itself: a homeowner can still change oil, swap parts or run an engine, but the racket cannot cross the residential decibel line at the property boundary. 040 carves out daytime hours for power tools and construction equipment. Enforcement runs through the Davis Police Department, which can act on a neighbor's complaint and measure sound at the affected property's plane closest to the noise source. Because the vehicle-repair rule cross-references the same Table No.

1 used for general property noise, an unusually loud repair job in a residential zone is treated exactly like any other excessive residential noise source for purposes of citation.