Runaway car parks itself in neighbour's garage A car reported stolen last month in the Adelaide Hills is believed to have rolled into the garage of a nearby home, parking itself perfectly.

The car's owner from Upper Sturt had parked the vehicle on a slight slope outside a shop in Stirling early on December 18.

He returned 15 minutes later to find the car was gone, and then called police.

The man had only owned the vehicle for two days.

The mystery was still unsolved when the new owners of a house opposite the shops returned from holidays on Wednesday.

Noticing their garage door had received minor damage and been pushed off its tracks, they suspected a break-in.

Upon inspection, they found the car inside.

Police say the owner probably did not put the transmission in park when he left the vehicle on a slight slope.

Senior constable Tim Dodds says they reconstructed this sequence of events.

"It had rolled out of the shopping centre car park, across the road, down the driveway, into the garage, through the garage door which then closed on itself and there was the man's stolen car," he said.

"It remained under cover for 17 days and so we've recovered the stolen car and cleared up the break-in.

"It even made us have a bit of a laugh here in the office."

The driver says he can recall hearing a loud bang while he was away from the car.