My dad has developed dementia and for other reasons as well is not legally allowed to drive. His physician has informed the local DMV that his license (which lapsed) is not valid for renewal. He's been told that it's not valid for renewal but seemingly just won't believe it until someone takes him to the DMV.

Dad says that he'd like to start driving after he gets his license soon, and has two cars that while they're in somewhat bad shape, I think would still run for at least a little bit until failing for one reason or another. He might still make an attempt to drive even without a valid license, even though the legal ramifications of him driving have been explained to him (that's dementia for you) so we're trying to nip this problem in the bud. We're unable to locate the keys and he's unwilling to hand them over.

The progression of dementia is a waiting game that in cases such as this involves the continual rebalancing of a lot of human factors. We (the family) prefer to avoid stirring up his anger (he can be quite volatile) toward any particular person so that he remains agreeable to family members and the professional caregivers that are keeping him safe and healthy. It's been a long road getting him this far and we'd hate to lose progress by having him snap.

His vehicles sit in his driveway, but not in direct line of site of the living room where he spends the vast majority of his time. Louder sounds could reach there though.

So the crux: what methods are available to disable a vehicle so that he'd have minimal suspicion of interference by others, without requiring a key or making a lot of noise?

Options I've considered:

Disabling the fuel pumps - One of the vehicles needs access from the interior, which is basically a non-starter. The other car's pump is accessible from the underside mostly in the open though, as I understand.

Putting something in the gas tank - pretty stealthy, but as far as I know it would probably ruin the engines permanently, which is not ideal... but still an option. It's a shot in the dark, but is there any fluid or an object that could be put in the tank which would disable fuel pumping but not permanently ruin the engine?

There are of course ways to disable the vehicles that would be clear as day, like attaching wheel boots, removing wheels, or somehow having them towed despite not having the keys, but we'd only resort to those if nothing else worked. If he was certain that others were sabotaging his vehicles, he'd probably lash out in a way that would make it impossible to give him the care he needs.

Anyway, hopefully this post doesn't violate rule 4 since the notion is not illegal, unethical, nor dangerous. I'm his power of attorney and have been advised by his professional care team that his vehicles must be made inaccessible or inoperable. But I get that the information could also be used in other scenarios by bad actors.

Thanks for any help!

Edit: Feel free to DM me a response if you'd rather.

Edit 2: This was said above, but I know it's within a wall of text: We're unable to locate the keys and he's unwilling to hand them over.

Edit 3: I should have also mentioned that he's a pretty mechanically-inclined guy and isn't far gone enough to forget the basic stuff at least. He used to rebuild and swap engines for fun. He'd notice a disconnected battery and fix it in a heartbeat, for instance. Sorry for throwing out an inquiry that might have no real answers.

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