Boxing Day morning has started with a bang for an Auckland family after a car came crashing through his fence as he slept.

The driver in a silver Toyota Carolla sedan appeared to have crossed the centre line, Cockle Bay resident Heath Moore said.

The corner the driver had lost control on was fairly tight, and the road was wet. The driver would have been coming down a slope.

"Around 8.30 this morning I was inside sleeping. We heard this massive bang and so we raced outside and a guy [had] come around the corner in his car and ploughed straight through the fence," Moore said.

A few witnesses told him the man tried to drive away again after the crash, but the car was too damaged.

Moore called the police who arrived soon after.

The vehicle was full of beer cans and bottles, Moore said.

The man appeared to be in the shock after the crash - he got out of the car and walked around quietly with his head bowed.

"I asked him if he'd been drinking and he said 'just a few'," Moore said.

A family member of the man arrived at the scene and collected the man's belongings from the car.

It was lucky no children were playing in the yard at the time, Moore said.

"We have three to four kids staying with us, it could have been them.

"Somebody could have died, somebody could have been injured.

"It could have been so much more serious. We were lucky that he couldn't plough through my grandparents' house, which was just metres away."

A police spokeswoman said the driver had gone to the police station and was speaking with officers.