Sometimes, getting rid of an old car is more about saying goodbye to memories than solving a problem, but not everyone sees it that way.

So, what would you do if a nosy neighbor reported your car to the HOA, assuming it was junk, and forced you to act? Would you take the time to sell the car? Or would you donate it somewhere the neighbor would least expect?

In the following story, one neighbor found themselves dealing with this very situation.

Here’s how it played out…

Unintended and unwelcome consequences…

One day, a few years ago, my faithful old Volvo gave up the ghost. The automatic transmission was slowly going out; the final blow was when an oil line to an external oil filter developed a pinhole leak, and the engine seized when all the oil escaped.

I had the car towed home, and it sat in the driveway for a month or so while I tried to decide what to do with it.

The options were to replace both the engine and transmission or sell it off cheap, either for parts or to someone who wanted to get it running again.

I finally, reluctantly, decided to let it go.

I was going to miss it, as it had been probably the best car I’d ever had, and I’d done some serious upgrades & improvements to it.

The nosey neighbor called the HOA to complain.

About this time, my neighbor called the HOA to complain that I had a “junk car” in the driveway that I was parting out; to hear her version, the president expected to see something on cinder blocks, with no doors, the hood up, and no engine.

The truth was that it was still intact, with current license plates and insurance, so there was no way to tell from looking at it that it wasn’t running.

Nevertheless, I was given one week to either fix the car or have it gone.

The busybody neighbor was known for being extremely conservative – she made tea party people seem middle-of-the-road!!!

He donated the car to the one place she really hated.

One of the things which she had a particular dislike for was the local NPR radio station, which was associated with a local university.

The station was running a fundraiser at the time, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and donated the car to the radio station.

The appointed Saturday came around, and the car was being picked up by a tow truck when she came out to watch the proceedings with a smug look.

She commented to me that it was about time that “piece of junk” was being removed; when I replied that I’d donated it to the local NPR station, her smug look was instantly replaced by horror, quickly followed by livid anger.

She stalked back into her house and slammed the door; I was happy that even to the last, my trusty Volvo had been useful.

Bravo! It’s always great when you can do a good deed and upset a grumpy neighbor at the same time.

Let’s see how the people over at Reddit relate to this situation.

Here’s some great advice.

Some people can’t wrap their heads around HOAs.

This might be going too far.

It’s ridiculous that she was so upset about the car!

If you liked that post, check this one about a guy who got revenge on his condo by making his own Christmas light rules.