There’s nothing more frustrating than being taken advantage of by someone who’s supposed to protect you.

What would you do if a parent used your savings to buy a car “for the family,” then refused to let you use it, despite never driving it themselves?

Would you just find a way to get another car?

Or would you push back and take what’s rightfully yours?

In the following story, one daughter finds herself in this exact situation with her mother.

Here’s how it all played out.

AITAH for threatening to go to the police if my mom didn’t give me the car I bought with my own money?

I (18F) was raised by my grandmother after my dad passed away when I was a kid.

My mom has never really been involved.

She’s been… around, like she technically exists, but emotionally and practically, she hasn’t raised me.

It was always me and my grandma, figuring life out together.

After my dad died, I received monthly financial support from the state due to his passing, and my grandmother helped me save most of it.

That money was meant to help me in the future, especially since we didn’t have much.

A couple of years ago, my mom randomly came over and had this “great idea.”

She suggested that we use my savings to buy her a car.

She said she’d use it to drive me to school, take my grandma to her doctor’s appointments, help with groceries, stuff like that.

As it turns out, the mother didn’t like to drive much.

At first, it sounded helpful.

She made it seem like the car would be useful for the whole family and that she’d be doing something good for us.

So, we agreed. I trusted her.

We bought her a car using the money I’d been saving for YEARS.

Fast forward a bit and surprise -she barely drove it.

She was constantly scared of driving, especially parking, and kept saying she was afraid of getting into an accident.

The car just sat there most days.

Meanwhile, I was taking the bus, walking long distances, and trying to juggle university life while we literally had a car we paid for just sitting outside.

Then I got my license.

I thought it would be simple, I’d ask her to let me use the car to get to class or run errands for my grandma.

But whenever I asked, she gave vague excuses like “I might need it later” or “let’s see next week.”

Upset, she couldn’t stay quiet any longer.

It was always pushed off.

It started to feel like she was just keeping the car for the sake of keeping it, even though she wasn’t using it, and it was technically mine.

Eventually, I snapped.

I told her that if she didn’t give me the car by the end of the day, I’d go to the police and tell them everything – how she used my benefit money to buy herself a car under false pretenses and then refused to let me use it.

She got super quiet and ended up giving me the keys, but now everyone’s saying I went too far, that I “threatened my own mother” and acted out of line.

AITA?

Wow! That mother sounds like something else.

Let’s see what the people over at Reddit have to say about this situation.

As this person points out, legally, she’s not entitled to it.

This person also reminds everyone that the car is in the mother’s name.

Here’s someone who says the mom can report the vehicle stolen.

This person is on the daughter’s side.

Unfortunately, because the car is not in her name, there is little the police can do for her.

It’s probably time to hire an attorney.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.