# Hell Yes, I had your car towed! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 5, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712 "2003-01-05T03:05:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/1 "2003-01-05T03:05:52Z")
Yesterday I had my neighbor’s car towed out of my driveway. First the scenario; I moved out of that house in July. I lived there 11 years, they were there when I moved in. I’ve sold the house now and close on it in a couple of weeks. It has a one car garage in the back, facing his property. Between it and where his garage _used_ to be is a spread of asphalt. Half mine, half his. On either side, there is enough room to park three cars. Two side by side up against the fence with one crossways along the alley in front of the garage. This fool has four vehicles. He had to get rid of two others when he lost the garage. An old truck that I’ve seen running twice, both times to move it a few feet. A van that he’s been working on (brakes and something else) for something like four years. A much-vandalized, plastic covered junker, and a more reasonable car that is their every day car. Normally, the Van is parked at a skewed angle, it’s rear bumper about 6-8" across the property line. I don’t sweat this. But every bloody time I go up to the house to work on it or pick things up or whatever, I find this **asshole’s** car parked _slantwise_ across the far back of **my fucking driveway!** in such a way that I cannot even pull my car off the alley! Two times ago, I blocked him in, knowing he and his wife were preparing to leave, and pretended not to hear them knocking on the door and calling for me for about 15 minutes. Just turned on the Shop Vac and did something else. I hope they were late. The last time, I roused him from his house and made him move it. I told him that while I probably wouldn’t mind if he parked there in a more reasonable manner, I didn’t appreciate the obnoxious way he was completely blocking my driveway. I warned him that I would have his car towed if he did it again. Friday I go up to pull things out of the garage and the basement. There I find his junker car parked across the back of the driveway and _they are not home!_ So I’m there hauling shit out of my own garage **around** their piece of shit some-call-it-a-car and hauling things out my back door, around and over their car, to mine, which is blocking the alley. I called the Police. They sent out a cruiser. Cop says he can’t do anything, call Wrecker Services. I call them, they have a truck out within 15 minutes, have the car loaded up and gone in another two. It will cost Larry $200 to get his junker back. If he has the money and if he cares to spend it on that car. Sorry Dude, but **You Asked For It!** ---
**Author:** ![Forbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Forbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forbin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/2 "2003-01-05T04:33:37Z")
Good. Fuck em! ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/3 "2003-01-05T06:39:33Z")
Good for you, **Chimera** , after all, you did _warn_ the assmonkey. Have you heard back from him yet? I’d like to know what his reaction was. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/4 "2003-01-05T07:12:14Z")
It’s probably a good thing you’re moving… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/5 "2003-01-05T07:20:46Z")
Go for it! Death to inconsiderate drivers! ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/6 "2003-01-05T07:57:09Z")
Good on you, **Chimera**. You’ve shown remarkable patience up to this point – yes, you’re in th’ right. Well done, mate! ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/7 "2003-01-05T08:00:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Forbin \* > \*\*Good. > Fuck em! \*\* Hear hear! ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/8 "2003-01-05T08:46:12Z")
I hope you will give us a follow-up on this. I am all curiosity about how the neighbor reacts. ---
**Author:** ![Demise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@Demise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demise)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/9 "2003-01-05T17:33:08Z")
Hell, maybe the neighboor wanted the car towed as a convenient way of getting rid of it that cost no effort on his part. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/10 "2003-01-05T17:51:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Hell, maybe the neighboor wanted the car towed as a convenient way of getting rid of it that cost no effort on his part. Well _that_ just sucks the Joy right out of it ! Maybe evil neighbor had just sold this junker for thousands on ebay, and lacks the smarts to realize it’s been towed, not stolen. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/11 "2003-01-05T20:47:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \*\*Chimera \*\*\* > Two times ago, I blocked him in, knowing he and his wife were preparing to leave, and pretended not to hear them knocking on the door and calling for me for about 15 minutes. Just turned on the Shop Vac and did something else. I hope they were late. Just making sure I have this right. You were mad that he was being inconsiderate in blocking in your car so that you couldn’t leave… so you blocked in his car so he couldn’t leave? Oh yeah. Moral highground all the way. ---
**Author:** ![Mushono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@Mushono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mushono)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/12 "2003-01-05T20:50:55Z")
And then after you blocked his car in, he blocked your car in and that was the last straw? Uh huh. He should have called a tow truck on you when you were blocking his car. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/13 "2003-01-05T20:53:06Z")
The OP blocked the neighbor’s car in once. The neighbor makes a HABIT of blocking the OP’s car in. Do I have this correct? I believe the OP was fully justified. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/14 "2003-01-05T20:58:54Z")
Did I read wrong of didn’t the neighbor blocked the OP’s car while it was parke in THE OP’S PARKING SPACE? If someone takes my space I would block them and take taxis for a week (actually when it happened to me I left a note on the perp’s windshield). I see no wrong in the OP’s reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Nightime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nightime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightime)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/15 "2003-01-05T21:11:22Z")
White Lightning: > [@](#): > > You were mad that he was being inconsiderate in blocking in your car so that you couldn’t leave… so you blocked in his car so he couldn’t leave? I may be reading something wrong, but it seemed to me that the incident of the OP blocking the other car happened in the OP’s own driveway! What should they have done, park a few blocks from their house so that their neighbor can use the OP’s driveway more conveniently? ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/16 "2003-01-05T21:18:05Z")
adding my little two cents in. At work, there’s a shared driveway thing similar to what you describe (each has space available for own use, there’s a part that if **either** parks there, both would be blocked from own property). anyhoo. there was a time when the folks who lived there blocked it regularly. We wrote notes, knocked on the doors, complained to their landlord etc. one time, when we knocked on the door demanding that they move their car, the guy came out and started yelling at us about ‘how dare we wake him up’ etc etc etc. eventually, the police were called, it nearly came to violence. I think you were justified in your actions. but please be very careful if you need to be there again. IME, folks who are consitently assholish about stuff like property rights, rudeness, lack of consideration, rarely stop with that list. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/17 "2003-01-05T21:39:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \*\*Nightime \*\*\* > I may be reading something wrong, but it seemed to me that the incident of the OP blocking the other car happened in the OP’s own driveway! I think you’re right about that. But I don’t see how you can read the following sentence from the OP as anything but spitefully and purposefully engaging in the same behavior he decries in his neighbor: > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **Chimera** _ > Two times ago, I blocked him in, knowing he and his wife were preparing to leave, and pretended not to hear them knocking on the door and calling for me for about 15 minutes. Just turned on the Shop Vac and did something else. I hope they were late. Full disclosure: Every time I read the OP till now, I thought it said just “two times,” not “two times _ago_.” ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/18 "2003-01-05T21:44:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by **White Lightning** \* > …purposefully engaging in the same behavior he decries in his neighbor: No, no, no… it would have been the same if the OP had blocked them in _their_ driveway. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/19 "2003-01-05T22:08:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \*\*Mighty\_Girl \*\*\* > No, no, no… it would have been the same if the OP had blocked them in _their_ driveway. Okay, I see the distinction. I don’t see that it’s vitally important, though. Is the OP’s main complaint that his neighbor is in his driveway? No (“its rear bumper about 6-8” across the property line. I don’t sweat this"). The main complaint is that the neighbor’s car was blocking him in so that he couldn’t leave. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712/20 "2003-01-06T04:09:51Z")
Nope, I was not blocked in, but OUT. I would come home to find his car parked ACROSS my driveway in such a way that I could not even pull out of the alley, nor get into my own garage. Imagine if you frequently came home to find that your neighbor inexplicably parked his car sideways across the bottom of your driveway, even after you had complained multiple times. How many times would you be patient with that behavior? Me, it was more than a half-dozen times _before_ the incident where I blocked his car (which was being loaded, but they were in their house at the time) in the driveway and made them wait. Sure, I was being petty and he would have been gone within five minutes, but why the hell should I have to park elsewhere and wait for him to clear my freaking driveway? I had tried to be nice and allow him to park there temporarily under the condition that he parked in a reasonable manner, ie, **not blocking a 3-car driveway and my garage with his ONE car** , but he was clearly incapable of understanding the concept. Update: I went by the house today, they weren’t home. I could see in the fresh snow that he had moved one of his cars into my drive for a short time, but it wasn’t there when I got there. I’ll be back by there tomorrow, then once again before next saturday when I’ll be there with a truck to finish emptying the place. God Help him if he’s parked back there when I arrive with the truck! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-yes-i-had-your-car-towed/146712.md?page=2)