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Fortunately, the HOA CC&R's that everyone in my neighborhood agreed to prevents driveway auto repairs, but allows my face to roam around.
Seems like you live in a kind of a HOA that my in-laws live in lol (tomatoes, tomatoes. I'll never ever forget it...). I wish such places would post some kind of a sign...
...And that reminded me of another recent experience - a colleague of mine was looking for a new house and sent me a link to a nice one in HOA. Out of interest I googled it and one of the first links was to a community board where outraged residents of that HOA was ranting about new HOA regulation that prohibits parking their trucks outside (so in your garage - okay, outside - not okay, doesn't fit in the garage - sell it or park elsewhere, end of story). Needless to say that she quickly excluded that house from her short-list under the scare that if they impose such a restriction today, who for the God's sake would know what kind of restriction they come up tomorrow
And don't get me wrong - I believe HOAs have the best possible intentions in mind when they come up with something like this (peace and comfort for *most* of the residents). It's just hard to draw a line so that everything beyond it is already stupidity...
Interesting responses, including the smart-alecky and sarcastic ones. City-Data wouldn't be City-Data without those now would it
I do actual repairs in the garage. Not a fan of the cold wind freezing my ears off. But if the car's on the driveway and just needs a quick fluid top off, I take care of it right there. Pulling into the garage means I have to back out the other car already in there. Ain't nobody got time for dat.
Seems like you live in a kind of a HOA that my in-laws live in lol (tomatoes, tomatoes. I'll never ever forget it...). I wish such places would post some kind of a sign...
...And that reminded me of another recent experience - a colleague of mine was looking for a new house and sent me a link to a nice one in HOA. Out of interest I googled it and one of the first links was to a community board where outraged residents of that HOA was ranting about new HOA regulation that prohibits parking their trucks outside (so in your garage - okay, outside - not okay, doesn't fit in the garage - sell it or park elsewhere, end of story). Needless to say that she quickly excluded that house from her short-list under the scare that if they impose such a restriction today, who for the God's sake would know what kind of restriction they come up tomorrow
And don't get me wrong - I believe HOAs have the best possible intentions in mind when they come up with something like this (peace and comfort for *most* of the residents). It's just hard to draw a line so that everything beyond it is already stupidity...
I don't want to debate the benefits or drawbacks to an HOA. I enjoy mine, but I live in a professionally-managed community with an HOA that is easy to work with, not overbearing, and clearly communicates what is expected. Plenty of amateur hour HOAs can be a nightmare.
But I do enjoy that there are restrictions on working on cars. Yes, you can perform quick maintenance, but a full tear down and rebuild or sand-blasting something would be a no-go. I prefer that - I don't want to see it or hear it when I walk around or look out the window. And no, my neighborhood isn't cookie-cutter at all.
I think more folks in my neighborhood are now going to be lifting the hood on their cars since our local gas station has now started charging for checking oil and water and refilling washer fluid. Since last week we now have to pump our own gas, too. Sigh! I had really enjoyed getting the gas pumped, now we will just go to the other gas station when ever we feel like it instead of only using the last attendant gas station in town.
Yeah, our neighbors pop the hoods. One of them even has a lift installed in his driveway, but they race at the circle track. We will probably build a garage but I don't know if there will be enough height in it for a lift so we may end up with a lift in the driveway, too. They are really useful.
My HOA doesn't have any restrictions on car repairs but I hardly ever see anyone pop the hoods on their cars in my area. It's a typical middle class neighborhood but I guess people are too busy or uninterested in doing a little wrenching on their own. I feel like I'm in a deserted wild west town when I have my hood open checking stuff or refilling washer fluid.
I drive a Toyota so there's no reason to open the hood!
I just drop it off every 5,000 miles for a $35.00 oil change...... they refill the washer fluid
Not much. Car doesn't burn or leak oil so that's out. Washer fluid every once in a while. Oil changes twice a year or so, although often I just take it to the $tealer as they keep mailing me these coupons which make it only cost $15-20 more than the oil/filter would. Since I'm in and out and do work while I'm waiting in the dealership sipping on free coffee that's made more sense than doing my own oil changes. So not that often. We have one of those busybody HOAs. You're not supposed to work on your car in the street or driveway. If you change a flat or add oil/water, nobody is going to care or notice. I do oil changes in the garage but you could probably get away with that. As long as it it's in the garage, no one cars. Neighbor used to do some work on cars on the side out of his garage and they nailed him for operating a business but as long as it's personal vehicles there's nothing they can do about it. Kind of dumb there but I see the point. I wouldn't want to live next to someone operating a garage with several mechanics working out of it full-time. Someone working on project cars for a few friends on weekends, though, wouldn't bother me at all as long as they're not impact wrenching or something noisy at 2 a.m.
I have a 2 car garage that has one bay filled with my kid's hot rod truck project, and the other with an MGB that was torn apart for restoration. So I do my BMW and Suburban maintenance and modding in the driveway. And when we were first building the kid's project truck and disassembling the parts truck, it took up both bays plus. We'd roll it out of the garage to do things like sandblast the rear frame while the bed was partially disassembled in the garage getting the new wood coated in urethane and reassembled.
Nice truck and car. Always loved the MG's and my last truck was a 1976 GMC short bed. Love what your kid is doing to it so far. Please keep us updated. I am looking for another one to do a frame off restoration on. Found a 65 Chevy Pickup at a local museum that is for sale. It had a frame off restoration and they dropped a 350 Chevy crate engine in engine compartment. I would love that truck as well other than the fact that I want a dropped truck with everything shaved.
(...)
But I do enjoy that there are restrictions on working on cars. Yes, you can perform quick maintenance, but a full tear down and rebuild or sand-blasting something would be a no-go. I prefer that - I don't want to see it or hear it when I walk around or look out the window. And no, my neighborhood isn't cookie-cutter at all.
I totally get the rationale for such a rule - I'd definitely not want to see a torn-down car or smell fumes from improperly tuned idling engine etc.etc.
My concern is basically around the wording - how exactly such HOAs word this rule in their papers.
The problem with ambiguous wording is that for you (or me as an engineer by my major) changing brake pads or rotors / calipers on a car can be a minor 1-hr job that can be done on your driveway on a weekend with a can of beer, bottle jack and couple of wrenches. For your bitchy neighbor that never held anything heavier than a pen in her hands topping up a windshield fluid can be a freaking major repair that can only be done my a SAE certified mechanic in confines of a licensed repair shop. Unless a restriction / rule is very detailed and clearly specifies what is okay and what is a no-go I'd stick to a belief that in any conflict it will play against you...
And, totally off the topic, I am only 30 lol, but I do not believe in common sense in people. Your nice smiling neighbor today can become a total d*ck tomorrow that will look for every single excuse to make your life miserable Been there...
I totally get the rationale for such a rule - I'd definitely not want to see a torn-down car or smell fumes from improperly tuned idling engine etc.etc.
My concern is basically around the wording - how exactly such HOAs word this rule in their papers.
The problem with ambiguous wording is that for you (or me as an engineer by my major) changing brake pads or rotors / calipers on a car can be a minor 1-hr job that can be done on your driveway on a weekend with a can of beer, bottle jack and couple of wrenches. For your bitchy neighbor that never held anything heavier than a pen in her hands topping up a windshield fluid can be a freaking major repair that can only be done my a SAE certified mechanic in confines of a licensed repair shop. Unless a restriction / rule is very detailed and clearly specifies what is okay and what is a no-go I'd stick to a belief that in any conflict it will play against you...
And, totally off the topic, I am only 30 lol, but I do not believe in common sense in people. Your nice smiling neighbor today can become a total d*ck tomorrow that will look for every single excuse to make your life miserable Been there...
Neighbors can't enforce the HOA CC&Rs in my community. They can complain to the board and the management company, but the it's the management company that is responsible for everything. I wouldn't ever live in an HOA community that wasn't professionally managed by companies that make a living doing this and know when a complaint is a legit complaint and when it's an old man shaking his fist at clouds.
Regardless, as you said, someone doing an hour's worth of work on a Saturday afternoon is no big deal. Someone undertaking a major rebuild project is a big deal. Fair or not, having that kind of thing going on looks bad and is a potential drag on property values. I paid a lot of money for a house in a nice area that looks good when I go out and walk around, and I expect there to not be old cars on jacks or auto parts strewn throughout a yard when I look around.
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