Right........
First of all, if the neighbors were like you, me and the OP, then there wouldn't have been a thread in the first place because they would not have treated the washer that way.
But since you can NOT assume that people value things the same as enthusiasts or anal people. Because of this, a statement about how his property should be cared for is in order.
How am I like the neighbors? Because I think too little of people to expect them to respect other peoples property?