I have had old hotrod cars and motorcycles. I have always worked, cleaned, and messed around with them in the driveway and garage with a radio going. I have never had a problem with neighbors complaining. We have lived in two different areas of The Villages. The biggest problem has always been neighbors coming over to watch and talk so you have a hard time getting anything done :) I would not worry.

...

It's still a beautiful place, we have dairy farms across the street.

Thanks

Thanks to everyone, great responses, we have always enjoyed our times there.

The responses have been reassuring.

Thanks,
Fred

If you truly enjoyed living on 6.5 wooded acres with very few neighbors then I'd bet The Villages is not for you. If you want a property here that offers some semblance of privacy from your neighbors, be prepared to spend above $650,000, or more preferably, above $1,000,000 for your new home. Perhaps this is not a problem for you.
Otherwise the rest of the homes here are packed together like sardines with very little privacy. TOTV Realtors say Villagers move 2-1/2 to 3 times within the Villages while they live here. After almost 5 years here, I'm guessing 50% of those moves are for a larger or smaller homes and 50% are because of privacy issues or neighbor problems. No matter where you live here, my guess is your stated preference on driveway activities will be acceptable to some of your neighbors but will be detested by most of them.
You don't mention whether you and you wife like to golf. If you do, and you don't mind playing mostly 9 hole executive courses, then I can recommend this place as Heaven on Earth. If you don't like to golf, then I see no reason to live in The Villages. There are several 55+ communities nearby where you can get better lots and more house for the same money. Also, I'd suggest you get a good local Realtor because I've seen a lot of reasonably priced and really nice homes on 1-1/2 to 2 acres in semi-wooded settings in nearby locations.
Good luck to you with your move to Florida.

Suggest a villa or designer with a fenced in back yard. Dogs can be outside without a leash. That will solve half hour problems.

You own "several" dogs?
You should do a search of previous threads on this forum about the acceptable number of pets in each household in The Villages.
You might be limited to having 2 pets per household.

If you are in a Patio Villa or Courtyard Villa, the cigar smell may gravitate towards your neighbors yards. I personally hate the smell of cigars and it would bother me to smell it if I were sitting on a lanai but I understand that is what you like to do. Polishing cars and listening to music would be difficult in Patio or Courtyard Villa. The driveways are very small and the homes are joined together with a common fence. Unless you can find a corner lot, that may work. You can work with a realtor and let them know what you like to do and hopefully they can steer you towards some homes that may fit your lifestyle. Good Luck and thank you for your service!

I think you are experiencing the...".What is being hidden from me" syndrome which is akin to buyer remorse, but happens before the purchase. I remember thinking, WHAT AM I MISSING? This place cannot be as it appears. What's the hitch? Where's the scam?

Eleven years later, I am still thinking how lucky we were to find this place.

Hope your healthy skepticism is allayed.

(There is a house on our street for sale. I think it is far enough down, we wouldn't get any of your cigar smoke.) ;)

Come on down. You will love the donut shops.

Some of the deed restrictions say you can only have one dog. Some say you can have up to two dogs. You would not be allowed to have "several" dogs.

Not true
 

We moved here with 3 dogs. We were told extra animals were allowed, but when you lost them they could not be replaced if you still had animals. We lost one the year after we moved here and had the max of 2.

What you were told, and what's in writing, are different things. You might have been given permission - an exception. But the rule is - no more than 1 dog (in certain areas of the Villages) and no more than 2 dogs (in certain other parts of the Villages). There's even one deed restriction I saw that specified dogs, and didn't include the option for a bird, cat, or fish. And there was another one that did include those other animals, but only restricted the number of dogs you could have - not how many of the other pets you could have.

As I've said before. These rules are old, and should probably be re-negotiated by the homeowners associations or by specific villages covered by the different restrictions.

I know many people who moved here with multiple pets and were told the same thing. I have lived here for 6 1/2 years and people are still told to bring their pets but as they lose them they need to have a max of 2.

Again - what they are TOLD and what is in WRITING are two different things. If you don't get an exception, and one of your three dogs starts acting out, barking at all hours, jumping the wall (for instance if you put a table up against the wall and they climb the table and hop over into the neighbor's yard) - etc. etc. And the neighbor complains, and the Community folks see that you have three dogs - they would be within their rights to tell you to get rid of that dog and not replace it because you're already over the limit.

All's fair til someone complains.