Can you park your car in your garage and still get out??

lazy_tiger

If you can't get out after driving in nose first, reverse! The doors will end up in a different position.

Loose some weight. It is noticeable that also since the 70s /80s people have piled on the pounds in line with the amount of time they spend in the car. When I were a lad there used to be a throng of cyclists as the factory gates opened. Now people moan about the cost of fuel as they have to drive 50 miles to commute to work and it costs them too much. Also they can't cook as they don't have the time after the long commute and they have to find time to go to the gym to loose the weight from the ready meals they eat. I think garages were designed for slimmer people.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-416323/Overweight-Britons-fattest-Europe.html

Flog the 4x4 and get a smaller car.

Buy a bike and use it.
Work nearer to home.
Cook your own food.
Exercise as part of your daily life not as an add on "task".

lazy_tiger

A ford focus is 30 cm wider than a Morris Minor and is 45cm wider than a mini.

And on average we're fatter too.almost 11Kg.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/jul/18/thelongandshortofit )
US I know but I bet we're not far behind.

pulliptears

I drive a clio and have a garage full of junk. I can get out, but Im a fairly average size 12 so its not an issue.

There is no chance OH's PT Cruiser could fit in there though! I also keep a TR7 mainly garaged at my Mums house but I do garage it at home occasionally, that is quite tight to get in, but is possible with practice.

lazy_tiger wrote: »

A ford focus is 30 cm wider than a Morris Minor and is 45cm wider than a mini.

And on average we're fatter too.almost 11Kg.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/jul/18/thelongandshortofit )
US I know but I bet we're not far behind.

I used to drive a Mog, and she fit in the garage perfectly with lots of room!

Oh, and for the purposes of the experiment, the house was built in 1972.

shell1000

I work in highways development control and the current dimensions we work to are 2.4m x 5m for a single garage and 5.5m x 5m for a double garage. Driveways have to be 5.5m long infront of a garage to have space for a car to wait and an up and over garage door to open.

These standards haven't changed for a number of years and the average public car parking space is 2.4m x 4.8m but assumes that a car door will open into the next car parking space and therefore the operational space is shared.

It's amazing how many developers try to provide smaller spaces/garages arguing that they work. The reality is that a land rover is 2.2m wide and a ford mondeo is 4.75m long... therefore, the current standards are very tight!

I too fail to understand the need for such huge cars, and why people cram so much junk into garages, thats why we have so many on-street parking pressures!

steveeeee

My house was built in 1985 and if I didn't currently have a garage full of records (from Freecycle) and office equipment (for Freecycle) I could park my 92 Polo in there and just about get out OK, though I do have to park right up against the left wall and it's still a squeeze. My old 2001 Polo was the same but even more of a squeeze. I stuck some sheets of foam rubber to the walls on both sides to avoid scratching the paint!

I'm shopping around for a newer car at the moment and if I restrict my search to those cars that will actually fit in the garage (without ripping out the worktop at the end, that's about 3750mm in length and 1850mm wide) it really limits my options. I doubt a Ford Focus would even fit through the door!

When you actually search for cars by size it's surprising how deceptive looks can be. The Skoda Fabia, for example, is quite a bit bigger than the VW Polo on which it's based. And the BMW Mini is really short, but it's very wide.

NB that 5-door hatchbacks have shorter front doors than the 3-door versions so getting out in tight spaces should be a bit easier.

Rikki

I have a double garage.
I have to fold the wing mirrors in to drive the cars in through the garage door but can comfortably open the car door on each car separately once parked inside.

nobblyned

lazy_tiger wrote: »

If you can't get out after driving in nose first, reverse! The doors will end up in a different position.

hmmm........your garage walls not parallel?

vikingaero

Mrs Vikings Corsa gets in no problem, the Zafira only gets in with one of the door mirrors folded, my BMW 5 series company car is too wide even with the mirrors folded and is probably too long unless I strip all the junk out of the garage. Anyway the Beemer is a company car so who cares about garaging it!:D

Mobeer

nobblyned wrote: »

hmmm........your garage walls not parallel?

Some garages do have pillars in - I used to park in a garage that had sections of thicker wall in part way along, so that if entering forwards this would be next to the drivers door, whereas if reversing this was out of the way when opening the door.

julie2710

I'm surprised by the number of people who can get out - maybe they are the ones with smaller cars???
I have a company Audi A4 and that's no good in the garage - I'm tiny so wouldn't need much space to squeeze out!! I had an A6 as a courtesy car for a day a while back and although it didn't seem any wider than the A4 it seemed ridiculously long and when I parked it in the local shopping centre car park it wouldn't fit in the gap length wise! I even got out to check in case I would drive it in a few extra inches (obviously being femal my spacial awareness is bound to be questionable:D ) but no it was in as far as it would go and still over hanging the back of the space by a goo foot!!
Years ago (well mid 90's) I had a Cavalier and I used to be able to get that into my dads council built garage. I think the garage must have been built 30's/40's. Did have to park it over to the left and did have foam on the wall to stop the door scratching!