Newbuilds and Garages

StevenMarks

Garages on new builds are ofter too narrow to fit even a small car.

Some property details I've seen have garages nearly nine foot wide where some newer houses have garages just over seven foot wide.

Bella73

To be fair the fact that people don't use their garages for their car is irrelevant. If it states it has a garage then in my opinion you should be able to fit a standard sized car in it and yes even open the doors.

The fact that people merrily say oh well nobody uses their garage lets the builders get away with it.

If it were a product everyone would be shouting about trading standards and the like.

GenD

I'm not sure how you'd define what a 'standard size car' is. Ours is a family estate, many people have small hatchbacks, many others have huge 4x4s or MPVs. If a housing company built garages to fit 'small family hatchbacks', then presumably 4x4 drivers would complain. But if they made all garages to fit huge cars then a lot of possibly valuable space would be wasted.
I'd never thought about this issue before, and had kind of assumed that there WAS a 'standard' garage size that would be big enough for an average car, but now I come to think of it, I have no idea what an average car is!
I would guess that there is no standard minimum size, so it's important to check the size on the details before buying a property, if you need the garage to fit a car in.
I would also suggest that on average cars are getting bigger and houses are getting smaller.
I've never had a garage, but if I did it would almost certainly be used for storage, not the car. My cars have always survived outdoors so I see no need to start pampering them now, and you can never have too much storage space...

lessonlearned

My son is a real petrol head and we had a conversation about this. He tells me that cars are bigger.

He bought a mini and I asked him if he wanted to park it in the garage - my car is too big. He said it won't fit. Apparently even minis will no longer fit into most garages.

We lived in an 80's build at the time.

He reckons that most cars are too wide to fit in a garage, or if they do, you can't open the driver's door to get out.

I don't think this is just a problem with new builds.

We are currently renting and our garage is just a storage facility.

If I buy another house with a garage I will convert it into a proper living space and then have a small shed. Hopefully that way I won't just accumulate and hoard "stuff". :rotfl:

I am determined to live a downsized streamlined life - no more clutter.;)

Dan-Dan

yorkshire_terrier_owner wrote: »

I've just moved to a house with a garage and is currently housing 'stuff'. However, it is big enough to fit my mid size car in (1960's build) ..... But I have agreed one of my close friends can park his motorbike and jet ski in it as he hasn't got a garage....... As he is also my mechanic and I would like to continue getting free MOT's and services, I wasn't about to say no!!!!!

A deal WELL worth doing!

notanewuser

lessonlearned wrote: »

My son is a real petrol head and we had a conversation about this. He tells me that cars are bigger.

He bought a mini and I asked him if he wanted to park it in the garage - my car is too big. He said it won't fit. Apparently even minis will no longer fit into most garages.

We lived in an 80's build at the time.

He reckons that most cars are too wide to fit in a garage, or if they do, you can't open the driver's door to get out.

I don't think this is just a problem with new builds.

We are currently renting and our garage is just a storage facility.

If I buy another house with a garage I will convert it into a proper living space and then have a small shed. Hopefully that way I won't just accumulate and hoard "stuff". :rotfl:

I am determined to live a downsized streamlined life - no more clutter.;)

It's much bigger than the original mini!



So is the Fiat 500.

I do t understand the appeal of houses like the one in the article. The garage takes up half their living space! The house must feel really tiny downstairs.

penthouse89

My parents bought a new build recently, and the first thing my dad did was have the detached single garage torn down, and an attached double garage constructed. A proper double garage, with two single doors rather than one "double" door. He can fit both a Volvo V70 and a Jaguar XJ inside. Previously, in the single, my old Honda Accord was too long to fit.

If I had a garage, I would almost certainly use it to park my car in. It's something I miss greatly.

sirmosh

I think realistically garages are a remnant of the early days of car ownership when many people would leave then safely stored in the garage a lot of the time ready to take out for a nice Sunday drive.

Now they've been relegated to a general out building, replacing the shed for many people.

For a garage to be of any practical use when it comes to storing a car it should be able to fit at least a small family car such as a Golf but many don't, or at least not in a way you can really get out of it.

When I was looking at some new builds a couple of years ago the sales people were pretty upfront about the fact the garages aren't going to be of much use other than for piling your stuff up in. A lot of them weren't even allowed electrics since they were under other people's properties.

Dan-Dan

My garage is basically a GYM

PDC

To be fair we looked at renting an old 1960s garage from our local council, after getting tot he top of the waiting list, drove round to it, and the car wouldn't go in at all. As said modren cars are wider though that was a only mid size hatchback.