Has anyone here ever bought a car and discovered it wouldn't fit in your garage/parking space?

Jun 20, 2020,16:31 PM
 

Not that I have done this (yet) but I've been talking to a friend with an Audi A8L who just had a new garage door installed, the sectional kind that rolls down in rails behind the door frame. 

The new door uses 4-5 inches of the length of his garage, and now he can't get through the gap at the front to enter his house. He has to go around outside and in the front door. A major inconvenience!

Another friend of mine bought an SUV and discovered his new vehicle was just a hair too tall to get into their garage, so it has to sit out front which they do not like. 
Raising the door isn't possible nor is lowering the floor.

Maybe I am overthinking it, but I did some measuring of a new car I'm thinking about getting, and it's going to be a colossal pain to get it inside... I'll have to redo shelving, get rid of things (that's the good part) and/or build myself a carport for one of the rest of the fleet.

Here is the potential new vehicle and one of the existing 3 cars that rotate through the slot now. Green dotted lines indicate the safe cubic space for parking. Brown is the maximum allowed by my garage.






At first things were fine - the garage was "huge" but then the stuff came pouring in to fill it.




Kayaks (now outside) bicycles (now in their own shed), tools, christmas ornaments, etc etc.



I added lots of shelves but they are getting in the way now of opening the doors!



Safe, more stuff neatly stowed, but ...




Cazalea

PS I just discovered that Edmunds (a car pricing company & former client of mine) has a iPhone app that uses AR simulation to show if your chosen vehicle fits! More details later on this.


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I can swear my house is getting smaller too!

 
 By: patrick_y : June 20th, 2020-16:43
I just keep on collecting more stuff and I keep on getting fatter. The house just gets smaller and smaller! Soon I won't fit! The closet is already so full of clothes that all the new clothes sit outside!

My toy garage.

 
 By: Bill : June 20th, 2020-18:09
...  

Not just you...

 
 By: Sleeper : June 20th, 2020-18:49
When I lived in the midwest, every garage space I had was roomy enough for a Chevy Suburban to both park and open the tailgate after the garage door closed - great for inclement weather unloading. In California, not even close - my Lexus 460L barely fits ... 

Serious first-world problems...

 
 By: mdg : June 20th, 2020-20:16
...as if there weren't enough of those already on this forum : )

LOL... ;) [nt]

 
 By: amanico : June 20th, 2020-23:28

Hmmm nasty question

 
 By: Jurry : June 21st, 2020-04:17
Nasty question because I must admit that we once did that but the other way around. We were building a house with double garage and big enough to host 2 card plus all kinds of other stuff. We couldn’t make the garage wider but instead we made it deeper. O... 

Not an uncommon problem, sadly

 
 By: cazalea : June 21st, 2020-06:10
I encountered the same thing house-hunting recently. Huge garage but the contractor put in spiral stairs, a/c unit and other obstacles so only 2 cars would fit not 4. And because there was no on-street parking with 100 yards, rotating cars was going to be... 

UPDATE using AR app

 
 By: cazalea : June 21st, 2020-06:05
Here is the Edmunds App output. Currently only working on Apple with Augmented Reality software/hardware. You define a space (length, width and height) by walking and aiming the phone. Then select a car and you get these images and decisions/results Corve...  

Updated In-Garage View

 
 By: cazalea : June 21st, 2020-14:11
...  

Uh… Have you been shopping yet? Are we to assume red, or is it time for a change? We can all look the C8 up on the 'net, but as you are a chronicler, I'm sure I'm not alone in looking

 
 By: halgedahl : June 21st, 2020-06:08
forward to your dealer experience! (And which watch will you wear???) This post is pure YOU, Mike. So happy we have you around. Have a fine and relaxing Sunday. FH

I put down my deposit on the first day

 
 By: cazalea : June 21st, 2020-06:15
Over a year ago but now just wondering if and when — no word from Chevy but a pal got a test drive this week: and another guy brought his new car over to our place: ...  

At the moment it’s like this

 
 By: cazalea : June 21st, 2020-13:56
...  

Wow, I like it! [nt]

 
 By: amanico : June 21st, 2020-14:01

Whoa… (at the risk of sounding like one of my ex-students) "Awesome!"

 
 By: halgedahl : June 21st, 2020-15:45
Now… is this Credor territory? Or? I'm thinking time may actually reverse itself to a degree when you hit the costal highway, so any minute repeater would have to be re-worked. Hmmm… But of course… something with a tach, surely. You've had some practice w... 

Congrats on the car.. so how is the space solving dilemma coming along?

 
 By: nacelle : June 21st, 2020-07:42
Any concrete ideas moving forward?

One solution has appeared

 
 By: cazalea : June 22nd, 2020-06:47
Get a door hinge kit — but then they hit the ceiling not the wall! I read of a guy’s similar concern, and his measurements required 33” swing on the door to exit (he’s 5’11” 195lbs). To make that happen I have to rework my whole garage strategy. Cazalea ...  

It’s a fine car

 
 By: cazalea : June 22nd, 2020-06:48
But scary in today’s road environment.

Why scary? [nt]

 
 By: amanico : June 22nd, 2020-09:33

Oh, how nice it would be to have more S P A C E ! We have two abodes but both are small. Here's some pics of the one with the best parking situation which leaves a lot to be desired.

 
 By: InDebtButOnTime : June 21st, 2020-12:59
Turns out the Macan is a bit wider than the MKIV Supra that left to make room for it. Not a lot, but I certainly can't give up a single smidgeon more. My 27 year old Ninja can also squeeze next to the Mazda in the carport but its almost as tight and then ...  

WHY: My Tiny Lotus is Terrifying to Drive

 
 By: cazalea : June 22nd, 2020-16:42
There are 4 families with F250 Super Duty trucks on our average suburban street. So I chose it for my comparison. Mike OBJECTIVE VIEWPOINT SUBJECTIVE VIEWPOINT ACTION VIDEO ...