Choosing The Right Size Garage For Your Car

Ensuring you are choosing the right size garage for your car is a fairly obvious statement, but surprisingly it’s an issue that still causes people lots of problems, and it’s a subject we get asked about quite often.

Even though only around 25% of us use our garages to store a car that 25% amounts to an awful lot of people, a lot of cars and a lot of garages!

So today we are going to deal with some of the issues around choosing the right size garage for your car and hopefully help you make the right choice.

A historical issue?

The issue of choosing the right size garage for your car goes back a long time, and it stems from the fact that generally cars are getting bigger. A great example of this is the much loved Mini. Take a look at how much bigger the new version is compared to the original! We all know this, which makes it all the more interesting that alongside this, roads and parking spaces are not getting bigger. How many times have you pulled into a parking space and thought to yourself ‘that’s tight’? Getting in the space is one thing, getting out of your car is another.

Cars are getting bigger

Is the issue of choosing the right size garage for your car purely down to cars getting bigger? Or are garages getting smaller? Actually it’s a little bit of both with space seemingly at a premium some house builders are being accused of building garages that are not fit for purpose because they are not large enough to fit an average sized family car.

Again it’s a pretty obvious statement but the size of your car is the determining factor in choosing the right size garage.

How much have cars changed?

We have had a look at how cars have changed in size over the years, for example in 1980 a Ford Sierra measured 4531mm in length and 1727mm in width. Compare that to a modern day Ford Mondeo, (the car that replaced the Sierra) that measures 4871mm in length and 1852mm in width. Add the wing mirrors to that and you’ve got quite a difference!

Take a look at some more examples below

	1980 FordEscort	2018 FordFocus	1980 FordSierra	2018 FordMondeo	1980 Mini	2018 Mini	1980RangeRover	2018RangeRover
Length	3970mm	4378mm	4531mm	4871mm	3054mm	3821mm	4470mm	5000mm
Width	1640mm	1825mm	1727mm	1852mm	1410mm	1727mm	1778mm	1990mm

These figures clearly show how important vehicle size is when considering choosing the right size garage for your car. If you took the standard garage size from 1980 and applied it today you would have 185mm or 7.5” less space to play with for your shiny new Ford Focus over the equivalent Ford Escort!

Garage sizes

So let’s get to the important part and look at garages sizes and the considerations involved. Historically the standard size for a single garage was essentially 16’x8’ (4.88m x 2.44m) with a door clearance of 7’ (2.13m). Consider this then against the dimensions of a new Ford Mondeo 15’10 x 6’1” (4.87m x 1.85m), and then add the wing mirrors. It clearly wouldn’t fit!

But it is important to consider more than just the overall dimensions when choosing the right size garage for your car. Things such as, do you want to store additional items in the garage, do you want to be able to get around the vehicle or are you happy with it tucked up against the walls?

How much space do you need to be able to open your car door to comfortably get in and out?

These are important things to think about when choosing the right size garage for your car.

Not only have modern cars increased in length and width, many are now taller as well. With the rise in popularity of SUV and cross-over vehicles it is now important to consider the overall height when choosing the right size garage for your car. If you have a particularly tall vehicle we can supply a building with high or extra high eaves and a taller door to give you increased clearance.

Recommendations

At Lidget Compton we have been supplying concrete garages for a variety of purposes for over 30 years. We know garages. Therefore we would recommend a minimum of 800mm (2’7”) for driver door clearance and 300mm (1’) passenger door clearance inside the garage. With the average car width these days being around 1800mm (5’11”) this would mean an absolute minimum garage width of 2.9m (9’6”).

Length will be determined really by how much space you require in front or behind your car. But with even the smallest modern car we would recommend no shorter than 4.95m (16’3”).

The smallest standard sized garage that we manufacture is 14’3” long and 8’6” wide with a 7’ wide main door.

I’m still not sure!

Luckily when choosing the right size garage for your car help is on hand. At Lidget Compton our staff have a wealth of knowledge to help you with all aspects of your garage purchase. We also have a network of over 130 garage specialists around the UK. Most of whom have show models on display for you to view. Some even have display buildings you can drive into to check how your car will fit. If you would like to find out where your closest approved Lidget Compton garage specialist is why not use our handy Agent Finder below.

Lidget Compton manufacture and supply the widest range of concrete garages in the UK. No matter how big or small your car we have a garage solution to fit your needs. So make sure that when you are choosing the right size garage for your car that you speak to the experts first! You can find out more about our extensive range of sectional concrete garages and garden buildings on our website.

*please note all dimensions are approximate and maybe rounded up or down to the nearest whole figure.