Why are garages so small? Best-selling cars just don’t fit

Drivers may find parking in their garage even more challenging in future, as the size of the average car is growing wider at a rate of 1cm (0.4in) every two years, due in part to the addition of new safety features.

One in six (17 per cent) people who don’t use their garage have a car that is too wide to fit through the garage door and 16 per cent, cannot open their car doors enough to get in and out once parked. One in ten (11 per cent) have cars that are too long to fit their garage, so can’t close the door.

A standard single garage door in the UK is 213cm wide and the UK’s best-selling car this year, the Ford Puma, is 193cm wide (including wing mirrors), leaving just 10cm of clearance each side when parking – the equivalent to the width of a toilet roll. With the average shoulder width for men around 46cm and women around 41cm, this makes it very difficult for people to get in and out of their cars. Other bestselling models such as the Kia Sportage (208cm including mirrors) leave just 2.5cm of clearance each side, and the Tesla Model Y is 213cm from mirror to mirror, so won’t fit in the average British garage.

Space available for drivers of top-selling cars to manoeuvre into the garage

Tesla Model Y - 0cm each side

Kia Sportage - 2.5cm each side

Nissan Qashqai - 2.3cm each side

VW Golf - 2.85cm each side

MG HS - 3.2cm each side

Hyundai Tucson - 3.25cm each side

Nissan Juke - 7.35cm each side

Audi A3 - 8.2cm each side

Volkswagen Polo - 8.3cm each side

Ford Puma -10cm each side

It is no surprise given this research that many garage owners are using them for alternative purposes than parking their car. More than three quarters of drivers (79 per cent) who never or rarely park their car in the garage, use it for storage and 14 per cent have transformed it into a home workshop or studio.

The most popular ways UK drivers have repurposed their garages

Storage - 79 per cent

Workshop or studio - 14 per cent

Gym - Eight per cent

Additional living space - Six per cent

Work from home space - Three per cent

Nicholas Mantel, Head of Churchill Motor Insurance, said: “As the cars we drive get ever bigger, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to squeeze them in to our garages. While a car may physically fit it, for drivers getting in or out of the vehicle it can feel like they need to be a contortionist as there is so little space.

“As a result, many people are forced to park their vehicles on driveways or public roads, leaving them more exposed and making security even more important to reduce the risk of theft or damage.”

The limited space for Brits to manoeuvre into parking spaces is also a trend, with research by Churchill revealing that drivers of the UK’s most popular cars have just 30cm to get in and out of their vehicle when parked next to another in a public carpark. This left one in five (22 per cent) resorting to climbing into their parked car via the boot and more than half (52 per cent) via the passenger door.