To wonder why we allow the sale of so many cars that don't fit a standard space?

[Bussesrus]

We are looking for a new car that will fit all 6 of us plus our dogs. Having looked at many options just about everything with a third row and boot space will hang over into another space by anything from .2 to nearly a meter. Where exactly are you meant to park these SUVs and vans?

At the furthest point of the car park where less people tend to park to cause as little inconvenience to others as possible. That’s what I do and I’ve never had a problem.

The space you're looking for dictates that the car will generally have bigger proportions. If they didn't allow the sale of cars with bigger proportions, where would you source a car that needs your needs?

Surely a car with 3 rows will almost always overhang a space.

This is fine if the car park is huge like a supermarket one but lots aren’t. I just went in to one and had to drive around twice before taking the only space available. I much prefer empty car parks as I have two small children and find it tricky to get them out without banging in to the cars either side (P&C spaces almost never available) but more often than not you have to take what is available.

cars seem to have got a lot longer and wider over the last 20-30 years. Most car parks could do with being redesigned to have much bigger spaces. This would of course reduce the number of spaces available though so I guess that’s why it hasn’t been done.

It is a car not a sardine tin.

The question is surely why are spaces allowed to be so small?

If you want to accommodate 6 people and dogs then you will need a big enough car and such a car will not fit standard space .
Alternatively, you could buy the biggest car that can fit into a standard space and decide who or what gets kicked out of the family.
But agree, cars generally are getting bigger - a mini is now the size of an olde style VW Polo.

Perhaps we need bigger car parking spaces? Half the ones in my local multistorey are now unusable because they were designed for when cars were smaller.

I was recently in a car park (supermarket) and as usual all cars jammed in with little room to get in and out. I passed a very very old VW Beetle. It was TINY! There was masses of space all around it. It was parked next to an ENORMOUS Corsa. 😂😂

Really brought it home to me how huge cars have got.

We should standardise car parking spaces. When our new shop was built they wanted to 'maximise parking', so all the spaces (some of which are almost inaccessible by reason of angles) were made as narrow as was possible to fit in more cars. Which means that there are about three spaces that larger cars/vans etc can fit into, and these run the risk of hitting other cars as they come out of the space.

My car is a fairly standard Skoda, and I still have to make sure I get it centred exactly on the space otherwise the chances are that I won't be able to open my driver's door sufficiently not to have to slither out. I'm lucky that I'm fit and able, but anyone with arthritis would suffer (and we've only got two disabled spaces, so no good them trying to park there!)

Even saloon cars over hang often,dp's car never fits. 3 full rows is a van size not a car so you may have issues fitting in some places plus other places (eg all county owned car parks in my county) ban converted vans eg transporters completely even adapted for disabled use - yes people have moaned but it was due to commercial vehicles and camper vans parking in them. They really should have oversized spaces at least in larger car parks and charge a bit extra perhaps

Yanbu. We used to have an Fpace which was absolutely ridiculously wide and difficult to park. It was one of the reasons we got rid of it ( the other being it was a shit car!)

I now drive a transit and can park it anywhere.

Or smaller cars ? Which would be the environmental better option

I don’t think the cars are a problem. It’s the fault of the people who run car parks that want to cram as many in as possible, rather than making the spaces a few inches bigger to accommodate modern vehicles, which are all larger.

Of course it’s the cars that are the problem! Why do they need to be so big?

I have a “normal” size car but the modern equivalent is both wider and taller.

I park mine in the disabled space.

But then so have a big car because I use a wheelchair so I need both the car and the space.

The normal solution is park miles away from anyone else,

If you have a VW van or something like that on a short wheel base, you can easily fit 6 people and dogs and you'll find the footprint of the vehicle to be similar or marginally bigger than an decent sized estate car or SUV.

I drive an SUV as I have a large family (tall adults, tall teens), dog, loads of shit etc and I don't struggle to park it. Some of the spaces for sure ought to be painted wider, but I can always fit the car in.

It's just a bit maddening. The other solution is we take two cars but then we will be taking up two spaces. We'd obviously park furthest away if we could but most car parks are rammed and that won't help.

I guess you don't have a couple of 6 foot 6 teenagers like I do.

@2k2j It really doesn't. Both dogs are 50kg plus luggage for a say a week in Cornwall and there's no chance we make it into the short wheel base.

For six people?

Cars are also safer now, so crumple zones etc mean they are bigger

I wish everybody else who drove a massive people carrier or 4x4 SUV was as considerate to other car park users as you...

Cars need to be smaller and there should be fines issued for journeys of under 2 miles that aren't powered by human muscles only.

Too many people drive very large cars who don't need to. We need to normalise families with 2 or fewer children primarily using smaller cars or hatchbacks instead of big suvs. I include myself in that - DH got us a big crossover when we had kids and ive said for years when it dies we need a smaller car.

Yes bigger families will still need 3 row cars but there are far fewer big families than there are small families driving huge range rovers they don't need.

You're right OP. We wanted to buy an estate that could be parked in our small front garden and we had an epic hunt to find one that was narrow enough. Ford Mondeos have got a lot wider over the last few years.

Having said that, 6 people and some large dogs are never going to fit into a normal sized car.

No one needs 50 kilo dogs for goodness sake 🤬

That's a myth. A car doesn't have to have a bigger crumple zone to make it safe. Lots of small cars with top safety ratings.

@Bussesrus we had a van for 3 kids and 2 dogs and used to street park or use more modern car parks where the spaces are wider and longer.

Our local supermarket had just redone their carpark with a double line between spaces so all cars are 1 ft apart. It forces people to park centrally in a space.