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?

In America 🤣

DH was one of 4 kids and they all fitted in one of these. It was easy without airbags, seat belts or any kind of safety features.

You can't choose to have 4 kids and get 2 massive dogs then complain about the size of the vehicle you need to fit them in. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Look at nissan serena or Honda stepwagon. I used to have a mazda bongo. Massive minibus inside but narrower than a ford fiesta and shorter than a vauxhal astra.

Because that's what people want to buy. The reason that it's hard to find a new saloon car these days isn't because the manufacturers just decided to stop making them. It's because few people were buying them. At the same time sales of big SUVs were going through the roof.

I used to love sitting in the boot when I was young, it was a bugger when seatbelts got fitted. You could fit quite a few people in when you could make use of that space as well

It's no longer safe to walk especially for children because of all the massive cars so people get fatter and fatter . . . requiring bigger and bigger vehicles.

Even better was dad’s car which had a bench seat in the front as it had a column gear change. You could fit three kids in the front there.

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Many car parks are decades old, and were designed in an era where most cars were significantly smaller, length and width. Another factor of course is that where car parking is charged, the more spaces you provide, the more money you take.

Modern cars have lots of safety features, including side air bags incorporated into doors. Cue wider vehicle.

My dad was one of four, so a family of six plus a dog. They went on holiday in a Reliant Regal!

lots of cars are designed with the American market in mind. The tax & safety laws are different (lower) for cars that class as ‘trucks’, so they design big. Then consumers get brainwashed into wanting larger & larger vehicles and we end up here.

When I saw the thread title, I imagined that it was from someone who had been inconvenienced by some huge car overhanging into their space.

Now I'm wondering why the title is "AIBU to wonder why we allow the sale of so many cars that don't fit a standard space?" and not "Thank goodness that there are at least some cars that will seat what are essentially 8 people, although they are a bit long aren't they?".

I'm not going to join in with the criticism of OP's lifestyle choices (at least she didn't make the title "Why are parking spaces so small?", which would have probably led to even more criticism on this point), but as a minimum those choices do have to be reconciled with the laws of physics. Perhaps OP imagines that there is some way to accommodate those 8 occupants plus an engine in a smaller amount of external space, but all I can think of is a Tardis, which even Elon Musk hasn't actually built yet.

Even 38t trucks delivering to Tesco or cement lorries? It's not possible.

Same with dress sizes. I have a jacket from 1972, blouson with a buttoned waist. It's a size 12 and I was a size 12 in 1972 (so considered a bit big). It's tiny. A size 6 or less now. Inflation hasn't just struck cars and costs. And the downside is that people are unaware how much bigger everyone is now, because manufacturers have not advertised the fact a size 12 now would be a size 18 in 1972.

Blocked in by two 4x4 in boundary mill last week, had to ask boundary to call reg out over tannoy. About time supermarkets provided bigger parking spaces, people have much larger cars today.

Exactly this. We ‘traded down’ from a Mazda estate to a Ford Focus to a Hyundai i10 as our children got bigger, because we realised that the vast, vast majority of our journeys were either with 1 / 2 / 3 out of the 4 of us or were over short enough distances that the slightly less spacious car wasn’t overly uncomfortable . We did select a car with good height at the back (surprisingly, many much larger cars have lower headroom).

We agreed that if we needed more space, it was much cheaper to rent a larger car (which we anyway did when travelling abroad) than to buy and run one routinely at least half empty.

In the 10 years since our last trade down to the i10, we have rented a van 4x and a bigger car 2x. It just hasn’t been an issue, especially as smaller cars are typically ingenious in their use of internal space.

A mini and a not so mini.

Car companies can sell whatever they want within safety standards. If you choose to buy a small bus, that's up to you. Huge cars are newer than car parks, so tend to not fit.

I have a seven seater too- recently got a loan of sil’s (a ten year old micra) and ADORED it for parking!! Could park anywhere (not helpful to you now!!!)

I grew up in a family of five, in the early 90s we all - plus luggage and two collie dogs - used to go on holiday in a VW Golf.

We used to all pile in cars as kids. You just sat on each other and no one minded. The dog bounced around completely unrestrained. The same amount of people/dogs all have to be restrained very differently and it means the car needs to be bigger. Restraining the dogs in crates really adds to the space requirement. It just seems odd that uk allows the sale of these vehicles which lots of people now drive while not making any attempt to upgrade the infrastructure to support them. It inevitably leads to conflict and bad feelings. I really don't want to inconvenience anyone else but nor am I willing to sacrifice any family members! DH thinks one big car hanging into another space is better than two cars where we will definitely be taking up two spaces and uses more fuel etc.

Exactly…the world needs to change to accommodate your larger than average family and big dogs.

Me and my wee vw polo, and my small dog can park anywhere thanks