car/parking dilemma

[Amethyst]

Hells bells...we bought our current (used) house from out-of-state, but walked through it twice first and paid to have it inspected, not just by the general house inspector, but by a roofer and a plumber. And we still got fooled, on various things that only became apparent after we moved in!

For example, the refrigerator doesn't have a freezer. Who buys a fridge with no freezer? There was an upright freezer in the garage, which the inspector said was working, because when plugged in, it started to hum. However, it never got really cold. I raised such a stink about this that the sellers actually bought a cheap chest freezer and left it in the living room. I had to pay someone to move it into the garage and get rid of the dysfunctional one.

It could be worse. A friend bought a villa in our neighborhood in Florida remotely... based on pictures. After closing... on his first visit, he finally realized that what he thought was a 2-car garage was really only a one-car garage. At least we get to yank his chain about it every now and then.

 

[pdxgal]

three steps I'd try before ever considering a different car:

Find the neighbor who owns the SUV and become their new best friend. Talk to them about your concerns (framed as "that one of us might ding the other")

Talk to building managers about another space assignment

Park in guest/other spots and consider the time walking worth the peace of mind

+1. Another option could be to rent a nearby parking spot from a "shared economy" site. There are several where people with unused parking spots rent them to others.

 

[Brat]

Rent controled apartments in nice neighborhoods are golden. The OP can try to tough it out for a while but the solution would be to get another car or find another parking space to rent that fits the car. Personally I would opt for the latter.

He and his SO could split or their housing needs change. This apartment wouldn't be their forever home.

 

[Koolau]

My dad bought a new van for his small business. Upon entering the garage, it scraped on the open door. Cost a small fortune to raise the whole thing an inch and a half. Note to self: Trust but verify! YMMV

 

[Helios]

Research and find a local paintless dent removal shop. Can fix most dents waaaay cheaper than a body shop.
Keep your research handy in case your parking neighbor needs it in the future.

 

[Sunset]

I saw a neighbor knock off their mirror while backing into their 2 car garage. The mirror didn't fold that way.

Myself I have to crawl over the passenger seat to get into my vehicle, as 2 in our garage take up all the space. My Van is wider than my old car by a bit.

When I park in the garage I line up the marker with a spot on the dash and drive in slowly, leaves about 4 inches between the vehicles.
Been doing it for over 5 years !!

 

[latexman]

Myself I have to crawl over the passenger seat to get into my vehicle, as 2 in our garage take up all the space. When I park in the garage I line up the marker with a spot on the dash and drive in slowly, leaves about 4 inches between the vehicles. Been doing it for over 5 years !!

Have you checked out the cars that can park with the driver outside the vehicle? Just curious. I've seen a few being advertised lately.

 

[Aerides]

Have you checked out the cars that can park with the driver outside the vehicle? Just curious. I've seen a few being advertised lately.

Yeah but that only gets you in and out of the spot, doesn't do anything to prevent the ding from the door of the car next to yours which I think is the OPs main concern.

Since the building manager has said no other spots available, perhaps ask to be wait listed for the first one that opens up? But, hopefully, having spoken with your spot-neighbor, you've fended off any potential issues.

 

[Gumby]

Also, maybe pad the concrete pillar in case you scrape it.

 

[latexman]

Yeah but that only gets you in and out of the spot, doesn't do anything to prevent the ding from the door of the car next to yours which I think is the OPs main concern.

Myself I have to crawl over the passenger seat to get into my vehicle, as 2 in our garage take up all the space. Been doing it for over 5 years !!

No, the emphasis was on crawling over the passenger seat FOR OVER 5 YEARS. Not sure when externally parkable cars hit the market, but if I was crawling over a passenger seat every time I drove somewhere, I'd be looking into them seriously. On the surface, it seems to be a valid solution. Luckily, we are not faced with a narrow parking situation.

 

[calmloki]

As a special treat maybe get a Tesla Model X with falcon wing doors and self parking. Here's video of the X unloading passengers. There seems to be plenty of parking space, but the owner...

 

[JoeWras]

As a special treat maybe get a Tesla Model X with falcon wing doors and self parking. Here's video of the X unloading passengers. There seems to be plenty of parking space, but the owner...

Oh sh...! That hurts!

Next video: someone lowers the classic Mustang onto the Mini.

 

[mystang52]

Also, maybe pad the concrete pillar in case you scrape it.

I have a 1-car garage that I park one of our cars during the winter months. I have a small piece of carpet scrap on the wall so I can open the door without scratching. OP: Carpet scrap is good because it takes up little room and does the job well.

 

[Sunset]

Have you checked out the cars that can park with the driver outside the vehicle? Just curious. I've seen a few being advertised lately.

I wanted a van, maybe in 10 years all vehicles will have autoparking included, but for now I'm just careful.

It's possible we will go to 1 vehicle, if DW decides to not get a new car as we rarely drive it anyways.

I did add a bumper strip to the van for about $15 vs dealer $150 version. It's been on 5 years now.

 

[Koolau]

Our first line of defense in the "scratch and dent" dilemma is to purchase older cars that "come" with the scratches and dents already. That way, it doesn't hurt so bad when we add our own parking damage. When we finally sell our cars (or junk them), one more or less ding doesn't change the value. YMMV

 

[Sunset]

I have a 1-car garage that I park one of our cars during the winter months. I have a small piece of carpet scrap on the wall so I can open the door without scratching. OP: Carpet scrap is good because it takes up little room and does the job well.

Excellent idea.

 

[W2R]

I guess I cheated. My house has an oversized 2-3 car detached garage, and I park nothing but my Venza in there so I have lots of space.

 

[meleana]

Where we recently moved we have a house with a small one car garage and a tiny driveway. Meanwhile we have 2 SUV’s. One stays outside in the driveway. It’s right coming and going but we deal with it. We are in the Northeast so we need the SUV’s, though I suppose we could give one up for a small compact car.

But they are both paid for so we deal with it.

If I were you I’d try to swap a parking space with someone else if possible and if that doesn’t work get another car. Last choice is to deal with it.

 

[Retired Expat]

three steps I'd try before ever considering a different car:

Find the neighbor who owns the SUV and become their new best friend. Talk to them about your concerns (framed as "that one of us might ding the other")

Talk to building managers about another space assignment

Park in guest/other spots and consider the time walking worth the peace of mind

Couple others. Wrap column in carpet and late one night move the line marking where the car next to you parks

 

[gooddog]

I faced that same parking problem when I bought a condo in Florida, bought it blind - a friend went and looked at it. Couldn't park a Ram truck in it the spot we got. We wound up buying another condo and made sure that we had good parking. Got a double garage with the new one you could park a semi truck in. Live and learn...I would simply move in your shoes.

 

[ocean view]

Would your SO’s car fit in this spot better?

Or between you and the SUV, one of you backs in so both driver’s doors are adjacent and you both park as close as possible to the passenger side, leaving you both with the widest possible space for driver access.

just my two cents

 

[Morricol61]

I saw a neighbor knock off their mirror while backing into their 2 car garage. The mirror didn't fold that way.

Myself I have to crawl over the passenger seat to get into my vehicle, as 2 in our garage take up all the space. My Van is wider than my old car by a bit.

When I park in the garage I line up the marker with a spot on the dash and drive in slowly, leaves about 4 inches between the vehicles.
Been doing it for over 5 years !!

Our garage is small too, so we reverse one car in and drive the other in. That way both drivers can open up their doors. Passengers are let out of the car before it is parked in garage.

 

[steveark]

Talk about a city problem, I can park my two big SUV's, my boat and my off road ATV in my garage and my other vehicle on the circle drive and still have room for at least four friend's cars to park on the driveway. That's not counting unlimited parking on the street. You can't imagine how absurd this problem sounds to someone in rural America. One more thing to add to my gratitude list.

 

[ivinsfan]

Talk about a city problem, I can park my two big SUV's, my boat and my off road ATV in my garage and my other vehicle on the circle drive and still have room for at least four friend's cars to park on the driveway. That's not counting unlimited parking on the street. You can't imagine how absurd this problem sounds to someone in rural America. One more thing to add to my gratitude list.

You realize if all the people in the city move to your rural America, it wouldn't be rural anymore

 

[DAYDREAMER]

Get rid of the cage and buy a motorcycle!