driveway safer then garage?

[ChinaTom]

I know I spent a long time away from these shores, but is it really true that keeping your car on the driveway overnight produces cheaper insurance premiums than if it were in a locked garage? While swapping some insurance between cars recently, I was told it would be cheaper to declare it on the driveway as there are substantial increases for garages due to the risk of scrapes while getting in and out. Really? Obviously, because my costs came down by £35 when I did so.

[M'coli]

FFS! That's probably caused because fuckwits buy cars that are too fat for their garage and then claim for their ham-fistedness on their insurance.

[ChinaTom]

I just thought I'd bat that out to see whether anyone else had the same experience. I have limited confidence in anything with them as the dappy telephonist read back my details as "Rover seven five er... connection sei cid and the diesel is automatic, yeah?". That'll be Rover seventy five Connoiseur SE CDTi Diesel Automatic. She could only find the Connection model. Good job they're cheap.

[RobT]

FFS! That's probably caused because fuckwits buy cars that are too fat for their garage and then claim for their ham-fistedness on their insurance.

 

Absolutely. Seen a woman here pulling out of her garage and steering sharp left before even half the car had cleared the door frame Made me wince hearing the rear quarter panel being mashed up. Was a new Clio so not a big car by any means.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Furthermore, I think you will find that the people who have them scraping incidents are the EXACT type of fuckwit driving a new car on tick and will rush to file a claim (including the astronomical cost of a Ford Kack on a week's credit hire) for a bloody bolt-on wing which can be purchased from a scrapyard.

[Negative Creep]

Possibly pub talk but I have been told being in a garage can make a car easier to steal, as the thief can work unnoticed

[HillmanImp]

Was a new Clio so not a big car by any means.

 

Have you seen the size of the new Clio's? They must be as wide as a Sierra? I am on my phone and am sure someone will check the statement?

 

Not confining it but cars are to big for old garages now?

[scaryoldcortina]

I can confirm that a new clio weighs the same as a sierra... I tested one today and was shocked at the brake test weight!

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

I know I spent a long time away from these shores, but is it really true that keeping your car on the driveway overnight produces cheaper insurance premiums than if it were in a locked garage? While swapping some insurance between cars recently, I was told it would be cheaper to declare it on the driveway as there are substantial increases for garages due to the risk of scrapes while getting in and out. Really? Obviously, because my costs came down by £35 when I did so.

 

 

It does surprise me this; I'm sure my insurance is cheaper because my car is garaged at my place of residence. Maybe I am wrong though, or the situation has changed over time.

[Guest]

Maybe it's just with it being a 75, they assume you're a dozy old giffer.

[boobydoo]

Errr.... I scraped the wheelarch on my Tagora on the garage entrance on Wednesday. Turning too quickly before the car was fully out. I really think I'm turning into an old giffer driver before my time.

 

I used to clock up speeding points all over the place and did get banned....but thats all in the past . Pootle, pootle all the way now.

 

Luckily, the scrape polished out.

[dollywobbler]

I once watched a bloke reverse a beautifully restored Jag XK120 into a wall as he tried to squeeze it into a garage next to another car. Oops.

 

Interesting that most classic insurers seem to state that they insist that cars are garaged, yet mine have never been insured as anything other than driveway as I can't guarantee which one will actually be in the garage. (The £250 shite BX at the moment, while the expensive cars sit outside.)

[RobT]

Was a new Clio so not a big car by any means.

 

Have you seen the size of the new Clio's? They must be as wide as a Sierra? I am on my phone and am sure someone will check the statement?

 

Not confining it but cars are to big for old garages now?

 

Ridiculous isn't it, but she was still a dozy mare for doing it. What gets me with garages is the often inadequate area allowed for sweeping the car around into the correct position. My Montego fits the garage no problem but I have to be bloody specific in the manouvre to get it lined up properly, opposite locking all the way. And when people park opposite your garage making it impossible to get in - boils my piss that does.

[R9UKE]

Was a new Clio so not a big car by any means.

 

Have you seen the size of the new Clio's? They must be as wide as a Sierra? I am on my phone and am sure someone will check the statement?

 

Not confining it but cars are to big for old garages now?

 

My aunty's Vel Satis doesn't fit in the garage of her NEW BUILD house. Too wide!

[HillmanImp]

I did just do a quick look online and it says that the 1984 XR4i was 1725mm compared to the new Clio's 2025mm. The Sierra is 1360mm and the Clio is 1513mm high. Lengthwise the Sierra is 4425mm which top trumps the Clio with only 4223mm (5dr, 4203mm 3 dr).

 

So the Sierra is 20mm longer than a Clio but smaller in every other respect.

 

I am off out on the piss now but it would be quite cool if when i got in someone who is has nowt to do tonight did a thread with:

 

a) comparison of a mk1 Fiesta to a modern one and similar for other cars.

comparison to a mk 1 Fiesta to the new small car in the range i.e. the Ka.

 

If not I might do it in the morning depending on my physical state.

 

I do think, if they had kept the Fiesta small in the first place they would not have had to have gone to the trouble of making the car at all. Same as the Polo. you would not need the Fox.

[M'coli]

^^^ VW fucked up the Lopu* when the introduced the Fox!

 

 

Edit: *I fucked up the Lupo when I'd had beer before tea!

[Formula Autos]

This could be simply because people don't tend to keep possessions on their driveway (the Onslows of this world excepted). Garages tend to be full of extra crap these days, which can fall on/against the car, or making getting a car into your garage a tricky job - all of which increase the risk of a claim.

 

I'm surprised anybody much garages their cars now in any case - you're probably seen as some sort of weirdo if you do. A few years ago I went to look at a new house on a Barratt-esque estate. It was down a little cul-de-sac and four houses basically shared a single lane of block paving to access their (one car) driveways. The house I was looking at also had a garage. As usual for such houses, it was tiny, with rooms juuuuust big enough to use. The kitchen was tiny, and had little space left for appliances. I asked where the washer, dishwasher, etc. that we already had were supposed to go. The salesperson said they would have to go in the garage, and if we were buying the house they would (for a small sum) put water supplies, outlets, grilles for tumble dryers etc. in place. So I looked in the garage. It was barely big enough for a Fiesta, and had you put any appliances at the back you could probably have just about got an original Mini in there. At this point I told them we had two cars, neither of which would fit in the garage. So one could go on the drive, but what about the other? The helpful suggestion that came back was to either sell one car, or why not have a look at one of their more expensive offerings - that has a double garage? "Feck off" was, seemingly, not a response they had expected.

[RobT]

This could be simply because people don't tend to keep possessions on their driveway (the Onslows of this world excepted). Garages tend to be full of extra crap these days, which can fall on/against the car, or making getting a car into your garage a tricky job - all of which increase the risk of a claim.

 

I'm surprised anybody much garages their cars now in any case - you're probably seen as some sort of weirdo if you do.

 

That's why garages get broken into, not to nick a car but to nick bikes, steroes, tools, or whatever other crap people keep in them. It happended to me a couple of months ago and they took bikes and some other stuff that I was temporarily storing in there. Despite all the hassle the scrotes did me a favour actually as I got a tidy sum from the insurance, and it means I now have room for the Monty

 

In the flats where I live it's mostly the old duffers who keep their cars in the garages, one of which has a gold 1982 Datsun Cherry with not a speck of rust on it. Chatted to him the other day and he's a proper gent, similar to old Mr Ingram.

[Lord Sterling]

I also caught the side of one of my Rover off the side of a garage I was driving out of

 

I've always thought Garages were deemed safer by insurance companies, they keep on telling me that if I declare my car is 'garaged' my premium would drop by anything upto 70%, but I cant, I dont even have a drive.

 

I dont care if it is safer on the drive than garage, I kind of envy those who do have garages, if I had a garage my car(s) would definiately be stored in there. Theres nothing more I'd love to do than garage my cars, keep them under cover so I can work/mess about with them somewhere safe and out of the the prying eyes of the world. Thats obviously a bit too much to ask for as there space to put a garage where I live. I did rent 2 garages, one about 10 miles from home and other 30 miles, I gave up the 30 miles from home garage as it was getting a bit too expensive and it was just a bit too far. I dont know what it is, even wherever I take my cars, if there is undercover parking then I take it (i.e multi-stories etc...) probably to compensate for the lack of covered parking at home.

 

Oh well, hey ho

[scooters]

I saw a mint allegro parked next to a new micra the other day. Considering the leggro was seen as a mid sized family car it was dwarfed by the micra.

 

This bloating seems to have been a feature of the last five years or so. Even the 306 seems tiny compared to next doors.new clio.

 

 

I don't buy the 'its safety features' argument given that this is such a recent phenomena. I suspect it is the americanisation of platforms. The breaking point is not far away as our European roads and towns can't take it

 

On our road 20 years ago you could drive two cars abreast with two parked easily. Now it is two parked and one with a squeeze can pass.

[ProgRocker]

^^^ VW fucked up the Lopu* when the introduced the Fox!

 

Agreed - VW should have kept the Lupo in production but dropped the price in accordance with the age of design. Imo, the Lupo still looks fresh.

The Fox is just so woefully dull.

[Father Ted]

This bloating seems to have been a feature of the last five years or so. Even the 306 seems tiny compared to next doors.new clio.

^^^

Agreed - However garages have been getting smaller too:-

Garages of my life:

 

Mum & Dads 1950's asbestos prefab thing - still standing and thanks to regular painting stil in bloody good condition - easily fits cars up to Rover SD1 size in, biggest car I have had in there and worked on was a Citroen BX.

 

My lock up in Hoghton:- 1970's Concrete pre-fab design with up and over door.... juuuuuuuuuust enough room for the BX, certainly not enough to work on the car as well.

 

My 1970's in built Barratt home garage:- Fitted a Mk1 & Mk2 Fiesta OK - no room to actually do any work on same, Mk 3 Fiesta was a bit of a struggle to get out of the car, Rover 216 never made it past the first 4 foot (where thanks to some spectaculaly stupid design it narrows).

Its now my sons bedroom

[Lord Sterling]

My 1970's in built Barratt home garage:- Fitted a Mk1 & Mk2 Fiesta OK - no room to actually do any work on same, Mk 3 Fiesta was a bit of a struggle to get out of the car

 

Years ago when I was a kid, we lived in a similar 70s barratt-style home in Telford, complete with integral garage. Everything from the Renault 14TL to the Mk3 Fiesta fitted in Ok, I remember that most of the cars we had did go in the garage, I even remember even my Dads mk2 Cavalier fitted without much problem, though to the sides it was a bit of a squeeze to get in/out of the car from one side. The Rover Sterling didnt fit (After I "broke" one the rear electric windows)

 

Later on, the garage then became a sort of shed with loads of crap being shoved into it. As an 8 year-old I hated this idea as a garage to me was for cars, I didnt like my mums car living outside when we had a garage, so somehow I tidied up the garage enough for my mums Mk3 Fiesta to fit in, and it did, I was pretty chuffed about that.

[Formula Autos]

There's a reason why modern garages are fairly small: laziness on the part of Architects.

 

There's a reference book out there for them called the Metric Handbook, with standard sizes of everything to do with building work. It originally came out in the early '70s (around the time that the UK went metric - hence the title) and the size for a standard garage (and parking spaces, for that matter) was based around the dimensions of a FIAT 127, with enough space to get in and out of it. For years many Architects have blindly, and unquestioningly, used these dimension unless told otherwise.

 

Given how cars have grown over that time (could you conceivably even fit a 127 into the shell of its desendant, the Grande Punto?), its no surprise that cars struggle to fit in these garages.

 

The Metric Handbook isn't at fault as such - it says it's a garage for a small car (which is now a Mk.II Clio, in the most recent copy I've seen), but the dimensions have been used in any case.

 

So next time you bang your car door into a garage wall, or into the car in the next parking space, you know why.

 

Or you could buy a 127 and act all smug, of course ......

[Father Ted]

As an 8 year-old I hated this idea as a garage to me was for cars, I didnt like my mums car living outside when we had a garage.

As a 28 year old the garage was my refuge, it held my motorbike, my trailer, my work bench, a little B&W telly, a fridge, some beer and some food as well as an old armchair and some magazines.

Then the wife got up the duff again and decided that it would be better with the up and over garage door bricked up and a doorway knocked through from the house, the walls plastered, and all my stuff taking down the tip.

[worldofceri]

Don't know about parking arrangements, as I'm not bourgeois enough to own a garage, but putting your old dear on your insurance lowers the premium by a few shekels in my experience. I saved 30-odd quid last year with my Mum (64, retired) as a named driver.

[Lord Sterling]

There's a reason why modern garages are fairly small: laziness on the part of Architects.....

 

Thats interesting, I rent a garage in a posh part of Sutton Coldfield. The garage is just deep enough to swallow my mk2 Rover Sterling, the garages seem to have been built somwhere around the 40s/50s, though the estate surrounding it might have been built slightly later, the garages may have originally been as part of the building in front of it, though no longer as the block of garages are seperately owned by the council now and have a partition from said building. Its still a bit of squeeze to get in and out of my car but it swallows the whole car and I can stand in front of the car with the garage doors closed, just.

 

On the other hand I rented a garage in Telford sometime back. To fit my Mk1 Sterling in there required the rear bumper removing. The garages were built along with the council estate in the 70s, I was told the size for a standard garage there were based around the dimensions of an Austin A40 as it was thought that if you lived in a new council-owned property in the 70s, (and if you were lucky enough to be able to afford a car) you most likely had an Austin A40 or something similar in size.

[wackywacerwill]

My Cortina is staying in the garage cos if it was out on the street I'm pretty dam sure it would be Hiab'd and on the oval before long. Bike stays in the garage as some scrote keeps nicking the fuel when it's left out and the Tranny sits behind a locked gate because it's the most nicked vehicle EVAR.

[gricer]

Cars have bloated over the past few years as a result of tougher crash protection legislation - especially pedestrian protection, which is why everthing now has a big, bulbous bonnet. This is so people bounce off when they're mown down while crossing the road, texting instead of looking where they're going. Side impact beams are now required, which is why doors are so bulbous. Even though extrenal dimensions are much larger nowadays (a Maxi is about the same size as a current Corsa) the internal dimensions are relatively smaller (the Maxi is much roomier than the Corsa).

 

Lupo was much more expensive to produce than Fox, which is made in Brazil and is essentially an emerging markets car, sent here as a make-do-and-mend replacement when Lupo finished.

[kinkersaab]

 

small garage talk made me think of these...