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My house that I am moving in was built in 1950s. It has garage which 12 by 20 feet but I measure the length and the exact measurements are 11.4 inches (internal width) and 20.4 inches (internal length). I haven't measured the gate myself but it's probably 7 or 8 ft.

So I was entering toyota sienna for the first time and I could barely enter it. It was a lot of work. I just had an inch or two on each side and that was too much work. I end up not parking there.

My question, would you park in garage this tight? I do have a drive way which is a lot convenient but garage is nice for those bad weather days! Should I abandon the idea of parking Sienna in it?

I am trying to figure out how to best use the garage space and I want to install 2 ft deep cabinets for storage. That leaves 18 ft for a car. Is that enough for average size sedans?

Has anyone gone through similar situation? I would appreciate an advice. Needless to say there some nice sales already going on cabinets but I am also worrying if it would make my garage not usable for any car?

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  • How small do you think cars were in the 50's? A 1955 Cadillac Eldorado Seville for example was over 18' long and almost 7' wide. It was bigger than a Hummer H3 in every dimension except height. – Comintern Nov 11 '15 at 4:22
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I have a few comments:

  1. That is a pretty enormous car but looking online it seems like you should have about 2.5 feet on either side. That seems like enough. I assume you'll get more comfortable about maneuvering in the garage once you've done it a few times.

  2. If you are concerned about the length, the are a variety of tools that can help you pull in far enough to close the door but no further. My favorite low-tech way is a tennis ball hanging from the ceiling by a string that has been adjusted so that it touches the windshield when you have pulled in just far enough. There are also high-tech gadgets that use radar and lasers.

  3. If you want to park your car in the garage at all you I think should keep the space clear. If you slowly add various tools, boxes, extra stuff you will have a hard time when the forecast calls for snow and you need to spend 3 hours finding somewhere to put all that stuff. In my opinion it's just easier to have it be a car space or not.

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  • Really liked your tennis ball method. I feel like 2 ft deep cabinets will allow for the garage floor to be clean of other stuff but I will loose the 2 ft permanently. – zar Nov 11 '15 at 4:36
  • Did you mean to say at the end "easier to have it be a car space than not" – zar Nov 11 '15 at 20:42
  • @zar: no I meant either it should be dedicated to your car or you should give up and use it for something else. It's tricky when a small garage becomes a storage area while also trying to fit a car in there on occasion. – Hank Nov 11 '15 at 21:02

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