How Important is a Garage?

tom_nieto

tom_nieto

tom_nieto

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We’re looking at a house move in the not too distant future. It’s becoming increasingly clear that a garage isn’t a guarantee in our area with the style of house that we like. Off street parking is non negotiable and we’d have a decent driveway.

I currently have my 997 convertible tucked away in a garage on a trickle charger. I don’t have any plans to sell the car. I also keep bicycles in the garage (nothing super fancy) and I cycle commute to work. Generic garage junk would likely be stored in a cellar given the house style that we’re after.

I’m trying to figure out if I’m either being way too precious about the car by holding out for a garage, or too cavalier by saying that we don’t need a garage, the car will be just fine.

Positives for garage. Car is dry, clean and under cover. It’s stayed in extremely good condition due to it being stored in a garage. Bike seat is dry in the morning and my road bike barely needs servicing (don’t go for long leisure rides on salty, murky winter roads).

Negatives for garage. Car doesn’t get used as it’s tucked away nicely and it’s an effort to get it out. Partially due to having to move other car off the drive in front of the garage to do so. Car gets squeezed past daily and is probably collecting tiny paint scratches despite the cover.

Overall I think with a decent drive I should get over my phobia of losing the garage and embrace actually using the car. Bike storage can be sorted with garden sheds eventually. Worth getting an outdoor cover to protect the soft top? Value the opinions of people that actually give a monkeys about their cars!
 
I guess it depends on your priorities really. I've got a garage, but it's not big enough to fit our cars in it, though it's particular useful for storing car detailing stuff, tools and other stuff that would take up too much space in the house. Despite not being big enough for vehicles, the benefits of my current garage make me seriously think I wouldn't want to move to a new house without a garage.

We just have to accept that the cars won't stay as clean/dry, so we usually have to clean them more often during the winter. Not a huge deal for us.
 
daft thing is that even though I have a single garage, like my neighbours there is not enough space to actually work safely on the car inside,
is just for storing stuff (additional fridge ...) and the tools, to work on the car in front of the garage, does serve to work on bicycles.
It would need to be a double for actual car work.
 
FWIW, after a quick skim read (my apologies - mid film toilet break :D)
IF you can get a garage/lean to, do it.
Ideally a garage. A heated one, is ideal.
If the Porka, is a toy/weekend use, it'll thank you for it, versus bolts corroding away on street/road levels.
Don't use a cover - unless it is in a heated garage - otherwise they'll just trap moisture/rust away the car you care about :)

At worst, having a garage, mean's that your car's protected from the elements, and is 'safe'. You can do XYZ without worry 'half way' through X job, without it impacting a job, that you're working on weekends etc :)

TLDR, it can only be seen as a beneficially! Just beware of those car covers that are meant for heated/inside garages, you'll end up scratching/rusting your pride and joy!

To be able to get underneath my car, and fix/upgrade it, whatever the 'weather', is worth it when you own something special. Just my two cents :)
 
Diddums said:
If you move in to a house without a garage, you'll want a garage within a year. We've got a small one, far too small for anything large (like a 911) but I store my bikes and tools and stuff in it. There's absolutely zero chance I'll ever have a house without a garage again.
Click to expand...

Just put your stuff in a shed
 
A garage for your cherished car is pretty damn critical. I had my Lotus garaged for years and it was really good condition. Then we moved and although the garage was now twice the size, the Lotus couldn't go in it as the biomass boiler would melt it and there was another crap in the garage. So it was relegated to a metal shed which was ironically bigger than the brick garage before it but it was was more open to the elements and worse still, easy access for mice. The mice chewed through a few coolant pipes, took up residency and god knows what else. I've since taken the car off the road until I can check it thoroughly and am able to store it properly. I'm pretty annoyed that I didn't prioritise storing the Lotus properly and it's now going to cost to put it back to how it once was.

If you really want to preserve your car, get a garage for it, simple. It's only a car at the end of the day so sell it if it's holding you back from a better house, area or pending divorce :D.
 
Rules out most new builds then

Integral/integrated garage or standalone single garages on then all you MAY fit a v small hatchback into them and manage to get out of one side, anything bigger? not a chance
 
Thanks all for the insights.

To add a bit more context - I’m not going to be doing a whole lot of DIY work on the car. I don’t have the time or tools to do things properly.

The house we’ve seen has a large cellar which could keep anything small that needs to be kept in garage-like conditions.

There will be a shed for bits and pieces.

The car is insured to be kept on the road at my current address rather than in the garage. This was a new thing this year for me as I wanted to try to use the car more… it didn’t work and the car didn’t get used more. It was also a bit cheaper compared to my previous insurer.
 
Depends on the size of a garage, most garages in the UK are too tiny to be of any use for its intended purpose, so they're used as storage units... Few OcUK members bought houses with nice garages, depends really...
 
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Mysterae_ said:
A garage for your cherished car is pretty damn critical. I had my Lotus garaged for years and it was really good condition. Then we moved and although the garage was now twice the size, the Lotus couldn't go in it as the biomass boiler would melt it and there was another crap in the garage. So it was relegated to a metal shed which was ironically bigger than the brick garage before it but it was was more open to the elements and worse still, easy access for mice. The mice chewed through a few coolant pipes, took up residency and god knows what else. I've since taken the car off the road until I can check it thoroughly and am able to store it properly. I'm pretty annoyed that I didn't prioritise storing the Lotus properly and it's now going to cost to put it back to how it once was.

If you really want to preserve your car, get a garage for it, simple. It's only a car at the end of the day so sell it if it's holding you back from a better house, area or pending divorce :D.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming if you can afford an expensive car, you can afford a house with a garage though lol, or afford to store it somewhere else

I do miss my previous house, the garage took two large cars, had store space, a laundry and a full bathroom (the garage was 70sqm)
 
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I think only you can answer this question.

The question is how much does the garage mean to you. How big a deal is it compared to the other house purchase/life factors?
 
Have a garage I could fit 3 cars in. Have never put a car in it :). I would be happy with a giant shed.
 
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