Garage it or lose it
Most garages store junk rather than cars: survey
Sixty per cent of households in the UK do not use their garage to park their car, according to an NOP Automotive survey for the RAC Foundation.
Almost six million garages, however, are used to store junk while the family’s most valuable moveable asset is left prey to thieves and vandals outside. Many people leave luxury vehicles in the street or driveway and keep a ten-year-old lawnmower and several tins of paint secure -- in spite of the fact that vehicles are least likely to be stolen from garages.
This Sunday, many motorists will spend hours washing and polishing their motors but will do little to protect them. Almost nine million homes in England (42 per cent) and more than half a million in Scotland (25 per cent) have a garage but there are 26 million cars in circulation.
The cumulative cost of items stored by the majority of UK families in garages is around £500 while the average cost of even a used family car is at least ten times that.
Reports of thefts of high value vehicles from affluent suburbs have come from all over the country recently. Exclusive cars valued at nearly half a million pounds disappeared in one weekend in the West of Scotland while a criminal gang in Berkshire stole 38 vehicles worth tens of thousands of pounds from driveways in July.
Car thieves frequently break into homes to steal keys for high value vehicles left sitting outside overnight. The RAC Foundation is urging motorists to lock their car in the garage when they retire to bed and to keep both sets of keys separate and secure as an added deterrent.
The survey revealed that:
- Men are more likely than women to use the garage for parking the car.
Older drivers use the garage for the car more than younger ones – peaking with the over 65’s. - Lower income families, including the retired and unemployed, are most likely to use their garages for the car.
- Motorists in London and the South East followed by the Welsh are the least likely to use their garage for the car, those in the North East, North West and Midlands the most likely.
- Those households with three or more cars are more likely to use the garage for its intended use than those with one vehicle.
Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation said, "Increased security on newer cars means that older vehicles left outside are sometimes taken by opportunist thieves while locking the car away removes both temptation and opportunity. The car is probably the second biggest investment after the home that most UK households make. It makes sense to protect that investment rather than some leftover wallpaper".
Criminals may specifically target high value vehicles and have staged housebreakings to steal the keys for them. If these criminals know that the vehicle is garaged and they will have to also locate those keys -- or risk arousing residents by breaking in, they may be put off. Many top of the range cars are stolen to order and shipped out in containers to the Middle or Far East.
The top ten most likely occupants of garage space were:
- Unwanted, stored or overflow household items
- Garden equipment and furniture
- Tools and DIY stuff
- Freezers
- Large toys, play equipment and rarely used gym equipment
- Bins and rubbish
- Children’s pedal bikes and infrequently used adult bikes
- Ladders
- Hutches and cages (plus occupants) for small pets
- Chemicals considered inadvisable to keep inside the home for safety reasons (weed killer, petrol, paint stripper etc)
The most careful group were bikers, with over 80 per cent of those with access to a garage professing to putting their bikes safely away overnight – even if that meant leaving out the family motor.
According to the RAC, most households would be better advised to buy a shed to keep items that take up the space that should be occupied by their cars – or take unwanted stuff to a charity shop or car boot sale.
RAC Foundation advice
Hooking: never leave your car keys hanging by the front door as criminals are known to use fishing rods to hook them through the letter box. Hide the keys.
Frosting: never leave your car on the driver with the engine running to de-frost the windscreen. Criminals have been known to pounce.
Tracking: consider fitting a tracking device to top of the range cars.
Garaging: if you have a garage, use it.
But... WHY? I still don't understand it.
I grew on other countries and garages are used to store cars, and with a bench to do some small mechanic work.
I've been looking to buy a house and although there are SOME with garages, they are sooo small, that I would struggle to get out of my car once in.
And no space for the bench.
I always said it was ridiculous but was looked at like I was from another planet.
Now I can see I'm not alone.
Still don't understand why people don't use it nor why they are so small.
I too have a problem with garage size - it was fine when we had a punto and a suzuki swift 4 x 4 saloon ( anybody remember those? )
Now the Xsara just fits in but with difficulties in manouvering in & out and the Picasso won't fit because of it's height.
David
PS the Kwackers and Honda fit in nicely though
Ride Drive Ltd said:
How many people tell their insurance companies, when applying for motor insurance, that their car is stored in a garage at night when in rality they always leave it outside? Could get caught out when making a claim. False declaration?
Many insurers these days will have clauses that exclude theft/damage/etc claims made within x hundred metres of the property if the car isn't garaged, assuming that you specified that in the first place.
As others have said, single garages these days are so pathetic that they're only useful for a workbench and storing bikes. I could just about squeeze a car into ours but it would be difficult to get in and out, and impossible to get bikes past.
One of our neighbours has a fantastic garage from what I've seen when it's open - deep enough for two cars (the one at the back is even better protected thanks to another car in the way!) and the front is wide enough for car, hefty workbench, plenty of storage and the other stuff garages accumulate. Sadly houses with that sort of thing seem very rare - all the house makeover programmes you see seem to encourage converting the garage into another room!
Saw that program once, a couple of gay designers restoring houses, what was it? property ladder?
They did one house and were convinced the garage was ok. Until somebody told them to try it.
They couldn't fit one small car in it! It was sticking out about 1/2 meter!
What kind of plonker thinks that's ok?
And sadly it appears that it's those kinds of plonkers that are building or restoring houses nowadays...
uldis said:
You're right, and it pi$$es me off no end, now that I'm in the market for a house.
Saw that program once, a couple of gay designers restoring houses, what was it? property ladder?
They did one house and were convinced the garage was ok. Until somebody told them to try it.
They couldn't fit one small car in it! It was sticking out about 1/2 meter!
What kind of plonker thinks that's ok?
And sadly it appears that it's those kinds of plonkers that are building or restoring houses nowadays...
It was 'The Million Pound Property Experiment', those guys made so many huge mistakes it was hilarious - they just wouldn't listen to anyone else either...
It was a BMW 3 series that wouldn't fit - the two designers were arguing with the estate agent that they'd measured it and it definately would fit. Estate agent then says "I've got a 3-series, lets see if it fits" And, as you say, it didn't get close
Look on their faces was priceless....However turns out we're actually quite fortunuate and I could fit my old Celica in as well as the subsequent TVR, the LCR fits well when required also.
We even have an attic area in the garage, so all the usual junk (bits of carpet, spare wheels, camping gear etc.) goes up there.
Ride Drive Ltd said:
How many people tell their insurance companies, when applying for motor insurance, that their car is stored in a garage at night when in rality they always leave it outside? Could get caught out when making a claim. False declaration?
Yes, absolutely. Unless you live in a dodgy area, I'd advise telling them its on the drive, not garaged, so when you leave it out overnight cos its wet, they don't stuff you by denying a claim. I could not get mine to commit to how many nights a year I could leave it outside - it seemed that garaged means EVERY night you are at your home address.
Fatboy said:
You're right, and it pi$$es me off no end, now that I'm in the market for a house.
Saw that program once, a couple of gay designers restoring houses, what was it? property ladder?
They did one house and were convinced the garage was ok. Until somebody told them to try it.
They couldn't fit one small car in it! It was sticking out about 1/2 meter!
What kind of plonker thinks that's ok?
And sadly it appears that it's those kinds of plonkers that are building or restoring houses nowadays...
It was 'The Million Pound Property Experiment', those guys made so many huge mistakes it was hilarious - they just wouldn't listen to anyone else either...
It was a BMW 3 series that wouldn't fit - the two designers were arguing with the estate agent that they'd measured it and it definately would fit. Estate agent then says "I've got a 3-series, lets see if it fits" And, as you say, it didn't get close
Saw a rerun of this, and the cheeky gits had this edited out.
B
I've got a fairly modern house and have had to carpet the garage walls to get in and out of the motor.
I thought that most insurance co's charge the same for a car in a garage or on a drive, which does seem strange - out of sight out of mind.
Garages are being designed as storage areas by modern house builders anyway. I find it incredible that on a 500k house the garage comes with a manually operated door and therefore no one uses it.
I recently went to view a flat (570k) in Alderly edge where Beckam lived until recetly. The new buid appartments are very very nice but with no garages and only one guaranteed parking space. So when I pointed this out the girl said "Yeah loads of people have walked away cos of that"
I mean FFS this is Alderly. Porsches and Ferraris are 10 a penny
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