Hi

I wanted to benefit from the craftmanship of the EF members.

The problem is that the entry to my garage has a very steep slope, and when i bring the car inside the front side of the car touches the garage floor. This might demage the car in the long term. Since it is a rented house so I can not modify the structure. The house itself is pretty good and there is no other problem, plus the rent is really good.

But practically I can not use the garage, there is plenty of space to park my car outside, but in winter ( also when we leave for holidays etc) it is not practical to leave the car outside.


Has anyone experienced and resolved such problem, I was thinking to use some sort of ramp , but have no idea where to buy it.

Thanks a lot for your ideas

Reverse into the garage and you wont damage the front.

I tried that as well, same result , actually the angle is pretty bad , surely they miscalculated. Also given the fact that my car has low front clearance.

Perhaps only 4x4 could enter but I cAn not buy one

I am seriously thinking to leave the house only due to this problem

Is this garage for multi-family usage or for your house only?

If you're the only one using it can you try to lessen the angle where you enter Top Gear style? Like this:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/432629...g_ot_top_gear/

Well it would help if you stated the make, model, age/year, and whether the suspension has been lowered.

How bad is the scraping, would larger wheels be possible? Would raising the suspension be possible?

Thanks guys I have 2 cars eg Mazda 6 2006 , and a Renault Clio 2011 , the scrapping is not bad,

Last time I took car for service the mechanic told me about the scratches, he said it is not that bad, but obviously I do not feel comfortable doing that to my car every day or on most of the days.

All I need is to lessen the front entry angle, was thinking that may be a removable ramp could be used. I do not necessary need to park the car in every day but only in bad weather or when we are away


Thanks a lot for your replies

a think plywood ramp would do it

I have to say that some of the parking facilities here are absolutely appalling and, in many cases, only suitable for a Smart car or similar. We have an average sized estate car and had to refuse a parking space we applied for in an underground garage when we found the distance between the building pillar and the wall made it impossible for us to make the swing round into the space (either forwards or reversing in).

Plus, the ramp was also a bit dodgy to approach at anything more than an absolute crawl for fear of ripping the bottom off the vehicle.

I think some of these building planners put in "parking facilities" to maximise the financial return. If that means the building tenants are a group of Mini and Smart car drivers, that doesn't matter - at least they can charge for the parking space.

do you know of a place near Basel , I looked at some of the shops selling wood but could not find something appropriate. They all told me that wood will always break after sometime

all depends how its made and of what....

thick plywood with thin cores, screwed and glued together properly with enough supports can easily take more than the load of a car.

the ramp will only be to shallow the angle and held stop or reduce the scrapes.

park car at bottom of the garage entrance to work out the height/length required.

you get get all the bits cut to size/shape at hornbach/bauhaus/jumbo etc.

Putting carpet down would reduce the scratching.

other than that you need to somehow reduce the angle.

If you have space and can go diagonally that might help.

I have a plastic strip on the bottom of my front bumper (comes as standard on the car) and have had the same problem but because of the plastic strip I don't worry about it, just go slowly and grind the ramp on the way in/out.

I had the same problem with my old flat, the driveway was so steep the front bumper would bottom out when you reached the end of the driveway.

The solution is very simple. A couple of planks of wood. As previously mentioned, Top Gear style.



You don't need to have it on both sides, lifting up one side of the car is usually enough.



It's a PITA but you get used to it....

thanks a lot, I will get to work now

My neighbour is using a couple of concrete patio blocks. They seem to do the trick. I think he is using the 100 x 50 cm model. Cost about CHF 5/block at Migros Do It/Coop Brico/Jumbo etc.

If you are scrapping them why worry?

I had exactly that problem with my car. I have a very low sports car and literally split the front splitter whilst parking in my car park. Cost me £600 for a new one.

I got round it at first by drving over 2 rolled up carpets (or camping mats). But then realised I could reverse in with just about enough clearance on the exhausts.

I have also had problems with ferries and car trains but fortunately the staff on both are well versed in dealing with such events. Sleeping policemen are a nightmare though, especially when you have people on your arse.

How high do you have to go with the planks of wood on the right hand side to get around that badly placed wall though?