Why does car width trip you up so often? You don’t really think about width until you’re contorting yourself in a Westfield carpark or creeping through a skinny laneway in Fitzroy. Then it matters, a lot. One Auckland reader told me she “loved” her new mid‑size SUV until the first week she tried to get a sleeping toddler out in her apartment’s 2.4 m bays. Door halfway open, pram wedged, neighbour’s car close enough to fog up the windows. The penny dropped: she hadn’t bought a car, she’d bought a daily clearance problem.

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Many modern cars feel roomy on the spec sheet but tight beside apartment pillars.

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Here’s a surprise: many new cars have grown wider over the last couple of decades, but common bay widths here in Australia and New Zealand haven’t grown to match. Most off‑street bays in newer developments still sit around 2.4-2.6 m (per AS/NZS 2890.1 guidance), while popular crossovers often measure 1.84-1.86 m wide, excluding mirrors. That’s parkable, but it leaves less room than most people imagine.

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I’ve spent years helping buyers weigh up specs that actually affect daily life. Width sounds boring. In practice, it decides whether school drop‑off and city parking feel easy or claustrophobic.

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Are you measuring the right “width”?

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The big misconception is thinking “overall width” is just a spec for the brochure. Or believing “bigger is safer, so wider must be better.” What you really live with is not width itself, but clearance. Think of your car as luggage and every lane or bay as the overhead locker: the question isn’t “How big is my bag?” It’s “How much space is left once it’s in?”

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Stop asking “Will it fit?” Start asking “How much room is left per side in my usual bays and lanes?”
Don’t ignore mirrors. Overall width usually excludes mirrors; your real, day‑to‑day width includes them, especially near walls, pillars, and bikes.

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If you’ve ever regretted a purchase, it’s usually because you weighed power, gadgets, and boot size, and only noticed width when you tried to open a door beside a concrete column.

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Better questions to ask:

What’s the per‑side clearance with the car centred in a 2.4 m or 2.5 m bay?
What’s the width including mirrors, and do they auto‑fold?
How much side room do I need to open doors for child seats, booster buckles, or mobility needs?

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What do the numbers mean in real lanes and parking bays?

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Let’s ground this with locally relevant dimensions.

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Parking bays: Many councils and designers use 2.4-2.6 m for standard bays (AS/NZS 2890.1). Accessible bays (AS/NZS 2890.6) require a minimum 2.4 m space plus a 2.4 m shared access area.
Lane widths: Urban lanes commonly run 3.0-3.5 m, with the narrower end used to calm speeds and make space for bikes, parking, or wider footpaths per Austroads and city street guides.
Typical vehicle widths (excluding mirrors): Toyota Corolla around 1.78 m; Camry around 1.84 m; RAV4 around 1.85 m; larger utes and imported full‑size pickups can be around 2.00-2.03 m.

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Quick rule you can do on your phone:

Per‑side clearance = (bay or lane width − vehicle overall width) ÷ 2.

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Examples if you’re perfectly centred:

In a 2.5 m bay:\n
- Corolla (1.78 m): about 36 cm per side.
- RAV4 (1.85 m): about 32 cm per side.
- Big ute/pickup (≈2.03 m): about 24 cm per side.
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In a 3.2 m lane:\n
- Corolla: about 71 cm per side.
- Big ute/pickup: about 59 cm per side.
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Two “didn’t know that” realities:

Mirrors matter. They can add several centimetres each side. Your comfortable 24-32 cm per‑side bay clearance on paper can feel more like 10-20 cm in practice.
Door‑opening comfort needs space. For most adults, 18-24 cm per side is the rough minimum for an easy entry. With child seats or limited mobility, you’ll want much more-which is exactly why accessible layouts add a 2.4 m shared aisle.

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What’s the cost of getting this wrong? More time re‑parking. More door dings. More stress at school pick‑up. And sometimes, a car you quietly avoid taking into town.

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How does the wrong width feel in daily life?

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Picture a Saturday at Bondi Junction. You spot a space between a delivery van and a pillar. You thread your 2.0 m‑wide ute in cleanly, straighten, and stop. On your side you’ve got a hand’s width; your partner’s side has just enough for a sideways shuffle. The surfboards now feel like regrets.

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Flip it. You’re in a 1.78 m‑wide hatch, same spot. You centre it using the lines in your reversing camera, pop the door open generously, swing the pram out without dinging anyone. No apologetic wave to the driver waiting behind. You breathe again.

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Width choices connect to values. Comfort for the kids and grandparents. Pride in not leaving scuffs on someone else’s door. The confidence to say yes to dinner in the city because parking won’t be a drama. Those aren’t “spec sheet” wins-they’re lifestyle wins.

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What’s the smarter way to choose width?

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Here’s a framework to make width decisions obvious: WIDE.

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W Width (overall and with mirrors): Know both numbers. Mirrors that auto‑fold are gold in tight apartments and old garages.
I Inside needs: Shoulder room, three‑across seating, and child‑seat access. Only go wider if the cabin benefit is real for you.
D Daily environment: Typical bay widths at work, home, gym, and your local shopping centre; local street widths; tight laneways you actually drive.
E Entry/egress: Who’s getting in and out? Kids in bulky seats? Tall adults? Mobility users? If you routinely need more swing, plan for it.

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Put it to work with this simple framework:

Target per‑side bay clearance that matches your life:\n
- 30+ cm per side: comfortable for most families.
- 20-30 cm per side: workable but fiddly if neighbours park off‑centre.
- Under 20 cm per side: frequent squeeze; expect re‑parking or door dings.
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Ask sales staff or check the spec sheet for “width including mirrors,” turning circle, and whether mirrors power‑fold.
Test reality: take the car to a known tight carpark and try a typical manoeuvre-child seat buckling, pram exit, grocery load.

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Real clearances look smaller in photos than they feel at the wheel.

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How do you turn this into a no‑regrets purchase?

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\n Map your spaces\n Measure your home garage opening and internal pinch points. Note your common bay sizes (many newer centres signpost 2.4-2.5 m; older stock can be tighter).\n
\n Shortlist by width and mirrors\n Pull the “overall width” and, if available, “width including mirrors” for each candidate. If mirrors aren’t listed, ask to measure or fold them to check effective width.\n
\n Do the clearance math\n Use: per‑side clearance = (bay width − car width) ÷ 2. Run it for your typical 2.4 m and 2.5 m bays. Aim for 30 cm per side if you often wrangle child seats, bulky jackets, or work gear.\n
\n Test the real world\n Take a tape measure and test‑park a demo vehicle in a genuinely tight carpark. Centre the car, open each door fully enough to do what you normally do-lift a toddler, swing a laptop bag, or set up a mobility aid. Try your driveway or apartment garage if possible. Check turning circle and whether you can open doors without kissing the wall.\n
\n Decide your trade‑offs\n Mostly city driving and on‑street parking? Favour narrower bodies, foldable mirrors, and a small turning circle. Compact and mid‑size sedans/hatches (around 1.78-1.85 m) tend to be sweet spots.\n
- Mixed driving with family comfort? A mid‑sizer around 1.82-1.86 m can still leave 30 cm per side in a 2.5 m bay if you centre it well.
- Need towing and load space? Utes and large SUVs can be close to 2.0 m wide. Plan your parking lifestyle: choose workplaces and gyms with 2.6 m bays, park at the end of rows, or accept you’ll sometimes skip tight on‑street spots.
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\n Add practical features\n Prioritise power‑fold mirrors, 360° cameras, front/rear parking sensors, and good steering lock (tight turning circle). These matter far more in the city than 0.5 seconds quicker to 100 km/h. Consider door edge guards and soft‑close detents that help hold doors at partial opens in wind or slopes.\n

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Common objections, answered

“I’ll just get used to it.” You will-by parking farther away, leaving earlier, or avoiding certain destinations. If that’s fine, great. If not, pick a width that fits your places.
“Lanes are wide anyway.” Some are. Many urban lanes aren’t. Narrower lanes are deliberately used in cities to tame speeds and share space with bikes and wider footpaths.
“Wider means safer.” Sometimes for occupants, depending on crash type, but pedestrian safety, visibility, and speed matter too. Don’t conflate bulk with universal safety.

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Your next move

Write down the bay sizes you use most (2.4 m, 2.5 m, or 2.6 m).
Grab the width (and mirror width) of your top two vehicles.
Do the 30‑second clearance calculation. Then go and test‑park.

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If a car gives you the space to breathe-doors open without choreography, lanes feel calm, and you’re not playing Tetris with prams and bags-you’ll enjoy driving it for years.

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Width is just a number; clearance is peace of mind. Choose the latter.

Car Width: The Small Spec That Decides Life