In addition to the other good points, you never have to scrape snow, ice or frost off your car. Even when it is really cold outside our garage stays above freezing, so I guess it helps to warm up the engine faster. http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/449/camh.jpg

 

Where'd you get your full bra? I have the bra on the hood, and I also have a black TCH, but the full bra looks good (and would cover up all the pock/rock marks all over the front)!

 

My old garage was about as forgiving. You figure the old homes had 8' wide garage doors and most cars now are 6' wide without mirrors, well, there isn't a lot of wiggle room.

 

I've already got a tennis ball in the front of the garage so I don't pull up too far and I can't hang any farther back because of the door travel. Though, that does give me a good idea. I could glue or nail some blocks down on the sides of the garage door in just far enough to stop a back tire if it's far enough over to one side to take out a mirror. I'm going to give that a shot.

 

I have the same problem with my garage. I've gotten pretty used to it now, but I still have to pay attention, or one day I'll lose a mirror. I have everyone get out of the car before I drive in because there's no way to get both the driver's side and passanger's side doors open at the same time - after passing through the garage door, I have to cut over to the right a bit so I have enough room to open my door. A big pain, but worth it to protect my car from the elements, and the neighbor's kid's basketball.

 

You'll just have to work on developing your judgement on the approach so you don't take out the mirrors. The tennis ball is a great idea because it gives you something to aim at, and once you are in tells you if your are lined up properly - we have been doing that for many years now and so far no dents in the wallboard or damaged garage doors due to the car not being in far enough.

One of my few complaints about the TCH is the rigid mirrors. I had two Dodge Grand Caravans prior to this and both had hinged mirrors that would collapse when nudged. If Dodge could do this why not Toyota? Hard to understand.

 

A US car marker doing something right that a Japanese maker doesn't? OMGWTFBBQ!

 

Just a little bit of clarification.
Toyota's are made in the US by (hard working) US employees.
The corporate offices, however, are located outside the US.
Caravans are made in Canada (nor sure if they are hard working, or not), and imported to the US.

As to the reason why...just guessing, but wider cars are more prone to having the mirrors hit and given the cost of the mirror, I imagine it's not a cost that the manufacturers want to build into narrower cars. Every option comes at a cost and adds up very quickly. If you want all the nice options...buy a Lexus.

 

Strictly speaking, corporate headquarters are located outside the US. They have a substantial corporate presence here in the US. I know because my father-in-law worked for them for a period after retiring from GM.

I was trying to be sarcastic, but that may not have come through in the text. My family is waist deep in the auto industry and the whole domestic/foreign thing has been passe since the 80's. The notion that <fill in nationality> designs/assembles better cars has been out since the 90's.

 

I hear you.
I just hate the politicians (including the big O) who deride all the non-union auto manufacturers (outside of Michigan) and coddle the UAW.
What they did to Chrysler and their secured bond holders is nothing short of criminal...no wonder Chavez was so friendly to him.