This is a selection of brief reader letters published in the Guardian, responding to earlier articles and letters on varied topics. The lead letter, which gives the piece its headline, complains about "carspreading" – the trend of car models growing larger over successive generations – with a reader in Southampton noting he and his wife deliberately kept their smaller 2016 Mini Cooper and VW Polo rather than upgrade.

Other letters correct a crossword answer (noting "interregnum" rather than "regency" is the correct term for a period between reigns), take issue with a claim that Thames Water "serves" 16 million customers, question what "Manchesterism" means for rural areas following Andy Burnham's plan, coin the term "gransplaining" in response to advice on communicating with grandchildren, and share the Yorkshire dialect word "nithered" for feeling cold.