Self parking cars - which brand?
Discussion
Put bluntly, my wife isn’t a great parker. Came to driving late and we live in London which means relatively little driving - so some skills that others using their car daily would build quickly just haven’t happened for her.
A new house purchase means the road is narrower and likely to mean a tight parallel park almost every time, we fancy a new car so figure may as well get one that can park itself. Save the wheels
What brands have got the best system? I wanted a Macan but I don’t think Porsche do it. Size wise, smaller than a 5 series, a bit bigger than a Golf, ideally - not a brand snob but would prefer it to be vaguely pokey/nice place to be.
Where should I be looking?
A new house purchase means the road is narrower and likely to mean a tight parallel park almost every time, we fancy a new car so figure may as well get one that can park itself. Save the wheels
What brands have got the best system? I wanted a Macan but I don’t think Porsche do it. Size wise, smaller than a 5 series, a bit bigger than a Golf, ideally - not a brand snob but would prefer it to be vaguely pokey/nice place to be.
Where should I be looking?
CT05 Nose Cone said:
I had it in an E Class Coupe, but every time I tried it the system got confused and left me jutting out at an angle like it was my first day driving.
A friend has an E class estate, tried to show off the self parking and it just kept going backwards and forwards. He then tried to show someone else a few days later and did the same so he’s given up trying that 
By and large self parking is crap, it is slow and can be hit and miss, it is one of those things that you have as it is already in the car, you show it to your mates and then never use it again.
Also generally they guide using the cars you are parking next to or with, if they are parked badly your car will park badly, if their wheels are on a kerb yours will be too.
Also generally they guide using the cars you are parking next to or with, if they are parked badly your car will park badly, if their wheels are on a kerb yours will be too.
te on most cars 
Well yes. That’s the ideal, but the issue has always been that we just don’t drive enough for anything to truly stick for a new driver. She passed her test at around 36 years old, then had two years of lock down. And since then basically the only driving we ever do is to my son’s nursery if the weather is awful.
I’ve said many times you need to find a reason to drive but it also is a vast waste of time in London given even 1 mile can take ten minutes. So I’ve almost given up on that track hence this.
I’ve said many times you need to find a reason to drive but it also is a vast waste of time in London given even 1 mile can take ten minutes. So I’ve almost given up on that track hence this.
Vasco said:
Quite - just a baby car. Not sure that anybody that can't park should even be driving.
The driving is fine by and large. And obviously she can park to a degree. But the street we are moving to is one car width with parked cars either side, basically will require perfect parallel parks every time. Which she has struggled with historically. Two cars isn’t an option.
okgo said:
Vasco said:
Quite - just a baby car. Not sure that anybody that can't park should even be driving.
The driving is fine by and large. And obviously she can park to a degree. But the street we are moving to is one car width with parked cars either side, basically will require perfect parallel parks every time. Which she has struggled with historically. Two cars isn’t an option.
Telsla 3 or Y would work if you have access to charging. Probably best to determine the size of the car and what you will use it for first. If it's mostly city driving then having a great SuV would be a pain.
okgo said:
The driving is fine by and large. And obviously she can park to a degree. But the street we are moving to is one car width with parked cars either side, basically will require perfect parallel parks every time. Which she has struggled with historically.
Two cars isn’t an option.
You could try a modern BMW. I've got one. You can even record a parking manoeuvre once, and then each time you reach that place, the car offers to perform the manoeuvre, exactly the same. You can get it perform it from inside the car or just get out and use the app. Two cars isn’t an option.
I use it to automatically reverse onto my driveway on a narrow road when I get home.
My CLS self parks very well, and the novelty is always amusing. But as said above, it does take bearings off the cars parked adjacent… not sure if it uses the parking sensors etc to ‘see’ the kerb.
I’d imagine any Merc with it would be fine.
That said, when my daughter learned to drive there was a distinct ‘formula’ which seemed to work reliably. Have a look for some videos on YouTube. We used to go out in the evening and find spaces on quiet roads to practice in.
I’d imagine any Merc with it would be fine.
That said, when my daughter learned to drive there was a distinct ‘formula’ which seemed to work reliably. Have a look for some videos on YouTube. We used to go out in the evening and find spaces on quiet roads to practice in.
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