Active Park Assist cutting it too close?

[tjtj]

New FFE Titanium, bought it four days ago. I tested out the active park assist at the dealership (right-hand side parking), and of course it was amazing. But now when I've tried it two times since then (left-hand side parking), it's gotten my front corner uncomfortably close to the car in front of me. The front sensing system will beep, even go to a continuous tone. The first time, I had faith and everything turned out okay. The second time, I bailed and parked elsewhere manually.

 

Is this expected behavior? My best guess is that something is wrong with the left side's sensors, so I'll probably take it to a dealership soon.

 

FWIW, none of these cases involved any unusual weather, unusual vehicles to park next to, or any obstructions that I could see. The first two were on flat roads, and the most recent one was on a slight incline, but I don't think that should matter much because I was in reverse.

[jeff_h]

I don't have this on mine, it's on my wife's and she has never used it as she is too afraid of something like the above -- but it has worked fine when we were both in the car and I was driving.

 

How about having an assistant stand outside while you do the left side self-park and see just how close it is when that solid beep sounds?  I back my car into the garage each day and watch the rear view camera as I back up and stop just after the solid beep sounds, and am still almost a foot from hitting anything.  If the behavior of the side sensors is the same as that of the rear bumper sensors, maybe you still have almost a foot of clearance but don't want to risk it.  So having an assistant watch from the outside and confirm the real space available will help confirm whether it seems to be working correctly or not.

[tjtj]

Very good idea, Jeff. I was going to to do this, but the last experience was such a close call that I got ahead of myself, thinking about possible causes and warranty coverage, that I forgot to just have someone stand outside and look. Will report back.

[isaaktnt]

Mine cuts it pretty close too.. solid beeping, but I made it each time and even same solid beeping on the way out.  My problem is 2 out of the four times I tried it the rear tires hit the curb.  Both times the car the the it aligns with before it starts backing up is parked really really close or actually hugging the curb with tire contact.  Has anyone noticed this?  It will be ridiculous if I have to go looked for properly parked cars for my active park assist to work properly.  Wished there was a settings to stay farther away from the curb please.

[Taz]

I found the key is make sure the car is parallel to the curb where you will park AND that you are about a foot away from the cars you pull up next to.

 

This is my second Ford with it (first was the Flex) and I've never had an issue with the system unless I wasn't parallel to my intended parking place. If my nose is slightly further away than the rear, then it normally is more likely to curb it and especially so if I am too close to the cars to begin with.

 

I'll never forget the first day I tried on my Flex in the "wild". It was by La Brea Tar Pits in LA and I had the entire family in the car. Rolled up to a place that looks like it would barely fit, if at all, and let it get to work. The entire family was stunned as it slid in like Flynn. I would consider myself an expert level parallel parker and this definitely would have tested my abilities. When the Flex said it would fit i wasn't 100% certain it would, heck I wasn't even 50% sure. 

[Hybridbear]

Mine cuts it pretty close too.. solid beeping, but I made it each time and even same solid beeping on the way out.  My problem is 2 out of the four times I tried it the rear tires hit the curb.  Both times the car the the it aligns with before it starts backing up is parked really really close or actually hugging the curb with tire contact.  Has anyone noticed this?  It will be ridiculous if I have to go looked for properly parked cars for my active park assist to work properly.  Wished there was a settings to stay farther away from the curb please.

It appears to only look at the car in front of you. If the car in front is narrower than the Fusion or is less than 6-12 inches from the curb the Fusion will hit the curb. I am usually 2-3 feet away from the parked cars when searching for a space. Next time I have the opportunity I can try being closer to the parked cars to see if it will work better when the car in front is narrower and/or hugging the curb.

 

Last Saturday I used the system twice. The first time was parking behind a tiny Geo Metro that was hugging the curb. The Fusion was going to both hit the curb and the Geo so I had to cancel it & park manually. I couldn't believe that it was going to hit the Geo so I stopped it & got out to look and it definitely would have scraped the back corner of the Geo's bumper as I was less than 2 inches away where I stopped and the car still had the steering cranked to bring it even closer to the Geo. The second time was parking behind a Toyota Camry that was about 6 inches away from the curb. That time the system worked perfectly. I was perfectly aligned with the Camry and was about 6 inches away from the curb.

[Markn455]

I have tried it a couple of times. First time it got too close to the curb to suit me. The second time, it failed.. not sure why.  In the areas where I live work and play there is just not all that much parallel parking. Most of the time, I just do it myself, manually. Perhaps I don't trust it. One problem is that idiots coming up behind you who KNOW you are trying to park pull up close enough to not let you backup to park. The key is getting in your spot quick when there is a gap in traffic. The automatic parking I find too slow. Manually I can pop into the spot much quicker and get out of the way of the rude drivers in Atlanta.

[stevedebi]

I have tried it a couple of times. First time it got too close to the curb to suit me. The second time, it failed.. not sure why.  In the areas where I live work and play there is just not all that much parallel parking. Most of the time, I just do it myself, manually. Perhaps I don't trust it. One problem is that idiots coming up behind you who KNOW you are trying to park pull up close enough to not let you backup to park. The key is getting in your spot quick when there is a gap in traffic. The automatic parking I find too slow. Manually I can pop into the spot much quicker and get out of the way of the rude drivers in Atlanta.

It works, but my entire family considers it "scary". I do too, but I still use it.

 

The one thing I find frustrating is that after detecting the space, they make me pull up way further than I do when parking it myself. As a result, people behind me tend to pull up as well, making it hard to park.

 

I've cancelled it a couple of times when I just didn't like how it looked. Also, you have to be careful with pickups and other higher cars - the sensors might not pick up the bumper right.

 

But I'm glad I have the system, because it comes with the additional sensors. I do use those all the time, especially the front ones - it is great to know how close I am to the car in front.

Edited March 30, 2016 at 04:14 PM by stevedebi