Test drove a new MKT

[Barry Wolk]

Nice vehicle. Was with a lawyer friend that works for Ford. Convinced me to try their automatic parallel parking feature. Worked great until it backed into the car behind us. D'oh!

Ford better rethink this one.

[Shelly Harris]

My wife's Lexus 600 LH has that feature --- it's terribly slow, but it works. Great option for wimpy drivers who can't parallel park on city streets.

[Barry Wolk]

THIS WAS NOT SLOW. BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:confused:

[Shawn Newcomb]

Interesting that just last nite watching TV my wife saw a commercial and asked me this question. I'll pass it on to you. "Before enabling that feature, are you responsible for knowing there is room or will the car let you know if the space is too short." (I'm thinking the answer lies in Barry's experience)

[Barry Wolk]

Yes. You have to aid it in acquiring inforation. I intentionally picked too small a space the first time and it rejected the attempt. I then found another space in the dealer lot that was more than the 125% of car length required.

You have to spot an opening. As you pull up to it you hit an auto-park button. It instructs you when to pull forward. The vehicle's proximity sensors (used for side clearance warning) detect the front of the rear car and the rear of the front car to gauge the opening. You are then instructed to pull forward until you hear a tone and get a visual warning to stop and put the vehicle in reverse. You are then instructed to take your hands off the wheel and feet off the brake and accelerator pedal. The car takes over and whips the wheel right and then left, and then you're in. I just went a little too far in.:confused:

[Shawn Newcomb]

It did or you did? I understand insurance would say it is your fault, but who made the error?

[Barry Wolk]

I followed instructions to the letter. The Ford Lawyer will attest to that. The car screwed up, I didn't.

BTW, I think he said you lose access to the accelerator during the maneuver.

[Shawn Newcomb]

Interesting. And fortuitous to have a Ford lawyer of all people along. I guess technology builds on itself and who knows what this will lead to, but meantime as long as I can still turn my neck I'll do it the old fashioned way.

[Don Henschel]

A lawyer would say it's Barry's fault. After all he pushed the button;) Back to the drawing board before we have another lawsuit!

[Barry Wolk]

Turns out I received poor instructions from my attorney friend. It's a "parking assist" not an auto-park feature.:o

[CarMan]

My daily driver 2010 Ford Flex w/Ecoboost has park assist as an option.

YouTube- Ford 2010 Flex Active Park Assist