Many new cars on the market nowadays are available with some kind of parking assist. Parking sensors and a rear parking camera are particularly common examples. But numerous manufacturer also offer what’s commonly known as simply ‘park assist’, which refers to a more advanced driver aid with self parking abilities.
In this guide, we explain what parking assist and similarly-named systems do, how they work and answer other important questions related to cars with automatic parking.
What is parking assist?
Parking assist, which is known by alternative terms like active park assist, refers to an automated parking aid which utilises radar technology, cameras and sensors. It allows the car to do most of the work itself when parking into a spot located either in a car park or at the side of the road.
While early versions of the park assist were meant exclusively to assist with parallel parking, virtually all current systems are capable of handling both parallel and bay park manoeuvres.
How does park assist work?
When you want to parallel park your car or put it in the bay of a car park, the park assist is usually activated by pressing a certain button. The car’s onboard sensors will then begin scanning for suitable parking spaces.
When you stop near a potential parking space, the sensors will scan it and determine whether the space is a reasonable size and the car can be manoeuvred into it. A read-out will confirm to the driver if it finds the nearby parking spot to be suitable.
What will likely also happen is that the car’s park assist will show you its intended reverse path via an onboard multifunctional display. If you are happy to let the park assist move you into the nearby chosen parking spot, you select reverse gear and let go of the steering wheel.
The car will then begin to automatically steer into the parking spot as you reverse towards it. The driver keeps their hand off the steering wheel but retains full control of the clutch, accelerator and brake.
The park assist feature will inform the driver when the car has reversed enough into the parking spot and it is a good time to switch back to first gear. It is certainly important to know this as you could have a car or wall directly behind during a typical bay or parallel parking manoeuvre.
While the park assist is doing a manoeuvre, it can be deactivated at any time by either taking over the steering or braking to a standstill.
What does park assist off mean?
If an issue hits the park assist while it is in use, the message ‘Park Assist Off’ may appear on one of the car’s information displays confirming that the feature has been disable.
Assuming the issue is temporary, the alert message will disappear once the park assist can resume its work.
What cars have park assist?
Park assist has become widely available on family cars, with hatchbacks from the likes of Ford and Kia helping to introduce the aid to mainstream car buyers.
Nowadays the vast majority of family hatchbacks, crossovers and SUVs in the new car market are available with park assist, although it’s rarely a standard feature. If you’re interested in getting a new family or luxury car and want park assist included, then you will likely either have to buy an optional pack that includes it or go for a high-level trim in your chosen car’s range.
