Do you ignore your parking sensors?

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Bonecho

Active Member
Joined
May 11, 2015
Messages
296
Car
W205 C200 petrol
A few months ago my mates wife ignored the parking sensors bleeping because she could not see anything and backed her car into a post. Since then I taken note of cars with deformed bumpers and have come to the conclusion that just as many cars with sensors have damaged bumpers than cars without. Today I saw a nice 64 plate E Class with a large post shaped crease in the rear corner.

Of course some of those cars would have been the victim of someone else's misdemeanor but I have no doubt that many would have been self inflicted. So either the senors are not up to the task or they are being ignored. Just wondering if anyone has a tale to tell or an opinion?
 
Last edited:
B&Q car park has metal tubing around the lamposts but at about 1 metre from ground level so don't set off parking sensors.

I know this because of the dent in the back of an old 3 series estate that I once owned.
 
I'm not a big fan of the MB ones and prefer the ones that beep with varying intensity as you become closer. MB ones beep about a foot away which is bit late unless you're driving very slowly.
 
PTS is an aid to parking and as such I always pay attention. If I can't see what set it off I double check even if it means pulling forward/back again. It's very rarely a false alarm.

Also many drivers reverse too quickly for them and/or the sensors to react.
 
My good lady has just got a Passat estate with parking sensors which not only give an audible tone, but a sectional display to show where the risk is. The tone increases in intensity according to distance to the object and the display shows a thicker black bar on the same basis. The stereo even switches off to allow her to concentrate on reversing.

She ignores it all. She has a dent in her bumper.
 
Whilst I rely on the parking sensors on my car, I like to confirm with my eyes what's actually behind me. I can never 100% trust the sensors as I'm always anxious it won't be able to detect something.
 
B&Q car park has metal tubing around the lamposts but at about 1 metre from ground level so don't set off parking sensors.

If your sensors don't pick up an object 1 metre from the ground, they're not doing their job.

I rely on my parking sensors, but I also miss a reversing camera I had in my previous car, so am going to install one soon. Some objects will set off the sensors unnecessary - like, say thick grass, and some won't register - e.g. 15cm kerb or a boulder. A reversing camera removes the uncertainty :thumb:
 
Maybe the sensors give drivers a false sense of security?
 
The issue is people reversing quicker than the sensor can detect.
 
I quiet like the parking sensors on my S320 it also has a reversing camera so I have not got a dent in the rear bumper,a friend of mine has a new C class and he had stone chips on a couple of front sensors and they did not work,he was looking at about £300 to have them replaced,he used touch up paint and they worked fine,the thing I cannot get used to is the supposed parking aid it seems I always turn the wheel to much so have given up on that,I would like to try one of these new Ford cars that you just take your hands of the wheel and let it park itself,will have to find somebody who has one and give it a go.
 
I quiet like the parking sensors on my S320 it also has a reversing camera so I have not got a dent in the rear bumper,a friend of mine has a new C class and he had stone chips on a couple of front sensors and they did not work,he was looking at about £300 to have them replaced,he used touch up paint and they worked fine,the thing I cannot get used to is the supposed parking aid it seems I always turn the wheel to much so have given up on that,I would like to try one of these new Ford cars that you just take your hands of the wheel and let it park itself,will have to find somebody who has one and give it a go.

The passat mentioned above has that also, Mrs won't touch it as she doesn't trust it to park her car (oooh, the irony), and won't let me play with it either :dk:
 
I find the sensors on my CL pretty good. At maximum continuous "beep" and with the visual markers in both red zones, there is around another 6" left.

Agree the B&Q posts shouldn't be a problem and should be detected ...

.... and also that low kerbs are and aren't!

S.
 
Many years ago when we had a 203 the wife decided to ignore the sensors thinking it was just the dustbin she could see at one side. Failed to see the car she reversed into causing it to be written off. Only damage to ours was a scuffed bumper fixed by a smart repairer. Lesson learned though
 
None of my cars have parking sensors , but I have these things called eyes and mirrors , so far I have managed to avoid scraping any of my cars .

My only mishap so far has been grounding the very low front air dam below the front bumper of my SL on a very aggressive speed bump at the entrance of our local railway station car park , despite slowing right down , it was just too high . Fortunately/unfortunately it was already damaged before I got the car so was / still is needing painted anyway .
 
If your sensors don't pick up an object 1 metre from the ground, they're not doing their job.

The tube is not fixed to the ground at all on one side of the lamp post, just wraps around at just over a metre height. How would parking sensors pick this up?
 
Bonecho said:
A few months ago my mates wife ignored the parking sensors bleeping because she could not see anything and backed her car into a post. Since then I taken note of cars with deformed bumpers and have come to the conclusion that just as many cars with sensors have damaged bumpers than cars without. Today I saw a nice 64 plate E Class with a large post shaped crease in the rear corner. Of course some of those cars would have been the victim of someone else's misdemeanor but I have no doubt that many would have been self inflicted. So either the senors are not up to the task or they are being ignored. Just wondering if anyone has a tale to tell or an opinion?

I am extra cautious in the Merc because quite frankly the parking sensors are rubbish. I don't like the fact they are silent until you reach the red dots and there's such a big time delay between reaching that point and the sensors indicating it, I've almost reversed into things a few times.
 
Although the parking sensors in the Mercedes aren't the best, i haven't bumped into anything yet. I do enjoy having front sensors as well which i never had before.

I did once ignore them in the E90 that i had, despite the bmw having an image of the car with colours representing how far away obstacles were. I was reversing out of my driveway in the dark. Then heard the sensors beeping suddenly and i didn't believe i had reached the kerb already. I never saw the Mini parked on the other side of the road. Fortunately no damage.
 
The issue is people reversing quicker than the sensor can detect.

More likely to be the driver unable to react to the sensor beeping at the speed he/she is reversing :D
 
Benzowner said:
More likely to be the driver unable to react to the sensor beeping at the speed he/she is reversing :D

I just let the car roll from a standstill, feathering the brake to maintain control.

The difficulty is when reversing up an incline or onto a dropped kerb. When I have to use the accelerator I'm really cautious!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom