Parking vehicles like regular cars, SUVs, mid size and full size LD trucks, I'm not very good with backing up into a tight parking spot, nor parallel parking, nor getting around in very tight streets in older parts of town etc.

I remember being a better driver, with much better parking skills. How does this happen?
Sometimes I look at my parking job before heading into the store and just shake my head. Good lord !

What happened ? Could it be things will improve after I get my cataracts replaced ? What gives?

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Could it be things will improve after I get my cataracts replaced ?

Maybe that's the answer.

I grew up & worked in dealerships before/during college & have been in O&G for 15 yrs. Apart from angled or parallel parking [and Costco], I always back in.

Better vision can only help, right?

Cataracts replaced??

I can't even remember when I last parallel-parked a car. In addition to being out of practice for several decades, I couldn't do it with my current car - I can't see any of the corners, nor can I turn my head and shoulders far enough any more to see out the back window, which is a moot point because I can't see out of it anyway.

My wife can't drive straight into a parking space with no other cars in the lot.
For some reason her car radio starts playing the Benny Hill theme when she starts to park.

That's a woman thing, I guess.

It could be worse. We have forum members with family who pull out of the garage without opening the garage door.

I'm not there yet. But I have more time to find out !

I’m convinced that modern vehicles have really suck ass visibility and they are actually harder to park than old cars and trucks which is why they have all these cameras and things on them.

usually pretty good at parking, no matter what type,

however, I struggle backing in a parking spot straight with our year old Transit 250,
no back or sliding door windows, and while the mirrors are good, the back up camera screen is small,

I get in the spot, don't hit anything or any body, but when I get out the vehicle it is at a slight angle,

In the late 1970s I had a car, a 1966 Chrysler Newport, similar to this.



It was nearly 20 feet long, got 10 mpg and was an electrical nightmare that left me walking a number of times, but look at the tall roofline with the huge expanse of glass and the flat hood and deck lid with sharp corners. I could actually see out of it and know exactly where the corners were. It occurred to me that that may be the last time I actually parallel-parked.

Parking is something I do without even thinking about it, like breathing. Spent 20 years driving/instructing tractor/trailers and busses, Europe and the US. I can parallel park those as easy as a car, it just became a natural skill. I used to actually look forward to the challenge when at night in the rain and snow (limited visibility) trying to one shot a dock or back a spread axel trailer into a slot. It's probably the only thing I can say I am really good at.

A) Vision will definitely help.

B) Some cars are annoying. I have a… newer F150 at work - 2022 or 2023. It is incredibly hard to park, with beepers and a camera, compared to the 2013 ram it replaced which had manual windows and manual mirrors.

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In the late 1970s I had a car, a 1966 Chrysler Newport, similar to this.

Mine was a 1968 with a 383, and I changed the rear-end pumpkin to a high speed posi-traction unit. That thing was a tank and you could take the back seat out and haul 8-foot lumber and close the trunk. If it didn't have the X-cross brace, you could haul 4x8 plywood.


With the posi-traction, you never got stuck in snow and I once pulled a truck out of a ditch. The mileage was only 17 to 18 MPG on the highway and 11 MPG around town.

Then someone broke into it and must have put something in the oil because it started to run poorly and when I checked the compression, one cylinder was zero. I didn't have the time to pull the engine so I sold it for $50. This is a bad neighborhood and the police do nothing. I found out later that the previous owner moved because of the neighbors.

I had a '64 LeSabre in mid 70s and parallel parking was a daily thing.

But the windows were large, the beltline was lower and you could see the "edges" of you car, could use reference points on the car for steering cues.

As stated about todays watermelons with portholes on wheels.

I’m pretty good at parallel parking and I’ve had a stranger recently complimented me genuinely. And it’s like riding a bicycle.

The rear view camera makes it a lot easier.

I think it’s connected with the same issue as road rage. I bet the OP has never lost his cool at another driver. The commonality I see is the ability to extend your personal space to the area outside your car. In the same way you navigate your personal space as you walk, extending your personal space around your car gives you a feel.

And when people invade your personal space like cutting you off on the road, it’s the same thing.

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Originally posted by sigmonkey:
I had a '64 LeSabre in mid 70s and parallel parking was a daily thing.

But the windows were large, the beltline was lower and you could see the "edges" of you car, could use reference points on the car for steering cues.

As stated about todays watermelons with portholes on wheels.

Can you still buy curb feelers?

Why is your chauffeur making you park the car,
Are you not paying her enough ?

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Originally posted by Schmelby:

Can you still buy curb feelers?

J.C. Whitney used to sell cheesy car accessories like this. (As well as many quality parts.) Not only did a search for curb feelers only come up with parking assist sensors, J.C. Whitney itself is no longer in the parts business (redirects you to carparts.com).

Posted by lyman:

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however, I struggle backing in a parking spot straight with our year old Transit 250 …

Ugh. Wait until it needs repairs, especially the brakes. But Ford no longer makes the old E-series (aka Econoline) except in a E350 or 450 "cutaway."

It's ok, wimmens are welcome here as well!