kxaz145

My 2014 ES350 has parking assist which I thought was a great idea since the "chin" on the lower front would be susceptable to damage from driving over curbs in parking lots. In fact, during the test drive the salesman told me to 'pull up, pull up' until the alarm sounded when I got too close to the curb in the parking lot. Yesterday I pulled into a space with a curb and the alarm never went off. Imagine my thought when we got out and I noticed that the bottom of the chin was over the top of the curb, with clearance about 1/4", yikes!

Can anyone explain this behaviour?

JimB

don1

I've had similar behaviour and I think it may be a factor of how high the object is. Some curbs are too low to reflect the beam of the sensor.

txes

Look at the height of the sensors. That should answer your question.

2GSKaizen

iTrader: (1)

The park assist is really only meant to detect objects near the height of the sensors. It just so happens that certain curbs are high enough to set the sensors off.

jim256

"with clearance about 1/4" "

Maybe it's really, really accurate!

lesz

I'm guessing that, if the sensors are adjusted properly and perfectly, they are set to detect objects that would be at just below the height of the lip on the front bumper. I know that I've had a couple of instances where I've parked with curbs or parking lot bumpers in front of the ES, and there was an alarmingly small level of clearance between the curbs and the lip. I'd like to think that, if those curbs were, say, an inch higher, the parking assist alarm would have sounded, but I'm also guessing that, over time, the sensors might drift out of perfect adjustment, and that is why I don't think it would be wise to count on the sensors in all situations. I'm sure, also, that this is the reason why you get a message on the display screen that tells you "to check your surroundings".

jbm79

Trust me, I found out the hard way that the sensors are not designed to detect curb clearance. The ES's front feels "longer" that the average car, and it is difficult to judge the distance of the front bumper from the curb. If I see that the curb might be too high, I stop at about 1 foot from the curb. This is why I prefer back-parking most of the time. The rear has a higher clearance, and the rear-view cam is very helpful.

rustytank

I second this...

lesz

As I think about it, it would be impossible (without a much higher level of technology) to have the sensors detect the presence of objects at a consistent minimum height because the height at which the sensors are aimed is going to change depending on whether the vehicle is on a level surface or whether it is on a surface with an upward or downward grade. So, for example, an object that is, say, 6 inches tall might be in the field of view of the sensors if the vehicle is on a level grade, but, if the vehicle is on an upward sloping grade, the field of view of the sensors might shoot well over that same object. Again, the advice provided on the screen to "check surroundings" is, I'm sure, worth following.

kxaz145

Thanks for all your replies, maybe I need to do some research on how the sensors actually work. I share jbm79's pain and that is why I was disappointed. I too prefer to back into most parking spaces, including 'pulling through' on lots without curbs.

atoyota

There is some information in the manual, check out pages 271 - 283, regarding the sensor detection display and obstacle distances (p.275-278), but there isn't anything really about obstacle height per se.

It seems that the intuitive parking assist may pick up some curbs at a some distance in front or behind as you approach it, but as you get nearer, the curb is outside of the range of the sensor.

There is this (p.282):
●The following situations may occur during use.
• Depending on the shape of the obstacle and other factors, the detection distance may shorten, or detection may be impossible.
• Obstacles may not be detected if they are too close to the sensor.
• There will be a short delay between obstacle detection and display. Even at slow speeds, there is a possibility that the obstacle will come within the sensor’s detection areas before the display is shown and the warning beep sounds.
• Thin posts or objects lower than the sensor may not be detected for collision when approached, even if they have been detected once
• It might be difficult to hear beeps due to the volume of audio system or air flow
noise of air conditioning system.

MDames2

iTrader: (1)

If the sensors were aimed too low they would sense the road when the car experienced up and down movements. That would be irritating and most people would complain about it. So the sensor has to be a certain height above the ground not to bring the road into play. We knew someone with an SC430 (car is very low to the ground) who added parking sensors to his front bumper. Everytime he got on the freeway the sensors went off intermittently for the entire time. He had to disable them.

jbm79

I can imagine how annoying that may get if the sensor beeps constantly. The sensor is good at doing its intended job that it can even detect a single blade of grass (~18 inches high) that is on my driveway. Of course, my heart jumps out when the beep sounds if I know that it shouldn't.

kxaz145

The manual has this statement concerning the parking assist -

• The area directly under the bumpers is not detected

and a graphic seems to support this, showing an elliptical sphere of operating range that is centered on the sensors and goes a little above and below that line. No help here

JimB

lesz

In order to avoid the system detecting variations in the road surface and setting off the alert, I think that is the reason why the intuitive parking assist is only operational if the vehicle speed is less than about 6 mph. Besides that, if it was operational at higher speeds, it would potentially be setting off the warnings when the vehicle was close to concrete highway dividers, road signs, other objects or even other vehicles within a few feet of the road's driving lanes.