artie00

I'm kinda on the fence as to whether I want Park Assist. There's an IS350 with the Sport Pkg, Nav, ML reserved for me without Park Assist coming in a few days. I think the backup camera feature will help me in parallel parking on its own. Any input from Park Assist and non-Park Assist owners would be helpful. Thanks.

chubbymike

Dear Artie,
I am in the same boat as you. In fact, I spent this past saturday just to go to the dealer and check out park assist and ML. Well, my opinion is limited since I don't even own one yet, but I think it's one of those things that would be nice to have, but you'll probably be fine without it unless you do a lot of parallel parking in close spaces. But at the same time, why do you want to risk parking your brand new car in spaces like that ? That's the question I'm asking myself as I'm trying to decide whether to get PA or not. I think it's nice to have if I ever get into situations where I have very little room to work with and need extra help, but so far, I haven't had any problem with my existing car. If I feel I'm getting too close to an object, I simply back up the car and do whatever manuvers are necessary. But as for my visit to the dealer, the lady sales rep tried to show me how PA works and for some reason, only the rear sensors were working. we couldn't get the front to beep or activate and we were pushing different buttons on the navi screen. I think it's best that you actually have the dealer show you how it works and then you can make a decision. hope this helps.

artie00

Yeah I also drove a car with Park Assist and he too couldn't get the front sensors to work. So I got to see the PA work only when reversing. Anyone know why the front sensors might not have worked?

INHOCJP

I have PA on my GS and find it to be a great feature.

TripleL

I have Parking Assist and find it to be a great feature.

My opinion is that PA is not a deal breaker one way or the other. For example I had no intention of getting PA, but the car they had, with the exception of PA, was optioned exactly the way I wanted it.. so I grabbed it!

I understand your in the opposite position but I'm hoping my .02 applies.

Good Luck,
TripleL

P.S. there are only PA sensors on the front corners of the car,, so to test the front you would need to be on an angle to something not straight on.

dnszoom

PA is a great feature have on larger vehicles but I would say that it's a 'nice to have' feature for smaller vehicles.

I had PA on my SUV but could not opt for it on my IS350 as it wasn't offered in the Sports Package up here in Canada. The one time that PA prevents you from touching/hitting something that you weren't quite aware of/didn't see makes the option very valuable.

terp05

iTrader: (1)

For me, PA- just like the nav system...is something you don't need- but once you have it, you become used to it and then dependent on it- so when you get in a car without it you feel less confident about your parking skills. That may be just me though.

S2000toIS350

I find PA very useful.

I never would have ordered it but it came on my lux package.

Today I am in Binghamton NY taking the kids on some college tours.

My wife could not come of the trip and I left her the IS (we are going to Manhattan and I don't trust the valet parkers).

Yesterday my wife took the IS for a spin and when she came back, access to our garage was limited by folks parking on the other side of the alley.

My wife commented that the PA kept her informaed of the objects inside and near our garage.

Either way you go, you will have a blast with the car.

upbull340

If you do a lot of parallel parking then it has its merits. For me I haven't had to parallel park for 10 years since moving to NE. My special order / lease will not have it. Is it cool? Yes. Is it worth the money. Yes. Do you need it? Only you can answer that question. I moved from SF and if I was still there I'd have it.

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

PA helps significantly. It helps me manuever in tight spaces and helps with parallel parking. Definately a must in city parking and overstuffed garages. If you finance a car for 5 years, it's only about $10 a month extra. If you can afford that, then get it!

Langdell

I have the same concern about both. With many things like that, I try to tell myself I have lived with it all my life, no use getting dependent on it now. It's like when I finally broke down and got a cell phone--as I feared, I now can't stand to leave home without it.

Anyway, regardless, I decided to go ahead and spring for the nav system--in large part to get the Bluetooth function (see above re my cell phone!)--and my car came with PA. Like others have mentioned, PA was not a dealbreaker for me one way or the other. But it was coming on the car that had everything else I wanted.

I have only had my car since Saturday and haven't really had the chance to use PA, so I can't yet comment on how well it works. But I will probably enjoy having it as one more way to help keep my baby pristine. I will confess I'm not the world's best parker. And the parking spaces around here seem to get tighter all the time! And it doesn't help when people insist on squeezing Suburbans and the like into spaces labeled "compact car only."

NINEZeRO

I think the PA is definitely worth it. When I first moved into my current apartment I was driving a G35. In the 18 months that I had the car I never even scratched it on my own. But when I moved into my apt where they assigned me a very bad parking spot, I scratched the car couple times in the first few days. When I changed my car to 2IS w/ PA, I thought It would be difficult since now I had to park a longer car which I hadn't gotten used to parking yet. But the parking sensors really helped me and I had no problem getting used to parking a sedan. So I defnitely think they are worth it, especially when you are parking in a bad spot.

Flatline

I have a Gen I IS300 and I recently added park assist to it. I absolutely love it. I can squeeze into parallel parking spots, I can back the car into certain spots, and get very close to the wall. It is extremely helpful. I even once left a box behind the car, and when I put the car in reverse, it started beeping, so I got out to check and see what was up. Turns out, I almost ran over my box of goodies. Very helpful, and such a convenience. I'm adding it to my work truck too!

kensteele

How do you guys trust your PA? I don't trust it at all when it comes to another car or wall. Guess I will have to experiment with it more.

Tony1

If your not a very good or "careful" driver then PA is good for
you..For me personally it'd be sort of useful if i was a little
bit tipsy and attmepting to pull into my garage "which is a tight fit"..
Other than that , its useless for me.. Save that money and get the
ML! lol