Parking sensors/insurance

Splott

notanewuser wrote: »

If I, a mere female, can manage to park all 3 of our cars, one of which has virtually no back window and another is a 4x4 in spaces a foot bigger than the car without need of parking sensors, then a mondeo driver with sooooooo much experience should be able to!!! Learn how big your car is and you don't have a problem!!!

I already know how big it is - 2" larger than my last car. Still doesn't help when you can't judge where anything is because its hidden from view by a large lump of solid bodywork and the door mirrors are worse than useless for anything other than lane changing.

notanewuser

Splott wrote: »

I already know how big it is - 2" larger than my last car. Still doesn't help when you can't judge where anything is because its hidden from view by a large lump of solid bodywork and the door mirrors are worse than useless for anything other than lane changing.

I'm confused. Are you and the OP the same person?

Splott

phill99 wrote: »

As a truck driver, you reverse on your mirrors. Surely you do the same in a car? And not the internal rear view mirror. So why is the bottom of the rear view mirror an issue?

Have you seen the difference in view between a truck mirror and a car mirror?

Here's a car mirror from a 2012 Honda CRV. You can't even see the rear of your own vehicle let alone any reference point to use for judging.



And here's a truck mirror.



Notice how you can actually see the full rear of the vehicle and therefore can far more easily judge how far away you are from an object behind you.

As I said, car mirrors are a joke barely fit for doing lane changes.

notanewuser

I don't use my wing mirrors much when parking. I'm looking out of the back window. As bumpers don't move position, I know that the bumper extends 4 inches behind the furthest bit of bootlid that I can see. That doesn't change from hour to hour or day to day. It's a constant 4 inches.

I can very easily park to within 2 inches of whatever is behind me without hitting it.

Likewise either of the other cars. My 4x4 is easy to reverse park - the back of the bumper being 5 inches further back than the rear windscreen. The bonnet slopes so that you can't see the end of it. Again, I know that the front bumper stops 6 inches in front of the bit of bonnet I can see. And if parking up to a wall I'll use the headlights to tell me how close I am if its not instantly obvious.

notanewuser

Splott wrote: »

Have you seen the difference in view between a truck mirror and a car mirror?

Here's a car mirror.


And here's a truck mirror.



Notice how you can actually see the full rear of the vehicle and therefore can far more easily judge how far away you are from an object behind you.

As I said, car mirrors are a joke barely fit for doing lane changes.

I hope you don't rely on just your mirrors for lane changing!!!

Car mirrors can be repositioned when parking if you need to check where kerbs etc are. Alternatively, open your door and look down.

Splott

notanewuser wrote: »

I don't use my wing mirrors much when parking. I'm looking out of the back window. As bumpers don't move position, I know that the bumper extends 4 inches behind the furthest bit of bootlid that I can see. That doesn't change from hour to hour or day to day. It's a constant 4 inches.

Very good but how do you judge how close you are to a vehicle behind you whose front end is a lot lower than the bottom of the rear window?

The MK4 Mondeo is seriously crap for vision. It is far worse than the MK3 it replaced and until you've been in one you can't even believe how bad it is.

notanewuser

Splott wrote: »

Very good but how do you judge how close you are to a vehicle behind you whose front end is a lot lower than the bottom of the rear window?

I can tell from the size of the space where I should be in it.

And I take note of what kind of cars are in front/behind me. A Merck has a much longer bonnet than a fiat 500 etc.

Splott

That is nice for you but I guarantee you'll struggle far more than most other cars to put it in a space 6ft longer than the car.

TBH unless you own one or drive one, your opinion is just that, opinion. And a baseless one too.

From AutoExpress:

Poor rear visibility due to steeply raked rear window makes reversing more difficult than average, otherwise the car is very good.

From Autocar:

Bad: Unprogressive brakes, Rear visibility, High price of some models

notanewuser

Splott wrote: »

That is nice for you but I guarantee you'll struggle far more than most other cars to put it in a space 6ft longer than the car.

How do you work that one out?

Splott

Because you'll not be able to judge the gap at the rear and because of how the bonnet is angled you'll think you're closer to the car at the front than you are.