smithpa Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 (edited) I've had my C-Max hybrid for a month now, and the active park assist has worked flawlessly... until yesterday. I avoided clipping the front car during active parking assistance last night by asking my passenger to look out the window to tell me if the car was really turning too close to the other vehicle. It was, and I aborted the automation and parallel parked the old fashioned way. Today, I allowed the system to parallel park my car, and while slowly letting the car back up, it turned too quickly and pushed my front fender into the bumper of the car in front of the parking spot. I was moving very slowly at the time, because it looked like the system was misjudging distances... however, the damage was done. There is now a nice indentation on my driver-side front fender. There was nothing unusual about either parking spot, both were plenty large, and the cars and curb were normal. Has anyone else had the system malfunction as to turn too soon and run into other parked cars? I'm not sure how to explain the incident to Ford, unless if continues to malfunction in the same way. Needless to say, I have a front fender to repair due to the cars maneuvering and I'm afraid to let it try to park the car again. Any suggestions on what to do? Edited October 10, 2013 by smithpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurel Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 (edited) The only thing to do is to take it to the dealership. We have park assist with no problems. I did google for any other incidents with park assist and couldn't find anything. I know it seems capable of parking in freakishly small spots. I assume you were parking on a one way street to wind up with damage on the driver's front fender? Sorry for all the trouble this causes you. Edited October 10, 2013 by Laurel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaDadMiami Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 I don't really get to use the feature that often. However, when I do, it has been either perfect (both wheels perfectly parallel to the curb, about two to three inches away), or nearly so (a slight difference between front and back wheel distance from the curb). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 I've never tried using this feature on Maxus, I'm too chicken to try. After reading this I probably never will. cbharvest 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybridbear Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 You may want to take a video of it failing to show the dealer in case they cannot replicate the issue when your car is in their possession. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zalusky Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Threadjack question! For those people who use park assist to get into very tight spots, how is is when you have to get out on your own??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaDadMiami Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Threadjack question! For those people who use park assist to get into very tight spots, how is is when you have to get out on your own???Again, I have probably only used it about a half a dozen times. However, in the times that I have used it, it has been easy. It's close, but I have never worried that I didn't have enough room to get out. Remember, it is not like you have to go back and forth 20 times to get into the parking space. It is just a back in, and then pulling forward a bit to straighten out. So, to pull out, you just go back a bit, turn the wheel and go. You don't need to go back and forth to get out. C-MaxSea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edsel Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Just a thought. Are all your sensors clean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurel Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 (edited) I have looked at incidents of fender benders with park assist and it seems that they are saying if you don't apply enough braking it is feasible to have a fender bender. They are saying that strong brake control is necessary with consistent steady application throughout the maneuver is required.i.e. you are to back EXTREMELY slowly with foot on brake at all times. It implies that if you wind up with fender damage you were going too fast and the computer doesn't have time to process the calculations required. Zalusky we haven't had any trouble getting out of the tight spots--once again it takes patience though. Edited October 11, 2013 by Laurel C-MaxSea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-MaxSea Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 (edited) Great note Laurel. Yes braking is key! Never let your foot off the brake until you are in, and slow is the rule. This is not snail slow, but judicious slow as if you were parking without the assist feature. Keep in mind that the park assist does the acceleration, and you are pacing/tempering it. They may need to de-fang the acceleration in the feature a scosh. In addition, as you are easing in with light smooth braking, always be watching your fender corners just as if you were parking without the assist. You still have to know your corners, and bail (brake and abandon the assist) if you sense a problem. Ours has always worked great. Practice on quiet residential streets. It only works with curbs! Nick If all else fails, park like the Romans! (seriously, though, stay away from super tight spaces) Edited October 12, 2013 by C-MaxSea Laurel 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotomoto Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Hmm. I assume PA uses the electric motor for propulsion since it would be very easy for the computer to modulate. Will PA still work if the HV battery is empty and thus the ICE is running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edsel Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Hmm. I assume PA uses the electric motor for propulsion since it would be very easy for the computer to modulate. Will PA still work if the HV battery is empty and thus the ICE is running? I don't think it's possible to go in reverse under ice power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obob Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 (edited) Threadjack question! For those people who use park assist to get into very tight spots, how is is when you have to get out on your own??? I know someone who knows someone with a Ford Focus with park assist who has had trouble getting out. In my friend's words, "she couldn't get out."(I assume that meant without extraordinary measures) Also, getting into small spots may not be something to always want to do, especially if you do not want a pissed off person banging your bumper to get out. While someone might say, oh that person in front has room to get out, that does not mean he will have room to get out later after a new person parks in front of them. Edited October 11, 2013 by obob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurel Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Great note Laurel. Yes braking is key! Never let your foot off the brake until you are in, and slow is the rule. This is not snail slow, but judicious slow as if you were parking without the assist feature. Keep in mind that the park assist does the acceleration, and you are pacing/tempering it. They may need to de-fang the acceleration in the feature a scosh. In addition, as you are easing in, always be watching your fender corners just as if you were parking without the assist. You still have to know your corners, and bail (brake and abandon the assist) if you sense a problem. Ours has always worked great. Practice on quiet residential streets. It only works with curbs! Nick If all else fails, park like the Romans! (seriously, though, stay awNick you make good points. Practice, observe and abort if necessary. I know in the beginning I whipped in too fast a couple of times and scared myself silly--sort of uncontrolled and not enough brake. C-MaxSea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnrobitaille Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 On another note concerning active park assist, it only works when you are parking on the right hand side of the car. So if on a one way street & parking on the left hand side, the system will not work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithpa Posted October 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Thanks for the advice and comments. To comment on a few suggestions that the car was moving too fast, I did have my foot on the brake the entire time and was moving very slowly as my car approached the forward parked car. I have been using the active park assist almost daily for a month without incident. In this instance, I stopped the vehicle before contact was made, but then decided to let the system continue slowly since I had heard of no incidents of the active park assist misjudging distances. Unfortunately it did. At first I thought it might just be off by a fraction of an inch as my car touched the bumper of the car in front, so I let it move some more, which is what causes the damage. Also, the active park assist system will work on the left hand side of the car, you need to turn on the left turn signal and the computer searches the left side of the street. You will see the little radar symbol change on the LCD display to the left side. I've used it several times on my one-way street with success. Update from my original post. I dropped off the car at my Ford dealership and they said they would investigate. Unfortunately, they said there were no error codes and all of their diagnostics said the system was functioning normally. The service manager said he looked up the instructions for using Active Park Assist, and made note of how many times it said the driver is responsible for ensuring the car will not collide with other objects. Basically, if the system misjudges and the driver doesn't catch the error in time, it is the driver's fault. So, I have an estimate for $450 to replace the fender and repaint the area... which is not horrible. I have learned my lesson on trusting the parking system in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaDadMiami Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 Yes, it definitely works on both sides, right and left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotomoto Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 I don't think it's possible to go in reverse under ice power. I don't have PA but yes the car will go into reverse with the ICE running. It happens to me when I'm backing out of the driveway after having run the HV battery down because of EV+ on the previous drive home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdbob Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 I don't have PA but yes the car will go into reverse with the ICE running. It happens to me when I'm backing out of the driveway after having run the HV battery down because of EV+ on the previous drive home. The ICE may be running, but reverse is always done using the traction motor. There is no reverse gear in the transmission, they simply run the traction motor backwards. Of course most people don't go very fast in reverse, or for a very long distance, so it's not going to effect the HV battery capacity very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 I don't understand something about this feature which I do not plan to use, I'm too chicken to try it. If you are suppose to keep your foot on the brake to abort if need be? I'm assuming this means just having your foot poised and ready since actual foot pressure on the pedal would defeat the parking assist feature...right? Just wondered for those of you who better understand the workings of this feature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaPieR Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 I don't understand something about this feature which I do not plan to use, I'm too chicken to try it. If you are suppose to keep your foot on the brake to abort if need be? I'm assuming this means just having your foot poised and ready since actual foot pressure on the pedal would defeat the parking assist feature...right? Just wondered for those of you who better understand the workings of this feature.On a flat surface the car should propel itself "creep" and you just keep your foot ready on the brake pedal to stop the car. I've used this feature probably over a hundred times now in Toronto. I've only had one issue where it malfunctioned during the procedure and I had to abort because it would have hit the parked car ahead. It's a little too good, it can park the car in the smallest possible space that will accommodate a C-Max. I had it park into a tiny space where I only had a few inches front and back and I had to spend a minute shuffling in the space so I could get out. It's great if you just need a space and you're looking for anything that will work, but you'll have a hard time leaving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-MaxSea Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 (edited) I don't understand something about this feature which I do not plan to use, I'm too chicken to try it. If you are suppose to keep your foot on the brake to abort if need be? I'm assuming this means just having your foot poised and ready since actual foot pressure on the pedal would defeat the parking assist feature...right? Just wondered for those of you who better understand the workings of this feature. Go for it MTB! No, your foot is not on the brake just to abort, it is on the brake to slow the car down. No, the foot is not poised, it is on the brake pedal lightly the entire operation. No, having your foot on the brake does not defeat the operation. It is easy if you follow the tips above, the directions in the manual, and the instructions on the screen. Grab a friend to watch you from outside the car, and try it on a lonely street with a good sized space. You will like it - remember, you are in control because your foot is on the brake pedal, Nick Edited October 13, 2013 by C-MaxSea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PWBarrett Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 I don't understand something about this feature which I do not plan to use, I'm too chicken to try it. If you are suppose to keep your foot on the brake to abort if need be? I'm assuming this means just having your foot poised and ready since actual foot pressure on the pedal would defeat the parking assist feature...right? Just wondered for those of you who better understand the workings of this feature. "All" it does is steer and prompt - it's up to the driver to brake and shift when prompted to do so. C-MaxSea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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