Picked up my van today. Tried it but got myself confused as I hadn't read the instructions or taught by the dealer on the feature. There is video from Chrysler (Mopar) specifying the details that you might be looking for. Should be easy google search. I will try tomorrow and try to post here.

 

I have tried ParkSense several times. Initially when I was doing test drives of the Limited right after I ordered the PacHy...and it worked fairly well but as we drove through the lot it did seem to miss a few spots. Fast forward to yesterday when I had a very long test drive in a PacHy on a local dealer lot (whilst waiting for my PacHy to arrive). The dealer salesperson was impressively knowledgable about the PacHy but I asked her did she try the Park Sense on the PacHy...she replied no.

So I activated ParkSense and it worked flawlessly 5x as we moved around the lot and I am not sure if the software was updated but it seemed much slicker than in the past...picked up all the spots, reversed in without flaw. Note that I did not try parallel parking with park sense.

See this video on youtube for a demo of how it is done too

 

Have only tried perpendicular parking and that was today in a mall parking lot. It worked well when it did work, but like @socornonny said, it missed some spots.

 

Not impressed so far. It missed 95% of the spots I passed, but it did identify the fence in a parking ramp as a possible space. I finally did get it to identify a space for perpendicular park. It steered quite well, though I was surprised that it didn't tell me when to shift into D to straighten it out (if we had continued in R, we would have hit the neighboring vehicle).

With the 360º view, I'm not sure how much the feature is really needed.

 

I tried my perpendicular assist three times. Each time I had to stop it a couple of inches away from the parked car's doors as it was headed straight into them.

 

Keep in mind that with the "missed spaces", it is not using optics to identify an open spot - so the system has no concept of parking in the lines per se. It uses radar to identify a gap between existing vehicles that it determines is wide enough to maneuver in to.

In my experience, the need to pull forward and correct position to avoid a collision during the backing in maneuver has a lot to do with the initial distance between the side of the Pacifica to the entrance of the perpendicular parking space - ie - if driving down the middle of the lane as opposed to over to the right all the way, it has more clearance to make the turn in 1 try.

With all that said, I see the perpendicular parking as a mere party trick that is in no way useful in the real world that I can see.

 

I finally worked out how to change it from left to right side when looking to perpendicular park. I quick tap of the indicator. I assume the same for parallel but haven't tried yet. That had me stumped for a while. Honestly though it's so temperamental its pretty much useless I think. It misses so many spots, often it will pick up a spot it missed on the second pass through. (in the real world though that will be gone by the time you get back around lol) I wish you could manually choose the spot you want.

 

My wife and I just purchased our new PlatHy last night. I have not yet had a chance to try the Park Assist. I had a question about the Park Assist, but it pretty much sounds like my question is being answered in this thread, and not in the way I was hoping. So, it sounds like the Park Assist will ONLY find and park in an empty spot that is between two parked cars? Is that correct? So, if you have an entire parking lot of empty spots, the Park Assist will not enable and be of any use unless it finds the only two cars in the lot that are parked near each other with enough space between them for the PacHy to fit?

While the Park Assist sounds like it will be great for those times when you need to park in a crowded lot or street, I'd really also like assistance parking when there are plenty of open spaces. I wish the Park Assist could detect the lane markings and use those to guide the vehicle while it parks itself.

 

So, it sounds like the Park Assist will ONLY find and park in an empty spot that is between two parked cars? Is that correct? So, if you have an entire parking lot of empty spots, the Park Assist will not enable and be of any use unless it finds the only two cars in the lot that are parked near each other with enough space between them for the PacHy to fit?

That's all correct unfortunately. I hope it's of some use to parallel park I haven't tried that yet. It's also one thing to experiment with it in a quiet car park but when you really need it at a busy mall the extra stress of cars lining up behind you waiting while you mess around with Tech is going to make it harder to use I think lol

 

Many times. Works like a charm. I can see it being useful for parallel parking as it got me into this small parking spot no problem. still... it's a party trick.

 

I tried out the perpendicular park assist a couple times yesterday in my work's parking lot during my lunch break. It worked very well. The only concern I had (and still have) was that the PacHy got *very* close to another vehicle while backing into the space before it beeped, told me to stop, and put it into drive for the correcting adjustment. I cautiously applied the brakes before I let it get too close as I do not yet fully trust all the sensing and automation tech. Is the PacHy supposed to be able to come to a complete stop by itself to avoid a collision if the driver is not quick enough on the brakes during Park Assist?

 

Reading this thread has me thinking what if the sensor screws up and you actually hit a car. I guess you are on the hook for all damages. That seems like a liability waiting to happen given how close the Pac gets to other cars and how many times it doesn't park properly.


I say this even though I've yet to pick mine up but it does cause concern.


"... officer, it was the car that hit you, not me... sorry to have spilt your scolding hot coffee all over you..."

 

I'm fairly certain that the reason that the park assist isn't entirely automated has to do with liability—after all, if you're controlling the actual speed of the vehicle, it's hard to argue that the automaker is at fault.

 

Do you actually control the speed, though? I thought the PacHy performed the steering and the acceleration, and the driver controlled the gears and the brakes. At least, I didn't have to press on the accelerator while performing the park assist.

 

I tried out the parallel parking assist and was impressed. Bottom line: this system will get me into a few spots I wouldn't try on my own.

I had to turn on the park assist thing before I got to the space. As I passed the space, it said it was big enough. It was pretty tight -- tight enough that I'd put my 330i in there but not our Grand Caravan.

When I'm parallel parking, I've generally got my head on a swivel. Looking down at the message area during this activity significantly slows me down. I think I'll get used to the audio cues eventually and not bother looking at the displays. That said, the rear view display lets you see how close you are to the vehicle behind much better than just looking yourself. So maybe I'll change my view habits.

It's pretty wild to be in a car which is whipping the steering wheel lock-to-lock through your hands.

I noticed that the car was unwilling to move unless I pushed on the gas pedal. I didn't like that, since I want to be covering the brake when I'm that close to other vehicles. I ended up two-footing it, which was a little jerky.

I'm not thrilled with the shift knob.

 

My park assist broke today. It is not picking up empty spots any more. Before it wen kaput, it tries to back into a SUV while doing perpendicular parking. Had to manually intervene and stop it.

 

A tall curb will always help, Teslas will also not want to parallel park without one. Once detected it is a push of a button and car does it all, no touching anything.