Parking sensors
Discussion
CraigMST said:
Has anybody ever fitted parking sensors themselves?
Ideally i'm thinking about the sensors which you don't have to cut holes in the bumper but by putting an antenna just behind the bumper.
Any information on who's installed similar?
A friend of mine did it - he wanted some kind of hidden device but in the end had to go for the visible sensors as he just couldn't find anything else at the time. He has no parking scrapes, or at least none that are as distracting as the four hideous parking sensors.Ideally i'm thinking about the sensors which you don't have to cut holes in the bumper but by putting an antenna just behind the bumper.
Any information on who's installed similar?
Remember to budget for parking sensors for the other cars that park on your street. I find that they are the ones that do the damage to my cars.
Good luck to all of the powerfully built company directors who can park pinpoint perfect every single time.
Let me let you all into a little secret...
I'm not a perfect driver. Once in a while, I make a mistake.
No matter how good you are, there will be a time you screw up. Good parking sensors are £200-300 and if they prevent you from screwing up even just once, they'll pay for themselves. I've had them on my last 2 cars and intend to fit them to every car I own from now.
The difficulty is the same as with sat-nav: You have to be careful not to rely on it totally. You have to use your eyes to avoid idiots that run behind you when you park and so on. They are a very useful adjunct but are never a substitute for your eyes.
I can understand the visual concerns but I personally think the antenna versions look rubbish. Each to their own, I guess. You can get discreet small body-coloured ones but still with visible circles.
Let me let you all into a little secret...
I'm not a perfect driver. Once in a while, I make a mistake.
No matter how good you are, there will be a time you screw up. Good parking sensors are £200-300 and if they prevent you from screwing up even just once, they'll pay for themselves. I've had them on my last 2 cars and intend to fit them to every car I own from now.
The difficulty is the same as with sat-nav: You have to be careful not to rely on it totally. You have to use your eyes to avoid idiots that run behind you when you park and so on. They are a very useful adjunct but are never a substitute for your eyes.
I can understand the visual concerns but I personally think the antenna versions look rubbish. Each to their own, I guess. You can get discreet small body-coloured ones but still with visible circles.
Edited by blearyeyedboy on Wednesday 4th April 11:48
Captain Muppet said:
CraigMST said:
Has anybody ever fitted parking sensors themselves?
Ideally i'm thinking about the sensors which you don't have to cut holes in the bumper but by putting an antenna just behind the bumper.
Any information on who's installed similar?
A friend of mine did it - he wanted some kind of hidden device but in the end had to go for the visible sensors as he just couldn't find anything else at the time. He has no parking scrapes, or at least none that are as distracting as the four hideous parking sensors.Ideally i'm thinking about the sensors which you don't have to cut holes in the bumper but by putting an antenna just behind the bumper.
Any information on who's installed similar?
Remember to budget for parking sensors for the other cars that park on your street. I find that they are the ones that do the damage to my cars.
on me.k15tox said:
Try reverse parking a monaro without one.
You cant see anything out of the back.
Try an Elise Sport 160 - massive spoiler in the way, no over the shoulder visibility at all and one peice GRP rear bodywork with no bumpers.You cant see anything out of the back.
Or a mk1 CRX before they put the little window in the upright bit.
Or every van ever.
blearyeyedboy said:
No matter how good you are, there will be a time you screw up. Good parking sensors are £200-300 and if they prevent you from screwing up even just once, they'll pay for themselves. I've had them on my last 2 cars and intend to fit them to every car I own from now.
I've had 17 cars and I've paid a less than £20 repairing parking damage in total (hit a high kerb with the front bumper on my MX5 - repaired with Kevlar, resin and paint). I'd need to do £3380 of self inflicted parking damage to break even on parking sensors.If you like them then fit them, just don't pretend it's an investment.
Captain Muppet said:
I've had 17 cars and I've paid a less than £20 repairing parking damage in total (hit a high kerb with the front bumper on my MX5 - repaired with Kevlar, resin and paint). I'd need to do £3380 of self inflicted parking damage to break even on parking sensors.
If you like them then fit them, just don't pretend it's an investment.
Depends how long you keep your cars! If you like them then fit them, just don't pretend it's an investment.
I certainly wouldn't bother if I were changing every 6 months, nor with a £500 snotter.Do you repair your own? Not all of us have skills to and I couldn't get someone else to repair a minor scuff for £20, let alone what you've described.
If you've got the number of someone who'll do it at that price, I'd love it if you could pass it on so I can sort out my bonnet's stone chips.
I had an invisible type fitted to an alfa GT that I used to own and it was a really good system and the plus side was that you didn't have the ugly sensors in the bumper. I can't remember how much I paid for it but I'm sure it wasn't more than £100. I had a local garage install it for me as I couldn't be arsed to take the bumper off myself.
this is the place I got mine: http://www.parkingdynamics.co.uk/
this is the place I got mine: http://www.parkingdynamics.co.uk/
Fitted drilly hole set into my Passat.
Kit cost £70ish.
Bumper had hole guides marked on the inside so all you do is drill in the marked bits and pop them in. Hot glue gun helped secure them. Wrapped the cabling in heat shrink and Barb's your tranny uncle.
Get some colour coded and job's a good un
Kit cost £70ish.
Bumper had hole guides marked on the inside so all you do is drill in the marked bits and pop them in. Hot glue gun helped secure them. Wrapped the cabling in heat shrink and Barb's your tranny uncle.
Get some colour coded and job's a good un
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