Self parking in a very tight garage - doable?

[Bskubs]

Hi everybody,

My wife is taking delivery of our Stealth tomorrow.

We had agreed that we wouldn't even try to park it in our tiny tiny garage. I'd be too scared to try to park it in there. I used to own an old Accord and it was a nightmare.

But then wife smartly asked: what about that self-parking feature?

Does anyone know how reliable that is? Can I trust the software to back into a very tight garage by itself? Anyone has any experience with that?

Thank you!

 

[SlimJim]

if a human can, tesla can.

 

[RayK]

Just be aware of Murphy's Law: "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." In this example, the prime thing to go wrong is that the car will park itself into your (tight) garage perfectly, but it will then refuse to extricate itself. AND you will have no way, or a very difficult time, getting into the car to move it out yourself.

 

[UCF3]

Are you referring to smart summon?

 

[ecarfan]

We had agreed that we wouldn't even try to park it in our tiny tiny garage. I'd be too scared to try to park it in there. I used to own an old Accord and it was a nightmare.

You won’t be able to use the Auto Park function to get the car to move on its own from your driveway into a garage. It’s not designed for that scenario.

You may be able to use Smart Summon to move the car into your garage. But if your Accord would barely fit, that sounds pretty tight for a Model 3. Have you compared the external dimensions of each car? If you have less than a foot of clearance on each side of the Model 3 I would not attempt to use Smart Summon. Too risky.

 

[jamnmon66]

Regular summon should do it. You'll just need to line it up before you get out. Mine's pretty reliable these days as long as both the car and the phone have a solid internet connection. But I'm not sure I'd trust it if it's literally impossible to get in the car once it's in the garage. You'll be pretty pissed off in that case if it even fails once. If it's just really inconvenient but not impossible then go for it.

 

[RainyDaze]

I don’t have FSD but, I do have a tiny garage. There is less than 6” clearance as I pass the door walls if my mirrors are out. The proximity sensors chime to stop a couple of times. I can see everything so I continue and park. I would guess self park would just stop.

Fortunately for me once past the door walls there is more room to exit the car.

 

[StellarRat]

I wouldn't do it. I've seen videos of people using summon in narrow garages, but I just wouldn't. If it was me I'd set up some navigations aids like strings hanging down from the ceiling and marks on the wall and bring it in under manual control. If humans can land on an aircraft carrier you can land your car in a tight garage.

 

[Bskubs]

Thanks everybody for your replies. To clear it up, what I wanna do is just line up the car and then use Summon to back in and out.

 

[ecarfan]

Thanks everybody for your replies. To clear it up, what I wanna do is just line up the car and then use Summon to back in and out.

Thanks for clarifying.

That may or may not work. You haven’t stated what the clearances would be on the sides of the car as it passes through the garage door opening, or the clearances around the car once it was inside the garage. That is important information.

For people to properly advise you, basic information would be helpful.

 

[Eno Deb]

I'd be very careful. The ultrasonic sensors aren't very reliable in detecting narrow objects just as garage door frames. Summon also has problems if your driveway has an incline, or if there is a "lip" it has to drive over. If you still want to try it, make sure you activate the option to press and hold the button on your phone while summoning so you can quickly stop the car if necessary.

 

[tashtibet]

first try with cones in an open space. It's doable with basic summon not with Smart Summon.

 

[dahaz22]

Just back it in? You have a huge screen, a camera and lines. Your mirrors auto fold via gps too.

It aint hard.

 

[Bskubs]

Thanks for clarifying.

That may or may not work. You haven’t stated what the clearances would be on the sides of the car as it passes through the garage door opening, or the clearances around the car once it was inside the garage. That is important information.

For people to properly advise you, basic information would be helpful.

I’m currently overseas so I don’t have the measurements. I’ll be there later next week to finally try out the car and experiment with this.

Once again, thanks everybody for your input. These boards are the best!!

 

[Need]

My wife used to summon her Model X out of the garage everyday because she is afraid to back out of the narrow opening. But after 6 months, she started to do it herself. If summon work on the much wider Model X, it should be easily work on your 3. Just be aware that summon does not work when you are on a slope. So if you driveway has a slope going up the garage, you probably won't be able to start summon going INTO the garage. Coming out should be fine assuming your garage is on a flat ground.

 

[NOLADriver]

Maybe leave the window down on the first few tries in case summon gets in a weird spot and refuses to move, you can climb in and back it out

 

[RainyDaze]

I wouldn't do it. I've seen videos of people using summon in narrow garages, but I just wouldn't. If it was me I'd set up some navigations aids like strings hanging down from the ceiling and marks on the wall and bring it in under manual control. If humans can land on an aircraft carrier you can land your car in a tight garage.

It’s my understanding that most carrier landings are done by computer now. Allows the plane and ships systems to link and dampen out wave action. But then those guys have better budgets.

 

[detlefo]

I've used summon to enter and exit a very tight garage almost daily with my S and occasionally with the 3. It has on rare occasions stopped and refused to go on. I visually check and if OK, almost always is, hit forward again. Without it I could not get out of the car. Again, though it has been very reliable I do watch and am prepared to abort.

 

[Kilotango74]

if a human can, tesla can.

I’ll add to that.....if a human can scratch it, Tesla can too.

 

[polyphonic54]

Thanks everybody for your replies. To clear it up, what I wanna do is just line up the car and then use Summon to back in and out.

I have a very slim garage, and it would be the perfect scenario for normal summon, but it almost never works even when the car is perfectly aligned. Instead it moves an inch, pauses, and shifts to park.

I highly recommend taking the time to learn to park it manually. Reflective parks aids can be really useful especially if you have tight turns.