How to Adjust the Car Body When It's Not Straight During Reverse Parking?
3 Answers
When the car is parked in the garage, keep looking at the left and right rearview mirrors. If the widths on both sides are different, you need to slowly move towards the wider side to make the distances on both sides equal. Once the distances are equal, quickly straighten the steering wheel, and the car body will be considered aligned. The techniques for reverse parking are as follows: 1. Use the vehicle next to the garage as a reference: If you are reversing to the right, the right side passing this vehicle indicates the parking spot. During the reversing process, use this vehicle as a reference. Since the right rear part of the car enters the garage first, ensure to maintain an appropriate distance from this vehicle to avoid scraping. Therefore, focus mainly on this vehicle but also pay attention to the left side, as parking spots vary in size. If the spot is smaller, the remaining space on the right should not be too large to avoid scraping the left side of the car. If reversing to the left, use the vehicle on the left side of the garage as a reference, with a similar method to reversing to the right. 2. Distance Maintenance Method: Position the car about one meter away from the garage. If the distance is too small, there’s little room for adjustment, making it hard to park in one go. If too large, it’s hard to gauge, so about one meter is ideal. During reversing, also observe the vehicle on the right side. Sufficient width provides more adjustment space, a larger observable area, and lower risk of scraping other vehicles. Thus, maintaining an appropriate distance is simpler than using the reference vehicle method.
When reversing into a parking space and the car body is not aligned, I usually check the side mirrors to confirm which side is off. If the left side is wider, I slowly turn the steering wheel half a turn to the left, causing the rear of the car to move leftward. Once the car body is almost parallel to the lines, I quickly straighten the steering wheel. The same principle applies if the right side is wider—adjust to the right. If the car is parked significantly crooked, it's better to shift into drive, move forward half a meter, and straighten the car body by steering while moving, then reverse again. Remember to control the speed throughout the process, keep your foot on the brake ready to stop, and avoid turning the steering wheel too sharply at once to prevent unnecessary back-and-forth adjustments. Beginners should practice in an empty parking space a few times—once you get the reference points right, it becomes much easier.
Don't panic if your car is tilted when reversing into the parking space. Observe the distance between the rear of the car and the parking lines through the left and right rearview mirrors, and steer toward the side with the larger gap. For example, if the gap is larger on the right, turn the steering wheel about 30 degrees to the right, and straighten it immediately once the rear of the car moves closer to the line. Maintain a slow and steady speed during the adjustment to avoid sudden acceleration. If the car is already fully parked but still tilted, make minor adjustments by moving slightly forward and backward: correct toward the side with the larger gap when moving forward, then fine-tune when reversing. Experienced drivers also observe the position changes between the lower edge of the windshield and reference objects ahead, making it easier to sense the car's angle.
