It's definitely something you could DIY with some screws, string, and hot glue, but by that point you might as well spend the few dollars that a premade PAUTO-P brand costs. There are a lot of variations on tennis-ball-on-a-string, so we bought one of the top-rate (but otherwise identical) brands to check out. We'd like it better if it were closer to 18 inches wide. Unfortunately, it's only 11 inches wide, which makes it a small, hard-to-hit target, especially if you're backing in. If you're lined up right, you might not feel the first bump, but the second stops you, even if you have big wheels and tires. There's a raised lip to catch drips off your tires, but unless you get four of them, that's more of a gimmick than anything. Once we had it positioned where we wanted it, we stenciled two corners with spray paint, so we could put it back in the same place any time we wanted. It's not very heavy, but it's grippy and we didn't have any trouble with it sliding around without the tape. It comes with double-sided tape to attach it semi-permanently, but we'd advise against that: Having an inch-high lump on your garage floor is a real trip hazard, but there are red and yellow versions for better visibility. They can be useful, especially if you're working in your garage and can't have anything on your floor, but there's no mistaking the feel of this parking mat. Visual parking aids, like the tennis balls or even the Fosmon laser system below, are hard to see when backing up in dark garages: or with tinted windows. None of them are particularly expensive, but many take some time to set up, especially those that require you to install them on the ceiling with a ladder.Īfter testing, we think the Maxsa Park Right parking mat is the best option for most people. Parking aids mounted on the ceiling will have to work around overhead doors and light fixtures and those on the floor may be in the way when your car isn’t there or when you’re working on it. When you’re choosing a parking aid, you should think about how much room you have, if your garage will be well-lit when you’re parking, and if you park nose-in or you back in.

An overloaded shelf falling on a parked car is a matter of applying some common sense, but we’ve parked in dark garages so tight you could barely squeeze out one door, and a parking aid would have made our lives so much easier and safer. People lower garage doors on hoods and roofs every day smash doors, run into walls, and drop things on their cars. We couldn’t find any figures for daily drivers, but for collector cars, more insurance claims come from accidents that happen while cars are in the garage than anything else. Installing one of the best garage parking aids isn’t just convenient: it can save both your car and your wallet.

Parking blocks