i noticed on new cars it's often hard or impossible to see the hood such as the Nissan Versa and on the new Fit.

seeing the fact that it's hard to see the hood (from the front seats), how would you rate your judgment on the distance between the front end of your Fit and the car in front of you? i.e. parallel parking or the car in front of yours in a lane.

did your car ever touch the bumper (even just a small bump) of the car in front of yours when it comes to parallel parking like in a tight spot?

anyone has light scratches on their bumper due to parking?

 

I've had the car for about a month now and I'm still not used to the dimensions and not seeing the hood. I always stop short and think I might hit something but when i get out, i have another 3 feet to go. So from now on, when i think i'm about to hit something, i tell myself to inch forward another 2 feet.

Also, I use my side mirror as reference cause i know the distance from the mirror to the front of the car.

 

that's a good idea

 

I think the nose sticks out about 36" from the wipers, but I still stop a foot or two from a high curb.

At least I don't pull three feet past the gas pump anymore!

 

A very good idea to use: headlights. turn it on when your parallel parkin or when ever u intend to get close. as the light reflection on the car (headlight or tail light) gets bigger/wider, thats when you should stop. BUT, i highly recomend doing some practice runs so you know how big the light has to be before it gets the "close enough" point. I had a 06 Honda Pilot SUV and it was a pain in the ass to paralell park until i turned on the lights, since the lights is pretty much the "front"est thing of the car. try it

 

I still have this problem to this very day. And being short doesn't exactly help neither.

When parking in a parking lot, I usually just line up my mirrors with the car next to me. I try not to park too forward otherwise people would mistaken it for an empty spot. I get pretty annoyed too when people park really far in and I think it's a spot. So if you leave that much space in the front, the back should be fine relative to the cars around. :]

As for parallel parking, the headlights thing works wonders.

 

All new cars are like this. I'm used to it. And trust me, in a very short time you'll be familiar where the front bumper is, that it's second nature.

 

I certainly learned it's about four inches from the ground!

 

I find it pretty easy in the fit with its seat so high.

 

My biggest problem with my 07 was that I kept scraping the front bumper on curbs. With my op I am already used to it so I watch out more. The hardest thing for me is pulling into my garage. I am so cautious, I usually find I am at least a foot short of where I think I am.

 

Wow, that place looks more dangerous than a South Florida Wal-Mart on Senior's Tuesday! Stay safe and park in the driveway.

 

I'm use to having my camry so where ever i park i have two feet on both
sides. it's a much smaller car like my old Scirocco.
so far i'm enjoying it every where i go.

 

I almost always stop too short of everything. There's always a billion feet more I could've pulled forward. I'm not used to such a short front end. At least I stop shorter to prevent any kind of accident lol. And if I am parking in a spot and didn't pull in enough but the car is off already, I'll push it forward with the ebrake off lol ;D that's rare though, only done that a few times. I can't get over how tiny the car is and how I keep misjudging the front...

 

I think there's a rule of thumb... forget where I learned it, but if you turn on your brights, the point where the top of the light's reflection on the object in front of you is no longer visible from the edge of the hood, you're close enough. (Attempt with caution, I haven't used that trick in a long time, so it may be different! I'll try it at my own risk and see. )

 

that's clever

 

From the vantage of the drivers seat, look directly under your side mirrors. The first piece of ground you see is where your front end is located.

Try it out parked so your comfortable /w this method.

Senior

 

I was used to driving the beetle for 10 years so it as easy for me to drive this car. I break it down a bit, mirror, front tire and front end. once i figure out the distances then it's all good...if i parrallel park then i generally try to back in, this car is way easier than the beetle to park and i usually have way more room than i think i do

 

Haven't had a problem yet. The technique I use since my other car is lowered is when I'm pulling into a spot if there is a car on the side of me I use the reflection of my car off the other car as a guide. Most car's even dirty will show a reflection of the car. So I can actually use it as a mirror while parking.

I often avoid parallel parking so that's not a problem

 

ey do you have any night shots of your 7000k headlights?

 

Has anyone got one of these parking poles? They're popular in Japan.

Car Parking Pole Manufacturer exporting direct from Taiwan