Practical Garage Parking Aids

No More Bumping Walls With Your Car

By
Shannon Hickcox
Jeff and Shannon Hickcox
Shannon Hickcox
Jeff and Shannon Hickcox are garage design experts with two decades of professional experience designing, building, and installing garage interiors. They own and run The Garage Guy, a company offering custom solutions for garage organization, designs, and repairs. Shannon is also a licensed Realtor and real estate photographer.
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Updated on 01/30/20
Brand new suburban house in sunny summer afternoon.
IP Galanternik D.U. / Getty Images

Do you have a small garage, large vehicle, a new driver, or maybe you're chronically in a hurry? If any of these are true, you may have either bumped the wall or scuffed a bumper with the garage door when it came down. Both are frustrating and cause extra, unnecessary repair work. These parking helpers are inexpensive, easy to install, and will save you repair headaches in the future. 

  • 01 of 05

    Tennis Ball

    tennis balls
    Russell Sadur / Getty Images

    Start with the least expensive option: the tennis ball that hangs from the ceiling. Pull your car into its safe spot, take measurements (from the front of the garage to the point of contact on the windshield, from the side wall to the point of contact on the windshield), and pull your car back out. Install an eye hook in the ceiling from your measurements and hang the string with the tennis ball attached, leave some extra so you can make adjustments once the ball is in place and voila, parking assistance!

  • 02 of 05

    Parking Target

    Parking Target
    superstreetonline.com

    Probably one of the easiest to install is the parking target. This product comes with double-sided tape, but we all know that's not usually a long term solution for many things, so if you have unsealed concrete, or want to make sure your target doesn't move, construction adhesive will do the trick. Pull your car into its safe spot, mark the spot on the floor where your front tire hits, back out, and adhere it to its new home. Pretty low-tech and simple, but works great.

  • 03 of 05

    Stop Sign

    Stop sign

    NoSystem images / Getty Images

    There are plenty of versions of the garage stop sign available, but many have mixed reviews. The upside of this one is there is no installation: just drop it in its place. The downside is, some reviewers say that they're unstable and they fall over, making them useless, but this may be caused by user error.

  • 04 of 05

    Laser Parking Assist

    Laser Parking Assist
    Chamberlain.com

    For the gadget geeks, there's the laser parking assist. There is an almost unlimited selection for laser parking assists, but what is wonderful about some of these is that they work with your garage opener system. While you don't need to have an automatic garage door opener for most of them, it is a nice feature if your garage door opener is newer. The systems work by pointing a laser light from the ceiling of your garage to a sensor that is attached to your dashboard or directing a bright laser light to a location you determine is your safe parking spot. Most systems don't need to be hardwired in but do need access to an outlet. 

    Continue to 5 of 5 below.
  • 05 of 05

    Wall Bumper

    Wall Bumper
    accentclosets.com

    The wall bumper is less of a parking aid, more of a save your car door/garage wall product. You could use it to help park if you want to estimate by letting your mirror line up with the edge of it, but it's not quite as accurate as some of the other options. For those super tight garages that leave little room to open your door and shimmy out sideways, this is a great little product. Open your door to a rubber stop instead of making continuous dings in your drywall or scratching the edge of your car door. Simple enough to install, some require screws, some have double-sided tape. 

Making Parking Easier

Not everyone needs help parking in their garage, but if you have a new driver in the house, a larger car, or your garage is a little tight on space, why not take the easy route and make parking a little simpler?