Feeling stupid :( (struggling with multi storey car park!)

[CustardD123]

I've been driving for 6 months-ish so a fairly new driver since passing and I have a very small car.

I'm generally fine with driving but find parking to be tricky sometimes (especially in bay parking if the car next to mine has parked onto the bay lines so then I end up with only a small gap so worry excessively about scraping their car). Some days I can park into a bay perfectly first time and sometimes, even 10 attempts don't work..!

Anyway, I thought I'd try going into a multi storey car park for the first time today and struggled even more with the tight spaces.. and stupidly scraped the rear driver-side bit of my car on the ramp going up a level :(

....and knocked my tyres on the exit after putting my ticket in and the barriers go up :(

Got so insulted by a fellow driver (short bald overly loud man) that I shouldn't be driving, how did I pass, etc etc. when I was struggle to get into the a bay (felt like I was gonna scrape the car on my left)

Any tips? & any words to make me feel better? I feel like a completely stupid sub-human..! :( I'm mid-20s, female by the way.

You have my sympathies, I hate multi-storey carparks.

I drive a big car and will walk further to avoid a multi story.

Interested in tips from the pros

It's still early days post test, you'll get there. Ignore the twat

I remember the first time I went into a multi storey - drove in, drove round for a while, couldn't work it out, drove out again. Sympathies. No tips, just practice.

Just keep practising! You'll get there.

Maybe try supermarket car parks late in the evening for practise?

Or you could always contact your previous driving instructor and ask for a few more lessons parking

Good luck with it, I know how you feel I've never been a confident driver but I'm a lot better now years down the line

I reverse into spaces. Been driving 15 years and have never successfully driven straight into a space. Backwards only for me.

Seriously though, don’t worry. Keep trying. It’ll come in time xx

I passed about a year ago and drove a belingo van my dad gave me 🙈
I scraped that 3 times in my local multi storey car - twice in one day!

I now have a kuga and still go in there but I just drive around so I can find a biggish space. It’s 10 times worse when someone impatient is waiting behind you.

I have a big car and I usually drive up and up and up to the top where it is practically empty and park there m. Also if you park in a space that’s right at the top of the ramp then you can drive straight in and reverse straight out.
There is one old multi-storey car park near us that I refuse to even go in though. The newer ones are more spacious.

Driving instructor will help. Explain, pay for a lesson and they'll help.

You need to go wide to get into a bay going in forwards. So make sure you are straight as you drive in. If there is not a lot of space, as in some of the older car parks, it might take a couple of goes.
Good luck OP. It gets easier with practice.

Also, going up a level is usually one way so make sure you stay in the middle.

I’ve been driving 12 years and I still hate multi-storey parking, I frequently have to pick up/drop off visitors at local airports and I bloody hate it. They’re so huge and so tightly packed it’s bewildering. I can park in small bays now but I have to really take my time and I won’t park in a bay where the car next to me has parked too close to or on the line.
When I first got my license I used to go up to the very highest level or roof of my local mall which is usually emptier and practice getting in and out of the bays, I also got practice in using those stupidly narrow and curvy ramps without bumping the edges. I still use the higher levels in preference.

Reverse into the space. Go to the top of the multi story and hopefully it'll be quieter and more spaces to choose from.

I hate multi story car parks; they're poorly designed and the spaces/posts are difficult to navigate in a normal + sized car, especially knowing you have to be able to get into and out of the car.

Before going up / down a ramp or in a space pull over as much as possible to the opposite side so you have loads of room to turn into the space and straighten up.

Always try to go in to a space (if you are parking facing forward) with the end result goal being the wheels are dead straight after parking. This makes pulling out much, much easier as you should be able to reverse out of the space without having to turn the wheel until you are pretty much out of the bay as the car will just then come out of the space in a straight line.

I'm the same as *that's not my name
*
I reverse into every space, parallel parking, car parks, it's so much easier as I can judge distances etc much better.
It comes with time and practice. Don't be so hard on yourself. x

If you can't reverse into a space, but have to go in forwards try this

1. Aim for the space next to the empty one, so swing almost nose to nose with the car to the right of the empty space
2. Reverse back - you are aiming to get the front of your car facing the empty space
3. Drive forwards into your space.

It means your manoeuvres are in the roadway and not in between the two parked cars. It sounds daft but get three toy cars or books or something and push them around on a table until you know what you are planning.

Go and practice somewhere quiet. And are you driving in or reversing in? If you haven’t got naturally good spatial awareness and you’re an inexperienced driver, then reverse parking is easier to get straight once you’ve got the basic hang of it because you aren’t leading with the front wheel steering. It’s just that most people seem to mentally assume reversing in is harder.

I wouldn’t ever say anything because I’m not a twat, but I do find it frustrating when someone decides to park on a main thoroughfare and can’t do so competently, I secretly think they should park further along instead of causing a queue behind them. But of course you might not have been doing that anyway, and if you were I certainly wouldn’t say anything, unless you appeared to be stuck or I had something urgent to do in which case I’d get out and offer to help. Unless you’re a middle aged man that just cut me up on the way in when I’d get out and patronisingly ask if he wanted me to park for him.

The ramp and exit barrier incidents would concern me more, because if you could hit them you could easily hit someone using a walkway or stood on the pavement. But again shouting abuse at you isn’t acceptable or constructive.

I passed at the end of March and haven't had the courage to even try a multi storey car park yet, so credit for you attempting.

I practise reversing into spaces in every supermarket carpark I stop in. I still need more work, but I'm hoping that gets me into good habits. I still park miles from any car if I can and walk, but keep practising at the parking.

I know someone who passed their test around 1990 and still loathes multi storey car parks and will avoid at all costs, and they drive vans and tractors and all sorts.

A lot of multi stories car parking spaces are old and the spaces are to tight for modern cars, even with a smaller car the larger ones are close to the lines or jutting out the front not though the drivers fault usually just are are larger.

Agree with driving to the top floors of possible and/or reversing in, it takes practice and if it’s a new car park you also have to navigate the one way systems.

Just put it down to experience, worst one I have ever parked in was one in Chesterfield, I’ve been driving over 20 years all over the UK and that one struck fear in me, spaces and exits were so narrow and the walls and posts littered with car paint and scratches.

My dearly departed mum once reported her car stolen from a multi storey car park. She was looking on the wrong level 🙄

Our local multi storey has paint marks etched all over the concrete pillars on the ramps. They are grim, but practice makes perfect.

I bumped several kerbs and pillars in my first 2 (10!) years of driving. Judging by the amount of paint smears on multi-story car park walls, everyone has this problem. Just take it slow and it will get better with practice.

Have you got parking sensors?
If not you can get them fitted easily, they make a big difference and also help you learn how close you can get to other cars.

It's surprising sometimes when you're turning into a space or reversing out how close you can get, the sensors give you peace of mind that you aren't going to hit anything.

AHHHHHHH.bless you.
I`ve been driving for over 30 yrs and hate multi storey parking.
Just go slowly wherever you park and ignore fat bald twats.
Practise makes perfect.

I shall never understand why multi-story car parks have spaces at 90 degrees. They would be so much more user friendly if all the spaces were at an angle.