The Best Garage Parking Aid (Review and Buying Guide) in 2023 | Autance

We’re kicking off our list with this high tech garage parking aid from Maxsa. As we go through the list, we’ll see that there are a variety of designs when it comes to parking aids – and this is one is very much from the high tech end! That doesn’t mean you have to break the bank to get your hands on this bad boy however. With a price tag of around 40 bucks, it is one of the more expensive items on the list – but you are getting a very high quality item for your money here.

This is a very easy to install device. You simply screw the base plate into the roof of the garage, and then… well that’s it actually. Unlike many laser based parking aids this one runs on batteries. That does mean you have to replace them every now and then (though the power use is very low, so you won’t be doing it too often). That battery power makes it much easier to install though and you can also move it to a different location if you prefer.

In operation, the device is motion activated, so no awkward buttons to press. It also has an effective range of around 15 feet so unless you are parking in the Batcave, it should activate as soon as you pull into the garage and well before the car is even close to your stopping points, always a handy feature with these devices. Once activated, the device shines a bright red laser beam down which you use as a reference point to pull the vehicle into its correct space. Simple but effective.

Say hello to the cutest parking guide to make it’s way into our list! Imagine coming home to his little grinning face every day, how nice would that be? This product is a professional standard upgrade on the classic tennis ball and string garage parking aid method that has been employed for decades.

The upgrade comes in a couple of forms here. First of all that little face is not just cute, it’s also highly practical. The ball background is bright yellow, which helps to make this ball stop guide that bit easier to see even in a gloomier garage (though a well lit garage will be much easier to park in anyway, no matter how bright your ball is).

It’s also nice and easy to install. The clip is screwed into the garage rafters or attached to the roof in some way. The balls hang at the end of an 8-foot string, which should be long enough for installation in most garage designs and can also be trimmed to length. That’s about it really. If there is one big advantage to designs like this – apart from the low price – it is that it is all incredibly simple in both installation and use. Oh, and you also get two balls in this kit, so it’s perfect for either a two car garage, or to pop one ball into a drawer as a spare.

Our third product into the list and we get to see a third way of assisting with parking. This is a garage car stop, a much more physical marker than the ball and laser methods that have come before. This parking aid is of an all rubber construction (apart from the reflective tape) and measures in at 6 feet in length, which is about 72 inches. It weighs 34 pounds, and it is that heft that is the main selling point here.

What you have here is an excellent middle ground between lighter parking stops, which have to be bolted to the ground, and heavier ones, which are a nightmare to pick up and carry. This one can be easily moved into position, and it has the weight behind it to provide enough resistance to car tires without having to be bolted to the floor. That means it can be easily placed in the garage as an everyday parking aid, and then just as easily moved to one side if it’s in the way.

It has a lovely tough construction too, which is resistant to fading and damage from, amongst other things, UV light, oil spillages and exposure to temperature extremes. It is going to set you back about 70 bucks, so it is the most expensive item on the list. It is however a very well designed and well made example of a curb stop, certainly one the best of its type on the market today.

Our next product comes from Maxsa, and this little garage parking aid is absolutely bursting with useful features. If you’ve never seen a product like this before, it works in a very similar way to the product we looked at above, i.e. by providing a physical interaction to the vehicle wheels that you feel inside the vehicle, giving you the signal the car is in the perfect place.

This model differs slightly by being a mat with one small bump at the front, one larger toward the rear. The first bump gives you the notice you are in position; the second, much larger bump prevents you from rolling out of the perfect parking spot. The mat itself is made of tough plastic, and it can be secured to the garage floor either with the double sided, non-slip tape that comes in the package, or it can be screwed or bolted into place for a more permanent fixture.

One other nice little feature that makes it stand above some rival models is the fact the mat has raised edges between the two humps. That means it works as a drip tray, collecting water that comes off the tires if it has been raining to the tires are snowy. That is a great little design feature, especially if you have a nice garage floor already that you want to keep looking nice. The mat is priced at around 20 bucks, but you only get one for that price. We’d recommend getting a pair for the best parking assistance, and a set of 4 if you want to protect your garage floor from excess moisture.

After some pretty low tech options, the next parking aid to make the list is this high tech beast from Measurements Ltd. Rather than a laser parking assist however, this model uses ultrasonic sound waves to help you park your car – see, we told you it was high tech!

The two units are mounted to the wall with screws. The sensor is mounted roughly level with the front of the car, the second mounted somewhere you can easily see it. Once you’ve set it up, the next time you come to park it will activate instantly, whilst the sensor throws out ultrasonic sound waves to detect the car, the other unit first flashes a green light to indicate the device is working. The green light turns to amber (orange) when the car is within 8 feet of its perfect parking spot, then turns to red to tell you the car is in position – so don’t go any further!

Installation and set up are both very simple, and the device runs on simple AA batteries too, which makes it all even easier. It is small and discreet, easy to set up and even easier to operate. With a price tag of around 20 bucks it is easy to see why this is one of the more popular parking sensors on the market today.

Another high tech option, this parking aid from Striker once again uses ultra-sonic pulses rather than lasers. It differs from the product above mainly by being even easier to install (yes, easier than four little screws!) and also by having a much larger, easier to see display. For some people, that could easily be a negative, as this is certainly not as discrete a design as the one we saw above from Measurements Ltd. On the other hand, if you want an easy to see visual display look no further.

In operation, this model is also very similar to the one above. So it flashes green as the car or truck approaches, yellow as it nears the ideal parking position and finally red to indicate you should come to a stop. Very simple to use then. Installation is easy too, with the bottom section attached to the wall at bumper height, the top indicator section attached where you can see it easily from inside the vehicle.

There are no screws required here either, just some sticky tape and Velcro. The sticky tape that comes with the product is crap though, so invest in something extra strong from 3M instead and the product will easily cling to the wall of the garage. All in all then a pretty well designed little parking aid.

This is the parking aid equivalent of the wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man from Family Guy. Essentially, you set the product up exactly where you want the car to stop for the perfect parking position. Once in place, if you tap the pole of the sign – even very, very gently – the whole sign lights up like a Christmas tree, telling you to stop.

On the one hand then, this design does make this product seem like a pretty simple garage parking assist product, and in many ways that is correct. But as we’ve said time and time again here at CarAutance, simplicity is not necessarily a bad thing. For example, the installation is very simple here. No screws or double-sided sticky tape required here. Simply insert the battery (cell size) into the device, turn it on and place it exactly where you want the car to stop. Simple. As. That.

For a very simple design though this parking aid is not exactly cheap. About 25 bucks will get you a set of two, but that is quite an outlay for a product that certainly does not really boasts the bells and whistles it’s mid range price point should really come with that. That said, it is both very effective and very simple, two things which do prove the overall worth of the design.

Our next product is a professional grade garage car stop from BUNKERWALL (why they feel the need to shout their company name, we don’t know). This is of course the second of this type of parking aid to make our list, and this second version differs from previous model by coming as two pieces instead of one long bumper.

From a practical point of view, the previous model boasted of its ease of placement and mobility. The mobility factor is doubled here, as we now have two pieces with a length of 21 inches and a weight of 9 Pounds per piece. That of course makes these that bit more portable. On the other hand, they don’t quite have the same weight – and thus stopping power – of the bigger parking stop. It is possible to bolt these to the floor for a more permanent option however.

Aside from that small consideration the construction is great. A heavy-duty rubber is used for the body, giving the product the strength to stand up to vehicle tires with no problems. It’s also good to see the reflective strips are mounted on all sides, which serves a dual purpose. One, they make the product easy to see when you pull into the garage. Two they also make the product easy to see when you are walking in the garage, helping the product avoid being a trip hazard. 

Our penultimate item comes with a warning, which is that if you are not operating a garage door with Chamberlain door opening sensors, and then skip this product out. If you do have Chamberlain sensors however, then read on for a garage parking laser custom made for you.

Are you still here? Well if you are, then we can only assume it is because you have Chamberlain door sensors. If so, this device is designed to be mounted to the roof of the garage. Further, it is also designed to plug directly into the wiring for the door sensors. This in itself serves two purposes. First, it is how the device draws power. That’s right, no batteries here – direct power feed from the mains electricity, baby!

Secondly it is how the device is controlled. So when you activate your garage door, you also activate the device. Just as with the previous laser products, it then shines a laser beam down to a point you have already set up to correspond with the perfect parking position. Follow the light and you will reach parking Nirvana.

As we already pointed out – and wish to highlight again – this only works with Chamberlain garage door equipment! If this brand supplies your garage door sensors though then what you have here is a very well designed, bespoke garage parking laser.

We finish up our list with his product from Ekarro. It is another from the school of contact equals flashing lights style of parking aids. Just as with the previous product of a similar design then, it is very easy to set up and install. Again, no screws or tape required, simply pop in the batteries and place it where you want the car to stop.

The base is weighted so it shouldn’t tip over with a gentle tap. The pole in the middle of the device is actually built of four interlocking sections, which allows you to customize the height. The height can, by the way, be up to 53 inches so you should be able to see the sign clearly even in a pick up.

Construction is nice and solid, and it’s great to see the manufactures have gone with LED lights here. Not only are they very bright – making the sign easier to see – they are also less power hungry than traditional bulbs. That in turn should help prolong the battery life of the product, as will the fact it uses a pair of LR44s rather than a single battery. Oh, you also only get one parking aid in the pack. That means this is less suitable for two car garages, but it does keep the price down. You can in fact expect a bit of change from a twenty for this well designed tool.