When I heard the new Lexus LS460 flagship sedan could park itself, I knew there had to be a catch. Maybe it would only do half the job, or require a parking space twice the length of the car — or some other unreported disclaimer. I went to Detroit yesterday to try it myself, determined to discover and report the ugly truth. The truth, it turns out, is that the car freakin' parks itself. It really does it. Line it up, and the optional Advanced Parking Guidance System does the hard part. This is the coolest spectacle any of us jaded automotive journalists has seen since the retractable-hardtop convertible.
My favorite part about my Lexus is the keyless entry. As long as I have the key on me and I touch the handle the doors will unlock. Sounds silly but you get used to it, esepcially if your hands are full and the key is in your pocket. I'm awlays carrying something in my hand and it never fails that the key is in the pocket on that side. My wife's car doesn't have that and I always forget when I drive it so I look like an idiot trying to get in a locked car.
I love the keyless entry and keyless ignition of my Toyota Prius. The thing that gets me is the car knows when you leave your key inside the car! So you can't really lock your keys in the car when using the touch button my the handle to lock the doors!
Anyways, I read somewhere that the 07 or 08 Prius will also have this self-parking feature.
I for one think that everyone should know how to parallel park a car themselves, but for those that just don't get it <insert blond joke here>, this is just one less thing for me to complain about when I see someone on the road that doesn't know how to drive.
