Can 'Park Assist' be added at a later date?

[dwsugden]

Hello all.

Towards the end of April I ordered an SE 2.0 TDI 140 PS. Unfortunately I couldn't afford the MFSW but upgraded to the leather variant for £150. How could VW even consider fitting as standard a plastic steering wheel to what is already an expensive car!

Anyway, much to my joy, the VW dealer confirmed two weeks ago that the car will be built as a 'Match'. The build week is supposed to be this week (w/c 7 June).

That means that I will get my MFSW after all :-)

As you probably know, the 'Match' also has front and rear parking sensors. That would have cost over £400 as an extra for the SE variant. If they had been as standard for the SE, I would have paid £80 extra for the 'parking assist' option - if only to impress the other half!

So my question is this - can they be retro fitted at a later date? Is the hardware already 'connected' (since it already has parking sensors front and back - or does it require an extra set of sensors to look out 90 degrees from the car).

Is it simply a matter of invoking the software? Agh, just thought. I suppose a button has to be fitted within the car to start 'park assist'.

Nevertheless, is it possible - without costing the earth?

I'm not too fussed if it's not possible or becomes too expensive - after all, I realise that I am getting greedy after learning that I now wil be getting a 'Match'.

Really looking forward to taking delivery of what will be my first VW.

Current car is a Vauxhall Astra which I purchased new just over 6 years ago. The missis is happy 'cos I (and she) will have more 'street cred'. lol

Regards,
Darren

[Blackthorn]

I don't think it's practical. I should have had Park Assist on mine, but the dealer forgot to order it. At the time, they consulted with their techie's and the response was that it was not possible to retrofit it.

Obviously that translates as not easy or cheap - anything is possible. But there's got to be something to turn the steering, and I guess that may well involve a different steering rack.

[dwsugden]

Thanks for taking the time to answer.

I realise that there is the steering element to it but wondered whether it was already there by default but not activated.

Best wishes,
Darren

[rachelisadog]

I have park assist on mine.
It's easy to spot a car with one. A car with parking sensors has 4 rear and (i think) 2 front. However, i have 2 more, one on each side of the car and they're the park assist sensors, and yes, the button is there to activate it.
I am sure like all, it could be retro-fitted but a bet it's not gonna be cheap

[dwsugden]

Thanks.
I was wondering where the other sensors where located. On each side of the car, do you mean on the bumper or are they located on the body, wing mirror or elsewhere?
Regards,
Darren

[rachelisadog]

Thanks.
I was wondering where the other sensors where located. On each side of the car, do you mean on the bumper or are they located on the body, wing mirror or elsewhere?
Regards,
DarrenIt's on the front wing, each side, from memory, as you look at the car from the side, between the wheel and the door on the body
It's quite a large sensor but subtle if that's not a contradiction
I'll try and take a quick pic tomorrow for you if that'll help :)

Edit: have just been looking online, and it looks like the park assist sensor is in the front bumper but i will check mine
It's the one you can see, corner of bumper, larger than normal parking sensors

youtube demo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TfQyT10Y1Q&feature=PlayList&p=1D450C42B163E185&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=47)

I've took a screen grab too so you can see the sensor, not my car btw

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/5339/parkassist.jpg (http://img39.imageshack.us/i/parkassist.jpg/) Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[dwsugden]

Rachelisadog - that's great.

Thank you very much for your trouble. I appreciate it. No need to take a picture of your car.

I understand now that it's not a simple two minute job turning the car into having 'parking assist'.

Once gain, many thanks for your time.

Regards,
Darren

[rachelisadog]

Sorry if it wasn't what you wanted to hear mate, really i am but for what it's worth, it might not be something that can be used a lot anyway.
I got it, since it wasn't much more cost wise than parking sensors and you get the Highline too.

However, for me at least, it's very rare i parallel park, ask yourself, how often do you? Not many folks do anymore or perhaps in my world they don't :)

As you say, you already get front and back with the Match and i would guess it has highline too; not really sure you're missing out on much :)

[dwsugden]

You're absolutely right. I can't remember when I last paralleled parked! :-)
Darren

[percymon]

There's no reason why it can't be fitted, but whether its ecocnomical is another matter.

Removing bumpers, fitting sensors, addign wiring and control units, reprogramming car - ooh - £1500 sir ??

I don'ty know wht you'd want it - the consensus is it doesn't work well, leaving you with a bigger bill for scrapes to alloys than you've laid out for the option in the first place.