Parking isn't about talent, it's about reference points: fixed visual markers that tell you exactly when to steer. Learn the sequence three times and practice it twenty times, and you'll still park cleanly even with an examiner watching. Here's the full method, and at the end you can run it in a free 3D simulator before you ever need it in the car.
Reverse parallel parking (curbside)
The classic test task. The gap should be roughly one and a half car lengths.
- Drive past and check. Roll slowly past the gap, signal, and confirm it's big enough.
- Starting position. Line up parallel to the car in front, about half a meter away, with your side mirror level with theirs.
- Shoulder check, then reverse until your rear axle is roughly level with the back of the neighboring car.
- Full lock toward the curb and reverse slowly until you see the curb in your right mirror and the car sits at roughly 45 degrees.
- Counter-steer. Turn the wheel fully the other way and keep reversing until the car is parallel.
- Straighten up. One small pull forward, straighten the wheel, done. Aim for under 30 cm from the curb without touching it.
Reverse bay parking (parking lot)
- Approach. Keep about one car width of clearance from the row of bays, drive past your target space until your rear axle lines up with its first marking line.
- Shoulder check, full lock toward the space, then reverse slowly.
- Switch your gaze. Watch the lines through both side mirrors and straighten out once you're parallel to them.
- Center the car. A small forward correction is fine. Correcting mid-maneuver isn't a mistake, it's expected.
The three mistakes that actually matter in the test
- Hitting or mounting the curb. The most common reason a parking task has to be repeated. Counter-steer earlier rather than later.
- Missing observation. A shoulder check (Schulterblick, the over-the-shoulder look German instructors drill constantly) before and during the maneuver, plus a full look around. Examiners aren't only grading your geometry, they're grading whether you actually see the traffic around you.
- Rushing. Parking is allowed to be slow. Idle speed, feather the clutch, take your time correcting.
Worth knowing: a botched first attempt is not an automatic fail. Most examiners let you repeat the parking task once if the rest of the drive was solid.
Understand it first, then practice, then get in the car
The most expensive way to learn parking is to try it for the first time in a lesson at 80 euros an hour. Cheaper: internalize the sequence beforehand. The DriveDE app has a free 3D parking trainer that shows exactly the reference points above, interactively, for both parallel and bay parking, as many times as you want.
Wondering how many lessons you'll realistically need in total? Here's the average. And for everything else that comes up in the practical test, see the full guide.