[DCEite]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Never use you keyfob to unlock you car from afar just to identify it. Especially in an unknown basement parking. Especially ladies. Someone could easily be waiting by your car and get in un-noticed while you are walking towards it.

Cheers, Doc

Not necessarily unlock, there is a combination of buttons (lock+unlock together for 5 seconds) that can make the alarm go off without unlocking the car. Provided the car is in range of the remote.

[KHegde]

Originally Posted by binand

Another place where I have first-hand experience is the area around Commercial Street in Bangalore

Hi, With regards to Commercial Street, my 2 Cents, since I too face a problem at Mall Parking Lots and also at the Airport when doing Airport Drop-pickups. The solution for Mall & Airport Parking Lots, as others have pointed out, is to click a Photo & share the same with your Spouse over Whatsapp.

For Commercial Street in Bangalore, this is what I do; make a "Mental Calculation" of the Old Prestige Head Office & Safina Plaza with respect to my Cars' Parking at the Pay & Park Slots. Please try this - Makes a major difference. For Reference, we have a couple of Shops selling Frankies etc..

[Nav-i-gator]

what I do is to remember the lift number nearest to the parking place, that I use to go from parking to the mall/office. And then make sure to use the same lift while going back to the car park. Usually it is easier to remember the shop just in front of the lift that I use, in case I forget the lift number as well.

[d.w.w.]

This thread made me remember the first time I parked in the basement of TCS Siruseri. It was my first time travelling to office in my new bike, was using public transport for few years and was so excited. Out of the excitement I parked the bike somewhere in the basement and came out without noticing where I parked and where I exited. The building construction was going on then , so there was no markings anywhere. When it was time to go home, I realized I had no idea where I parked. The whole basement is connected across 3 buildings and every place looked exactly the same, including the entry/exit points. All I remembered was that I exited to an open space with glass roof. I started looking for such an entry/exit point and realized there are many of those. After a lot of searching I found my bike parked in the parking lot of another building(EB5) where as I was working and looking around in EB6. From that day onwards, I made it a habit to keep note of the parking spot whenever I park in unfamiliar locations. There was no smart phones then and so I would compose an SMS on the parking location and save it in drafts and delete it later.

These days I send a text to myself on Whatsapp/Signal with the parking slot number. If there is no number, I write a detailed note how to come back to the parking space. Better to spend a minute typing it than spending an hour looking for the vehicle.

Originally Posted by Quoter

I use the parking location feature in my Oneplus.

Thanks. Never knew this feature existed in OnePlus

[binand]

Originally Posted by KHegde

For Commercial Street in Bangalore, this is what I do; make a "Mental Calculation" of the Old Prestige Head Office & Safina Plaza...

Thanks. The experience was actually my wife's (I don't think I am that much spatially / directionally challenged). The photo she took showed a particular store which had no Google Maps POI entry. :-)

Anyway the experience taught her to start using Google Assistant on her own phone.

[Aroy]

Although I do not go to office, I frequently visit various malls. Every time the parking is at a different place. So I take a photo of the nearest pillar (that has floor no also).

When time comes to go, I refer to the photo and go to the floor and pillar number. Then I use the key to flash the lights of my car.

[cpabhijit]

Most parking lots I go to are small and hence it is easy to remember. In Dubai airport, the main concourse leading to the car park has displays where you just key in the plate and it shows you the car and the pillar number!! How cool is that!

[CityRyder]

Thanks for sharing your ideas to spot motorcycle (although discussion was skewed towards car :-) ). I have started to lock my helmet on fuel tank, cover that with peculiar colour helmet cover, now i see it from a distance. Cover also saves my fuel tank from any scratches.

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by Oppanna

On a lighter note, tie a baloon to the car and you will be able to spot it from a distance provided you remember on which floor the car was parked!

Something similar is what I do. I look for the cycle carrier on the roof of my car to identify it. Pretty useful since that's one thing which is visible in a crowded car park.

If it's a mall, I generally look for the first store that I see when I exit the lift.

[binand]

Today I noticed that at the end of a trip (where Navigation on Android Auto ends and asks you for feedback with smiley faces), there was an additional toggle which asked whether I wanted to "Remember Parking". I enabled that toggle and since then, there is a notification on my phone that says "Parking Location" tapping which it takes me to the Maps app with a pin on the location and a "Directions" button - which as a nice touch, defaults to walking mode.

(This was at my own home, so haven't really had the opportunity to explore further. But I think it is a new feature they enabled recently).

[binand]

Originally Posted by binand

Today I noticed that at the end of a trip [...] there was an additional toggle which asked whether I wanted to "Remember Parking".

Took some photos and screenshots of this feature. This is the "Save parking" toggle. You have to manually enable it - I haven't yet seen any setting that essentially tells it to default this toggle to its ON position.



Now I get this silent notification on my phone.



Any time I tap on that notification, Google Maps opens with this view.



I can simply tap on "Directions" to get walking directions to where I parked.

The "More Info" button allows me to fine-tune the location (manually) if needed, add a note (this is where you'd enter "near pillar J3" I guess) and a "time left" field - this last I presume is to keep track of timed parking ("Parking for 30 minutes only") and would generate visible/audible alarms when the time is about to be up.



HSR BDA Complex is a small lot, the real test would be when I take it to KIAL next week. :-)