Genie GPS-R Stop Perfect Every Time Parking Guide System, one Size, Yellow, 1 Count (Pack of 1)

Works great at preventing our family drivers from pulling too far up in the garage. We had an ancient plastic parking guard in place for years but my daughter repeatedly knocked it down and ran it over. This one's great because it hangs from the ceiling. Just make sure your windshield wipers are off as you enter your garage or carport or they may send it airborne- as we found out the hard way!

This thing is cool. I actually bought it to use in a slightly unconventional way. Instead of using it to gauge how far I had pulled into my garage, I positioned it right at the rear wheel arch so I could see in my side mirror that I was backing in at the right angle. It was important for my garage because there is a side door that opens inward and I needed to give clearance. With this ball in place, it’s highly visible in the side mirror and it makes backing in a consistent breeze. Plus, it’s cool watching the ball rise up out of the way when the garage door closes.

Does its job

While you can just suspend a tennis ball from your garage ceiling to use as a parking guide, you'll then have a ball hanging there when the car is absent. This gizmo uses three screw eyes to lower the ball when the door is open and pull it up to the ceiling when closed. Installation was a bit tricky. Marking the exact spot on the ceiling that lets the ball touch the windshield directly in front of the driver was the first challenge. Our garage ceiling is higher than some, and a ladder next to the car (assuming you can't actually stand on the car itself) made for a difficult reach. I ended up taping a pencil to the end of a yardstick and suspending the ball from the pencil. When the ball was exactly right, I made a mark with the pencil and, after moving the car, installed the first eye screw. Another eye screw goes in the top of the garage door in line with the first one. Locating the middle eye screw (located between the other two) was the most time consuming. It's located above the door in the open position, so when the ball is at the correct height (i.e., door fully open) you can't reach the spot on the ceiling to locate the screw - the raised door is in the way. The instructions provide a rough guide to the distance from the first screw in the form of a table with garage measurements. That got me close, but I ended up making a few trial-and-error adjustments to get the ball height just right. Now works exactly as intended. There are a few third-party videos online showing the installation process, but beware - one is less than a minute long, and the "expert" ignores the instructions and just suspends the ball from a single screw in the ceiling! (That works, of course, if you don't mind the dangling ball when the car is gone.)

If you follow the instructions to a T, works really well. But you have to tailor the installation to your garage and that can get complicated. Once you've worked it all out though, is great. Works perfectly for parking and when the door is lowered again the ball retracts back to the top of the garage. Would recommend to anyone but you could just go buy string and a ball and some eyelets for half this price. For the price ($6+) you're basically paying not to have to go to the store for the parts. It's a simple device. Took me 15mins to install once I had the planning worked out to properly distance the eyelets and keep everything in a straight line on the ceiling.

Didn’t work out for my set up ( high ceiling ). But cool idea. So I have an over priced hanging ball that stays in place. Fast shipping

This is very handy for parking in our somewhat tight garage space . I can aim the SUV in for the perfect spot so I don't hit the garage's concrete step , I'm still positioned so our truck can also get in there and the garage door doesn't hit the rear bumper when it closes. It's a bit more durable than just a tennis ball and a string

I noticed quite a bit of confusion and conflicting information on this parking ball, so I went ahead and made a video showing how it works, and how to install it. Very simple, took about 10 minutes. It does indeed auto retract when installed correctly. Too many people don’t seem to understand the instructions, and instead install it their own way, then claim it doesn’t work correctly. I figured a video will help alleviate some of that and help others with weather this is the one for them. This is my third one, and they hold up for years of daily use with no problems. I have more garages now, so I needed another. First thing is it is soft, but has just enough bounce that at low speed it’s obvious when it contacts the windshield, and you can easily park in the exact same spot every time. I really enjoy the idea of it being able to retract out of my way if I want to use my garage for anything other than parking my car in. It’s amazingly handy when I want to tinker on projects and don’t want the ball hanging in the center of the room. If I want airflow, open the garage about half way and it’s still above my head. It’s soft (does not leave marks on the windshield), the string doesn’t stretch over time, and it comes with everything you need to install. 10/10, and for $7 it’s hard to beat.

Exactly what I was looking for.

This has made my life better. This saved my garage, my wife’s car, my marriage. Ok maybe not the last one but setting this up was easy and it allows us to park just right in the garage. I love that it retracts into the ceiling when the door is closed allowing me to freely work in the garage when the car is out.

Product is what it says it is. But not easy to set up. Confusing. We modified and it worked for us.

Product arrived on time, was installed with no problems and does its job as described.

So I tried to mount it as per the instructions. The first issue I had was the eyelet I mounted in the garage door. I pre drilled and used pliers to twist they eyelet in, but the eyelet broke off (they are pretty cheap). The second issue was I mounted everything as per the measurements , but wen I lowered the garage door, the ball named at the eyelet with about 8” of garage door left to close. This meant it pulled and bent the eyelet. I double checked the measurements and they were bang on. I do a lot of renos and used my laser measure, but checked it with a steel tape measure, too. Ended up moving the middle eye about 16” to make it work properly. It does work and works well, but not with the instructions provided. Others have noted trial and error and you should plant to expect that. I also replaced all the eyelets with better ones. The ones supplied are cheap and have very little thread to bight into the drywall ceiling. Need to be handy to make this work. I like it, but good grief.