‘My car is under this Tesla’: Woman pays ‘$400 to $600’ to park car in apartment’s ‘stacker’ garage. Now she can’t get it out

A frustrated driver is warning others away from car stacker parking garages after experiencing problems with one at her building right out of the gate.

"If any of you have stacker parking in your garage or you’re looking at an apartment building that has stackers instead of a regular garage, don’t do it," Dalal (@delshk) tells viewers in a TikTok that’s been watched over 2.7 million times.

After going through an orientation about how stacked parking works only a day prior, Dalal found herself immediately encountering errors with the system upon trying to retrieve her vehicle.

"My car is under this Tesla," she says, pointing her camera at a car that appeared to be at ground level. "I am trying to get to work. And it won’t give me—"

She then shows viewers that the system requires her to press a key fob against some centralized control panel. But rather than opening, it displayed a message: "Please close door manually."

The only problem was that Dalal said she had already tried opening and closing every gate around her parking area to determine the issue.

"And I cannot get my car out," she continues. "In San Francisco, people are paying $400 to $600 for parking in their apartments, and I can’t get my fucking car out. How does that make any sense?"

What is a car stacker?

In car stacker parking garages, vehicles are driven onto a mechanical platform that lifts them up so they can be stacked vertically. 

The idea behind them is to save space and fit more cars into a smaller garage. This makes them popular in large, dense cities that have had to come up with creative parking solutions. In theory, they can save the driver time looking for parking in a big garage, although as Dalal’s video shows, malfunctions can also create unexpected delays.

"But where the main issue lies for a place like the Bay Area," Redditor u/theirisnetwork wrote in 2021, "is your experience is entirely dependent on how management is willing to maintain it, and how quickly they’re able to help if there is a problem."

Viewers were confused—and unimpressed

Because car stackers are only necessary in big cities, most commenters on Dalal’s TikTok were hearing about this type of parking garage for the first time.

"'I’m late for work because the garage vending machine wouldn’t give me my car,' ???!!!! WTH?!" wrote one viewer.

"My small town no stop light brain doesn’t even process how this works," another admitted, while a third joked, "I’m so poor that I didn’t even know this was a thing."

"Sounds like a nightmare," a further user added. "What if I forget my phone in my car and now my car is somewhere in the maze. What if I have groceries do I unload everything then pull my car in?"

@delshk

F parking stackers, me and my homies hate parking stackers. And now I’m late for work waiting for maintenance.

♬ original sound - Dalal

But those who were familiar with the concept generally weren’t on board.

"The complex next to me has stacked parking and I see people fighting it daily," said a commenter.

"Dude in an emergency situation that’s a hazard," one person pointed out.

"My sister and her boyfriend have an apartment with one and in 2 years they’ve lived there it has been out of order 90% of the time- they have had their car stuck so many times," wrote a further user. "They now park on the street."

Fortunately, Dalal was eventually able to get her vehicle out with some assistance, but that hasn't shifted her opinion on car stacker garages.

"I hate this system so much," she said. "So stupid."

The Daily Dot has reached out to Dalal via TikTok comment.

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