“How is this possible that a car does not have a gear to reverse?”

No matter how hard I tried to move the gear stick all the way away from me to put it in reverse, the car moved forward. Because I was already in a position to park the car from the tail in a small parking area in the basement of the hotel that we were staying, I was only about 3 feet away from a car diagonally across the spot, where I was trying to park. Yet, I could not get the car to reverse so I was getting closer and closer to the car.

Everything was fine for about two hour of arriving in Germany for the first time. My colleagues and I landed in Munich on time, rented a car without any problem, and the drive on the highway was smooth. After dropping my colleagues off at the lobby entrance, I went down the slope to the hotel parking lot to park the car. Then, I was trapped in this curse…

My hands and back were sweating, and my brain was about to go blank. My collogues must be waiting for me for quite a while at the lobby. All the restaurants were closing very soon. Moreover, I was blocking the whole aisle on the parking lot. What would I do if a car comes in?

After several failed attempts to park the car, I stopped everything that I was doing because I did not have much more space between the car and the car in front of me. By then, I was less than 2 feet away from the car in front of me. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. I looked at the gear stick, and I realized that the reverse sign was on the side closer to me. Strange, I thought.

Usually, the gears starts with 1 at the left upper corner, then 2 at the left lower corner, 3 at the center top, 4 at the center bottom, 5 at the right upper corner, and reverse at the right lower corner.

What I saw was reverse all the way towards the left side. Then, the rest looked similar to what I was used to seeing, except that there is a number 6 at the right lower corner, where I would usually see reverse.

I was puzzled but I tried to move the stick all the way towards me to put it in the reverse gear. When I gently stepped on the accel pedal and very slowly released the clutch pedal, hoping that car would move backward, the car continued moving forward. I was, then, less than a foot away from the car in front of me!

“May be I did not step on the clutch pedal deep enough, and maybe that is why the gear is not moving to the reverse,” I thought. I stretched my left leg as much as I could to step on the clutch pedal all the way, then I pulled the gear stick all the way towards me as hard as I could. I did not feel much different from what I felt earlier but I gave it a try.

The car continued forward! I was only a few inches away from the car! If I fail again, I would, for sure, be crashing. I could not make any more experiments, so I started thinking harder.

All the cars go through strict inspection process, and reverse function has to be one of the basic function that must be tested… or is that not the case in Germany?

Okay, how about other customers who have used this car in the past? Nobody has complained? Is this a brand new car and am I the first person driving this?

My logical thinking was telling me there is no way that I cannot get the car to reverse, but in reality, I could not get it to reverse. My brain was trying to make sense of the situation so hard but it couldn’t.

By the way, it was miracle that no other car had come into the parking lot until then, but at any moment, there could have been cars coming in.

I was out of ideas as to what more I could possibly try. Again, there was only a few inches in between the cars so I had to make sure I operate correctly in the next move. Without having any hope, I started looking for the user manual in the glove box. Before reaching the user manual, I saw the roadside rescue number on the brochure I received at the car rental place.

Maybe I could make a phone call to the roadside rescue… but is this situation worthy of calling the roadside rescue??? On top of that, I do not speak German, and can the phone operator understand the situation I am in now? Who would believe me that I cannot get the car to reverse!?

After thinking for a while, I have decided to try calling the roadside rescue.

***

A little relief after hearing the phone operator speaking in English… After explaining the situation I was in, and the type of the car I rented, the phone operator asked me,

“Sir, is there a silver ring around the gear shift?”

I looked the stick, and in deed, there was.

“Try lifting the ring upward, keep it lifted, then move the stick to the reverse position.”

Voila!

The dark basement parking lot was filled with rays of magical lights, and the gear shift has finally passed the enchanted gate towards the glorious well of the reverse gear! This time, I really felt that I was able to move the stick to the right gear so I moved the car. The car has started moving backward!

As soon as I hang up and started parking the car, I saw another car came into the parking lot.

***

Despite the magical experience, the time did not reverse with the car. Instead, it only moved forward by an hour since I dropped my colleagues off at the lobby entrance… By the time I went up to the lobby to meet my colleague, all the restaurants had already been closed…

By the way, the car I was driving was Nissan… If you are driving a Nissan car, be sure to remember about the “Ring.” Actually, you should check and understand all the functions of the car that you are renting before you leave the car rental’s parking lot. If you cannot find something, ask the staff there!