This question rises from an earlier post (which received very helpful responses – thank you to all) but I’m utterly mystified by my situation. I parked my Subaru Outback (but did not use my e-brake) in line with an alternate parking sign, and came back to find the rear pushed? pulled? towed? two feet behind said sign. My question is whether my car could have been shoved – while in Park, without the e-brake – without leaving any visible marks? Or is the Dept. of Transportation gaslighting me by moving the sign?
It’s possible a group of university students picked it up and moved it…
Maybe I should have responded to that Alumni Fundraiser flier?
not feesable,in any way shape or form.
Haha exactly.
It’s my opinion, based on the collisions I’ve seen, that a movement of 2 feet would leave some kind of mark if the movement was caused by a vehicle making contact with yours. It’s tough to really prove that your car moved, however, since the only proof is your memory.
If you were parked on ice then it could be pushed by a person, but even on ice if another vehicle were to back into you there would be a mark.
If it didn’t leave a mark on the car, it might leave tire tracks where the wheels spun as it puched. Could it be a faulty transmission?
The parking pawl will either work or it won’t. How would the wheels spin in a 2 foot movement?
Did you by chance get a ticket? Are you hoping to get out of it? 
Thankfully, the parking patrol wasn’t scrutinizing compliance this week, so I didn’t get a ticket – even this morning, when I couldn’t move for the street sweeper because the car wouldn’t start! But once I got a jump, everything seems to be working fine. But the identity and powers of the Mystery Mover not withstanding, I’m going to look for a mechanic where I can take the Outback for a full inspection tomorrow.
is the car a manual? The reason I ask is I’ve had a manual that was parked on a hill without the e-brake drift forward about 2 feet, and I know that nothing nudged it from behind. My mother called this slipping a gear.
No, the Outback is a 4-speed automatic, parked on a relatively flat street that – if anything – slightly slants in the direction opposite of which it was moved.
David Copperfield can make a 747jumbo vanish, so anything is possible.