A method for autonomously parking or un-parking a motor vehicle (12) includes locating the motor vehicle (12) relative to a parking area (30), selecting a destination location within the parking area(30), generating a path (61) from the location of the motor vehicle (12) to the destination location, wherein the path includes a plurality of linked nodes, each node having a cost associated therewith, wherein the cost of a child node is equal to an inherited cost plus a base cost and a change cost, wherein the change cost is a function of characteristics of a parent node, and autonomously driving the motor vehicle (12) along the path (61) from the location of the motor vehicle to the destination location.