Courtesy of Jalopnik.

Another reason not to valet park - Jeep Grand Cherokee, Porsche, Masseratti, and a Countryman. Anyone in Miami have a white with a black roof?

 

Oh no - a Speedster - my DREAM car. Ouch!

It's funny DH and I went to dinner at a very fancy pants restaurant last week that is attached to a hotel. He asked if we were going to just valet our 4 day old Mini - I said "no way in hell" and found secluded roomy street parking a block away. It wasn't a money issue - I just don't trust a valet with my brand new car. All I can think about is Ferris Bueller's Day off!

 

Even more reason to own a manual. Last two valets couldn't park my R53, so they rode shotgun up to the valet car park.

 

I'm sure you've all seen the sticker or badge that says "Yes it's fast, no you can't drive it". It wasn't designed to be cute or funny, was it...

 

As a former valet, I can tell you, all you gotta do is tip on the way in, and the car is fine. I have driven just about every car under the sun, and I always drove better in the ones that I appreciated and where the owners were cool and tipped on the way in.

Now I do take exception with the valets that couldn't drive a stick. WTF? That was a requirement where I had worked. You have to be able to drive anything. Lotus was the toughest followed by a Ferrari. Full size Hummer, and Acura NSX the most fun. Rolls Royce was just a PITA.

 

That's why I never let a valet drive my car, I take exception to the fact you have to bribe someone not tear up your property.

=Laserjock=

 

 

I stayed at the Epic in Miami in January during a conference. There were always Aston Martins, Bentleys, and Ferraris parked in the circle in front of the hotel, and always a backup at night trying to get parked. They have a hot restaurant and can't get guests parked quickly enough. The valets seemed frazzled and the guests ticked off.

 

It's not like we would intentionally rag on the ones that didn't tip on the way in. You aren't necessarily bribing someone. You are paying them to take your car and retrieve it when you come back. The same guy doesn't always park your car as retrieves it. Tipping someone who performs good service for you is expected for this act, and tipping a guy to take your car and park it recognizes this service.


You sound as if your expectation is to have this done free of charge! 9 out of ten times, it was the guy who thought he was daddy warbucks and thought his car was the *****, that was always a **** about "taking care of his baby" and probably stiffed when he left. Guy that drove the off the charts expensive cars, wouldn't care, flip you the keys and drop$20 bucks when they left. It was a fun and easy way to make a living in college!