Valet Parking!!!
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 125
Likes: 0
From: Glendale Arizona
Valet Parking!!!
Got my new vette,(Z06), now I'm paranoid to valet it! Do you valet your vettes? Whats the proper etiquette to make sure your baby comes back in one piece! Do you tip when the car is taken, AND when you pick it up, or just one or the other? How much? Can these valet guys drive a stick,should I assume they can? I feel like parking it myself, but hey I'm paranoid! I don't have this problem with our Camry! What do you think? Thanks John
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 7,890
Likes: 0
From: FL
Do what my dad did with his viper and what I would do if I ever went to a place where they had valet. Pay them but park it yourself. Basically pay for a good spot park it and they'll still be happy too.
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 172
Likes: 3
From: Phoenix AZ.
Maybe you haven't seen Ferris Buelers Day Off 
Originally Posted by NDRAG
Got my new vette,(Z06), now I'm paranoid to valet it! Do you valet your vettes? Whats the proper etiquette to make sure your baby comes back in one piece! Do you tip when the car is taken, AND when you pick it up, or just one or the other? How much? Can these valet guys drive a stick,should I assume they can? I feel like parking it myself, but hey I'm paranoid! I don't have this problem with our Camry! What do you think? Thanks John
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 14,942
Likes: 0
From: Los Angeles
Normally, I don't valet my car..In fact, I've only done it once..I recently went to a friend's bachelor dinner at some sushi joint on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood..I was a little skeptical about the "valet only" parking..When I got there, there was a yellow Lambo and a brand new Rolls Royce Phantom in the valet line just ahead of me..You think I made a fuss about my Corvette? Not even..The parking was in a sub-garage and I watched the guy drive it 50 feet into a spot..The situation humbled me just a bit..
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 11,308
Likes: 1
From: The Beautiful Greater Bay Area California
Originally Posted by TruUndrtkr
Normally, I don't valet my car..In fact, I've only done it once..I recently went to a friend's bachelor dinner at some sushi joint on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood..I was a little skeptical about the "valet only" parking..When I got there, there was a yellow Lambo and a brand new Rolls Royce Phantom in the valet line just ahead of me..You think I made a fuss about my Corvette? Not even..The parking was in a sub-garage and I watched the guy drive it 50 feet into a spot..The situation humbled me just a bit..
Some places (most) you cannot trust. However, there are those places you can trust, AND, nice establishments are better at being responsible (and liable) for a patron's vehicle. Just use common sense.
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Pro
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 712
Likes: 0
I have a 98 and I won't let anyone valet it.I don't care if he valets million dollar cars,I just don't see the point of someone else parking my car.Would you let a perfect stranger into your house when you weren't home?JER.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 3,424
Likes: 0
From: Las Vegas Nevada
St. Jude Donor '07-'08
Living in Vegas i would rather trust a valet than parking in a high rise parking lot. Parkings spaces are usually very tight. Plus too many people are in out of spaces, and very little security. When i valet i request parking up front. Never got refused and a couple of dollars for a tip when picking up the vette. Plus i watch the valet park my car. Thirty years of parking in these lots as an employee, believe me when i say you are much safer valeting
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 19,384
Likes: 87
From: Horncastle Lincolnshire, England
2023 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
Your profile doesn't say where you're from.
My son used to valet in Vegas and he tells some stories. Suffice to say that I don;t valet and he was one of the good ones. He learned to drive stick in England and has always driven stick. Some of the kids had no clue. Its a long way to many of the valet parking slots and time is of the essence. Those cars move when they're taking them down and back up. I wouldn't want my Vette making that journey 
They work hard and try to do the best but some customers don't make it easy. In Vegas its at least $10 if you want to stay up front. At busy times he had the top slots full and even $20 wouldn't guarantee the slot. A couple of bucks is a risk.
To really scare you, his best story was of the attendant who launched a brand new Viper over a concrete kerb and landed it into a stack of 5 cors. One of them was his own illegally parked car
He split the transmission on one Camaro by taking the ramp too quickly. ironically it was our own car on a private trip to the MGM 
Your call
My son used to valet in Vegas and he tells some stories. Suffice to say that I don;t valet and he was one of the good ones. He learned to drive stick in England and has always driven stick. Some of the kids had no clue. Its a long way to many of the valet parking slots and time is of the essence. Those cars move when they're taking them down and back up. I wouldn't want my Vette making that journey
They work hard and try to do the best but some customers don't make it easy. In Vegas its at least $10 if you want to stay up front. At busy times he had the top slots full and even $20 wouldn't guarantee the slot. A couple of bucks is a risk.
To really scare you, his best story was of the attendant who launched a brand new Viper over a concrete kerb and landed it into a stack of 5 cors. One of them was his own illegally parked car
He split the transmission on one Camaro by taking the ramp too quickly. ironically it was our own car on a private trip to the MGM
Your call
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,515
Likes: 17
From: Keller, TX
St. Jude Donor '07
Originally Posted by TruUndrtkr
Normally, I don't valet my car..In fact, I've only done it once..I recently went to a friend's bachelor dinner at some sushi joint on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood..I was a little skeptical about the "valet only" parking..When I got there, there was a yellow Lambo and a brand new Rolls Royce Phantom in the valet line just ahead of me..You think I made a fuss about my Corvette? Not even..The parking was in a sub-garage and I watched the guy drive it 50 feet into a spot..The situation humbled me just a bit..
Puts things in perspective.
