Shelby County Corvette owner catches valet on a joyride round Birmingham airport

SHOAL CREEK, Ala. —A Mount Laurel man is upset after he says a valet attendant took his brand-new Corvette on a joyride. The incident was all caught on camera.

When Tim Scherer dropped his 2023 Corvette at the valet stand at the Birmingham Airport, it had less than 300 miles on it. We he got back from his trip, he noticed it had been driven 4 miles while he was gone. That's when he checked the cars on a computer and camera system that recorded every move his car made.

He was pretty upset when he saw the video of a valet taking his shiny blue Corvette for a spin around the airport.

Scherer says in the video, you can hear the giddy laughs of the valet driver who took the joyride not long after Scherer handed him the keys.

“People pay a premium to park their cars there and they assume that their cars are going to be handled with white gloves and to see, you know, and witness an experience like this, you know, people need to know what's going on over there,” Scherer said.

The recording shows the valet hit 6000 RPMs more than once. Scherer said that's a problem, since, at the time, the engine had less than 300 miles on it.

“A lot of the performance cars have break-in periods and the manufacturers are pretty strict on that. If you exceed those, all these cars have computers in them. They can see what was done in that first 500 miles. And it gives them a way out of covering any warranty issues,” Scherer said.

Scherer’s first call was to the manager of the valet company at the airport facility.

[size=13px]“The manager at the Birmingham facility reassured me multiple times that they would get me a letter stating that if anything goes wrong with the car, they're fully responsible. And none of that happened," Scherer said.[/size]

As the issue worked its way to corporate, weeks later, Scherer received an email saying the company would take no action since no damage was done to the vehicle. Scherer has accepted he has little recourse at this time but wants to make sure other car owners know this can happen to them, too.

As a matter of fact, the valet who drove his car is heard in the recording talking about another high-end car he took for a spin.

“He clearly states that he took the top surgeon in Birmingham's McLaren out for a joyride as well," Scherer said.

Birmingham airport officials released a statement in part saying, "We are looking into this matter and, of course, will cooperate in every way possible to ensure that the responsible parties are held accountable for any misconduct which resulted in damages to any of our passenger's vehicles."

Scherer said the local manager here told him they had fired the driver who took his Corvette.

 

I don't think I'd ever hand the keys to my Corvette to a valet parking attendant. I'm not sure I'd drive my Corvette to the airport, but if I did I'd park it myself and walk.

 

I don't valet any of my vehicles. Back in the day when ppl were respectful, I would valet on occasion downtown but rarely. Heck, I don't like going to the dealer for that reason and bc of the notable incompetence.

 

For the sake of general discussion, even though they denied the owner any "future compensation" for repairs, if something were to happen, and they determined it was from an improper break-in secondary to RPM threshold limits being exceeded, would the owner have a case, or is this simply an example of "Tough ****... Lesson Learned?"

 

I totally agree. In this case, I would save any video/audio documentation that happened during the joyride - just in case.

 

 

That link doesn't work for me but the moral of the story is don't leave your Corvette with a airport valet

 

Moral of the story here is ...don't valet park your Corvette at an airport ( or any other place either)

 

Handing your keys to anyone is a mistake. Simple solution: Take a TAXI to the airport.

 

or any valet. Why do people do this? I have never had any of my cars valeted...... I work at a Montage property and most of the cars are treated with respect but then there are those exceptions.

 

Several years ago, my son took a job at a large Municiple airport and got to know the airport valets. After his first week, he told me to NEVER valet park my car at the airport. Apparently, in the middle of the night, when the valet staff grew bored with nothing better to do, they would race the Corvettes, Ferraris, Lambos, etc., around the parking garage, narrowly missing each other as they would rip around corners, smoking tires, and slamming gears....

 

try this link….

 

Ask and you shall receive.


George

 

Why I never valet (except rental cars).

 

Thanks 116!

 

You're just asking for it giving your keys to a poor valet employee. Does he still get a tip after the joyride?

 

So.... You bring a rare, new, high performance sports car and you give it to a bunch of kids at the local airport and you expect it to get the white glove treatment
.. Huh ???

 

During college I worked as a valet for a Ritz-Carlton hotel. I can tell you every vehicle was treated with respect and the vast majority of vehicles we parked were exclusive, exotic, etc. I also know that if the owner of said car is respectful to the valets, that goes along way.

That being said, not all valets are created equal and I would never valet my car at the airport where they know you're not coming back for a certain period of time.

My wife travels for work extensively and will not valet her vehicle at the airport, but almost always has to valet at the hotels at which she stays. Recently had a trip where she needed to check in and immediately leave for a work meeting. Asked the valet to please keep it up front as she'd be right back. Comes back 5 min later and the car is gone. New valet says "oh other valet is off shift, he didn't tell me". Literally asks her for a tip first go retrieve her vehicle, which she did not give. 20 min later he arrives back with her vehicle, thus she's significantly late for her meeting.

When she returned that night, same valet. She had a 5 am flight the next morning. Calls down with her ticket, car never shows up. Another valet says the keys aren't there. She remembered the previous valet's name so he was called by the hotel. He "mistakenly" took her keys home with him. Took him over 30 min to bring the keys back so they could retrieve the car. Nearly missed her flight.

Morals of the story, don't use valets at the airport or less than elite establishments & be respectful to the valets at said elite establishments (i.e., tip on the way in & way out, and don't think your vehicle is the most expensive vehicle they've ever driven, because it isn't.)

 

 

The owner's an idiot for handing it over to an airport valet and with only 300 miles on it no less!