If it is very uncommon for the valet to drive a particular model Lotus I give them special instructions. For instance, the valet at Treasure Island in Vegas was instructed to not touch the side windows of our M100.

 

If Danika Patrick was the valet attendant.....then "YES", but otherwise "NO".
I dont believe in putting my vehicles at risk by giving them up to strangers. Especially the Lotus which isnt the easiest to get in or out of for new people, or for them to backup. I heard a lot of horror stories about getting restitution over damages caused by valet attendants. Not worth it, IMO.

Cheers,

 

+1



I would hand over my keys to Danika Patrick..............no question about it.....

 

Sorry, no offense - but anyone that would hand the keys to their Lotus to a valet should have their head examined.

 

I will valet... but ONLY for the better parking spot and I still drive the car. Somewhat defeats the purpose of the valet, but if it gets my car in a safe place I'm for it.

 

Good thing you brought this up......it has never been asked ( this week )

 

I'd worry about them hitting the lower part of the front clam....

 

Tercel

Nice story about the girl racer.

I don't even feel comfortable letting a valet parker take the keys to my 1986 Tercel. So I guess I'd definitely pass on giving them the keys to my Lotus.

 

tip the valet to self park is not a vote?

 

the last time i 'had' to valet park, the valet and i had a discussion. he insisted due to insurance he had to park my car, i insisted he wasn't but he could ride with me to park it. when he still refused i pointed out that i didn't need to stay at that hotel.... so i was allowed to park the car myself, right by the front door...

 

i valet my car (if I feel I will get the best spot) and I have parked it every single time.

 

lame... I used to own a valet parking company... On any saturday night I had $1 million in cars sitting up front with $2 million worth of liability coverage to cover them: jags, mercedes, aston martin, ferrari, lambo...

Ill never forget when the audi TT came out, this guy pulled up with a brand new TT, paid just the standard fee ($6 at the time) and was totally worried about his car and because the entire front was filled with very expensive cars we put it in the regular parking lot. The guy comes out later and proceeds to freak out because his car was not parked up front, at which point i had to explain that his car was well taken care of but was not going to be put up front...


The moral of the story is: Dont be the guy with the TT... Granted the elise/exige is a nice car but its not a ferrari... if you want to keep track if the car, give the guy $20 bucks to put it up front but stop acting like your driving around in the space shuttle: most likely nothing is going to happen to the car and if something does its not the end of the world...

 

I feel the right answer is to be extra congenial, tip generously, offer to take the valet along for the ride, and PARK IT YOURSELF.

WE know it's not a Lambo, Aston, or Ferrari but most valets DON'T.

Be a good ambassador from the world of exotic car (even if it's not a "super car") ownership. :nanner:

 

ACE10 if there was ever a reason for you to re-up

 

I don't mind letting them valet the car, but most of the time they ask me to park it or just leave it up front. Don't be a dick, it's just a car.

(It's also entertaining to watch them trying to unlock the car with remote that they themselves locked with the key).

 

first post. hey guys

im very sensitive with valets (read below) but if and when i do use them my deal with valets.. leave it up front. no if ands or buts. usually being polite and a nice tip up front takes care of it no matter what you drive (currently an evo, hopefully an exige next week)

with this being said, i actually had a valet put 11k in damage into my 450whp evo a few years back. destroyed a set of wheels and the front fender needed to be replaced.

in college i also worked for a hotel where every car was valet. guys use to beat the crap out of some of the cars that came in, it make me sick. they are not to be trusted.

 

Not a chance.

 

When I was younger, I was all excited about the new Audi A4 Quattro I had bought. A damn nice car. We parked it at the hotel we were staying at and gave the keys to the valet and walked to a nearby restaurant.

My friends were asking me about my new car and how much I loved it. Chief among the questions was debate about it being a sedan vs a sporty car with me maintaining that it was damn fast and aggressive if driven right.

At this point an A4 Quattro went roaring past us, and I quipped something about that being how the car is supposed to be driven, that car that just went by, the one that was just like my...

Wait a second, that was *MY* car.

I made a comment when we got back that perhaps the valet shouldn't be so aggressive when the owner could still see them, but made it clear that I wasn't complaining, as that's how I thought the car was supposed to be driven.

I wouldn't valet my Lotus.

 

You're a better man than I. That's how the car is supposed to be driven for certain... but by the guy who pays for it. I don't valet as a rule, but i'm not opposed to it per se. I'd certainly be pretty stewed if I saw my car fly by at mach 2 though.

 

I'm a tiny bit worried about all my cars, but the Lotus is in it's own world. A cheap exotic it may be, but it should be treated like the others. I would not be worried about a TT.

 

No, never
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fP2fEx2plk

 

I always valet the car but i give them an extra $10 and i ask them to leave the car up front that way they don't drive my car and i park the car myself. This way the car is safe , i don't have to look for a parking space and somebody is watching the car the whole time i'm gone.
You should consider doing that.

 

Valet parking is a zero value added economic activity...no need to encourage it :thwack:

 

in places like chicago valet parking is he only practical solution... in places like new york, valet parking is the *only* solution... (unless you want to walk 1/2 mile). many parking lots double park the cars which means that even if you park it yourself you still have to give them the keys to move it around.

The point is that since most valets are kids you will have incidents from time to time but if you have them put your vehicle front you limit the driving to about 20 feet and nothing funny is going to happen in front.

 

I'd agree it's not a $100,000+ exotic but it still is an exotic. I've no problem valeting my TT, it's just a car.... With the Elise all I need is a Valet to bump a Clam, especially if you don't notice it right away.....

 

Not in this lifetime.

'Nuff said...

 

If it was one of the choices, I would have chosetn
"I'll only Valet if I have no choice but to Valet"

as I just simply prefer to park my own car than hand the keys to a stranger.
-with any of my cars.
Especially when hearing stories of Valet's damaging cars. (a friend of mine had his M3 damaged by valet parkers, and had to battle their insurance to get it fixed0

I usually take my daily driver if I know I'm going to have to valet park (or if I think I can score a parking spot without having to Valet).

But I'll never forget the one time I decided to take my Lotus to a birthday brunch at a restaurant off PCH in Malibu. (Dukes). I walked out and they parked my Lotus right by the front door - giving it higher priority than all the luxury Mercedes and BMW's that ny snotty friends were driving :nanner:

 

First off... This has been discussed about 100 times on this site. Does anyone do a search? Search the term "valet" and see how many threads come up. This place is like deja vu every other month.

Second... In many cities (such as L.A.) you HAVE to valet. Either you valet, or you parallel park on the street. (Even more dangerous.)

I valet both of my Lotuses every week. (My dry cleaner, condo, mall, grocery store, favorite restaurant, bar, club, gym, etc.. all have valet parking.) The valets drive much more expensive cars each day. In five years, I haven't had a valet do anything bad to my cars. (Knock on wood.) If they do, they carry insurance to fix it.

The bottom line is that these aren't Enzos. They'll survive being valet parked.

But again, do a search. This has been discussed ad nauseum.


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