Valet parking

How have you successfully avoided having a valet park your Ferrari? Any stories, pleasant or horrific? Or, are you OK with valets? Looking forward to your observations and experiences.

 

Only once has it come up. At a casino. I rolled in. Wife jumped out. Greased some palms. They let us self park it out front, keep keys. Andrew Jackson is your best friend.
T

 

I would never let a valet touch any of my cars, most certainly not my Ferrari. I don't want to have the worry or come out of an event and need to inspect my car. In my area, most restaurants don't really want to touch them anyway. The valet will let our cars park up front in prime spots, but we do the parking. I tip well for that. I never leave the keys with them either.

 

Think Leno has given commentary on this very point.

 

Cash is king, never valet, always pay well to leave the car up front with the valets beady eyes watching for errant photo bombers sticking their giant asses on the paintwork

 

I haven't valeted a car in years, as absolutely nothing good will come of utilizing that "service". I have all of the local valet spots wired - I've long since made arrangements to self-park (often in convenient VIP locations) at those hotels and restaurants. Nowadays, I simply email a notification to the appropriate party when I make a reservation.

Were I to be surprised by an unexpected valet somewhere, I'd either negotiate self-parking on the spot or leave. I wouldn't let a valet have one of my cars no matter what.

 

I was a valet in my college days just a few years ago (I'm 26 now). Every valet is open to letting you self park. It all depends on the price. If they give you the "we can't do it because of insurance" then up the tip. Depending on what type of location the tips run from 20$ and up. On the other hand, the car guys at the higher class locations will have driven just about any car and will know more about them from experience than most owners do. I worked in Beverly Hills at a really high class location with off site lots and have a few very fun stories

 

Side issue but an AMG GT owning friend just got a £3,000 estimate on a bonnet repair, suspected cause: PBA, photo bombers arse.

I love valet parking when I visit the US, for rentals !

 

I did valet parking at the Ritz Carlton. My 348 was the least expensive of the other 5 Ferraris that were already parked there. The valet manager thought it was hilarious that I insisted on locking the car and keeping the keys.

 

Steve , thought this might sum it up. Lol. Best , Kirk
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Ha! Something similar to that did happen. I worked at a private party (same company) at a house on pacific coast highway. There were some very impressive cars of which one was a 250 Cali LWB. The owner was really nice and we talked for a long time about Ferraris. He was impressed with my knowledge and then offered that I can take the car for a drive (supervised by him of course). When we drove out onto the highway and cruised along side the coast and he told me to give it a go, I had pretty much the same smile as the guy in the picture. That was one of those defining moments that brought me closer to the brand

 

No doubt there are diligent, conscientious, caring and responsible valets out there. Unfortunately I can't tell them apart from the careless, incompetent, reckless and criminal ones.

So I never valet any of my cars.

 

as much as I like Andrew, Benjamin is a better friend. He can do some things that Andrew can't.

 

I see you're from Cali, so probably palms need more grease out there!
T

 

I valet parked my car only once at a private golf club where my Ferrari was the least expensive car there. The drive around the entrance was lined with everything from La Ferraris to Paganis and other exotica. Their service was impeccable and car was waiting for me when I exited the clubhouse.
On another note a few years ago a restaurant parking lot in a tony village on the North Shore of Long Island loaded with Benzes and Porsches had all the high end cars stolen by a gang who held the valets at gunpoint while they helped themselves to the keys. The thefts were not covered by the high end restaurant's insurance but the owners own. Since then I always self park, pay the valet a good amount and lock and take the keys with me.

 

I valet here and there.... my only bad experience was that the valet had to find me in the restaurant as they could not figure out how to open the door.... some how the driver locked the door... so reached in under the pull... voila... let him out. poor guy was dying in there in the heat!

 

Pay and park. We don't valet except for our SUV.

 

We never go out...so we never valet.

 

Also consider that many restaurants sub-out valet services to third-party companies in an effort to minimize liabilities if a car gets damaged or stolen.

 

A fellow Fcar owner and I hit the St. Regis after enjoying the local FCA dinner a couple weeks back. A nice place that sees lots of Ferraris, so I don't think much of it. We only had a quick drink and came back for the cars after about 20 min. It took them 20 minutes to get my car. Multiple cars are brought up for people after I had requested my car. Finally it shows and the valet manager apologizes for the wait and explains that they had grabbed the wrong Ferrari key the 1st time they went down to retrieve it. I tip the guy a $20, get in the car and the radio was on with the station changed (heck, I never even have the radio one). So in the back of my head, I wondering if someone wasn't out cruising and had to get called back early. Next time I will be checking the mileage before handing the keys over.

 

I would never allow a valet even near my Ferrari

 

You have to admit, it's not a bad gig if you can get it. The valet takes your Ferrari for a joy ride and then you give him $20 when he returns the car. LOL

+1

I never use valet services...

 

I keep an old iPhone in my car just in case, I can check where the car is with Find my Phone. What recourse is there if your car is not on the lot? Stolen vehicle?

 

Self park unless you absolutely can't avoid it.

Tip the valet well in advance to leave your car out front. Usually isn't a problem because they like having a Ferrari out front.

My story is that I valet parked my Ferrari at a nice hotel in Lake Tahoe because I thought that the valet section was more secure than self park. The confident valet who took my car said that he couldn't leave it up front all weekend but he pointed out the space that he was going to leave it in for the weekend. I watched him carefully park and deposit the keys. The car never left the space. When I went to collect it on Sunday, a cheery YOUNG valet greeted me and asked for my claim check. When he went to the box to get the keys his face turned white. He gulped and walked slowly to my Ferrari. He fumbled with the keys for a while and decided to unlock the drivers door manually with the key. Oops! Siren goes off. Never figures out the fob. I walk slowly out to the car with the siren blaring and he begs me to drive it myself over to the driveway. He doesn't get his first Ferrari drive in my car and he has to take the walk of shame back to the valet station and take merciless ribbing from his buddies. I gave him $20 to not help me load my luggage.

 

I hate valets with even my cheapest car.
The luxury of it is lost on me, I see it as an expensive inconvenience not a service.