Do you....... valet?

So, I picked up my new 2013 328xi today (more on that later in another thread) and of course my wife wants to drive it out to dinner to the posh mall not too far from our house. Mall is very upscale and has its own valet service where the restaurants are at.

I NEVER valet my car. Part of the reason for this in the past is my being convinced that valets can't drive for ****, and certainly don't know how to drive a stick and I don't want them grinding on my clutch.

So, I'm looking around for a parking spot and totally striking out. I'm thinking to myself.... what the hell is wrong with me, there are like tons of nice cars parked here. I finally.... caved and let them valet my car. The guy took one look at the brand new 2013 and said "um... I'll park this one away from the other cars".

All during dinner all I could think about was if that kid was out trying to pick up underage girls in my new BMW.

So... no more valet for me. Uneventfully the car came back no worse for wear, although I probably should have checked the mileage on the odometer first.

I won't hand my keys to anyone and pay em to drive it. No way!

It depends.

I never valet my BMW but I do when I am driving my old beater.
But even then I tip the valet generously to park my car right in front and watch it,



But seriously I will valet at certain establishments such as a five star hotel.
I think in many cases you have less of a chance of having the car damaged by having a valet park it than parking it yourself in a crowded lot where you can get dinged by the door of the car parked next to you. I think everyone who stayed at the Hotel Mount Washington for C2C4 used the valet service and there were no incidents. I talked for a while to one of the valets and he had a BMW of his own. He offered to wash my car and vacuum the interior for $25, I took him up on it an he did a great job. He also detailed iceben's Porsche.



CA

Valet is comped at the better places to eat, but I did tip him a few bucks for not crashing it.

Originally Posted by captainaudio

It depends.

I think that would fit in to the "hot chick" category. Hot chick, no parking, upscale place, I guess I can handle it in those situations.

Originally Posted by voip-ninja

So, I picked up my new 2013 328xi today (more on that later in another thread) and of course my wife wants to drive it out to dinner to the posh mall not too far from our house. Mall is very upscale and has its own valet service where the restaurants are at.

I NEVER valet my car. Part of the reason for this in the past is my being convinced that valets can't drive for ****, and certainly don't know how to drive a stick and I don't want them grinding on my clutch.

So, I'm looking around for a parking spot and totally striking out. I'm thinking to myself.... what the hell is wrong with me, there are like tons of nice cars parked here. I finally.... caved and let them valet my car. The guy took one look at the brand new 2013 and said "um... I'll park this one away from the other cars".

All during dinner all I could think about was if that kid was out trying to pick up underage girls in my new BMW.

So... no more valet for me. Uneventfully the car came back no worse for wear, although I probably should have checked the mileage on the odometer first.

I wonder what he thought of that fine "Beemer" sport sedan when he heard that diesel under the hood?




I know, that was mean. I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist.

Originally Posted by tturedraider

I wonder what he thought of that fine sport sedan when he heard that diesel under the hood?




I know, that was mean. I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist.

Somehow I don't think that the 20 year old college guys working at the valet are the engine note connoisseurs that you are.

If it is a high end place with really nice restaurants, than he probably parks much nicer car than 4cyl. 3 series, that requires a nose job, and take them for a spin.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Bimmer App

Peanut gallery is in full force tonight. Have fun driving your old (out of date) BMW and I'll enjoy the one I just picked up.

Originally Posted by voip-ninja

Peanut gallery is in full force tonight. Have fun driving your old (out of date) BMW and I'll enjoy the one I just picked up.

This. Don't really understand the point of those previous posts. Looking forward to your review thread.

Vallet people screw with your car half the time........
1. I woudln't like for them to mess with my car but i did select option 2

Originally Posted by voip-ninja

So, I picked up my new 2013 328xi today (more on that later in another thread) and of course my wife wants to drive it out to dinner to the posh mall not too far from our house. Mall is very upscale and has its own valet service where the restaurants are at.

I NEVER valet my car. Part of the reason for this in the past is my being convinced that valets can't drive for ****, and certainly don't know how to drive a stick and I don't want them grinding on my clutch.

So, I'm looking around for a parking spot and totally striking out. I'm thinking to myself.... what the hell is wrong with me, there are like tons of nice cars parked here. I finally.... caved and let them valet my car. The guy took one look at the brand new 2013 and said "um... I'll park this one away from the other cars".

All during dinner all I could think about was if that kid was out trying to pick up underage girls in my new BMW.

So... no more valet for me. Uneventfully the car came back no worse for wear, although I probably should have checked the mileage on the odometer first.

lol from your horror story i can't imagine what the vallet guy though of you when he saw ur reactions lmao

Originally Posted by voip-ninja

tainly don't know how to drive a stick and I don't want them grinding on my clutch.

So, I'm looking around for a parking spot and totally striking out. I'm thinking to myself.... what the hell is wrong with me, there are like tons of nice cars parked here. I finally.... caved and let them valet my car. The guy took one look at the brand new 2013 and said "um... I'll park this one away from the other cars".

All during dinner all I could think about was if that kid was out trying to pick up underage girls in my new BMW.

Only BMW owners continue to think their cars are special...

Originally Posted by brkf

Only BMW owners continue to think their cars are special...

It's a brand new car, so of course it's special to me right now... sad that you are so jaded that when you get a new $40-$55K car it's not special to you.

Seeing as I wasn't born with a silver spoon shoved up my ass and have been working since I was 14 years old, yes, I'm quite happy that I just got a new car, BMW or otherwise.

For all of your constant prattle about how "average" the new 3 series is, it would appear that the automobile rags, that get to drive EVERYTHING out there still seem to think it's quite good.

I took this picture a while back at the Boca Raton Resort and Club where we spend part of each winter and have posted it here before. These cars are valet parked. At a place like this the valets are carefully screened, bonded, trained and are used to driving and taking care of nice cars. I valet parked the 335 there while it was in Florida right aftere I bought it and we have valet parked Ms. Audio's Jaguar and a number of nice rentals (Jaguar, Mercedes, Hertz Shelby, etc.) I have never had an issue.

I am sure people here have horror stories about valet parking but as I stated a few posts back there are also horror stories about cars that were self parked. The only damage that my 335i has ever sustained by a valet parker was at the dealer while it was in for service (they dented the rear bumper but when I complained they repaired it). It was also damaged when I self parked in the parking lot of Stew Leonards in Yonkers where someone shoved a shopping cart into the driver's door). That one cost me $150 to have fixed.

CA

Originally Posted by voip-ninja

It's a brand new car, so of course it's special to me right now....

I know exactly how you feel. If its your brand new car its special. I was just as careful with my 78 Accord as I was with every new car I ever owned regardless of how much it cost, maybe even more careful. I've been parking at the far end of the lot away from other cars as long as I can remember.

CA

Originally Posted by brkf

Only BMW owners continue to think their cars are special...

Only brkf, living out there in Lala land, thinks BMWs are nothing more than Toyotas everywhere in the world. Dude, you need to put on some pants and get out of Cali for a change. Apparently Hulu is succeeding with you in turning your brain into green mush. Have you noticed Alec Baldwin or Will Arnett following you around a lot?

Originally Posted by brkf

Only BMW owners continue to think their cars are special...

Not usually. When I can't possibly avoid it -- roughly half the time I get the car back I can smell the aroma of burnt clutch lining.

I try to avoid handing my Volvo over to the valets, even at car washes -- and the Volvo has 198,000 miles.

On the original clutch.

I don't think the BMW is anything special, but I also don't think that most people, valets included, know how to drive a manual transmission. If I had a Honda Fit with a manual, I wouldn't trust the valet with it.

First, congrats on the delivery. I was under the impression that you had ordered an auto.

Yeah, not all of these guys know how to drive a stick decently. I even once had a salesman pull a stick car from the spot for me to test drive it. Let's just say that it was like sanding my guts. It was smooth all right, because he was continuously slipping the clutch while backing out at 0.05mph. But I guess the occasional abuse isn't going to kill the clutch immediately. What worries me more is them poking around. I don't care about the coins they might pocket, but I worry more about any papers with important numbers on them.

Whatever the list of reasons, I just don't like it. I valet only if there is no choice or if things would be really inconvenient otherwise.

Just to clarify, the new BMW is an 8AT, if it was a 6MT I would not have had it valet parked.. period. My previous was a 6MT which is why it was never valet parked.

Example of abuse
I think busy places with confined parking spaces are usually safer.

Originally Posted by voip-ninja

Just to clarify, the new BMW is an 8AT...

Good to know I have not gone completely senile yet

My car is a stick so no way to Valet.
Otherwise I wouldn't care.

Originally Posted by voip-ninja

it's a brand new car, so of course it's special to me right now... Sad that you are so jaded that when you get a new $40-$55k car it's not special to you.

Seeing as i wasn't born with a silver spoon shoved up my ass and have been working since i was 14 years old, yes, i'm quite happy that i just got a new car, bmw or otherwise.

For all of your constant prattle about how "average" the new 3 series is, it would appear that the automobile rags, that get to drive everything out there still seem to think it's quite good.

+1

Originally Posted by voip-ninja

All during dinner all I could think about was if that kid was out trying to pick up underage girls in my new BMW.

So... no more valet for me. Uneventfully the car came back no worse for wear, although I probably should have checked the mileage on the odometer first.

I know the feeling.