Valet

I normally drive my cars everyplace -- park them on the street in cities. Valet them when I must. I also have to go to NY City -- Normally I just valet them at the hotel. Now I normally stay an nice hotels but I really do not think that matters much because they normally do not have their own lots! You can tip the guy who takes it but that is really nothing I go into Philadelphia most days -- I normally just park on the street -- the tt has been fine (not over night outside). So have people had problems -- I really do not know why I am asking because its going. When I was a kid my father bought me a new car -- he nicked the door -- said "its a car" -- go have fun. I have tried to live that way!

Whenever I valet the car, I ask them to keep it up front if it isn't overnight. Usually, places love having expensive cars outside their location anyway so they are pretty accomodating. Bobby

I used to live in Phila and always found it less strssful to take the train whenever I had to go to NYC.

from 88-93 i was a valet in philadelphia at various hot spots: le bec fin, the monte carlo living room (on south street) etc. Oh boy do i have some stories for you! I once took a brand new 850i on 95 north (it was a really nice car at 120mph), we routinely raced cars up and down delaware ave, i learned to drift, in the snow, in a 560sel, it was absolute craziness! Complete and utter disrespect but it was a GD Blast!! Be careful guys!! If at all possible drop an extra dime and keep it up front, check the miles and let the valet know you checked them! we cannot all be trusted!

I refuse to use valet parking. I actually go out of my way to park elsewhere.

Exactly why I ask them to keep it up front. Bobby

I valet everytime-doesn't bother me at all. What bothers me is people who key cars and such- WHY?. Regards. Mike

I live in a building which has a 9 story public garage. Its in an area surrounded by shops and restaurants, so lotsa tourists. The way these valets drive up and down the garage is absolutely freaking atrocious. There has been 2 times now where I swear I would have been hit by these clowns going more than 20 mph (it may not sound fast but try that in a small garage with one blind turn after next!) around blind turns. I used to valet when I lived in the burbs but living downtown, I now walk everywhere and I watch what these valets do to cars and I kick myself for ever valeting my baby

One of the great things about living in the city is you never need to valet park However, I'd still never recommend it. Park in a garage and walk, or if you are lazy, give the valet 50 bucks and tell him the car stays in front.

A couple of years ago on vacation, I rented a white Suzuki SUV to drive on the island we were staying on. There were a whole lot of white Suzuki SUVs being rented there. One night we valet parked at a restaurant, and the valet gave us a ticket. I joked about whether he was really a valet or not because a couple of months earlier a friend had a car stolen by an imposter valet at a nice Chicago hotel. Anyway, at the end of the evening I gave the guy the claim check and drove back to our hotel. The next morning I realized he had given us the wrong white Suzuki SUV ! A month later, a friend valet parked their car at a black tie event we were attending. They left the event about 20 minutes before us, and were still waiting for their car when we left. The kid parking the cars said there was a slight problem with the car-- the "muffler" had fallen off. Here's what the car actually looked like:

I leave my tt with the Valet with a tip adequate to keep it up front. How much do others generally find it costs? In my experience $20 is necessary at Chicago hot spots, but generally $10 does it everywhere else. Comments? AS

Damn, that's it? 50 is the starting point at most places in Boston, although I'll bet they'd do 20 if you have the TT

So it looks like people do to take their Porsche's on any little road trips! I know that it does not hold very much - but! I am not talking about going out for an evening - that is not a problem. I am talking about when you would have to park it for a few days or up to a week. My only thoughts go towards the front bumper -- since the car is low. If the hotel people hit something -- that would be a problem -- and a delay. You have to just look at how the Porsche dealers treat the cars. Having been to so many of them in recent months. They park them right next to each other -- the lot guys rev them everywhere! Bang the temp tags onto the paint! same as a Ford dealer! One salesman drove me in a C2 with about 25miles on it -- like a bat out of hell, when it was stone cold, on a rutted road with stones all over the place. It made me sick -- it really did - I would have never bought a car from him. I am not expecting Audrey Hepburn with white gloves to come out and park it -- I just wanted to see what if anything I should do regarding parking in a major city. When I lived in NY City I had a space -- lets face it there are no shortage of $$ cars in NY or any major city. But none of my cars were low like my tt. Any thought on this point?

You hear all these stories (and watch Ferris's Bs Day Off), but when push comes to shove, either you trust that they will not wreck your car, or you don't, cause give them $50 and they still make take it for a joy ride. My brother on the other hand never relinquishes the keys to his Ferrari. He gives the guy $20, says I'm parking it myself, over there, thanks. And they always say sure (hey, its $20 more than they would have gotten otherwise) As far as parking on the street, pretty much look for a metered spot. Sounds strange, but since the meters are a set distance apart people don't look to shoe horn theirs cars in, which is when you get bumper damage. Whenever I need to park my baby on the street in NYC, I look for a meter (short term), if i were looking for a longer term spot I'd look for one where I parked it myself, and kept the keys.

Jb... What amazes me is you're telling all of us you can't be trusted...

no valet ever drives my porsche--period!. i park it myself or go elsewhere. ferris bueller lives!

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