That's the smart way to do it. There's such saying too. Of course they will leave your S in the front. If you drove an LC or LFA, they would. On the other hand, they might keep Supra in the front.

 

Yes, you're probably ok at the Four Seasons. They're probably also employed by the hotel and parking on their own property, so doesn't run afoul of my rule.

My own experience was at probably the highest-end sushi restaurant in Chicago (dinner for the 6 of us was $1100, and this was 21 years ago, so $1900 today?). That dinner wound up costing me about 5 grand, all told, my insurance company another 12--about half the car's value--and I was without a car for 8 weeks.

 

That just shows you how much the numbers of stick-shift vehicles on the road have dwindled in recent years....and its effect on the valet-buisness.

Even though I have not owned one for many years, I can, personally, still get into a three-pedal car today and, with maybe a minute or two to get used to the feel/actions/engagement of the clutch pedal and the shift-linkage, zoom off and drive it practically anywhere. But that is not the case with those who either never learned to drive a stick or who are too young to have had any significant experience with one. And, as us older folks are dying off, more and more younger people are getting hired to do this kind of work shuffling vehicles around. So, it is not with any great surprise that many of them simply don't know how to drive one....and businesses and restaurants don't want to assume the liability.

I might also add that having a three-pedal car, today, probably makes it less-likely to be stolen.....a lot of thieves (and potential thieves) can't drive a stick either LOL.

Stick-shift or automatic, I don't trust my own vehicle to valets (IMO too risky)...but I understand where you are coming from in your comments about not having time to waste during lunch hours with friends/clients, and I respect that view.

 

I totally get it, I would park it myself 100% of the time if I could, but its just not always possible.

Oh yeah, once you know how to drive one it comes back to you once you are in one again.

I've found a lot of places don't even have valets anymore, which is fine with me. Lots of restaurants no longer have them, lots of hotels no longer have them.

Friend of mine bought a manual Miata because his wife and daughters couldn't drive a stick and that way they couldn't drive it lol

 

Wait that's genius!

 

I would be fine with Valet at any high end place. There aren't gonna be kids racing around guests' cars at high end hotels and restaurants, no way.

I have used valet at the hospital over the last couple of years and no issues at all.

 

You would be shocked.....I take different cars into the city in the first place so if someone crashes into my car I won't care. Same would apply with valets

 

Again, this was a high-end restaurant. $300/pp not including drinks is not exactly your neighborhood greasy spoon. And he didn't joyride in it, he literally gave the keys away to a thug who stole it. It was found 10 miles away a week later, with a blown clutch and significant body damage. The aftermath lasted about 18 months, but in the end neither the restaurant nor the valet company bore any legal responsibility. The kid didn't even lose his job.

And even if there were issues, they're parking on Hospital property so they assume the liability. I would have no problem with this either.

Anyway, let's move on....

 

My concern isn't with people racing around, its just bumping the car into stuff, scuffing the chin of the bumper, etc. Parking lot mishaps.

 

Yeah. I cringed when I saw how tight the parking spaces were at this one restaurant my wife and I went to... only after I had already had the valet take the car away. And then I had the infamous false-alarm trunk open warning in my Lexus app, which really made me paranoid.

With my recent mishap of having my wheels damaged, I am less and less trusting of having other people drive my car.

 

Yeah! Dont blame you. Were they able to fix your wheels?

 

They are replacing them, even. All four wheels, brand-new.

 

$300 PER PERSON? Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk probably don't spend that much on one meal.

​​​​​​​They probably did, but found a way to weasel out of it.

 

Good! I had a feeling they would have to replace them. Good news is they will now put a flag in your account not to wash since it cost them a ton, and they will NEVER wash it. Same thing happened to me one time and it wound up costing them $1,500 to have my GS polished out and re ceramic coated. Automatically from that time on my tickets had huge NO WASH EVERYWHERE automatically.

Oh, I guarantee they have and much more. $300 PP for a meal is certainly not an every day thing but there are many very special meals that cost that and more. I mean hell, a good steak in a good steakhouse is $70+ with no sides.

 

I am thankful that the body paint, including the gloss-black areas of the car, looks exactly the same as it did before the wash. I guess the self-healing clearcoat on these Lexus cars is no joke. But also, Iridium hides imperfections pretty well because someone dumped a little extra metallic flake into it.