Hi guys:

About a month ago, I posted detail about my 95 SC300 that was stolen from in front of my house with no sign of a break-in. Well the LAPD called (5am) to say that they had recovered the car about a mile away.

I went and looked at the car today ready for the worst. There was not a scratch on it!. All that happened was that they took the owners manuals and two CD cartridges aand some other stuff. Probably less than $75 all-in.

I was looking over the car from the inside and saw that something was sticking out from the glovebox lock. I got pliers and pulled out a 1.5 inch section of a handmade key that had broken off in the lock.

Apparently I had valet parked the car and the attendant made a mold of the key and got my address from papers in the car. They made a key from the mold and came and took the car. Drove it to a spot and started going through everything. When they put the key in the glovebox lock it broke off and they were left stranded without a way to get it started. So they split.

Please use your valet keys!!! or park the cars yourself. Never in a million years did I suspect this would happen to me....

 

I don't trust anyone I don't know with my car. I don't care if Joe what's his name let the valet park his MaClaren F1. My SC is my lady, and I'm the only one who takes her out.

A valet costs me money which could be going into my car & life in better ways, and who knows what he or she does with it when they leave my sight.


SRG -- you should take this up with the suspected resuraunt or whatever. If they stole your car, they may move on to bigger and better things.


John

 

Never will I EVER valet my car...

 

I concur, especially things get missing, i think Nazty97 had a problem with valet took like 1000.00 worth of stuff PDA and what not. never valet. forget that
Congrats on gettin the car back and having Jacka$$ thieves instead of someone strippin your ish..

 

I'm happy nothing happened to your ride. For me personally, I would never let a stranger had the pleasure of riding in my car. I dont even like it when the dealer move the car for me.

 

i get my car valet everynow and then when i go out to the clubs , most of the time though i jsut pay a little extra and park the car myself right in front where valet normally parks their cars and keep the key.

 

man that pisses me off. it is people like that who brings down our society to what it is now.

 

Hey SRG,

Ever find out who did it???? I'd love to meet the punks who did me like this......teach them a lesson or two

 

Well, a valet parked car is treated about like a rental is.

Not my car buddy!

 

I never let a valet touch my ride. I mean, I know how to park the damn thing! I don't need to pay some flunky to do something that takes me all of 30 seconds to do. This thread just reinforces that. Sorry you had to go thru that ordeal and that it had a happy ending.

 

Well man I am glad u got your car back in such great shape. Now go find out who did it and on behalf of us all beat the living crap out of him.

Peace

Jonny

 

How would that have helped?

And it took the police a month to find your car? Wouldn't it have been towed and impounded after a week?

More valet horror stories at: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=51978

 

glad to hear you got your car back in one piece

Question: If it wasn't for the molded key, would a SC300/400 be easy to hotwire? i would assume it would be diffcult? maybe?

 

Interesting...where in CA was this? I mean what restaurant are you suspecting of having such employees? You can pm me with the info, I'd find that very helpful. I normally don't valet my car either, but here in Los Angeles there are many times when you don't have a choice, valet or street parking?...I'll take the valet.

I don't see how using your valet key would be helpful in this situation though. It'd be better to just make sure never to leave things in your cabin that has your home address on it (envelopes, business cards, invites, etc.). That would be the best way to try to avoid this situation. The only benefit of the valet key is that the parking attendant can't go through your trunk or glove box, but he can still open the door, rummage through your center console, and start the engine.

Sorry this happened to you but it could have been worse, trust me I know. I was carjacked at gun point years ago and the jerk actually had the ballz to fire off a few shots at me AFTER I gave up the car, the cops found my Pontiac in West Covina with a ruined engine, ruined brakes, and the entire sound system ripped out. I was pissed, so I'm glad that it turned out this way for you.

I've seen both sides of this sort of thing, I had an ex-buddy who worked at Hollywood Park Casino as a valet. He'd tell me of all the crap the valet guys did (stole money or electronics out of the car, slept in people's luxury cars on their breaks, slammed it into reverse, smoked their cigarettes, etc.). He even told me of a time when another valet guy found a bottle of liquor under the seat of a car and they all took turns sipping off it while sitting in the guy's car! Utterly outrageous!

 

a few reasons i wouldn't allow my car to be driven by a valet:

1. someone i don't know with my car and i'm not there
2. it costs money
3. see #2
4. i don't mind the extra walking
5. see #3 and then #2