I am not sure if you are saying that is good or not?

Even though I have been out of the valet game for almost 5 years now, its important to set the record straight.

Tip the valet based on customer service, not effort. I often found the damned if you do, damned if you didnt mentality when it came to tipping.

Case 1: "My car is 10 feet away, why should I tip, he didn't even have to run to get it?"

Think of it in terms of cutomer service. You car was not out of site and you do not have to wait more than 15 seconds for him to pull your car out. His observance of your hard earned asset for several hours and the fact you did not have to wait should yield a fair tip.

Case 2: "I saw the valet run away and didn't get my car until 5 minutes later."

It's because often times, the valet stand is in front of the restaurant and club, and the rented parking lot is far, far away. Chances are he had to bust his *** to get your car by sprinting the entire way and safely navigating traffic. You should be happy it wasn't 10 minutes. If you would have parked it yourself, it could have been even longer. Again tip on customer service.

Case 3: "The valet stand is very busy, my car is right there, can I just have the keys?"

Although he didn't return you car, he still parked it, watched it, and kept it safe all night, allowing you to enjoy your dinner or night out with friends. The same tip should be given based on customer service, because of the expedited turn around at your request of impatience.

Relative to joy riding, I never heard any of this in my almost 3 years. Generally there is no time to joy ride, or the allowed streets dont merit it at all. People also used to ask if we would go through people's stuff inside thier cars. The answer is no, because again we dont have time and dont care about your stuff. Since I am in charge of your precious asset, if anything happens to it, its my responsibility and my wallet paying for it. Although many people said I could take their cars out and I always politely declined.

The only time I did something bad in someone's car is because the owner bet me. The owner that came in had the lower end Aston Martin that was manual. He gave me the keys and I drove very slowly away. He then stopped me and asked if I could drive stick because of the speed at which I took off. I told him yes, we all know how. He then said I bet you $20 you can't light up the rear tires. I asked him three times if he was sure and he said yes, I bet you cant do it. I then proceeded to do a clean 5 second burnout in front of him. His car, his permission, his money.

Hope this helps. And the parking charge does not go to the Valet, so keep that in mind.

 

I'd give my XKR for Valet parking any day.

My S-type is depending on the situation.
if there is a small chance the car could get parked on an inclined lot, I prefer to park it mayself, just because I want to prevent any issues with the gearbox. then there is a chance that they might leave the window slightly open and slam the door causing the window mechanism to break.

So at least for me, if the car is new or reliable, I just give it away, why not, if it is getting older with potential issues, then it depends.