I'm not going to get into specifics, because I'd hate to have someone read this post who either works for a specific dealership, or would do something to deny him service...


My buddy AL , has a rather nice car... He took his girlfriend out to dinner in Chicago, and valet parked the car. They went inside and had a nice long dinner.

They came out of the restaurant and produced the ticket to get the car. 15 minutes pass, so AL went around the corner and saw his car sitting in the middle of the valet lot, with BOTH windows down. He went back to the valet people, told them that his car was sitting around the corner and one of them went to get it.

They got into the car, and AL immediately noticed something was wrong. The passengers seat was tilted all the way back, completely out of the way of the drivers view. Next, when he turned on the radio, the volume was turned all the way up, AND the CD player was on track 17. When AL left the car, it was on track 3… Unfortunately, he didn’t record the mileage when he left the car.

So he confronted the valet people, and asked them if someone had driven the car, and their reply was “NO. We don’t have time to do something like that. Not too mention we’d get in trouble.”

So here’s the bad part. The next day, AL is driving the car and under mild to heavy acceleration, moves the car out of first into second gear. He describes what happens as if you hit the rev. limiter only the entire car lurches forward!!! He has to let off the gas, put it in neutral and try to re-engage into second. It’s happed three other times, all trying to move into second gear!!! Never happened prior to the valet incident. He’s really

So, what can he do? Obviously, he going to take the car in and get it checked out. But what if the service people can determine that it was negligence that is causing the problem. They’ll then deny service… Unfortunately, AL doesn’t have any real hard proof, although it’s safe to say that someone fucked it up at the restaurant.

If no suggestions come out of this, then I’ll leave with some advice. Don’t EVER VALET PARK your car.

 

I used to work Valet, and I could have told you to never let them park your car. You should call up the Restaurant and find out the name and number of the valet company. Call them and ask to speak to someone who is responsible for claims. Tell him that there is a problem with your car that has never occured until afte the valet incident. Make sure you sound pissed off! Tell him taht your lawyer will call him in a few days if he doesn't want to cooperate. Tht used to scare the shit out of my boss.

Chances are they did drive your car and probably fucked it up. This kinda stuff happens all the time. They were also "chillin" in your car, cause they didn't feel like wasting there own gas or battery. I hope you didn't tip them. Good luck.

 

i have a hard time giving my keys even to my service adviser; knowing some jerk may peel out when taking it back into the service garage

so valet parking is out of the question no matter how fancy it may look

 

oh and best of luck to ur friend.. its one of those situations u feel so damn helpless

 

I never turn over my car keys to anyone, except my mechanic.

 

i totally never ever ever ever give my keys to anyone, not even my gf has taken my car for more then a 4 minute drive. i have friends that have been valets, and believe me i can tell u stories, one of then said a buddy of his almost recked a 355 spider, that they fish tailed it and almost lost control. he told me that he has even driven my car, well not mine, but same and he said he loved it, soo fast he said. I said, u get on it, he said, yeh we always do. I mean, that was the final point. i have even paid the guy to park my own car, i wont trust anyone. fuck them, i rmemeber after i had a accident in my truck in 94, i had to take it to nyc and park it in a multi floor lot. i said, becareful, cause shes hurt, and shit, when they were bringin it down, all i heard was screeeeeeeeeeetchhhhhhh, and shit the mutha fuuucka almost hit the wall when he was comin down.
NEVER VALET, i would hate to show up with a SL500 like the 2 i saw last fri nite and the 2 porsches i saw last nite, turbo and GT3
wg

 

I'd be out for BLOOD..........NEVER VALET PARK...........EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Scrib, how come you just said it was "a rather nice car." Some people think a Caddy is a rather nice car, yet it's a POS. How come you sort of hide from saying what the car was?

Whatever, I will still valet if I have to...if anything goes wrong they will have to deal with me...

 

What kind of car was your friend driving?

 

The only reason I didn't disclose the car he's driving is because I'd hate for this to somehow get back to his dealership and hence they wouldn't fix the issue under warranty. Maybe a bit paranoid, but...

Crazy Sellout might have an idea of what car it is...

 

I don't think that will happen about the abuse under warranty. Because they can say that anyway whether you wrote about it here or not. Because clearly the car was abused so who did it is not the issue for warranty service.

Anyway, sounds like a case for a small claims court lawsuit. Those are pretty easy to win if you have a witness and just a few facts and if you can present your case well.

I guess I wouldn't let someone valet park my new car, my older car perhaps. Your friend should have at least confronted the valet service on the night of the incident.

 

I never valet, ever. I'm more concerned with door dings and curb rash though.