Would you ever let a Valet park your car?

[CarFreak]

Christmas party @ a swanky club back in late 1980s.  A pretty teal 66 Toro was my daily driver at the time. 

 

The club was renowned for double parking in the street but got away with it because all the judges, politicians and big wigs in town were members. 

 

Pulled up in Toro and the valet suggested leaving it 'right there' double parked in front of the entrance.  I had to give up the keys (2nd set was in my pocket) but was able to peek out the window all night and keep an eye on it. 

 

Edited March 27, 2019 by CarFreak (see edit history)

[nick8086]

You tube has a lot a examples.. Do not do it..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF22EYQrcUI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnrI8ad8tuY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ_F69ALa8w

 

 

Edited March 27, 2019 by nick8086 (see edit history)

[Frank DuVal]

I do not understand having "Home" on a GPS. You forgot where you live????????😁

 

For heavy nights of drinking?🤣

Edited March 27, 2019 by Frank DuVal (see edit history)

[billorn]

59 minutes ago, Frank DuVal said:

I do not understand having "Home" on a GPS. You forgot where you live????????😁

 

For heavy nights of drinking?🤣

 

If I'm somewhere I needed GPS to get to, I probly need it to get home, too. I'm terrible at directions. GPS is the best thing to happen to me in driving.

[Janousek]

I let an enthusiatic kid park our 35' Auburn but I went with him to help with starting.    We drove around the resturant a couple times and it might have made an old car nut out of him.    

 

We let them park our modern cars if we are at a hotel.   I don't think twice about it.   I used to do rear axle abuse tests in new pickup trucks and the novelty of beating the tar out of something doesn't last very long.  Those guys could care less about trying to tear up your car.  

[CHuDWah]

On 3/25/2019 at 3:16 PM, Matt Harwood said:

And, of course, if you use a valet there's always the sage advice to never set your car's GPS to "HOME" using your actual home address, just something near enough that you can get home from there. The idea being that the valet has your keys, possibly with your house keys on the ring, as well as your car. Your car's navigation system will give him step-by-step directions directly to your front door to which, of course, he has the keys. Plus he knows you're not home--you're at dinner and you'll probably be there for two hours or so.

 

Does this actually happen? I don't know. I doubt it. But in this world of people being scared of putting their bank account info on wire transfers and hiding their license plates in photographs, I suppose it's one more thing to make us needlessly fearful.

 

 

NEVER put your car keys and house keys on the same ring.  Not only could a would-be-thief/valet rob your house while you're at dinner, he also could copy the key for later home invasion/burglary use.  I have a ring with only what's required to operate the car - key and/or remote fob.  I'm also concerned about leaving the garage opener remote in the car as the code can be cloned - harder to do on newer ones but still not impossible.  But carrying it around is inconvenient, and obviously impossible with HomeLink, so I keep the garage-to-house door locked.  Not setting the GPS to your home address is good advice.

 

Needlessly fearful?  Maybe, but I call it needfully cautious.

[CHuDWah]

On 3/25/2019 at 9:35 AM, JamesR said:

No. Even if I found them to be trustworthy, I think old cars - even as late as the fifties - are too unfamiliar to most folks.

 

I would probably pay to see a valet try to drive a Model T, though, with it's manual spark advance and no gas pedal. 😄

 

 

Or a Model A.  Drives like a conventional non-synchro 3-speed - assuming the valet can handle a manual shift and double clutching.  But watching them trying to figure out the starting procedure would be entertaining, "I turned the key but it won't start - must be a dead battery."  🤣

[zepher]

6 hours ago, CHuDWah said:

 

 

NEVER put your car keys and house keys on the same ring.  Not only could a would-be-thief/valet rob your house while you're at dinner, he also could copy the key for later home invasion/burglary use.  I have a ring with only what's required to operate the car - key and/or remote fob.  I'm also concerned about leaving the garage opener remote in the car as the code can be cloned - harder to do on newer ones but still not impossible.  But carrying it around is inconvenient, and obviously impossible with HomeLink, so I keep the garage-to-house door locked.  Not setting the GPS to your home address is good advice.

 

Needlessly fearful?  Maybe, but I call it needfully cautious.

 

I don't have anything on my car keys other than the fob because the extra weight on the keys can damage the car's lock cylinder over time.

So depending on what I drive, I have to sort through a bunch of sets of keys before I leave.

As for the Homelink, I do not program the Homelink buttons on my modern cars because they sit out in the driveway. More important cars sit in the garage, you know.

But I found that the Homelink buttons always have power to them no matter what.

So a thief could break into your car while you are away and open your garage door as long as the car has a hot battery.

Maybe I'm paranoid but the garage door to the house is always locked, day or night.

I don't use the in-car GPS because the maps on your smartphone are always more up to date and have real time traffic info as well.

And as long as your car radio has Apple Car Play or Android Auto if you plug in your smartphone the screen will be mirrored on your car's dash.

[CHuDWah]

21 minutes ago, zepher said:

 

I don't have anything on my car keys other than the fob because the extra weight on the keys can damage the car's lock cylinder over time.

So depending on what I drive, I have to sort through a bunch of sets of keys before I leave.

As for the Homelink, I do not program the Homelink buttons on my modern cars because they sit out in the driveway. More important cars sit in the garage, you know.

But I found that the Homelink buttons always have power to them no matter what.

So a thief could break into your car while you are away and open your garage door as long as the car has a hot battery.

Maybe I'm paranoid but the garage door to the house is always locked, day or night.

I don't use the in-car GPS because the maps on your smartphone are always more up to date and have real time traffic info as well.

And as long as your car radio has Apple Car Play or Android Auto if you plug in your smartphone the screen will be mirrored on your car's dash.

 

 

I only use the key in the ignition and always use the remote to lock and unlock the doors.  But yeah, I suppose extra keys could damage the lock.  Wasn't there a problem a while back with the weight of extra stuff on the key ring turning off the ignition in GM cars while they were in motion?  I do have small plastic ID tags on keys that aren't obvious and I have a key rack in the kitchen by the door to the garage.  I'm pretty OCD/tyrannical about people returning keys to the rack so it's easy to grab the necessary ones on the way out.

 

I don't have GPS or smartphone - just look it up on computer before I leave or use ol' skool paper maps.  😉

[zepher]

38 minutes ago, CHuDWah said:

 

 

I only use the key in the ignition and always use the remote to lock and unlock the doors.  But yeah, I suppose extra keys could damage the lock.  Wasn't there a problem a while back with the weight of extra stuff on the key ring turning off the ignition in GM cars while they were in motion?  I do have small plastic ID tags on keys that aren't obvious and I have a key rack in the kitchen by the door to the garage.  I'm pretty OCD/tyrannical about people returning keys to the rack so it's easy to grab the necessary ones on the way out.

 

I don't have GPS or smartphone - just look it up on computer before I leave or use ol' skool paper maps.  😉

 

I do have a smartphone but I'm not one of these people that spend almost a grand on a phone.

And every one of my dailies has a road atlas in the trunk. 

But they don't make the variety of Thomas Guides like they used to.

[Guest]

Interesting and entertaining thread.

 

I always show the repair shop mechanics the manual choke on one of my cars, and remind them, if the engine is cold, it's not starting if the choke isn't pulled all of the way out.

 

Has anyone tried to take a crank-start car to valet parking?  Due to the risk of personal injury, of course you wouldn't want to have an untrained person try to crank the engine, but it might be interesting to see if the valet can figure things out.

[padgett]

Or watch them try to find the starter on an older Land Rover.

 

ps my 55 MGA came with a crank...

[Frank DuVal]

Key rings in the ignition tumbler weighing too much has been an issue since at least as far back as the 50s. Read it in Gus' Garage! The key is not in a door, trunk or glovebox lock long enough to wear the cylinder.

 

Any phone called a smart phone is smart enough to have a built in GPS and maps. No thousand dollar phones are needed. 😉 Do not even understand the concept. I only buy a phone when the old one breaks.👍

 

Old school paper maps are great, I can see more than two inches of a locality at a time, but they do not have real time traffic information. Hey, inner loop of the beltway has been all lanes closed since 2 PM today (3 hours so far) at American Legion bridge. Of course, this info is also available on that dashboard accessory called a radio. 😁

[padgett]

I am on my third Samsung Galaxy phone, this one is a S5 and at least four years obsolete/bought refurbished for a buck but does what I want it to. The Google Maps have saved me from some detours.

 

Have never understood giant keyrings, I have two sets for each car and just grab the one I need. House and POBox key are on their own keyring pair.

 

[John348]

On ‎3‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 4:49 PM, CHuDWah said:

 

 

NEVER put your car keys and house keys on the same ring.  Not only could a would-be-thief/valet rob your house while you're at dinner, he also could copy the key for later home invasion/burglary use.  I have a ring with only what's required to operate the car - key and/or remote fob.  I'm also concerned about leaving the garage opener remote in the car as the code can be cloned - harder to do on newer ones but still not impossible.  But carrying it around is inconvenient, and obviously impossible with HomeLink, so I keep the garage-to-house door locked.  Not setting the GPS to your home address is good advice.

 

Needlessly fearful?  Maybe, but I call it needfully cautious.

 

Very good advice, it's not like it has not happened before. As far as the address on the GPS, most home address's are on the insurance and registration information in the glove box

[zepher]

5 minutes ago, John348 said:

 

Very good advice, it's not like it has not happened before. As far as the address on the GPS, most home address's are on the insurance and registration information in the glove box

 

That is why you lock the glove box door with a regular key and let the valet use the 'valet' key.

 

[John348]

Just now, zepher said:

 

That is why you lock the glove box door with a regular key and let the valet use the 'valet' key.

 

 

My Cadillac does not have any keys, many new cars are keyless

[zepher]

6 minutes ago, John348 said:

 

My Cadillac does not have any keys, many new cars are keyless

 

Your fob still has a key.

You have to push a little latch to release it but it's hidden in the fob.

[John348]

Thanks,

Learn something new every day..... MY 2018 GMC, and that has a keyed ignition and a common lock for the glove box so there is not much that can be done in that case 

Ok so this leads to another question: how does the valet start or move your vehicle without the key fob? To be honest I am really not that worried about my home address.  

 

Growing up in Da' Bronx I learned a long time ago if someone wants it bad enough they will take it, and there is nothing you are going to do about it. Secondly a majority of people who go to work are not burglars. My problem is with valets is damage to the vehicle, that they deny

 

[zepher]

In that case you would lock the glove box, or center console storage area, remove the key from the fob and give the fob to the valet.

Even on cars with no obvious door key cylinder there is a cover you can pop off revealing a key cylinder to allow access to the car should the car battery fail or your key fob battery fails.

[John_Mc]

No, never, no way, not possible, negative!

[plymouthcranbrook]

The hospital that has done all my surgeries has valet parking  Unless you want to walk a half mile it is the only real choice Even the handicap spots are always full I have never taken an old car to surgery but have never had a problem there The attendants have always been mature individuals looking like 30’s or older so maybe that makes difference 

[LI_BENTLEY]

Took my  63 Avanti to dinner in day light   valet  delivered to front door after dark after running wipers over dry windshield but not getting headlights on.   You Avanti drivers know why.