Valet complimented my backing camera

[JasonG]

World can be a shittly place and there's a lot of less fortunate...everyone here's driving a bimmer during economic meltdown....cheer / lighten up on each other and have a good day!

I dont use valet's unless i have too...bad experience with a 70 vette (damn near took my exhaust off the bottom of the car and had the audacity to say that that's how i brought it in...sparks and all - i had driven over 150miles to get to the hotel, i assure you i wasnt dragging the exhaust before hand.)

I agree kills are fun to talk about, but personally i like the tech / non driving aspects as well...my buddy's buying a x35i today...his gripe about the 08 v8 was that the Nav Screen looked ancient vs other cars (and other interior comments)...so it is important to some, and i'm in that group.

[motordavid]

Kloogy,
Glad the cam works well...
I suspect it is more about the personal attacks in some of your threads.
Subtle shots are sometimes fun; calling someone an azzhole, etc., outta
the gate may have something to do with the current tenor of responses in this thread.

But, everyone has their own bag.

Fwiw, theCEO's Hyundai Tuck has a damn decent backup cam, too. Came with the car;
not part of pricey 'pkg'. I miss the old expense acct/valet days.

[ukwildcat]

Well this was all good for a laugh. Thanks!

I'm not even going into the "driver's car" thing. I like my nice, cozy BMW fine.

I also avoid valet's like the plague, however. Two things people can't get right in my car: door handles and the shifter. Even smart people that know cars can't seem to understand the shifter. I admit it took me a few times to get used to it, but once you do, it's really no different.

The local Lexus dealer around here offers free valet for Lexuses, but that's not really a good reason to buy one, is it?

When it comes to valets, I just can't get "Ferris Bueller" out of my mind, though..

Country clubs are for spoiled rich white people, so I don't go, but I suppose I wouldn't mind using a valet there. At the mall, no - I don't think so.

I keep parking mine away from other people in the hopes it won't get dinged. I know it will happen one day, but still..

Stealing is also a concern, I admit. I keep a lot of expensive crap in my center console (new iPod touch, expensive sunglasses, etc.)

There's also the "no one drives my car but me" thing.

If THEY want to drive a BMW, they can get their own.

[rh71]

I avoid valets too. I also park far away when possible - not just door dings, but too many people walking between your car with jacket zippers, handbags, or whatever items they're carrying (like my huge hockey bag this afternoon) - not good. An extra 15 seconds of walking is fine. I don't care if it's a $50k car or a $20k car... that's just the way I roll with my personal property. If it's leased, I wouldn't care as much.

Did I mention my dealer banged up my car pretty good at some point under their care? The SA didn't know about it until I pointed it out at pickup despite it being clear as day. I had a thread on that and mentioned it a few more times for weeks after. If those guys can do it, any plain jane valet elsewhere can too.

As long as we're on the topic - I can't believe some places that have valet... like a slightly-higher-end family restaurant. It's a small property with the parking lots steps away from the door. WTF is the point of a valet there? All 3 of us drivers stood their waiting minutes for the 1 guy to drive our car up 20 feet one by one while our families stood behind us twiddling their thumbs - and we had the privilege of tipping him for it too.

P.S. Yes pre-LCI people are jealous of the new cams.

[MRV99]

To get this thread back on track. The 2011 camera is like HD movie camera compared to the 1970 Betamax home camcorder my 2007 backup camera looked like.

[Jeg Norge]

not trying to stir up heat, but why do y'all expect valets to be model citizens? they probably get paid minimum wage and don't care about your cars one bit. when you hand your keys to a valet, chances of dings, thefts, and etc go way up.

[kck7]

Originally Posted by Jeg Norge

not trying to stir up heat, but why do y'all expect valets to be model citizens? they probably get paid minimum wage and don't care about your cars one bit.

They get paid by their employers and tipped by the car owners to PARK the cars safely and efficiently. Implicit in this job description is an obligation, even if only a moral one, to do the best job possible in this regard (actually that implicitness exists in every job). This includes returning the car to the owner in the same condition as when they took custody of it. The only thing that should happen to the car is that it should have up to 1/4 of a mile extra on the odometer. Is that a whole lot to ask?

Maybe it is because they don't take that obligation seriously and don't take pride in their work, no matter how mundane, that the job is seen as "only a valet". I suppose there are some who do this job well, and as a result probably rise above it before too long.

This applies to pretty much all jobs btw, even if you are a business owner. Treat the customer's trust with seriousness and ownership, and your rewards will come. Eff around and you won't get far.

BTW from what I gather their take home pay can be considerably more than minimum wage, especially if they work at the higher-end restaurants and such.

More BTW, this is a useless discussion. It's highly doubtful anyone reading this is a valet, though it's possible some were in a previous career.

[JCL]

When people think about allowing valets to drive their cars or not (and valets may not be as careful as owners) they often forget that self-parking means that Joe Sixpack is also self-parking next to you. I worry about those potential dings and scrapes more than any caused by someone that I am paying to park my car. It isn't the valet you need to worry about, it is the lowest common denominator (and odds are that sometimes he will park next to you).

[kck7]

Originally Posted by JCL

(and odds are that sometimes he will park next to you).

Can you explain the logic of this sentence? Unless probability is zero (a coin toss yields something other than heads or tails, and edges do not count), the odds are always in favor of 'sometimes', no matter what.

Anyway- I liken valet parking to skydiving, and self-parking to airplane travel. I can avoid the first behavior, which I see as far more risky than the second, mostly unavoidable, less risky behavior. Both involve going up in the air and coming down (analogous to parking the car so as to get to some place). I also have more control over my own parking situation than I have of air travel. I can choose to park far enough that Joe Sixpack probably isn't interested in parking there, squeeze next to a curb, etc).

[JCL]

Originally Posted by kck7

Can you explain the logic of this sentence? Unless probability is zero (a coin toss yields something other than heads or tails, and edges do not count), the odds are always in favor of 'sometimes', no matter what.

Anyway- I liken valet parking to skydiving, and self-parking to airplane travel. I can avoid the first behavior, which I see as far more risky than the second, mostly unavoidable, less risky behavior. Both involve going up in the air and coming down (analogous to parking the car so as to get to some place). I also have more control over my own parking situation than I have of air travel. I can choose to park far enough that Joe Sixpack probably isn't interested in parking there, squeeze next to a curb, etc).

Sure. I should have said "and odds are that eventually he will park next to you" Said another way, no matter how careful you are in parking, eventually Joe Sixpack will try and squeeze in next to you. In a valet lot, Joe isn't parking his own vehicle. You can park better than the valet, but the valet probably parks better than Joe. And Joe can hit you without you even being there.

Using your airplane/skydiving analogy, skydiving has some additional risk. However, if Joe Sixpack just bought a plane, and has landing privileges, flying may not be as safe as previously thought.