I hear so many stories about valet incidences that I would never use the service. My wife knows this and never complains about needing to walk a short distance from a good parking lot. I would look at bringing your DD and park it at will

 

Well first off I didn't anticipate a burger bar to have valet. He insisted. I planned on parking my own car. I hate when people drive it. It just freaks me out. I don't have an issue with walking but he had already opened my door and I felt obligated. I typically don't carry much money and typically always use my debit. So I gave him what I had on me. I actually was planning on tipping him additional after leaving. I got some actual cash from the waitress. However I had to walk up to his stand wait for him to get out of his car he was sitting in and had me the key to go get my own car. I'm sorry I was raised to have to do something to make a buck. I was polite about it until he said something.

 

If Im valeting a car I care about (my 911, Cayenne, S8, etc) $20 is standard. I always make sure to look them in the eye and say "take care of my car". If its a car I don't care about as much, I give $10. Upon picking the car back up, I usually give between 2 and 5 bucks. $2 on the initial drop off is pretty cheap, IMO.

 

I wouldn't worry about it. I don't subscribe to that fact that higher value cars should need to tip more. You are paying for a service, period.

 

You were unintentionally (I believe) rude. To him, there was no tip as he likely didn't know anything about the original $2. I would tip him more for parking it up front and letting me collect it myself. His behavior was inexcusable.

 

my rule of thumb
min $5.00 small restaurant, shopping, etc. non P car
min $15.00 for other larger establishment, in P car, $20.00 for front lot where i can view from patio. It is nice supporting local businesses of city you lived in.

$2.00 buy a bottle of 20 oz soft drink

 

If I take the TT to a restaurant I will give the valet $20, park it myself and ask him to keep an eye on it.

 

LOL, I guess I don't get out all that much but I've lived in LA my entire life and have never tipped a valet at drop-off and am not sure I've even ever noticed anyone doing that. But I don't do the "park out front" thing or have my Turbo valet parked, just standard parking where I don't know or care where they put the car. Regardless I agree $2 is low - I tip $4-5 even at basic airport or hotel lots, sometimes more if they are extra helpful.

 

Wow, I would have guessed $2 was way low but then I looked at a couple sites for curiosity sake. Money.com says $2.00 only when they bring you your car. ArtofManliness.com says $2-5, or $1 for every $10k your car is worth. While $2 seems low, it shouldn't have generated a big f-you from the valet.

 

I would pay$10 for having the car parked up front. $4 more when picking it up. Wait a minute. That crazy talk. I don't use valet!

 

As a former valet I do not let them park my car. Mi hit the guy with a 10 on the way in ask if I can park myself, park, and another 5 or 10 on the way out.

 

Coming from the NJ/NYC area, $5 tip minimum, (if I'm leaving the TTS at a NYC parking garage I give the guy $5 upfront to "put her in a good spot"). This more than pays for itself, I've heard nightmare stories about scratches & dents on cars from NYC parking garages...it's good to see the TTS upfront and unscathed when I come back from dinner or a show!

Ryane, moral of the story is, the nicer the car, the higher the expectation ($ tip)...create goodwill for the next guy who pulls up in a P-car!

 

Glad I started this thread. Glad to have your guys opinions.

 

Still have no idea why anyone would valet a car? You're giving a total stranger who has no regard for you or your car complete control of your vehicle. Makes NO sense to me.

ESPECIALLY your 911 turbo!

 

Last time I valet parked my car (hotel) they ran the battery flat then blew a fuse jump starting it. Kid told me the next day "I drove it around a but to charge the battery, I felt awesome!". Debacle. Never, ever doing that again!