Insider's Guide to Valet Parking

The Lexus E S

INSIDER’S GUIDE TO

T H E L I N G O • T H E F I V E CO M M O N PA R K I N G P E R SO N A L I T I E S

P RO P E R T I P P I N G I N P O L I T E SO C I E T Y • PA R K I N G D O ’s A N D D O N ’ Ts

T H E I N S I D E S CO O P O N PA R K I N G I N M A J O R U. S . C I T I E S

G E T T I N G T H E C H E R RY S PAC E U P F RO N T

VALET PARKING

The Lexus E S

INSIDER’S GUIDE TO VALET PARKING

It’s a moment mixed with satisfaction, personal

pride and, let’s face it, more than a little nervous

anticipation. You’re behind the wheel of the new

car when suddenly the fi rst critical test presents it-

self with fi ve innocent little words: Pull Forward for

Valet Parking.

Scenes from a hundred Hollywood movies

fl ash through your head. Guys like Sinatra made it

look so easy, tossing their keys to the valet. They also

got the primo spots, of course. But what about now?

What about you? What strikes the fancy of today’s

valets? Or more to the point, what on earth will they

think of your new car?

Let’s return to that question in a moment.

First, a quick primer. Valet parking today is no longer

just for red carpets, restaurants and country clubs.

As greater convenience becomes a factor in our in-

creasingly active lives, the car attendant is now on hand

at airports, health clubs, hair salons, sporting events,

doctors’ offi ces, even grocery stores and cinemas.

YOU’VE ARRIVED

T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g

T H E L I N G OBEN JI A hundred bucks. The grand-daddy of gratuities.

HIKER A valet.

HOLY ROL L ER As in window roller; a stinky car.

IG OT A valet’s dibs on a hot ride (“I got the new ES.”).

JEWEL CASE The premier parking spot (“Yo! Keep the Lexus in the Jewel Case.”).

KIDLOCK A slowdown caused by diaper changes and lost toys.

MANAGER’S SPECIAL (a.k.a. Manny Spector) Overrules an Igot.

PTP Promise to pay notation (and a

Valet speak

decoded

legal IOU) on tickets from cashless customers.

PULL The act of retrieving a claim ticket.

PULPIT The podium where the head valet ministers to customers.

WALK AROUND Inspecting an arriving car for preexisting dings and dents.


According to the National Parking Association, an

estimated 200,000 men and women currently work

as parking attendants in the United States. That’s a

lot of red bow ties!

As the practice of using valet services grows,

so do drivers’ expectations. “Nobody, especially an

owner of a luxury vehicle, wants to pull up and give

his or her car to just anyone,” says Martin Stein, the

National Parking Association’s executive director. “You

expect a level of comfort knowing you’ll be taken care

of. You want your car back exactly the way you left it.”

The good news is mishaps are extremely

rare. “Most valets are exceptional drivers, because all

they do is drive cars all day,” says John Van Horn,

editor and publisher of Parking Today, an industry

trade magazine. “They also assume a ton of risk by

taking possession of your automobile, and the last

thing they want is an expensive claim.”

Still, we wanted to discover fi rsthand what

happens once a car disappears into “Valet Land.”

What are the insider secrets valets don’t share with

anyone? Are there parking do’s and don’ts that savvy

drivers need to know? Then there’s the most loaded

question of all: Who gets the coveted spots up front

and why?

Fortunately, we did much of our research

behind the wheel of the new Lexus ES 350, and while

you’ll need to read on to see exactly what happened,

let’s just say Ol’ Blue Eyes couldn’t have done it

better himself.

Way to make an entrance, baby!

GREAT MOMENTS IN VALET HISTORY

1898First public parking garage opens in Boston.

Livery stables across the eastern United States are converted into automobile lots as stable hands evolve into car valets.

1 905

1 926Carhops from The Brown Derby restaurant in Los Angeles park celebrity coupes and roadsters in vacant lots near Hollywood and Vine. The invention of the Cobb Salad is an afterthought.

1 935The parking meter is patented. Fortunately for valets, the device can’t smile or open car doors.

Broadway playwright Wilson Mizner arrives at a premiere in a broken-down jalopy. “What shall I do with it?” the valet reportedly asks with thinly veiled contempt. “Keep it ,” Mizner says, and disappears into the theater.

1 930

1 957 San Francisco Airport introduces first airport valet parking service.

Future film star Bill Paxton works briefly as a valet at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

1 974

A Manhattan parking attendant wins $149 million in a Mega Millions drawing, making him the largest-ever single-jackpot winner in New York. At the time, he has 78 cents in his bank account.

2004

2006 The 2007 Lexus ES 350 improves valet job satis-faction across America.

Herb Citrin Parking Concessions opens at Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills. Valets wear military uniforms without in-signia, and an industry standard — not to mention a fashion statement — is born.

1 94 6

2002 The city of Hoboken, New Jersey, unveils a $6.2 million robotic parking garage that allocates spaces and retrieves vehicles with an automated system straight out of the future.


The freedom to park one’s car with con-

fi dence is one of those unalienable rights

we often take for granted in America. But

with so many parking options – long-term,

short-term, metered, loading-only, VIP

– it’s often a relief to turn that task over to

a professional. What follows is an inside

peek at valet parking from coast-to-coast,

with straightforward counsel from the

attendants themselves. Be advised, how-

ever, all automobiles are not created equal.

Lexus drivers still enjoy royal treatment

even in the most democratic societies.

PA R K I N G A R O U N D

THE COUNTRY


NEW YORK

MIAMI

LOS ANGELES

CHICAGO

Hang onto all those tired clichés

about the Windy City. Not one of

them holds a blown-out candle to

the reality of working the valet stand

at The Drake Hotel in Chicago in

mid-February.

“There are gusty days when

the corner of Walton and Michigan

feels like the coldest spot on earth,”

says Ulyses Varela, one of 25 park-

ing attendants at the landmark 1920

hotel. “Personally, I love it. It makes

you run faster.”

The Chicago valet scene is

a world unto itself. A blustery one,

at times, and blazingly hot at others.

But it’s also rich with unexpected re-

wards. Yes, there are days when die-

hard attendants like Varela are out

with scrapers and hairdryers clearing

ice from customers’ cars. “It’s times

like those,” he says, “when I really

appreciate the cars with heated driv-

ers’ seats.” But more often, the job

is an excuse to savor Chi-town’s fa-

mously down-to-earth personality.

“We see it all – and I mean

everything,” laughs Everette Yoakum,

who’s been parking cars 16 of his

35 years. He now oversees 1,000

spaces as garage manager for the

Hyatt Regency Chicago. “Mostly, it’s

‘Welcome back, sir. Great to see you

again.’ But our drivers have found

A TIP

FROM THE

VALET

“They call it the valet

key for a reason, so

use it,” says Ben Akbary,

president of L .A.’s

Quality Parking

Services. “We’ll take

responsibility for your

car, but you’re re-

sponsible for locking

things away safely.”

• T I P N O 1 •

Th e Key to Happiness


“ W I T H W E AT H E R L I K E T H I S , YO U C A N ’ T R E A L LY B E H A L F - WAY A B O U T

PA R K I N G C A R S . Y O U E I T H E R H AV E T H E C A L L I N G O R YO U D O N ’ T .”

S p ot li g h t On

CHICAGOS p ot li g h t On

CHICAGO

Chicago in Winter

Daytime: 22˚ Night: 8˚

snakes in cars, cars so dirty you can’t squeeze inside,

and once or twice a year, someone will almost forget

the baby is asleep in the backseat. Our valets make

sure everybody – and everything – remains safe and

sound.”

That includes the vehicles, of course. And

spend enough time working a busy establishment in

the Loop, and you’ll drive every ride known to man.

At a farming convention a few years back, extra-long,

many-wheeled machines – including a tractor or two

– motored into the Hyatt lot. “The average park-

ing space is eight feet long,” says Hector Moreno,

another Hyatt veteran. “Some of that equipment

required three times that much space.”

Good thing Chicago valets are famous

for their Midwestern can-do attitude. “It’s not just

about parking cars,” says Dan Buescher of System

Parking, one of the city’s oldest parking companies.

“We have valets fi xing fl ats, topping off gas. One of

our guys spent four hours tracking down the owner

of a lost wallet.”

Perhaps System’s most famous opera-

tion is at the space-agey twin structures known as

Marina City. The cylindrical complex has 15 fl oors

of parking, with valets accessing vehicles via a chain-

and-pulley “manlift” hidden from customers. The

building was immortalized in a 1980 movie in which

the villain loses control of his car and drives off the

garage into the Chicago River.

Lexus owners needn’t worry about some-

thing like that happening to their cars. Back at the

Drake, Varela insists Chicago valets are a cut above.

“With weather like this,” he says, the wind picking

up again, “you can’t really be half-way about parking

cars. You either have the calling or you don’t.”

Now there’s a cliché we can all live with.


Fig. 1: System Parking and Service Station, Chicago, Circa 1930s

Many are the ways to valet in L.A. In a

city where what you drive is as signifi cant

as who’s fi nancing your movie or the yoga

studio where you practice your asanas,

the parking attendant is an omnipresent

fi gure on the famously sprawling cityscape.

At supermarkets and movie theaters,

concert venues and even churches, the

tossing of the keys is an everyday event

for many Angelenos.

21st Century Valet

Drivers who valet park at the fabulously refurbished Century City mall in Los Angeles get pocket pagers in exchange for their keys. And since this is L.A., thevehicles in waiting may have the complete spa treatment (detailing, Fluid checks and other services), while shop-pers and moviegoers go about their mall activities. Then, with a press of the pager button, the vehicle is ready for the driver in about Five minutes. Soon we’ll be hearing, “Have your valet call my valet.”


6am - 2pm 3pm - 10pm

S p ot li g h t On

LOS ANGELESS p ot li g h t On

LOS ANGELES

F R A N K S I N AT R A WA S T H E M OS T G E N E R O U S . W H E N P E O P L E W E R E T I P P I N G A D O L L A R TO P S , H E WA S T I P P I N G $20. O N E N I G H T H E C A M E I N A N D S A I D TO T H E H E A D G U Y , ‘H OW M A N Y F E L L A S A R E W O R K I N G H E R E TO N I G H T ? ’ H E S A I D , ‘ F O U R , M R . S I N AT R A ,’ A N D F R A N K H A N D E D H I M F O U R $1 00 B I L LS .”

“RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC

“You give us your

car. We get it back

to you safely.”

A C O N V E R S AT I O N W I T H

HERB CITRINF A T H E R O F V A L E T P A R K I N G

Valet parking may not have started here (nobody knows for certain

where the fi rst car jockey took the wheel), but the undisputed father of

valet as we know it – the smiles, the uniforms, the white-glove service – is

L.A.’s Herb Citrin, 83, who started his parking company 60 years ago

with three employees at Lawry’s The Prime Rib on La Cienega Boulevard.

Valet Parking Service would eventually grow to 1,500 employees with

operations in nearly a dozen cities across America, but Citrin, who sat

for a chat with Lexus recently, insists the basic idea still hasn’t changed:

“You give us your car. We get it back to you safely.”

How did you f irst become a car-parking superhero?

My father parked cars back in the ’30s. A month shy of my 16th birthday,

I started helping him out. Honestly, it’s the only thing I ever thought


Sixty Years

of Service

Left: Fig. 2:

Citrin, far left, in 1948

at Lawry’s The Prime

Rib in Los Angeles.

Right: Fig. 3:

Fast forward a ways.

Citrin continues to

consult for Valet

Parking Service, the

company he founded

in 1946.

The worst was in August 1965. Marina del Rey was just

built, and there was a popular Polynesian restaurant

there. One of our valets forgot to set the brake on a

vintage 1937 Zephyr in what kids used to call ‘cherry

condition.’ It rolled down an incline and ended up in

15 feet of seawater.

What’s your favorite valet story?

For many years, we worked the Academy Awards®,

and a number of years ago I decided to go as a

guest. I pull up with my wife and see about 60 or

70 valets, all of whom immediately recognize me

and wave and start surrounding the car, opening

my door, patting me on the back. My wife, mean-

while, is still in the car. She looks out at me getting

all the fuss and says, ‘Hey, what am I? Chopped

liver?’ I still laugh about that.

W O R D S of H E R B

What makes a great valet?

“Enthusiasm, grace

under pressure and

attention to detail.

Knowing the names

of your regular

customers is one thing.

Knowing the names

of their grandkids,

now THAT’S service.”


seriously about doing. For a minute, I worked at a

jewelry store; that is, until I realized I could make

more in one night parking cars than I could in two

weeks at the store.

What was the state of valet parking back then?

In a word, appalling. Valets didn’t know how to

greet people. They might open the car door, or

they might not. They might look neat, but usually

they didn’t. After coming out of the service in ’45,

I thought customers deserve better than turning

over their cars to some guy in a dirty white smock.

My fi rst order of business was to put valets in

brand-new uniforms personalized with the name

of Lawry’s restaurant, our fi rst account. We became

part of the establishment, and the Hollywood

establishment, no less.

Is i t true what they say? The bigger the star, the bigger

the car, the bigger the t ipper?

Not by a long shot. But Frank Sinatra was the most

generous. When people were tipping a dollar tops,

he was tipping $20. One night he came in and said

to the head guy, ‘How many fellas are working here

tonight?’ He said, ‘Four, Mr. Sinatra,’ and Frank

handed him four $100 bills.

What makes a great valet?

Enthusiasm, grace under pressure and attention

to detail. Knowing the names of your regular

customers is one thing. Knowing the names of

their grandkids, now that’s service.

Did you ever lose a car?

Over the years, everything has happened at least once.

You’ll need to stay up late – very late

– to experience the wonders of valet

parking in Miami.

“In most cities everything’s

dead by 11 p.m., 12 a.m. or 2 a.m.

at the latest,” says Jerry South,

who runs Towne Park, the city’s

premier valet service. “In Miami,

people start heading out at 10:30

p.m. or 11 p.m. You’ll fi nd as

many valets on the overnight shift

as the day shift. We might have

eight or 10 valets at a location at

4 a.m., 5 a.m. or 6 a.m.”

This goes to show, the

tropical heat doesn’t slow the traf-

fi c in a city as famous for its club

lines as its tan lines. Not surpris-

ingly, making an entrance at one

of the trendier hot spots – say,

Nobu or the Mandarin Oriental

Hotel’s Azul restaurant – is some-

thing of an art form. “Everybody’s

a celebrity here,” South says with a

smile. “Everybody wants their car

up front.”

The trick for valets is

to make split-second decisions

about whose vehicles go where.

Here’s where a little inside-the-

valet-world knowledge can serve

the driver. It’s not necessarily

the biggest or most tricked-out

car that gets the showcase spot.

TIP NO 2

KNOW YOUR

VEHICLE

Pay special attention as

the car makes its

way into Valet Land,

and when you first get

it back. The quicker you

notice a ding or dent,

the smoother your

claims processing

will be.

A TIP FROM THE

VALET


S p ot li g h t On

MIAMIMiami Valet Shifts

“E V E RY B O DY ’ S A C E L E B R I T Y H E R E . E V E RY B O DY WA N T S T H E I R C A R U P F R O N T .”“E V E RY B O DY ’ S A C E L E B R I T Y H E R E . E V E RY B O DY WA N T S T H E I R C A R U P F R O N T .”

10am - 3pm 5pm - 6am

VALET VIEWH O W TO S P OT F I V E C O M M O N PA R K I N G P E R S O N A L I T I E S

TH E NEATNIKIsn’t above using a

car cover while valet parking at an ATM.

TH E GADGET GEEK

Employs voice-activated GPS navigation system, HomeLink® transceiver and full-color backup

camera to locate missing remote-entry access key.

TH E STARLETSmitten with flip-down visor-shade mirrors as

well as power-adjustable outside mirrors, not to mention auto-dimming

outside mirrors. Heck, she loves anything with a

reflective surface!

TH E ROCK’N’ROLLERWith premium surround sound, a 6-disc, in-dash, DVD/CD auto-changer and an auxiliary jack for

an iPod® – good luck getting this headbanger

out of the car!

TH E MACDADDIEST

DADDYHas personally

tested all rear seating positions in the

child restraint seat. Uses rear-seat

armrest as diaper changing station.


“With 400 or 500 cars coming in a night,

we don’t blink at ‘one-of-a-kind’ cars,” says

Sergio Hernandez, the head valet at the

Mandarin Oriental. “What we like to see are

well-maintained cars and drivers who are

genuinely considerate people.”

Hernandez says valets like cars that

project an air of urbane sophistication. Sleek

lines, radiant design elements, you know, that

ES 350 look. “Some classic Cuban music on a

great sound system doesn’t hurt either,” he says,

though he’s quick to add the stereo goes off the

moment the car enters the garage.

Being generous also ups your odds. A

recent national poll of valet attendants found

that Miami drivers are the handsomest tippers

in America. Five- and ten-dollar tips are typical,

but the sky is the limit for exemplary service. “I’ve

seen $500 exchange hands at some places,” South

says. “But that’s the tip of a lifetime.”

One thing that sets Miami valets

apart is the dedication. The best attendants are

full-time pros, not dabblers waiting for their

big break in some other fi eld. That’s partly why

valet has become a way of life for the city. From

South Beach to Coconut Grove, neighborhood

delis to the fi nest boutique hotels, there’s bound

to be a uniformed parking jockey waiting to whisk

your wheels to safety. “A city like Miami, it’s fast,

it’s happening, it’s go, go, go,” South says. “Valets

know that what you drive says a lot about how you

respond to that energy.”

Just wait till they feast their eyes on that

glorious new machine of yours.

Curbside parking in the Big Apple? Fuhgeddaboudit!

Not in a city with offi cial street signs that warn,

“Don’t even THINK of parking here!” and “No

Parking, No Standing, No Stopping, No Kidding!”

Parking in Manhattan inevitably means

valeting it, and like all things New York, the valet

scene here is faster, bolder and brasher than just

about anyplace else.

“On your ‘average’ night in midtown,

we might have two Broadway openings, a major

convention in town, a huge fashion event and

a game at Madison Square Garden, and a good

percentage of those people will be looking for

places to park,” says Hector Chevalier, a vice

president for Central Parking System, which

manages 442 parking facilities in the city, including

both Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium and the

valet concession at hotels like the Waldorf-Astoria.

This translates to 150,000 parking slots, of which

80 percent are valet.

And since all those drivers want their cars

in and out in a New York minute, Chevalier and

other masters of the Manhattan parking universe

work miracles behind the scenes: Century-old

stables are repurposed as high-tech auto barns.

Hydraulic lifts hoist and stack cars fi ve and six

high. Valets race on foot or scooter through

oncoming traffi c to distant garages.

“The big parking challenge in New York

is fi nding open space, and there’s less and less of

that every day,” says Dennis Cunning, who started

parking cars 15 years ago at Lincoln Center and


Other

Cities

New York

City

S p ot li g h t On

NEW YORKS p ot li g h t On

NEW YORK

A New York Minute

“ I ’ V E S E E N A TA I LO R F R O M A B U I L D I N G G I V E A VA L E T A $1 , 2 0 0 S U I T F O R LO O K I N G A F T E R H I S C A R .”“ I ’ V E S E E N A TA I LO R F R O M A B U I L D I N G G I V E A VA L E T A $1 , 2 0 0 S U I T F O R LO O K I N G A F T E R H I S C A R .”

to have some luxuries, and with so many vehicles

in motion, ES drivers can rest easy knowing that

there are more than 100 onboard sensors available

to monitor such things as wheel speed, steering

angle and even the proximity of an adjacent car –

so your valet can keep the focus on returning the

car safely.

“New York parking is tough, but it’s also

exciting,” says Chevalier, who still carries the fi rst

dollar tip he made parking cars at the Fulton Fish

Market 22 years ago. “Everybody from the mother

of three on a shopping spree to the biggest VIPs on

the planet needs parking at one point or another,

and we take great pride knowing they’ve given us

the responsibility of taking care of their cars.”

But don’t even THINK of parking with-

out getting that claim ticket!

TIP N O 4

SPARE THE CHANGE

One of th e oldest tricks is tipping

with change and letting a few

coins fall to th e floor. It’s a

less-than-dignified way of s h owing

th e world what a great tipper you are.

Express your gratitude only with th e

crispest of paper currency. Th ink of it

as good karma for your car.

A T I P F R O M T H E V A L E T


is now a leading parking industry consultant.

“That’s why New York City parking is at such

a premium.”

A premium indeed. Many people pay more

for parking in Manhattan than people in other

cities pay for housing – upwards of $1,000 a month

at top-end locations. Naturally, the best valet

attendants are rewarded accordingly. “I’ve seen a

tailor from a building give a valet a $1,200 suit for

looking after his car,” says Cunning. “Or an atten-

dant will hand wash a top customer’s car all year for

free knowing he’ll get $10,000 at Christmas.”

Not that New Yorkers don’t love a parking

bargain, which explains why the early-bird parking

special – in by 6 a.m., out by 6 p.m. – is as much

an institution as the Coney Island hot dog and free

Met concerts in Central Park. Then again, it’s nice

A TIP FROM THE VALET

Recognize Service Wh en You See It

If you see a valet

going th e extra mile, say,

cleaning a winds h ield or

just really h ustling,

it’s nice to compensate th em.

People forget that

in 1960 valets were getting

a buck a car. Well, we’re

not in 1960 anymore.

T I P NO

3

The fi rst one is defi nitely the most

nerve-racking.

A fashionably dressed

businessman pulls up to the po-

dium and eagerly trades his gleam-

ing automobile for a little paper

ticket. There’s barely time to thank

him – behind his gorgeous vehicle

is another and another and … and

… HELP!!

Welcome to my debut as

a valet parking attendant. To un-

derstand the ins and outs of the

parking scene, I’ve joined the

O N T H E J O B

VALET FOR A DAYJournalist David Hochman spends a day as an “undercover” valet

ranks of L.A.’s fi nest car jock-

eys at a posh shopping center in

Brentwood, a tony section of the

city. The lunchtime rush is un-

derway, and already I’ve forgotten

everything I learned at my morn-

ing training session. Do I open

the passenger door fi rst or the

driver’s side? Can I adjust the seat

if the customer is seven-feet tall?

And what if I get lost in the ninth

circle of Valet Land?

The fact is, valet park-

ing isn’t as easy as it looks, mainly

Fig. 5:

The Cobb Salad

A mere footnote in the

history of the Brown Derby

in comparison to the real

news of the venue: the birth

of the valet stand.


Fig. 4: The Brown Derby, Beverly Hills, Circa 1945

IN

VALET

HISTORY

GREAT MOMENTS

T I P • O • R A M A !

Nothing makes a valet

happier than being treated

with dignity and respect.

While attendants don’t need

a college degree to do

what they do, they are

safe-guarding a sizable

investment of yours,

and they take that

responsibility seriously.

Valets love that new-car smell as much

as you do, so make it last by maintaining your car inside as well as outside.

The new ES helps its owners keep that

“new-car smell” with an onboard clean air

dust and pollen filter.

“Hey, wasn’t my iPod® right

here?” With convenient and

abundant stowage features in

the new ES, from the roomy

center console to the extra-

wide, ocean-deep trunk

cabin, there’s no reason for

surprises when your car comes

back from parking.

TIP N O 5

VALETS ARE PEOPLE, TOO

TIP N O 7

SCENTS ANDSENSIBILITY

TIP N O 6

STASH YOUR CASH ( A N D OT H E R F L A S H )


because making it look effortless is the whole

point. A guest should never need to touch the door

handle, never wait around for a claim ticket, never

feel anything but 100 percent confi dent turning

the keys over to you and never ever wonder, “Where

the heck is my car?”

“This one’s yours,” the unruffl ed garage

manager tells me as a silver SUV slows to a halt.

Inside my head, I repeat the valet’s mantra: Smile,

open door, greet, give ticket, rinse, repeat. And

with that, the car is mine. This one has an expen-

sive-looking orchid perched precariously on the

passenger’s seat. Navigating down the ramps, I

recover a memory from high school driver’s ed class

about keeping the hands at “ten” and “two” on the

steering wheel. Miraculously, automobile and exotic

fl ower survive.

Much of the day is a blur of bucket seats

and concrete stairwells. One car is more expensive

than the house I grew up in. Another hasn’t seen

a car wash since the disco era. My favorites have

features that make the job a cinch: keyless ignition,

electroluminescent dashboard lighting, and, joy of

joys, a backup camera.

At the end of my day, I spot a luxurious

sedan idling near the podium. Ah, the long sleek

lines! The luscious curves! The forward-leaning L

fronting the handsome grille! An ES! An ES!

“Is that the ’07?” the head valet asks, sotto voce.

“Uh huh,” I say.

“Sweet,” he says, his face fi nally breaking into

a smile. “This baby stays right up front with us.”

You should have seen the look he gave me

when I told him it was mine.

The cost of parking clearly isn’t what

it used to be. In the early 1930s,

rates were 15 cents for the fi rst

hour, 25 cents for up to 12 hours

and $10 for the entire month.

Today, the median daily parking

rate in America is approaching

$15, and the median monthly rate

is just shy of $150, according to

Colliers International’s 2005

North America Parking Rate Survey.

PARKING PRICEST H E N A N D N O W

The survey also ranks the most ex-

pensive districts to park for the day

as No. 1 Manhattan, No. 2 Honolulu,

No. 3 San Francisco, No. 4 Boston

and No. 5 Los Angeles.

N OWTH EN

TI P N O 8

WHAT TO G IVETipping is personal, but here’s a guide from the

National Parking Association. Give a minimum of two to five dollars above the valet fee. For exemplary service,

tip $10. Keeping your car up front is worth $20 or more, depending on the

venue and timing.

A TIP FROM THE VALET


Fig. 6: Academy Awards, Los Angeles, 1958

IN

VALET

HISTORY

GREAT MOMENTS

One-touch starting. How cool is that?!

Supple leather-trimmed seats with a natural feel are a welcome relief after a long jog through the lot.

Heated and ventilated front seats.

Remote-control power mirrors, puddle lamps and – holy moly! – a backup camera. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sonar-assisted parking? You’re right! This must be a dream.

Water-repellent glass, rain-sensing wipers and integrated foglamps keep a dark and rainy night in check.

THE VALET’S DREAMH O W TO M A K E YO U R FAVO R I T E VA L E T R E S T E A S Y

Headlamps that swivel to light more of the road around a curve! This is one smart car.

Advanced ThinsulateTM sound absorption. So that’s why it’s so quiet in here.

Even the steering wheel feels luxurious.

Electroluminescent gauges are so 21st century.

A 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat! Bluetooth®

technology that provides voice-activated dialing by name or number! The Mark Levinson® Premium Surround Sound Audio System with 300 watts at 0.1% THD of enveloping, concert-quality sound! I know I’m not supposed to touch, but …!


Valet parking is a science of numbers.

The fewer minutes it takes to safely

park and retrieve the most vehicles,

the more happy customers a business

will have. It’s also a ritual that most of

us go through from time to time, if

not regularly.

INSIDE AMERICA’S VALET PARKING HABITSA L E X U S S U R V E Y

Lexus wondered how

drivers feel about this transaction

which puts one of their biggest in-

vestments – their cars – in the hands

of complete strangers for hours or

days at a time. So the automaker

commissioned Kelton Research to

survey more than 1,000 Americans

about their valet parking habits and

concerns, from how much custom-

ers tip to what their biggest valet

parking worries are.

On average, 61 percent

of Americans use valet parking, with

Northeasterners relying on it the

most (only 27 percent of them say

they never use a valet).

Fig. 7: Northeasterners Rely

on valets most.


What’s the biggest fear about valets? That they take

the nicest cars out for joyrides (64 percent think

it’s at least a possibility). One in two surveyed also

worries the car will be returned damaged. Then

there’s “car shame,” that nagging feeling that the

valet is judging one’s vehicle.

64%fear

joyrides

36%don’t

Fig. 11: The joyride

quotient

Fig. 12: Many people suffer

from car shame

Fig. 13: The solution:

The Lexus ES 350

Interestingly, women are twice as prone to

suffer from it as men, just as drivers who are

unmarried are twice as likely to be embarrassed

by their car as married customers. Fortunately,

there’s a 100 percent solution for car shame.

It’s the Lexus ES 350.


Overall, Americans tip valets an average of $3 per

vehicle – and 73 percent are confi dent that when

they tip, they are tipping the right person the right

amount. Good service defi nitely counts in this

exchange of cash for car. The valet’s friendliness and

politeness are by far the biggest factors infl uencing

how large a tip a customer leaves, followed by how

bad the weather is – 75 percent say inclement weather

increases the gratuity.Surprisingly, speed isn’t as much of a factor in

customer satisfaction. Americans are willing to wait

up to an average of nine minutes for the valet to

return their cars before becoming impatient! But

the younger the driver, the more impatient – nearly

half of those ages 18 to 34 will only wait one to fi ve

minutes before getting restless.Figs. 8 & 9: Friendly valet,

bad weather = bigger tips

Fig. 10: The patience quotient

O v a l i a n t v a l e t t u x , T h e g l a m m e s t o f s e r v i c e t o g s .

A v e s t m e n t f o r m a l a n d f o r g i v i n g ,G r a c e f u l e v e n o n a j o g .

B l a c k a n d w h i t e o r c r i m s o n r e d , A b o w t i e f o r g o o d m e a s u r e .

F o r d a p p e r c h a r i o t e e r s w e l l - b r e d , W e e n t r u s t t o t h e m o u r t r e a s u r e .

F r o m c o a s t t o c o a s t a n d c u r b t o c u r b ,To w a r d g a l l a n t r y i t s k e w s .

A u n i f o r m t h a t ’ s b u i l t t o s e r v eN o b l e p e n g u i n s i n r u n n i n g s h o e s .

ODE UPON A VALET TUX

P OETRY CORNER

HAPPY PARKING

t h e p a s s i o n a t e p u r s u i t o f p e r f e c t i o n

L e x u s Va l e t G u i d e . c o m

Documents

Insider's Guide to Valet Parking