Car Valet's Joy Ride Caught on Hidden Camera (Update with lots of new information)

gma.yahoo,com/video/news ^ | 5-1-12 | Local ABC News Investigation

[rawhide]

An investigation caught parking lot attendants out for a spin in sports car.

http://gma.yahoo.com/video/news-26797925/car-valet-s-joy-ride-caught-on-hidden-camera-29146638.html

[rawhide]

Busted!

[spetznaz]

I wonder what type of insurance policies the upper end hotels, members clubs and night clubs (where valet service for higher end vehicles would most likely occur) have. Reason being that while I would expect valets that are trusted with vehicles possessing the confluence of high horsepower and torque would be well trained drivers, it is still too easy for some to step on the accelerator just a bit too heavily and the torque dump gets them spinning.

The higher end AMG benzes, for instance, have quite a lot of torque, not to mention the high strung Ferraris, Paganis and Lamborghinis that may frequent such hotels/clubs. Smashing up a Pagani Zonda Cinque would be something that would be quite ...well ...expensive. It is too easy for a valet who is used to parking Corvettes to think the same rules apply to some of the higher-strung exotics, and that underestimation that because he can handle a C6 Corvette he can handle a real super car, mixed with the young age of the valet (and the thrill of being behind the wheel of a Lamborgini Reventon or Bugatti Veyron), can easily lead to a crash that costs US$2 million Dollars (easily for any of those two cars).

Thus I wonder what insurance some of these hotels/clubs have, especially if the accident is due to the valet playing the fool.

[sten]

no charges?

he should be put out of business for committing fraud.

[spetznaz]

'easily for any of those two cars' should have been 'easily for any of those three cars' (being the Pagani Zonda Cinque, Bugatti Veyron, and Lamborghini Reventon)

[spetznaz]

You might be interested in this thread

[rawhide]

Update with lots of new information at link below:

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/parking-lot-owner-broke-law-when-driving-customers/nNN2p/

COCOA, Fla. —
On Monday a WFTV report showed how reporter Jeff Deal confronted the owner of a Cocoa parking lot that caters to cruise line customers after he was caught driving a car rented by WFTV.

Now it appears the the lot has shut down.

According to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, some passengers got off their cruise ship Monday evening and said no one from the company picked them up at the port.

The passengers had to take a cab back Premier Parking Spot where they found their keys in the car doors, and no employees anywhere.

snip

[rawhide]

See update above post.

[spetznaz]

Thanks.

[PA Engineer]

[sten]

soo much better then joy riding

at least he’s out of business

[Spktyr]

And people wonder why I have GPS trackers and dashcams in my cars...

[autumnraine]

Reminds me of Ferris Bueller.

[doodad]

Reminds me of a story some years ago when I was racing Camaros about a woman who took her Vette in for service and the mechanics decided to try it out. Filmed themselves doing j turns and burnouts and posted it on the internet. Uh oh, the lady found out.

[Eye of Unk]

They need to install a valet mode into the cars CPU, it only allows a fraction of the engine to operate, like a limp home mode, low gear and limited throttle. I can install a poor mans version with just a toggle switch to the transmission gear selector switch on my Silverado.

I know as when that switch went bad I was stuck in low gear all the way to work until I replaced it.

[Gay State Conservative]

I have a fairly nice car...late model...low miles...not the cheapest car that one can find (but not the most expensive either)...not sporty or flashy but I will *not* allow a valet to park my car.Any restaurant,etc that insists on valet parking doesn’t get my business.Period.

[Gay State Conservative]

And people wonder why I have GPS trackers and dashcams in my cars...

I've heard of them but know nothing about them.Who makes them? Where do you get them? I'd be particularly interested in the GPS tracker.

[allmendream]

The very FIRST thing I thought of.

[Little Ray]

A friend of mine had a BMW ruined by joyriding valets. Did some damage to the engine by running it at too-high RPMs or something. Never again did it work properly.

[Spktyr]

Depending on what functions you want, a GPS tracker can be something as simple and cheap as a reprogrammed Motorola cell phone with GPS hidden in the trunk set to log. It can be even simpler if you don’t care about remote access and just want to know where your car went when you weren’t there. Costs are under $100, and there’s lots of them on eBay. Same thing with dash cams. You want a 1080p (1920x1080) resolution unit of those, though.