Just got my car this weekend and she's a beauty! I'm wondering...has anyone had any difficulty with valet parking? Do you have to show the valets how to use the car? Anyone had any problems? Any suggestions for making things go smoothly?

 

I ask the guy if he's familiar with a hybrid.
They usually say "yes".
I should've also asked if they understand English.

 

It depends on where I'm going. If my Camry is among several Lexus, Mercedes and BMW's (like at a nice restaurant) I usually don't worry too much. Those Valets usually know what's up. Now, if there were nothing but neons and civics I might take an extra moment to make sure the valet knows what's up.

To date the only place I've had an issue with letting someone else drive my car is at a car wash. They could not figure out how to turn it on and PUSHED it out of the wash and to the side so they could dry it.

 

The Camry Hybrid really isn't that much different than a regular Camry. To Start, you press the break, then the start button, put in drive/reverse - same as regular Camry. To stop, put it in Park and press the start/stop button - same as regular Camry. Neutral works the same way. If they've driven any car with the remote keyless entry system, they should be able to handle it.

I've been to one car wash and one restaurant in the 4 weeks I've had mine and no problems either time.

The Prius on the other hand... I drove a friend's this past weekend, and its park/drive, etc is totally different. Even with him sitting in the car, I fumbled with that *** thingie to go into reverse and then to find the park button...

 

Not a Chance..
I will go out of my way to avoid valet parking and have had that policy on every car I have owned.
If I am at an establishment that features valet parking there is almost always an area in the back of the parking lot where they will let you self park.
(it's generally less crowded back there too)
I don't mind the walk.

 

I recently had the unfortunate need to replace a damaged tire, and the tire shop (Discount Tire... who should have known better, considering the wide variety of cars I have seen there), left the car in "Ready" for almost 45 minutes while they changed the tire. They thought it was off. I was not happy.

 

Maybe it's more common now, but the keyless pushbutton start thing seemed to confuse valet dudes. I asked if they knew how to use it, but as I was being driven away in the shuttle, I watched the guy trying to dig the key out of the fob. Oh, joy...

 

Interesting, one would have thought that the ICE would have kicked in a couple of times during that length of time to clue them in the system was still on.

 

I never valet. Walking is good for you. Besides, I wouldn't trust any valet to drive my car.

 

On paper what you say is true. In reality there is a substantial difference, namely the cranking and starting of the engine is missing on the TCH. Whithout that audible feedback most think the car didn't start. Nevermind the READY light, no one looks at or understands that. I know, I speak from experience, I own one of each.