A Different Approach to Valet Instructions

[lolachampcar]

Has anyone else on this thread worked as a valet? Knowing what I know, I would never hand the keys over to a valet even if the car was being parked right in front of the door. I’d park it there myself. I will never send food back at a restaurant for the very same reason. I’ve been on the inside and I KNOW what happens in both cases. It is not pretty.

 

[Soflauthor]

+1 Soflauthor, before I bookmark these helpful instructions, could you update the first step for getting into the car to indicate that the door handles will usually pop out when you approach the car if you have the fob without the need to push any buttons on the fob, but the door handles could be pressed if they do not automatically pop out?

I wrote these before the 4.0 software update. Thx for the heads up. Done.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks Soflauthor for this great idea and execution!
Fixes - The first sentence is utterly confusing to a spanish speaker...try this:
"Usted necesitará el control remoto con forma de coche. NO lo deje en el coche cuando lo estacione. NO lo presione, sólo téngalo con usted."

Thx. Done.

 

[bbmertz]

Thanks, Soflauthor! FYI, I showed your updated Valet Instructions on my 17" screen to a DS today during my orientation and he was impressed. I'll continue to spread the word about this webpage to other Tesla DS and salespeople as well as to fellow MS owners (also mentioning the very cool dash.time4tesla web app created by another developer).

 

[yoda]

Thanks for these soflauthor. Should be very helpful

 

[clmazin]

I went to the Palm in Los Angeles a couple of nights ago, and thought about bringing these instructions, but forgot.

When I pulled into the valet, I asked the attendant if he had parked a Model S before.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "That's my specialty. I've parked about twenty of them so far."

That's L.A. for ya...

 

[Jeeps17]

Knowing what I know, I would never hand the keys over to a valet even if the car was being parked right in front of the door. I’d park it there myself.

+1, but sometimes you have no choice...

I will never send food back at a restaurant for the very same reason. I’ve been on the inside and I KNOW what happens in both cases. It is not pretty.

+100, there, you ALWAYS have the choice...

:biggrin:

 

[vcor]

I started working on a guest driver instruction sheet a while back, but SolfAuthor beat me to the punch! Anyway, here's an alternative one where it has three modes - Guest (like a friend), Valet, and Car Wash. The instructions are slightly different in each case. For example, the Car Wash mode includes a pop-up to remind you to increase the ride height, and the somewhat messy instructions on how to go into Neutral. It's styled fairly close to Tesla's interface, but it's not perfect. It should hold us until Tesla implements a better solution.

http://teslatap.com/guest/

If you save this link as a Favorite, it will return to the last mode it was in when you click on the saved favorite.

The Spanish is just a Google translation (i.e. likely bad), so I'm hoping to find a Spanish speaker review it and I'll update this next week. If someone is fluent in Spanish wants to chip in with a better translation, let me know.

 

[TTT]

I valeted (is that a word?) my car for the first time over the weekend, and there was a lot of arm waving. The car survived the experience, but it occurred to me that there had to be a backup approach.

So … I decided to create a simple instruction sheet for valets, post it on the web, assign the page to my Model S browser as a “favorite,” and then call it up (full screen) just before I get to the valet stand. That way, a simple set of driving instructions for the Model S is on the Model S display as the valet gets in. He/she can read as required and potentially embarrassing situations might be avoided. It can also be useful if you lend your Model S to a friend (yeah … right )

I’ve posted the Valet Instruction Sheet as a public service at the new website supporting our center console insert (CCI):

teslaccessories.com

You’ll find it under “Valet” in the top navigation bar.

If you find errors, omissions, or ambiguities, let me know here and I'll correct them. Hope you find the instructions (and the website) informative.

broken link

 

[GaryREM]

broken link

Valet Instructions | Aftermarket Accessories for Tesla Model S

Not as nice as the dedicated page was...

 

[4SUPER9]

Valet Instructions | Aftermarket Accessories for Tesla Model S

Not as nice as the dedicated page was...

Agreed. Even that was difficult to interpret. Anything that has to be read in prose is essentially useless. Symbols are faster and easier than text.

We need just:

• One statement at the top: "Step on brake to start car." or ""Step on brake to start car and to change gears"
• A picture of the stalk with arrow symbols in indicating directions for "Drive", "Reverse", "Park"

They'll figure out the rest. There is no need for "Keep the FOB with you", "The car locks by itself". They'll figure out that the door handles open when they open. They don't need to be told that the speedometer will appear, yada, yada. They're parking the car and bringing it back to you. It's not a road trip. KISS.