[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by coolboy007

Which car do you have?

EDIT : Just checked its a Civic, woah, how did the valet get it started and is the key in Civic with a built in transmitter or like Fiat which has a foldable key fob?

Apologies for not letting out which car was the one. It was in my Baleno.

Baleno comes fitted with Nippon system which i believe has engine immobilizer as i was not able to start the car by turning the ignition key. Now the question is how did he started the car?

[suhaas307]

Valets are the scum of the Earth.

They have some sort of basic knowledge and experience in driving, so they have been employed.

They do not care about your car. It's not theirs, right? So why should they? They don't have the value we have, because we know the pain and trouble it takes to buy, own and drive a car. I have never given my car to the valet at the hundreds of restaurants and hotels that I've been to. I insist that I park it myself. And I drive an 8 year old Santro.

Look at it this way, would you give your house-keys to some stranger when you step out for a walk? Nope.

These valets might even have a scheme planned out, and by giving them your keys, you are playing right into their hands. And generally, hotels and restaurants would be quick to wash their hands off such issues.

EDIT: Sorry about your ordeal Mayank. It seems like they trying to pull a fast one on you. Disarming the alarm system might have been done so that they could steal the car discreetly? It's possible. These guys work hand-in-glove with underground thugs, who are waiting for such cars to be parked on the street.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Tampering with the remote locking / security is not trivial. Is it possible to reprogram the remote <> control unit? If so, please do it.

[james]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Question, what do guys do at restaurants like Little Itly (or Italia) which takes keys and parks the car? If i refuse to give them the keys i will have to park my car on the road? Although i have seen the drivers are decent but you never know.

If they dont let me park, i just hop into the passenger seat(once he gets into the drives' seat) and tell him to park wherever he wants!! If he refuses, i give him an aggressive look, point to his face and tell him in a low gruff voice to start the Bl00dy motor, put it in gear and drive!! Works like a charm!

P.S. I live in mangalore.

[F150]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Bad news for Shoppers and consumers indeed.

I hate giving my vehicle to any of these parking creatures.

Hence it is preferable to get up early and go to the shops as soon as they open - say 1030-11am, complete your shopping and get out quick!

Else park in a proper safe place yourself and commute by auto to the shop / destination of choice.

This is exactly what I do Shankar. I hate giving my car to the valet parking guys.
Yesterday there was a sale at lifestyle, we went to there to check it out. Lifestyle parking was full, I parked in Adlabs complex parking (Rs 20) and went to lifestyle.

Mayank, there is a fair chance that the car's security system has been tampered. Please visit a MASS and get every thing checked out.

[rjstyles69]

I usually stick to the policy of get there early and leave early. This in turn gives you peace of mind coz you have the luxury of parking your car. I am regular at the Austin Town, Lifestyle for the last 10 years and I might have a given my car for valet parking maybe a handful of times over the years.

Usually when there is a sale, I park it in Central Mall or even at Garuda Mall and walk down to lifestyle. Another option is to pay and park in the Victoria Hospital,only catch is that you don't get a refund of your parking ticket. I bet I can live with that.

[shankar.balan]

You can even park on one of those off shoots of Wood Street/ Castle street provided you find a slot there. Else, Home Stop is a good place where you need to pay 50Bucks which is still worth it.
But the best is to go early and avoid all these woes.

Originally Posted by F150

This is exactly what I do Shankar. I hate giving my car to the valet parking guys.
Yesterday there was a sale at lifestyle, we went to there to check it out. Lifestyle parking was full, I parked in Adlabs complex parking (Rs 20) and went to lifestyle.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

[*]How can he start the car now to get to me?[/list]
Will pushing the car and trying to start work?

That's the exact question that came to my mind. The immobiliser is independent of the remote locking system IMO. The locking system will just give out an alarm if there is forced entry, which it did. The attendant then disarmed it by disconnecting it from the battery. The question is, does Baleno come with immobiliser? If it did not , then you should have been able to start it. If it did, then the attendant should not have been able to start it. AFAIK modern MPFI cars cannot be push started.

Could he have switched the battery from some other car key on to your key, and then switch it back after starting your car? But then the lights should not have flashed an alarm.

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Disarming the alarm system might have been done so that they could steal the car discreetly? It's possible.

Its possible, but my best judgement is this was not the real reason for all this. My only concern at the moment is if he has changed/pulled out some good parts from the car.

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

The question is, does Baleno come with immobiliser?

AFAIK modern MPFI cars cannot be push started.

I believe the Baleno comes with immobilizer as i was not able to crank the engine (Someone else might throw some more light on this), for a test i might try and push start the car one of these days just to check.

, I would love to call Baleno the modern car but i guess its ~a decade old now and it might be possible to push start it. I vaguely do remember doing a push start of the Baleno myself quiet sometime back.

[lambuhere1]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Another option is to pay and park in the Victoria Hospital,only catch is that you don't get a refund of your parking ticket. I bet I can live with that.

Originally Posted by F150

I parked in Adlabs complex parking (Rs 20) and went to lifestyle.

rj, is it St Philominas, or Victoria Hospital ?

F150 : Location of the said parking will be highly helpful

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by lambuhere1

rj, is it St Philominas, or Victoria Hospital ?

I stand corrected pal, it's St.Philomena's hospital parking. Sorry about that.

[mayankjha1806]

Now we have stopped going to Lifestyle in Austin town completely, as weekend mornings are busy with some chores of house and by evening i know i will get into the same mess again.

Tried starting Baleno by pushing the car and yes it is possible to get the car started by pushing. Haven't tried after not unlocking with remote yet though as it would mean car would shout (and for it to not shout i will have to disable the alarm again).

Yesterday went to Little Italy in Indiranagar, and instead of using vallet parking i parked it myself next door in Reebok.

[mayankjha1806]

Another shocker yesterday although at Central Mall in Bellandur. This malls parking has those motorized lifters which can double the available parking capacity as they lift the car and another car can be parked underneath.

Yesterday we were there for some generic shopping at around 2015 hrs, and while going towards lower basement we passed upper basement parking and noticed that one of the upper parking bays had broken and the car on that slot was slightly tilted. There were 3/4 folks holding the metal on the sides so as it does not fall off and damage the car underneath.

Wanted to take a picture but could not as some irritant driver from behind started honking, by the time we came back to the spot, me with my phone camera ready, things had been cleared. Couldn't make out of the car below was damaged at all.

Did anyone else witnessed this drama? I always park on the sides near the wall when i go to central. Now i have more than one reason to do so.

[rajeev k]

This is the case with valet parking in Kochi too. I don't even like the way these blokes pull the handbrake and the less said about their driving styles the better. I too had a very bad experience at Kalyan Silks two years back when they took about 45 minutes to locate the car. And when I made a shout they took me in one of their cars to all their parking lots and could locate the car. I dread even the thought of valet parking now.

[root]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Yesterday we happened to visit the Lifestyle store in Austin Town, Bangalore. We usually go there regularly as past experiences have been good. Looking at the scarcity of parking space i was always weary that something might go wrong someday with their Valet parking service, and it did, yesterday. Here is the complete chronology of events. Readers are advised to be cautious.

@Mayank - I am a regular at this store too. I have a rule though, if I can park myself, I go in, otherwise we drive off. Their valet parking is chaotic. As others have observed, will park on my own unless I have no choice. See below. Sorry to hear of the trouble you had to go through. It is really pathetic.

Originally Posted by condor

I have refused to hand over the Sumo to the parking attendants in Oberoi, but instead went & parked at my cousin's office near by. Peace of mind is far more valuable than what other people think.

@Condor - never have a problem at Oberoi - they have a Self Driven Car Park just as you enter on the left - however, thankfully never have tried it when the Hotel is overcrowded with a function or seminar. Have the problem at Le Meridian though. They have limited self park options - they do not allow you to go to the basement parking without the valet.