Moving to Seoul, Korea....

[jonomo]

My company is moving me to Seoul, Korea... Now for those of you who are not familiar with Seoul... its congested, 4 distinct seasons of weather, smoggy, parking sux, and piss poor drivers EVERYWHERE... oh.. and its difficult to service foreign cars...

so now.. i wanna buy a nice sports car to drive.. but I don't wanna go ape crazy and spend a ton of money on a car that i'm gonna worry about all the time.. and I wanna spend around 30K...

A few options come to mind...
1. Boxster
2. Audi TT
3. S2000
4. NSX...
5. SLK

I'm reluctant to get a roadster cause there would only be like 3 months out of the year where I could actually drive with the top down... plus all the smog... ugh... doesn't sound appealling...

I have terrible experience with german car reliablity (BMW & VW)... so i'm thinking of getting a s2000 or an older NSX...

Any thoughts?

 

[donwon]

Good luck with the older nsx in korea .... your asking for trouble. Even if you lookpast the gridlock and daily door dings and fender benders, you would be hard pressed to find parking for that thing anywhere. Then try to find someone to service it. Subway or walking would be much much more practical. Anything beyond and econobox will be a nightmare.

 

[fayaar]

Just buy a Korean NSX and be done with it.http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27559

 

[GHOSTRIDER]

Out of the choices you listed, given the situation I would get the SLK or Audi and call it a day. Way less hassle.

 

[Ennesssex]

you might want to do alittle more research on what cars you can buy for 30K in Korea. You probably could not buy any of the cars listed. On the otherhand, if you plan on importing a vehicle over there, you might want to consider how much luxury tax, foreign vehicle tax, etc...are going to be applicable to your case. From the sounds of it...since your whining about the drivers, traffic, not much money to spend on the car, etc.....you should just stick the public transportation.

 

[NsSeX]

buy a hyundai tiburon?? Problem Solved! :biggrin: Also while I was visiting Korea this past spring, I only heard of one NSX in Seoul. So finding an NSX might be very difficult, possibly even finding a S2000.

I think you will be better off buying either a SLK, Boxter or TT

 

[ARKers]

finding NSX is hard in Seoul... But it will another one soon. Because ARK will send one to Korea this December hopelly.

 

[transdzn]

so now.. i wanna buy a nice sports car to drive.. but I don't wanna go ape crazy and spend a ton of money on a car that i'm gonna worry about all the time.. and I wanna spend around 30K...

The cars you listed is way over 30K or are you referring to buying high mileage used ones and sending over from the states? With all the taxes and fees of shipping to consider like those mention above- I'm afraid even sending over like say an RSX or MR2 spyder would pass your 30K budget.

Since you sound very conservative and within budget: Emotionally it sounds nice to seek these machines, but logically- I think all the car you listed will not do.

Best of luck in your new life and I hope you can prove all of our points wrong. Please keep in touch with Prime. I'm sure all of us would like to know what you end up pushing around in Seoul, Korea.

 

[Jin1976]

I have not been to Korea yet but I would suggest that make your decision when you are in Korea and see what kind of car is the most suitable and available there. You'll be busy with all the beautiful girls there unless you're married already. :biggrin: Good luck.

 

[vchon]

depending on how long you'll be staying there i say don't even bother w/ buying a new car. even if you have a new car, as you said parking sucks, and i know for a fact that your car will get banged up in the parking lot when you're not there. also, the subway/bus/taxi system is so good/cheap there you practically don't even need a car. and it's not like you can take your car to the clubs and get it valeted or park it...

i'd say go to korea, buy a hyundai LPG car and save up your money for your nsx/mods.

 

[donwon]

You'll be busy with all the beautiful girls there unless you're married already. :biggrin: Good luck.

Dont forget about the food! :smile:

 

[jonomo]

I actually see quite a few NSX, S2000, TT's for around 30~40K in korea these days...

I think many of you havn't been there along time..but these days you see more Ferraris, Porsche, Lamborgini's in Korea (mostly Apku) than I normally do driving down Newport Beach in California... but then my office is in a very wealthy part of town... there's even a few exotic car repair/tune up shops near by... and quite a few exotic car dealerships....

my cousins own a lotus espirit (v8 turbo), S2000 (right hand drive), and a Boxster.. and they obviously don't have the convenience of having a hyundai repair shop down the street, but they don't seem to be too overwhelmed...

none the less... i'd rather buy a econo box then a tiburon... :S... and have you tried taking a bus or subway during monsoon season :S

 

[heySkippy]

I think the SLK would be the most affordable and most practical from the original list. Unfortunately, It's probably also the mildest performer. You can get a really nice '98 SLK stateside these days for $15,000.

 

[NsSeX]

I actually see quite a few NSX, S2000, TT's for around 30~40K in korea these days...

I think many of you havn't been there along time..but these days you see more Ferraris, Porsche, Lamborgini's in Korea (mostly Apku) than I normally do driving down Newport Beach in California... but then my office is in a very wealthy part of town... there's even a few exotic car repair/tune up shops near by... and quite a few exotic car dealerships....

my cousins own a lotus espirit (v8 turbo), S2000 (right hand drive), and a Boxster.. and they obviously don't have the convenience of having a hyundai repair shop down the street, but they don't seem to be too overwhelmed...

none the less... i'd rather buy a econo box then a tiburon... :S... and have you tried taking a bus or subway during monsoon season :S

God I hate taking the subways or buses during rush hour! I remember one time it was so packed and started getting hot i was sweating!

 

[vchon]

jonomo: i'm sure you meant "Chung Dam" when you said "Ap Ku". you see more bimmers and benzes in apku, gotta' go a few more blocks to the richer part to see the more exotic cars. lol

anyway, i seriously would think about parking and the attitude some korean people have. if they hit your car in they're surely won't be a note w/ a # on your winshield when you come back.

although it's not a luxury car i had a volvo and after around 3000000 Won ($2700) worth of repairing dents, nicks, and bumper chips/cracks i got tired of it and left it as is. in the long run i woulda' saved a lot of money/grief/time if i woulda' just bought a korean beater w/ LPG.

 

[jonomo]

Go to apku on a fri night and you see kids who look not old enough to drive let alone afford any car cruising in Lambo's... no joke... you go down to Chungdam and you see older rich folk rolling in their 7 series and 500SLs..

As for being stuffed in a hot subway... a quick story... when I use to live in japan, they had these meters on some subways that estimated the capacity of the trains... 100% meant all seats taken and all handles used... during rush hour the meter would read 300%+... now thats murder!! hehehe

I think the best thing to do would be a Kia Morning.. or some other city car...

Thanks NSX community ....

 

[jonomo]

jonomo: i'm sure you meant "Chung Dam" when you said "Ap Ku". you see more bimmers and benzes in apku, gotta' go a few more blocks to the richer part to see the more exotic cars. lol

anyway, i seriously would think about parking and the attitude some korean people have. if they hit your car in they're surely won't be a note w/ a # on your winshield when you come back.

although it's not a luxury car i had a volvo and after around 3000000 Won ($2700) worth of repairing dents, nicks, and bumper chips/cracks i got tired of it and left it as is. in the long run i woulda' saved a lot of money/grief/time if i woulda' just bought a korean beater w/ LPG.

yeah... my friends spend like $500 every few months just repairing dents :S

 

[NsSeX]

I don't know if this will help, but a good friend of mine is doing consulting work in korea right now and refuses to buy a car and put up with the horrible traffic!

 

[downwiz2]

buy a hyundai tiburon?? Problem Solved! :biggrin: Also while I was visiting Korea this past spring, I only heard of one NSX in Seoul. So finding an NSX might be very difficult, possibly even finding a S2000.

I think you will be better off buying either a SLK, Boxter or TT

think again....

http://www.bobaedream.co.kr/cyber/CyberCar.php?keyfield=1&keyword=nsx&x=0&y=0&gubun=ImportCar

like many ppl have already mentioned. a car is really stupid in a small country like korea. the subway and public transits are very well planned....

but then again they are also jampacked w/ ppl

but do u want to wait over an hour in traffic for a distance that would normally take you 15 minutes on subway?

you pay at least approx 3 times the price on import cars then they would normally cost, because u are forced to pay 7 different types of taxes...don't ask.

 

[jonomo]

think again....

http://www.bobaedream.co.kr/cyber/CyberCar.php?keyfield=1&keyword=nsx&x=0&y=0&gubun=ImportCar

like many ppl have already mentioned. a car is really stupid in a small country like korea. the subway and public transits are very well planned....

but then again they are also jampacked w/ ppl

but do u want to wait over an hour in traffic for a distance that would normally take you 15 minutes on subway?

you pay at least approx 3 times the price on import cars then they would normally cost, because u are forced to pay 7 different types of taxes...don't ask.

Yeah.. i've been looking at this site now... and I noticed that the last post was made in August... and for 40K for a 92...

I'm leaning towards an S2000 at the moment...

 

[nsxsupra]

I say go for it, there are times you will just feel the urge to drive, on the weekends you get out of city and visit other areas. South Korea is not that small.

Owning a car is not necessary in a big city with incrediblely advanced public transportation systems, in some cases owning a car in these cities is a big burden.

I will most likely be relocating to Tokyo sometime next year, I will definitely get a car, even though it is a luxury/burden/inconvenience and definitely not necessity by any means.

 

[jonomo]

By no means will I be using this car as a daily driver.. my office is only a few minutes away using public transportation... and I would have a parking garage at home and at work...

I just kinda want it to drive around on the weekends... maybe go to the tracks, not to race, but look at the Race Girls.. ... or just drive out to the ocean to get away from the city...

 

[dsf3g]

By no means will I be using this car as a daily driver.. my office is only a few minutes away using public transportation... and I would have a parking garage at home and at work...

I just kinda want it to drive around on the weekends... maybe go to the tracks, not to race, but look at the Race Girls.. ... or just drive out to the ocean to get away from the city...

Buy a Kia Elan. It's basically a Lotus Elan M100 with a different engine. (Lotus sold all the dies and tooling to Kia when they gave up on the car).

 

[Mike Hughes]

You don't have to think about it - it's here too.

There are assholes and idiots everywhere there are people in this world.

anyway, i seriously would think about parking and the attitude some korean people have. if they hit your car in they're surely won't be a note w/ a # on your winshield when you come back.