First and foremost, I would very much like to thank the members of this forum for your candid opinions regarding the Crossfire. My final decision to puchase and bring the Crossfire to Korea was largely based upon the positive views on the Crossfire by members of this forum. Thank you.

I work for United States Forces Korea as an invitied contractor: Associate Professor of Music and Computer Studies, University of Maryland University College. For the past 4 years I have been driving an Infiniti J30, 1993, in Korea; the only one to my knowledge. Prior to my Infiniti, I owned and operated one of the Kia Elans - Lotus M100 third generation. It was a fantastic driving automobile, not particularly fast but in Korea it is not speed but maneuverability that counts. Unfortunately, I was forced to sell the Elan due to a change in positions that temporary brought me back to the United States; the Elan did not meet US specifications.

My Infiniti has nearly 120K miles and even though it still rides nicely it never really excited the driving passion that my Elan invoked. When my mechanic advised to start looking for a new automobile, due to my Infiniti's advancing age, I immediately returned to the premise that I would purchase an automobile that was fun to drive. Since I qualify for tax and duty free purchases as a DoD Contactor, I began my search with the available roadsters and sports coups in the Korean Market.

While Korea has definitely entered the International market place, to purchase an imported automobile, let alone a roadster or sports coupe, is an expensive venture. The increase in cost is significant. For example, an Audi TT 1.8 Front Wheel Drive costs approximately $50K. While I qualified for tax exemption, it was still more than the cost to purchase in the U.S. While military members and DoD Civilian can purchase a wide selection of automobilies made available through the Military Overseas Car Sales program, the selection did not interest me. Volvos are easily available but, alas, not an interest. The BMW Z4 was an option, but there is a 6 month waiting list to have a U.S. Spec Model built and shipped to Korea on the exempt status program. I drove the Z4 2.5 Tiptronic and I was impressed with the automobile's handling. It is definitely a beautiful touring automobile; well suited for Korean Traffic and with the tax exemption within my price range. But the 6 month wait was just too long. I also looked at the Audi TT 1.8 and 1.8 Quattro and the 2005 MB SLK 200. The latter was truly beautiful and expensive, and the Audi I ruled out after discovering the severe electical problems the TT is experiencing (i.e., www.myaudiTTsucks.com). The Audi TT is definitely not an automobilie to own in Korea.

My search was finally directed to Chrysler. Unfortunately, I rejected the thought of owning another U.S. manufactured automobile, particularly a Dodge Chrysler product (owned a 1994 Dodge Intrepid - it was a terrible lemon and eventually Chrysler bought it back). However, the Crossfire is a not the Chrysler of yesteryear. As my interest grew in the Crossfire, I was told that I could not purchase the automobile through the Overseas Military Sales Program because of an old standing law that restricted the sale of Automobiles to Military Members and DoD Authorized personnel that contained more than 40% foreign parts. The Crossfire fell into this category. I was disappointed to say the least. However, with a little research I found the subsidiary group of OSMC based in Europe, AutoExchangeOnline.com, and they were able to sell and deliver the Crossfire to me in Korea with considerable savings too. After several weeks of reading this forum, sending emails to Europe, New York, and San Diego (my bank) I finally received authorization to make the purchase. I signed the paperwork on the 29th of June and finalized the financial details today.

The Crossfire will come to Korea. It will be an interesting experience to drive the automobile in this traffic. There is an authorized Chrysler Dealership in Seoul and they will most likely sell the Crossfire here at a premium price of $60K. Target date for Crossfires in Korea set for Spring 05.

I will depend upon this fantastic forum for advice and service support. I have purchased a Cover for the Crossfire and it will arrive next week. My Crossfire is currently in Benicia, CA. It will leave for Korea on the next available ship. I anticipate it will arrive in mid-August. More will certainly follow and I will post pictures upon delivery.

Again, thank you all for the candid advice.

Regards,
keijoh

 

Oh that would be cool. The ONLY person in Korea with a Crossfire! It would be like owning the only Ferrari known to man!

You even got the best color out there! Congrats!

 

I bet it's RED.....RED is good luck for the Orientals
WELCOME and enjoy your Crossfire like we do!

 

Nope.. he already said SSB in his sig:

 

HAHA go SSB!!! and congrats on the Xfire Keijoh!!! You'll love it !!!

 

Go Alabaster .... It looks great blowing by orange cones!

 

No no no, you've got it all wrong, go Graphite. lol.

This could go on forever. Why don't you pull a load of pics from this forum of all the different colours and put them all on the screen at the same time and then see which you like best? The small sample in the dealers brochure is rubbish and impossible to tell what a whole car in one of those colours looks like.

 

Lets face it..... Whatever color he choses he's going to have the best looking car on the ROK.

 

Before I get started I would like to say that I am certainly not looking to become embroiled in another pointless car color controversy. I would also like to clearly state that SSB is solidly in my top ten list of favorite Crossfire colors.

Now having said that, this is what has always bothered me about the color SSB. Is this color Silver or Saphire (assuming that saphire is a color) or is it Blue. Well it depends on how you look at it. So what is this thing a car or some sort of giant mood ring. I think that one should pick a color that is not mood dependant but instead is a color that one can always count on. Now Black, not only is it always the same color but always beautiful.

 

You mean primer white? Perhaps the SSB was once primer white (alabaster) before it was painted :lol:

 

Tremendous car and congratulations on its purchase. The agony of anticipation will be generously rewarded on the FIRST DRIVE! 8)

 

That's a very low VIN (#02625) for a July 2004 car

 

The VIN # on my Crossfire is indeed low (.i.e., 02625). I realized the significance through the forum. However, I purchased this automobile through the Military Autoexchange System, which means that they received discounted pricing directly from Chrysler. AutoExchange purchased several Crossfires early in 2004 - I am not sure whether they knew the restriction on selling the automoble or not, but it really does not matter because ultimately the savings were passed to me. I saved 8K off MSRP including shipping to Korea.

Color is an amazing asethetic. It can change your entire perceptions and emotions. I think everyone made the correct decision for their individual needs and tastes. I choose SSP, would have taken Black, my Elan was black, but I could live we any color available for the Crossfire. It is a beautiful design and each color reflects the automobiles' character differently.

Clearly I was unable to test the Crossfire, but testing driving the MB C Class and understanding the difference between sedan and sports coupe I think I know what to expect.

I just finished reading Flathead's departure from the forum. He bought a vette. Beautiful car but not appropriate for the narrow twisting back roads in Korea. Outside of Seoul I share the road with cows, cats, dogs and lots of marching soldiers.

 

and SNOW...

 

I JUST came up on this thread... and I must say, Keijoh must be working in a majorly rural area of Korea if he is sharing the roads with farm animals. [For those of you who are not in the know, Korea is the world's most IT-connected (i.e. WIRED) country in the world. ^^ ]

Anyhow, this is my first post, and I would like to say hello to all XFire-heads around the globe. There are a little under 70 Crossfire Coupes/Roadsters registered in all of Korea, with half of the owners being members of the Korea Crossfire Club (an online community similar to Crossfireforum. Good news is that interest in XFires are growing due to our online efforts ~ we hope to greet many new XFire owners once the '07s start rolling in.

Anyhow, I'm just rambling now. Hopefully I will make myself more useful on the forums from now on. Bye for now XFire-heads.

 

having a one off car in korea is a blast and a night mare. i was stationed in taegu back in 1984 and i had shipped a 1977 corvette. i couldn’t go anywhere or leave it parked because the kids would climb on it. hand prints everywhere and one night i heard someone trying to jimmy the door open...i shipped a 1985 camaro over there in 1988 when i was in kunson and it was a little better but still had to leave it on base when i went down town. i hope you don’t have any trouble like that... i haven't been back sense 1990. i plan to take a hop next year... good luck.

 

Welcome!!!

Keijoh is an Associate Professor of Music/Computer Studies for the DOD, living in Oksu-Dong, Seoul, South Korea. He travels out to the different camps and up to the DMZ teaching our military, hence the back roads etc. He hasn't frequented this forum for a couple of years now, try him on the other forum. I'm sure he would be interested in meeting up with your club.

 

Wow. Almost 70 Crossfires in Korea? I don't think we have that many Forum members in California (just guessing)? I did see one last time I was there back in June. A black limited coupe was cruising with a C-5 Corvette.

BTW, what is M32 mean? Mercedes 3.2L??

 

You guessed it P-man!!