steveromagnino

Now that Thai no longer flies to NYC, for the first time in a while I am flying to US of A NYC in September, and would like to keep the miles on Thai I have been building.

Would want to fly business or premier economy, ideally avoiding long layovers in odd places if possible.  Am renting a car at the other end, and have not flown there before so not sure whether La Guardia or JFK or Newark is best (going north).

I can do Thai to LAX then hop across on a US carrier, go via Turkish, SIA, ANA etc all of which have a single stop somewhere also; I don't need fully 180 degree reclining just decent seat so I can sleep and I don't drink or eat plane food (mostly) so that's not important to me.

Premier economy I have only flown once and wasn't so impressed, there is no interest to go economy this distance.

I know there are many of you doing this route, some advice would be greatly appreciated.

Other question is regarding car rental; would prefer to rent a decent car (i.e. luxury car) rather than a piece of junk; have got a price for a cadillac already, any suggestions on regional car rental firms in that part of USA would be appreciated; mostly i can only contact ones i know (AVIS, HERTZ, Alamo, etc) and only a few do decent cars.

Seems like the Ford Wildtrak 3.2 I booked is getting further and further away and no heated seats is a deal breaker (well close).

So now I am considering a European car instead.

My thought process is:
- want to be on the road mid May (I need to use for a long road trip end of May)
- should be not obsolete upon buying (so this means in some cases 2nd hand, in other cases new as the model has some life left)
- decent resale but relative to purchase price (cheaper upfront I can handle a bit more depreciation)
- access to servicing in BKK
- financing 75% so 2nd hand means paying VAT on 75%
- max budget new 2.2m; max budget 2nd hand 1.3-1.5m
- would like a car that is enjoyable to drive and gets up to 100km in something under 9 sec and preferably under 8

Options
1. Benz C200 NEW
- best deal offered at 1 dealer is about 2.1m even (anyone recommend a good dealer?) but doesn't have a service contract attached unlike Volvo/BMW (read below); can deliver on time
- never owned one before
- performance is pretty decent for the base model as it's the same engine in all 3 C200s, and I like turbos/superchargers
- mid way through its life so will get 4 years maybe on this facelift before it's an obsolete old one
- 2nd hand Benz just drops so slowly it's a good car to buy new

2. BMW 320/323/325 2nd hand
- all only worthwhile 2nd hand as the E90 style is about to be replaced this year even though new cars not available until next year; new coming soon model ones out of my price limit and timing wrong; current E90 new ones do get a 5 year/100km free everything service and they offered me ex staff cars at a discount but the model is about to be replaced so she did try to sell me a 5 series !!
- owned a 316 before; you don't want to be underpowered in a Beemer 320i is probably still ok and there are tons 2nd hand to choose from
- any comment on grey market infiltration; seems BMW core models on the car websites are mostly legit ones
- for about 1.2-3m can get a decent model 2005-2006 car (current E90 shape); can't foresee the depreciation being a killer in future
- would appreciate a comment; the 1 series is appealing, but very concerned that parts servicing etc will be an issue; also how much more Mini like is it going to be to drive (I think not much) as it's a 2 litre in a slightly smaller shape; both 1 series are legit BMW Thailand and 2005/7 models for around 1.3m; depreciation for the original owners is a killer (these were on the market for 3m+ back new); have briefly scanned 5 series which also are just a tad more; much more car for the money, true, but am guessing these are the exec spec ones that aren't so interesting to me and it's pushing a lot for a 2nd hand car

3. Lexus is 250 2nd hand
- current shape for another 2 years
- new not viable; 2nd hand lack of stock and so a 70,000km out of warranty one is still 1.7m; VAT on that financing is a deal breaker; a few cheaper than this but not sure they are legit ones; Lexus is a prime candidate for ex Japan 2nd hand imported in some dodgy fashion and sold to some doufas here

4. Mini Cooper S 2nd hand
- 1st generation 2002-2006 are around 1-1.3m so price is fine
- must have a turbo and either manual stick/tiptronic type is fine, but I think the techonic shift ones came out in Gen 2 which is probably outside my budget
- seems hugely difficult to easily find out which ones are legit and which are grey market; there is for instance a grey market for under 1m with supposedly 50,000km....fine until it goes kapput; then I am not sure where you could get what is probably a relatively complex piece of machinery serviced
- this one is interesting for me given my previous list of Nissan GTiR, Daihatsu GTTi, subaru turbo, etc; just depends on pricing; if around 1.1-1.2m I cannot see how it will depreciate too badly in future - am I idiotic though for considering and any one wish to comment?  Might not be the ideal vehicle for carting around a family or friends of 5 people....but being out of waranty period it means you can start fiddling around with it a bit without problems, play with boost, chips etc that you wouldn't do on a new car...then again it still is $30k USD 2nd hand for a glorified gocart which is almost $100k USD new; at least for the beemer etc you are paying for metal, not 'negative space'...then again need to test drive to see
- how is servicing and parts - any one can comment?

5. Volvo S60 NEW
- odd last option; can deliver on time
- cheap (relatively) at 1.799m and I have a bit of a connection to them so could probably get the body kit maybe some nice rims etc - in std spec for 1.8m it's a decent deal anyhow
- huge saving on fuel with E85 PLUS 5 years servicing free (everything except accidents covered by insurance) or up to 100,000km...put together that's probably a saving of 40,000b a year for 3-4 years (when I hit 100,000)
- could be a bit 'droppy' on the depreciation; no idea if geely involvement will send the company bankrupt or more likely it will just continue plodding along churning out good cars with no one noticing
- have test driven; quite like fwds anyhow; this one has decent grunt; probably can start playing with the motor once if goes out of warranty
- easily the best in terms of interior except for the vents which are downright odd; seats, the trunk, etc - I am amazed to say this but it is simply better than the Benz or a new 3 series in the showroom; obviously not on par with 5 series etc; it's basically just the badge on it that is in any way a put off

With Ford playing around without any sort of a plan, I may yet still go through with the Wildtrak but in some cases above, spending 1m and a little change on a 2nd hand car would mean I could have both (hence considering a mini).

Comments on the above and other options to consider would be appreciated.