Road & Track had a great article about the car scene in Korea: https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/travel/a32026982/south-korea-illicit-car-scene/ I thought living in California was bad. I can't imagine being a car person in S Korea.
That was a very interesting read, and I can confirm that it's pretty much accurate. The vast majority of high-end cars here are of the luxury variety (Rollers, Bentleys, Maybachs etc), although down where I live in Busan, I see a surprising amount of (stock) exotics. If you want to mod your car, you are incredibly limited in what you can do - both by the law, and in terms of availability of parts. As with everything else, the Korean government regulates driving to death. The suffocating rat-maze of government rules in every aspect of life is my single biggest complaint about living here - but overall, it can still be a great place, depending on your circumstances. I will offer a counterbalance to the doom-and-gloom of the article. I have lived and worked in 8 different countries, and my decision to buy my first exotic in Korea was considered. Here are the upsides: - Zero crime or vandalism. Can park it absolutely anywhere and never have to worry about anyone messing with it. Huge deal. I have friends with expensive rides in London and they're afraid to street-park them, ergo, they rarely get to use and enjoy them. - People don't hate you because you drive an expensive car. In the UK, you are the anti-Christ. The British (I am one) are largely jealous, mealy-mouthed, success-hating layabouts. Couldn't wait to get out. In Korea, people are either indifferent, or see it as something to aspire to and give the thumbs-up. - The speed cameras on the highway act like 'checkpoints'. The navigation warns you about exactly where they are, so everyone just slows en masse, crawls under the camera, and then mashes the throttle. They can do this, because I NEVER see cop cars cruising on the highway or setting up random speed traps. In Australia the f--ckers wait at the bottom of hills and hide under bridges and jump out to nail you if you're 1km over the limit (not kidding). - Large swathes of highway are void of cameras. I have done speeds which I don't dare mention. I regularly blow past people on the highway and I have never been reported to five-o by a butt-hurt Kia driver toting dash-cam footage. - Exotics are priced well, for Asia. My '17 488 GTB (11k miles) set me back around $270k including tax. Same car in Singapore? Well over $600k. Malaysia? Same. Australia? $330k. And because they're rare here, and due to brand strength, Ferraris tend to hold their value well once they're over the initial 2-3 year depreciation hit. Gas is not bad at all - can fill the tank for less than $100. Insurance is rough - $12k p.a. - but it covers literally everything, including driver error / criminal negligence! I could get wasted and total it, and they'd pay for a full repair. Never heard of anything like that anywhere else in the world. Cheaper, less comprehensive coverage is available. - Especially if you live in Busan, there are tons of trips to make. Lots of hills, tight and twisty roads, other cities to visit, I stuck it on a ferry and thrashed around Jeju island for a week. I used to see tons of exotics when I lived in Singapore, and felt sorry for them. All that power and nowhere to go... I was actually planning to start another thread in the General forum about the best places in the world for exotic ownership. Would love to hear people rate their backyards - might influence my future choice of residence...
And not to hijack this thread with Korea chat, here's some more photos... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Out to dinner tonight: Image Unavailable, Please Login 2014 458 Spider (sold) 2020 Huracan Evo Spyder (sold) 2018 488 Spider
Image Unavailable, Please Login On the beach 2014 458 Spider (sold) 2020 Huracan Evo Spyder (sold) 2018 488 Spider
Couldn’t agree more Really special car, especially compared to the more modern supercars with all of their scoops, intakes , vents etc. 2014 458 Spider (sold) 2020 Huracan Evo Spyder (sold) 2018 488 Spider
The same in my area: Black-white-shade of gray-conservative dark shades of red or blue. That's the spectrum these days (I guess I have a dark blue car so I am guilty too). I saw a photo of a parking lot from San Francisco in the 1970's. Wow what a difference. I feel like high-fiving people that get green or tangerine cars.
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Here’s my 458 spider side by side with my 599 GTB Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Looks awesome! The wheels look perfect on it. What wheels are they? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk