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South Vienna, OH Car Consumer Discussions

South African vs. German 325

by eos on Tue Apr 09 09:57:03 PDT 2002

I'm sure this topic has been explored before, but can any of the regulars summarize the pros and cons of buying or avoiding SA-built cars? Thanks, Bob

South African vs. German 325

by eos on Tue Apr 09 09:51:16 PDT 2002

I'm sure this topic has been explored before, but can any of the regulars summarize the pros and cons of buying or avoiding SA-built cars? Thanks, Bob

Back from Euro Delivery!!! (very long)

by platypus on Tue May 08 12:22:38 PDT 2001

Just returned from Euro delivery. All I can say is - what an incredible experience!!! I strongly encourage everyone who is interested in purchasing a BMW to take advantage of this tremendous program at least once in his or her lives. I'm already talking about the next trip! And this is not coming from someone who's never been to Europe before. My previous travels have led me throughout Europe, Asia, and South America. There is just something magical about driving the car you've been waiting in anticipation for on the splendid roads of Europe. (Or at least Germany and Austria in my case.) BMW is essentially paying you to take delivery there. The savings you get on the car will easily pay for the cost of your trip (notwithstanding splurging in fancy hotels and restaurants). With a little moderation, you can have your cake and eat it too. So, back to the trip. My wife and I picked up the car (330i, 5-spd, titanium silver, black leatherette, SP, MR) in Munich on April 25. We took the subway from Marienplatz and rolled our luggage for the 10-minute walk from the subway station. Arriving at the delivery center was very cool - bimmers everywhere and a sign at the gate that said simply, "BMW European Delivery." We went inside, had a great lunch on BMW, and after about an hour, were called to pick up the car. Can't believe how excited I was to see it - this 32 year old felt like a 10-year-old kid in a toy store. My delivery person spent about 30 minutes going over the car with me. I purchased wheel locks for $20 at the center and they installed them for me. Then she sent us off with a reminder to keep the speed below 80mph and the rpms below 4000. I was quickly amazed by the power in the 3-liter six. My others cars are 4-bangers and a couple of times I applied a bit too much pressure on the accelerator and we were thrown back into our seats. Wow! Our first stop was at a large (largest perhaps in Munich) BMW dealer about 5 minutes from the delivery center - blows away every US dealer I've been too. Every make and model imaginable was on display, including the Z8. Lots of cool accessories also, and in the back, they had on display all the optional wheel designs offered by BMW. A great place to go for someone looking for OEM modifications to their car. We then headed out to Dachau, Germany's first concentration camp. I had visited previously, but it was the first time for my wife - you cannot go away without being moved. Finally, we put the car on the autobahn and headed north for Nuremberg. It was tough to stay below 80mph as cars going upwards of 120mph were passing us. They passed us like we were standing still. But I kept my willpower and followed the instructions of my delivery person. We spent the night in Nuremberg and visited the old town the following day. On the way out, we stopped at Room 600 of the courthouse where the infamous Nuremberg trials were held. (We were actually able to go into the room as a trial was currently in progress, although since neither of us spoke German, we didn't understand anything.) The next stop was to the west - Rothenburg ob der Tauber - a medieval town that no one should pass up. With its walled inner city, it has the ability to transport you back into the past (despite the tourists). Leaving Rothenburg, we drove for about 60 miles on the famous Romantic Road, passing the other medieval towns of Nordlingen and Dinkelsbuhl. From there, it was southbound to Fussen, which stands at the foot of the Alps near the Austrian border. On the way to Fussen, we had a little incident with the local authorities. I was driving along at about 75mph, when a VW Passat wagon passes us and then pulls in front of us. There is a display in the back window of the wagon that begins to flash to us in red letters, "Police, Follow." However, the display was in German. Police I understood - Follow I did not. I thought the car might be trying to tell us that there were police up ahead. I followed the car for about 2 minutes, until finally another car passed both of us. I figured, hey, that guy passed the Passat so I guess I can do the same. As soon as I moved to the left lane, the Passat swerves to cut me off. Now I'm thinking, "What the %&@!" I move back into the right lane and the guy in the passenger seat turns around and flashes a badge to us. Then it dawned on me that they were police. (Remember, the car had no markings to indicate it was an official police vehicle.) Needless to say, I really felt like an idiot. I followed him at the next exit into a service station. Both men get out (one dressed in typical Tyrolean attire) and approach us to ask for our papers (passports and vehicle registration). After seeing that the car was indeed mine, they let us go. I asked them why we were pulled over and they said they just do periodic checks looking for stolen cars and drugs. Guess my wife and I have that suspicious look about us. Or perhaps it was because we were the only ones on the autobahn doing 75mph. ;-) Eventually, we found our way to Fussen and holed up in this beautiful little inn at the foot of a lake. King Ludwig's castle of Neuschwanstein awaited us the following day. If you don't know it, this is the most photographed castle in Germany and is the one that Walt Disney modeled his castles after. After visiting Neuschwanstein, we headed into the Alps and crossed the border for Innsbruck. I was skeptical about going to Innsbruck, thinking that it was going to be a typical ski town. I was definitely wrong - Innsbruck is very charming, and surrounded by the Alps, is one of the most beautiful cities in Austria. A definite must see IMO. From Innsbruck, it was back through the Alps into Germany again to visit the alpine village of Garmish-Partenkirchen, where the winters Olympics were once held. We had a superb plate of pasta at a trattoria in Garmisch, and then headed to another of Ludwig's castles: Schloss Linderhoff. Then it was back through the German countryside and into Austria and the city of Mozart, Salzburg. Salzburg was probably my favorite city on the trip. The fortress that overlooks the city and the old town with its cafes and music were simply wonderful. We spent one evening at the fortress and dined at a restaurant with a table overlooking the Alps, and followed it up with a chamber music concert listening to Mozart. (I can't do that in Austin!) We spend two days in Salzburg and then headed to Vienna. A beautiful city in its own right with a very rich history. Vienna reminded me a bit of Paris. It had more of that big city feel to it where people are generally more hurried. The palaces of the Hapsburg dynasties were phenomenal, as was a visit to the Spanish Riding School to view the training sessions of the Lippizaner horses. And the desserts... We could have eaten desserts in the cafes all day long, so sumptuous they were. Finally, our trip was approaching its end, and we began the 300-mile drive back to Munich, stop

jdinstl,About Fusz Buick

by regalluvr1 on Thu Jan 04 22:42:53 PST 2001

I believe my 1986 Buick Regal T-Type was purchased new from Paul Fusz Buick in Ellisville,MO which is in West St Louis.I'm the 3rd owner and I purchased it a year ago at Vienna,MO.I live 100 miles south of KC.Do you know if Paul Fusz Buick is still in business?I assume Lou Fusz and Paul Fusz were related to each other.

I am back...

by photog0264 on Sun Nov 05 17:05:29 PST 2000

Well after a very relaxing vacation I am back. Thanks everyone for the E-mails about my web page, I have corrected a couple minor points based these E-mails covering the different ZX2s. Done a little minor cleaning up of things in general. I have also narrowed the contents of the pages after seeing them displayed on a different computer, and after realizing my left to right margins where a little wide. Strange as it may seem despite several dozen E-mails and quite a few hits nobody has contributed any images to the readers gallery. So for that reason I have discontinued the readers gallery. Rather ashame because there really is a lot of nice ZX2s on the roads. Another MINOR addition to my ZX2 Modifications page is the wish list for my ZX2. Basically a list of ideas and options that I will probably never be able to afford, but are so nice to fantasize about. This addition was motivated by the sight of a heavily customized Midnight Blue ZX2 in the loading Zone at Dulles Airport with plush leather seats, an obviously non stock larger sunroof, (and strange as it may seem to notice) lighted foot wells, a ground effects kit along the body (but not the front or rear end) and larger tires. I just wish I could have had the time to really study it in detail, and snap a couple shots of it as it was very cool to see. Alas I don't think the owners would have appreciated my timing and I didn't want to miss my own flight. So apart from a few scribbles in my flight notes book it escaped. I will have to keep my eyes open for it in the future as it did have a "Town of Vienna" sticker in the window, and I work in Vienna. Point of interest while in Charleston South Carolina, I saw the ultimate Roadster: the BMW Z8. I will post some pictures of this car when I get them back from my lab sometime next week. A customer of mine in Surfside Beach, South Carolina says they go for over 100,000 is that right? I did look very nice and had me positivly drooling. Certainly a lot nicer than the Z3. On very different car note: the rental car I had in South Carolina was a 2000 Hyundai Accent sedan. Though I would never own one as a primary car it certainly reaffirmed my opinions about it. Nice, reasonable stylish, comfortable for it's price point, but borderline Zero for performance. I think the phrase "a Nice Safe car comes to mind". Safe because there is NO WAY you could get carried away driving the thing on country roads, or the highway. It really does need a stronger engine. Merging into high speed traffic was downright scary in this car,try as may there just wasn't any power there to accelerate quickly with. On the flip side I ran up over 475 miles on one tank of gas, a feat that my ZX2 could never do. Perhaps once my insurance settles down in a couple years I will buy one as a second car. Photos of this car will also appear next week on my web pages. http://sites.netscape.net/photog0264/ZX2Page.htm