Looking for input

[Jeff S]

Absolutely you can play the field in Asia. If you tell  women that you'll happen to be in Manila, Cebu wherever on these or these dates you won't want for plenty of girls to meet.  Everyone will want to introduce you to someone also. Everyone has a sister, cousin, best friend, roommate, whatever, interested in meeting a kano. Just recognize that you won't be playing with the cream of the crop, and if you do get very friendly with someone that seems special online, you may lose her over the deal.

[robert angel]

Re:

>>I'm going to buy my fiance will be more expensive than all my trips combined, for starters.<<

JM21--I know you're BMW kinda guy--but I'd wait a year or so and buy a used, dealer certified Mercedes certified E 350--550 coupe--they're sexy as hell  with no pillars between the front and rear windows and perform really well . Also the E 63 AMG Benz (zero to 60 in 4.3 seconds) runs like a dog with it's tail on fire, but is sexier than a Jaguar, but has seats as hard as bleacher bench. The Benz guys are famous for 'firm seats'.

That said, if you could get a deal on the M3 that was reskinned last year, that's one helluva a beamer there. Scope beforehand the auto insurance on all these mobiles, though.

Looked at the Porsche Cayman used? (certified) not the fastest--but probably the best handling Porsche today and in ivory cream color--veddy sexy...

I think the BMW 6 class coupe is knock dead gorgeous, but I was amazed that in this class of cars, it has the highest depreciation rate of any of them.

Hell--My  'used' car, is dealer certified for 3 years or up to 100K miles and has the best depreciation of any luxury performance car and it still took almost $10,000 a year in depreciation hit from the new price.

I could have paid more for a 2011 Camry, fully optioned with V6, leather and wood interior, and still had not even half the car I got instead.

I'll never buy new again--EVERYbody out there on the road, is driving a 'used car'. I saw a Mercedes Maybach --their ultra luxury-performance car (600 plus ft of torque) marked down from half a million to only $300,000--with 4600 miles on it!

A real bargain! haha...For the price of that used Maybach, you could live and cruise on the Queen Elizabeth II for a year or so...

But hey--maybe these are 'pipe dreams' (crack pipe?)--I bought my wife a used Camry as her first car--she'd never driven before and although she passed her driver's tests the first time, she still refuses to go anywhere she has to parallel park and her car seems like magnet that attracts shopping cart dings at malls and grocery stores...

[jm21-2]

Re:

>>I'm going to buy my fiance will be more expensive than all my trips combined, for starters.<<

JM21--I know you're BMW kinda guy--but I'd wait a year or so and buy a used, dealer certified Mercedes certified E 350--550 coupe--they're sexy as hell  with no pillars between the front and rear windows and perform really well . Also the E 63 AMG Benz (zero to 60 in 4.3 seconds) runs like a dog with it's tail on fire, but is sexier than a Jaguar, but has seats as hard as bleacher bench. The Benz guys are famous for 'firm seats'.

That said, if you could get a deal on the M3 that was reskinned last year, that's one helluva a beamer there. Scope beforehand the auto insurance on all these mobiles, though.

Looked at the Porsche Cayman used? (certified) not the fastest--but probably the best handling Porsche today and in ivory cream color--veddy sexy...

I think the BMW 6 class coupe is knock dead gorgeous, but I was amazed that in this class of cars, it has the highest depreciation rate of any of them.

Hell--My  'used' car, is dealer certified for 3 years or up to 100K miles and has the best depreciation of any luxury performance car and it still took almost $10,000 a year in depreciation hit from the new price.

I could have paid more for a 2011 Camry, fully optioned with V6, leather and wood interior, and still had not even half the car I got instead.

I'll never buy new again--EVERYbody out there on the road, is driving a 'used car'. I saw a Mercedes Maybach --their ultra luxury-performance car (600 plus ft of torque) marked down from half a million to only $300,000--with 4600 miles on it!

A real bargain! haha...For the price of that used Maybach, you could live and cruise on the Queen Elizabeth II for a year or so...

But hey--maybe these are 'pipe dreams' (crack pipe?)--I bought my wife a used Camry as her first car--she'd never driven before and although she passed her driver's tests the first time, she still refuses to go anywhere she has to parallel park and her car seems like magnet that attracts shopping cart dings at malls and grocery stores...

My BMW is making me regret not buying a volvo actually. But worse, today it is sitting in the parking lot of my office with the top down waiting for rain because I left my keys inside and managed to lock myself out. Good fun. The Ford Focus I rented to get home is actually not that bad.

She is frugal as hell and would kick my arse if I bought her a luxury car. She just wants a newer car that will be low maintenance. I'm thinking a 2008ish economy car.

My three trips probably totaled around $8k so I figure that's about the price of a 1-2 year old economy car with very low miles.

I do have my eye on the Mercedes SLK a bit though, for myself...she thinks I'm incredibly vain for it.

[robert angel]

JM21,

Volvos are good cars---safe and even sporty looking these days. But for maintenance. they are real proprietary- -even needing Volvo only tools. For the fiance have you looked at Scions?

[KenC]

Thanks for all the great input guys.  This is the kind of info I needed.  I am in no "rush" but I do like to do things in a logical well planned manner.  If that is all possible in an emotional undertaking like this.
KenC

[jm21-2]

JM21,

Volvos are good cars---safe and even sporty looking these days. But for maintenance. they are real proprietary- -even needing Volvo only tools. For the fiance have you looked at Scions?

The Scions have come up among many others. Will probably look for some leaders when she is close to getting here and try to get a good deal. I'd like to get something fairly new with less than 20k miles. She doesn't seem to care about options but reliability is important.

My Volvo didn't have any problems whereas my BMW has had several in the short time I've owned her, but maybe it's just luck. I have a 3-series convertible, my dad has a slightly newer 3-series convertible, and one of the guys I work with has an even slightly newer 3-series convertible. Seems mine is the only with problems.

[piglett]

But hey--maybe these are 'pipe dreams' (crack pipe?)--I bought my wife a used Camry as her first car--she'd never driven before and although she passed her driver's tests the first time, she still refuses to go anywhere she has to parallel park and her car seems like magnet that attracts shopping cart dings at malls and grocery stores...

boys i am cheep as a dog so i just don't see myself buying a new BMW or benz but yes they are REALLY nice cars.

i had 1 of my old trucks finally die on me( bought it used 10 years ago) i jumped on craigslist & scooped up a really clean corolla from the mid 90's
i figure once Marily arrives she will need a cheep car to learn to drive & yes i am sure that there will be a couple of OOPS moments but that is why i went used & a little old.
whatever she drives will probably get banged up the 1st winter she drives the thing so i sure as hell don't want her killing a new 5 series BMW SUV. I want her to damage a cheep throwaway car.

I have been on eBay & have seen some really nice low milage Mercedes that i would just love to have.
maybe if i had a nice heated garage for it to spend the winter months in.


pig 

[fathertime]

You decided to give asians's a go based on what Dan mentioned to you, and he likely knows you better than I, but given the way you want to go about meeting the ladies and the way the asian culture works according to the experienced men here, you should at least be considering latin women as well. If you don't find latinas attractive or at least far less so then asians, then bury the thought, otherwise they may be something worth investigating.  It is not a big deal to be dating/getting to know several, just so you don't rub their noses in it.  Well just some food for thought.

Fathertime!

[piglett]

The Scions have come up among many others. Will probably look for some leaders when she is close to getting here and try to get a good deal. I'd like to get something fairly new with less than 20k miles. She doesn't seem to care about options but reliability is important.

My Volvo didn't have any problems whereas my BMW has had several in the short time I've owned her, but maybe it's just luck. I have a 3-series convertible, my dad has a slightly newer 3-series convertible, and one of the guys I work with has an even slightly newer 3-series convertible. Seems mine is the only with problems.

it's real hard to beat a reliable Toyota. if your not looking for sexy just solid
it now looks like many of the so called "runaway Toyota's" were no that at all
they have black boxes in them maybe not all but some.
at the time of the accident the black box data is saying that the breaks were not being applied.
it is strange to me that we have heard nothing bad about an "Obama motors" car 
but when Toyota was about to take the lead at the #1 selling car company in the world all of this sh*t came out about their products. maybe it was just bad luck for Toyota or maybe it was Obama & his pals trying to sell more low quality American cars that many of us would not buy no matter how low the sticker price is.


pig

[piglett]

You decided to give asians's a go based on what Dan mentioned to you, and he likely knows you better than I, but given the way you want to go about meeting the ladies and the way the asian culture works according to the experienced men here, you should at least be considering latin women as well. If you don't find latinas attractive or at least far less so then asians, then bury the thought, otherwise they may be something worth investigating.  It is not a big deal to be dating/getting to know several, just so you don't rub their noses in it.  Well just some food for thought.

Fathertime!

i would have to say pick 1 & test her
if she passed the test go see just her
if it doesn't look like things will work well for the 2 of you then have a couple of ladies emails with you just in case.

if you go to the Philippines and any of these ladies get wind that you are there to see more than one woman she will drop you so fast it will make your head spin!!!

pinays are very jealous !!!!!
some mite even say insanely jealous
but on the other hand most will treat you like a king
I never even joke with my wife me doing ANYTHING with another woman.
it's just asking for trouble IMHO


piglett

[jm21-2]

it's real hard to beat a reliable Toyota. if your not looking for sexy just solid
it now looks like many of the so called "runaway Toyota's" were no that at all
they have black boxes in them maybe not all but some.
at the time of the accident the black box data is saying that the breaks were not being applied.
it is strange to me that we have heard nothing bad about an "Obama motors" car 
but when Toyota was about to take the lead at the #1 selling car company in the world all of this sh*t came out about their products. maybe it was just bad luck for Toyota or maybe it was Obama & his pals trying to sell more low quality American cars that many of us would not buy no matter how low the sticker price is.


pig

I am not at all afraid of toyotas. They are good cars. Stuck accelerators are bad, but not worse than the brakes in my mom's jeep that failed after 2-3 years. I would much ather be speedingon a freeway than unable to stop.

[piglett]

I am not at all afraid of Toyota's. They are good cars. Stuck accelerators are bad, but not worse than the brakes in my mom's jeep that failed after 2-3 years. I would much ather be speeding on a freeway than unable to stop.

If the news media were really doing their job you would be hearing about the fraud cases where Toyota owners were for the most part trying to cash in & claim that there was a problem with their car when there was none.

i guess a good story is "evil corporation making unsafe product"
evil corporation being defrauded is just not an interesting story.


this is not to say that ZERO Toyota's had problems because if you build a million of anything at least a few will not be quite rite.hell i have towed brand new Chrysler's,gm's,fords, & even BMW's back when i drove a tow truck.
most of the time it was something silly like a frozen gas line in the winter but not always.

pig

[robert angel]

It's really hard to say an automobile company is really Japanese or mainly of any other country's origin for that matter and on top of that, any given car can have components--even as major as engines--from other car companies. I had lunch with a custodian today who's probably forgotten more about cars than I'll ever know. We spoke about how Nissan and Infinity cars were coming along nicely and Ken pointed out that the French compnay Renault has owned the controlling interest in Nissan for quite sometime.

Not that I've ever doubted ken--th guy's a walking encycopedia about cars going back before 1900 to cars still in the future, but I  looked it up and sure enough, with almost 37% ownership and in that, the controlling majority of ownership, a french company, Renault (egads) effectively owns Nissan. Personally, I think the Nissan Maxima and Altima and in turn the Infinity G35--G37 cars are fine and would recommend them.

You might be surprised to know that Honda uses older generation electric Hybrid technology that they get from Toyota, in their hybrid vehicles.

My buddy suggested that I look at the major components origin in cars and how 'sound' they are--how one car might have a timing belt--another a timing chain, how engines, transmissions, electrical harnesses, etc vary greatly in quality and manufacturer and so on, instead of focusing too much on 'label' and 'country'..

In day where we see Mexican built engines in German autos and a lot of USA brand cars are built in Canada and Toyotas such as the Camrys being built in Kentucky, except for the Camry Hybrid--which is Japan built, it's hard to declare a car as representing any one nation..

Almost all the cars out there can be considered 'world cars' and like say a Dell computer, many components may be 'job shopped' out and change at any given time in origin and quality.

An Indian firm owns Jaguar and German companies own Rolls Royce and Bentley.

Despite all the to do about Toyota's 'issues', I would not have hesitated to buy a Toyota and if wanted to buy new--when they were offering zero percent financing, it was a helluva a good deal and you know the slave driver at the end of the assembly line was insisting on quality more than ever, with all that media scrutiny.

I have seen old Corollas that have been bondo'd up or held together with duct tape and still keep running. If you need spare parts and can get them from a junk (wreck) yard, they're hard to beat--otherwise, parts for an old or new Corolla are pretty damn steep. Last vehicle that durable was maybe the Isuzu P-up diesel...

I am looking at Hyundai to be the next rising star--along with other Korean companies like Samsung, which is the largest electronics company in the world and sells Sony their LCD and LED screens you see on their Bravia sets. The Hyundai Equus, which instead of a huge owner manual, comes with an Apple I pad for a manual and has a cooler for your lunch--beverages in a sumptuous interior, at close to twenty grand less than Japanese or Euro competition, is a force to watch.  http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2010-04-02-ipadhyundai02_ST_N.htm

[Zon]

Great to see you here Ken C!

You already know me from RWD, but I have a different "online moniker" here - long story.

Happy to see you are getting back on your horse.    I am likely to learn much from you - again:)

For me, Colombia is ground zero #1; yet I am still single.  I think I can find what I am seeking in Colombia, but there are significant categorical detractors that make that a challenge (most notable, honesty and sincerity rarely live in the most beautiful bodies).  I have Asian in the corner of my mind too.  So, I will follow you story - again - with interest.

I have HAD IT with "high maintenance" women.  I love the way RW look and act.  But, I do not want to be a meal ticket; father figure; guardian; or butler!  Best of luck to you Ken

[jm21-2]

It's hard to keep track of how the auto companies trade bits and pieces of each other back and forth. Was researching the Chevy Aveo and found out it's actually a Daewoo model that's still being built in Korea.

[z_k_g]

I think I can find what I am seeking in Colombia, but there are significant categorical detractors that make that a challenge (most notable, honesty and sincerity rarely live in the most beautiful bodies). 

Interesting

I have HAD IT with "high maintenance" women.  I love the way RW look and act.  But, I do not want to be a meal ticket; father figure; guardian; or butler! 

Amen to that!!

Zulu

[Jedironin]

JM21 - how many seats are you looking for in the "new" car? I have an '02 Mazda Miata (for autocross and track use, mainly), and even the current generation have great reliability, they're easy to work on, parts are cheap and they're a fun car! The retractable hard top (and soft top) fold down behind the seat, so you still have decent trunk space. I've fit plenty of groceries in the trunk of mine, or overnight bags for a weekend trip, etc. Worth a look.    The 3's and 6's are good cars, too.

*Edit: Sorry KenC, we need to start a "JM21-2's car search" thread! 

[robert angel]

Re:

>>Was researching the Chevy Aveo and found out it's actually a Daewoo model that's still being built in Korea. <<
I think that model's had some quality control issues.

It's more expensive and bigger, but the Chevy Malibu is a nice car--a real 'sleeper'. I saw one w/ white paint and was very surpised to note that it was a Chevy.

Those Mazda Miata's, going back to the 1980's up to the very current Mazda 'Miata' MX-5, are great handling, well built cars, but carrying a passenger and groceries, luggage is a challenge...Oh--and that short wheel base and great handling, like the Audi TT, comes at a price--take a hairpin turn too fast--even a highway ramp when it's wet --- and they can spin around, doing 360's really fast. Not cars for those who drive fast but don't know how...

[piglett]

Despite all the to do about Toyota's 'issues', I would not have hesitated to buy a Toyota and if wanted to buy new--when they were offering zero percent financing, it was a helluva a good deal and you know the slave driver at the end of the assembly line was insisting on quality more than ever, with all that media scrutiny.

I have seen old Corollas that have been bondo'd up or held together with duct tape and still keep running. If you need spare parts and can get them from a junk (wreck) yard, they're hard to beat--otherwise, parts for an old or new Corolla are pretty damn steep. Last vehicle that durable was maybe the Isuzu P-up diesel...

while in Manila i saw the 3 the kinds of cars that they were running as taxis
Nissan Sentra but only the mid 90's models
a small Toyota that looked like a rebadged Yaris, runs a 1.5L engine
Toyota Corolla both older ones & also new ones , that 1.8L engine does run forever

so Robert what kind of parts are you talking about?
I just replaced all the brakes on my Corolla & i am talking rear drums, shoes ,wheel cylinders, hardwear kit, all 4 brake hoses, front pads, rotors,& calipers all for about $300 bucks from my local auto parts store.
really i only needed to do the rear brakes but i am not a big fan of working on cars when it's -20F so i figures before it cold & nasty out i would just take the bull by the horns & i should be good to go for the next 2 or 3 years at least when it comes to brakes

the only other issue that i have detected is my rear struts are not what they used to be
$216 for a pair & i can change them no problem in an afternoon.


pig

[jm21-2]

Some good suggestions but my apologies to the OP about turning this into a car thread.

[Ray]

...my apologies to the OP about turning this into a car thread.

Well, I guess that's better than turning it into one of Dave H's "lady boy" threads... 

     

[robert angel]

Piglett,

I do feel kind of bad about us turning KenC's initial thread into 'Car and Driver Forum', because there's some really good poop in this thread at the beginning--including some web sites that anyone thinking of living In the Philippines should save in their favorites--maybe we should get back there

But regarding your question--Maybe it's just higher here and it was about a 20 y/o Corolla, but a guy I know was charged something like $150 for a basic black 'Toyota brand' steel wheel--just what you  put the tire on and cover with a hubcap.

Piglett.-- I bet you weren't paying that kind of money for geniunine Toyota parts from a dealer--not that you should ever do that. He found one at the junk yard for a fraction of that price. We were were totally gouged for a window lift at the Toyota dealership for a Camry window lift. Then they acted pissy when I told them that the trim covering screws that attached the inner door panels was missing and I wanted it back.

Never go to the dealer after it's out of warranty unless you absolutely have to.

I saw this today--about where are cars are really from, for what it's worth. Who would have thunk that the Cadillac Escalade is Mexican made? Anyone tell Shaquille ONeil?

 
>>It used to be pretty obvious which cars were built in the U.S. (Detroit's Big Three of Ford, GM and Chrysler) and which weren't (everything else). Then in the 1980’s the Japanese started building cars here, which made for some interesting arguments about what constituted an “American” car. But in today’s global economy, it's even harder to answer the question: Is your car made in America?

Many consumers looking to buy an American-built vehicle are having a hard time finding one that's assembled here with 100-percent American-built components. That’s because it's actually impossible, at least if you’re talking about buying a car from the major carmakers.

Made In U.S.A. (Partly)

For example, while Jeep's Patriot may be built in Belvedere, Ill., its transmissions originate in Mexico, Japan and Germany. Similarly Ford's Michigan-assembled Mustang may be as American as mom, Marines, and apple pie, but its transmissions come from China, France, the U.K., and Mexico. Chrysler's PT Cruiser isn’t even built in the U.S. – it’s assembled in Toluca, Mexico, though its transmission is U.S.-sourced. GM, meanwhile, builds its Chevy Camaro in Canada and its GMC Sierra pickup in Mexico.

Confusing? Yes. But that’s not the start of it. BMWs are now built in the U.S. and so are some Mercedes vehicles (in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Vance, Alabama, respectively). With Japanese carmakers having established multiple assembly plants across the U.S. and American car companies operating plants in Canada and Mexico lines are blurred further.

So what makes a car American? It's a rancorous debate that's sure to rumble on, but consumers can make up their own minds based on information that’s appeared on the labels of every new car for sale for years. This states where the vehicle was assembled and where the engine and transmission originated.

Mark Birmingham, an industry analyst at the Center for Automotive Research, said consumers who want to buy American primarily should look at where the vehicle is assembled, as often that indicates a large presence not just in manufacturing.

“There is something to be said for buying a Detroit ‘Big Three’ label,” he said, “in the sense that all of administrative, development and white-collar work is indirectly supported."

Who Builds What Where?

 
AOL Autos Poll
Do you consider foreign vehicles that are assembled in the U.S. -- such as the Toyota Camry -- to be American ?
 Yes
 No
 Ford’s Fusion, Fiesta, and Lincoln MKZ models are built in Mexico, while the Edge, Flex, Lincoln MKX, and Lincoln MKT are built in Canada. Other North American models are built in the U.S.

According to NHTSA documents provided to AOL Autos, Ford’s compact Focus is assembled in Wayne, Mich., with 90 percent of its parts sourced from the U.S. and Canada, but its transmission originates in Germany. While the Taurus is assembled in Chicago, Ill., about 65 percent of its parts are of U.S. origin. But its engine and transmission are both built in the U.S.

The F-Series pickup truck, that most iconic of domestic vehicles, is assembled in Kansas City, Missouri, and Dearborn, Michigan, but with just 55 percent of parts made in the U.S. or Canada. More than 15 percent of its parts come from Mexico, although all of its engines and both transmission systems are built in the U.S. Some transmissions for the Mustang (assembled in Flat Rock, Michigan) come from China.

GM vehicles assembled in Canada include Chevrolet's Camaro, Equinox and Impala and the GMC Terrain, while vehicles built in Mexico include Cadillac's SRX and Escalade EXT, Chevrolet's Aveo, HHR, Silverado, and GMC's Sierra. GM vehicles built in the U.S. include Buick's LaCrosse, Lucerne and Enclave, Cadillac's CTS, DTS and STS-V, Chevrolet's Cruze, Corvette, Malibu and Tahoe, and GMC's Yukon.

According to figures from IHS Global Insight, of the GM vehicles assembled domestically, several Corvette engines are built in Canada, with several transmission variants originating in Mexico. Its Chevrolet Silverado (assembled in Fort Wayne, Indiana) carries U.S.-built engines across all models, but several transmissions are built in Mexico. For the Cadillac CTS assembled in Lansing, Mich., several engines originate in Canada and Mexico, and the transmissions for various models in the CTS range come from Japan, France, Mexico, and the U.S. Some engines for GM's Chevrolet Cruze, assembled in Lordstown, Ohio, come from Szentgotthard, Hungary.

Chrysler says about 61 percent of the components it uses for its Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep lines come from the U.S., while about 20 percent come from Mexico and Latin America, about 10 percent from Canada and just under 10 percent from the rest of the world. It maintains large production facilities across the U.S., but also builds its 300 and Dodge Challenger and Charger, in Canada, and the PT Cruiser in Mexico.

Of the Big Three's foreign competition, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Kia all proudly trumpet their domestic-built credentials. (Honda was the first Japanese carmaker to build a car plant in the U.S., in Marysville, Ohio., in 1979, and more Honda vehicles are now built in the U.S. than in Japan.) Toyota builds its Camry and Avalon models in Georgetown, Kentucky, its Sienna and Highlander in Princeton, Indiana, and has large plants in Huntsville, Alabama, and San Antonio, Texas. Hyundai builds the Sonata and Elantra in Montgomery, Alabama, and shares a plant in West Point, Georgia, with Kia, which recently celebrated the 100,000th Sorento rolling off that line.

Nissan and VW both have longstanding ties to Mexico, with plants in Aguascalientes and Cuernavaca (Nissan) and Puebla (VW). Nissan assembles its small cars like the Versa in Mexico and its larger truck and SUV lines in Smyrna, Georgia. VW imports all its vehicles into the U.S., though it will be opening a new plant in Tennessee.

Mercedes-Benz assembles its ML-, R- and G-Class vehicles in Vance, Alabama, with a U.S./Canadian parts content of 62 percent, but both its engines and transmissions are unsurprisingly sourced from Germany. BMW, meanwhile, assembles its X-series SUVs in Spartanburg, South Carolina, with mostly German componentry.

Electric carmaker Tesla's bodywork is completed by Lotus in England, and then shipped to California for assembly. It will jointly develop electric cars with Toyota at the NUMMI plant in Northern California.

It's a little surprising that some excellent automotive products are born of such a mix and muddle of production systems. But today's intertwined global economy – and car market – ensures that no matter where it comes from, today's cars mostly are built to high standards.

Otherwise, Americans wouldn't buy them.<<

Back to your regular scheduled program....

[piglett]

well as long as the readers of this thread are looking for car input that are in great shape!!! 

but yes as Dave said it is still much better than Dave's ladyboy's


pig

[KenC]

I am not put off with the detoured conversation guys as long as I can interject an "on topic" question or two along the way.

OK guys, I am now a couple of weeks into this and getting some hours in chatting up Filipino ladies on the Net.  What a trip and what a difference from RW.  I am a little surprised that so many of the women are working jobs outside the RP.  I have talked to women working in Hong Kong, Kuwait, and Switzerland.  In fact the one gal I am most interested in at this early stage is a recruiter for Saudi workers.

What is similar to the fsu women of the late 90's is the desperation to get out of Dodge.  It is so very easy for a man to be seduced by the pledges of love and devotion from a beautiful woman (no matter what country), but reality has to be checked when it comes after only a few emails.

I would prefer going to visit a woman before getting too deeply involved via Net conversations so as to not have an over developed "fantasy" relationship going.  Of course this preference is in somewhat of a conflict in your "visit one" advice.  I guess my two options are to jump on a plane and just go there with laptop in hand ready to contact back ups should it not go as planned or to develop a relationship from afar.  Which do you suggest?  Which did you do?
KenC

[Jedironin]

Ken- see if this helps...




And... here's one for the car topic, too!

Looking for a used BMW? Here's an old ad for their Certified Used cars: