Soon but not soon enough

[yohuff]

Hello everybody

I haven' t felt like this since I was nine years old and it was two weeks before xmas and I discovered my Hot Wheels racing set in a secret, supposedly, hiding place that my brother had gotten for me. This is joyously painful but painful nevertheless.

Soon my new 'Mistress' will be in my possession and let the love affair commence. Who knows I may even lay the back seats down and sleep with her ...... err... I mean in her the first night.
 
After reading some of the entertaining posts, by some of the members, the anticipation is growing into an obsession. March 27 can't arrive fast enough for me. Just a few questions about the plane ride. Are the seats comfortable on the SAS airline? My significant other has a pinched nerve in her back and the trepidations about the plane ride are mounting. Believe me she won't give up on the Nice trip without a fight
that's for sure!!

I know the OSD program essentially enables the participants to bring back a brand new vehicle that is now used but does anyone have a random sample on how much money you actually save on taxes verses if we had purchased our xc's from a domestic dealer. Just curious, I think all of us OSDers are just plain giddy on how much money we have kept in our pockets by staying of the beaten path. Getting greedy is just part of the fun.

See you soon

Huff

[kersti]

I know how you feel, we have only 8 more days to go.
As to SAS, from my experience, there is no airline I would rather fly.  Leg room is better and food and service is great.
I don't think you save any on taxes unless you leave it in europe 6mo or longer, but I could be wrong. You do save some by paying less for the car. (btw, a friend from work did leave his car in Sweden for 6 months and did not have to pay CA sales tax which saved him at least $2K).

Kersti

[whit]

Huff,

Hello.  I just got back from OSD yesterday.  

As to the comfort of SAS, it was about as good as can be expected for a 9 hour flight (I flew from Chicago).  If I were you, I would request exit row seating when checking in (extra leg room).  

The food was good and service excellent.  

The jets that we were on had integrated entertainment systems in the rear of the headrests.  This helped to pass the time.

The worst part about having driving the car once is having to wait to drive it again.  

Eric

[barrysharp]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I know the OSD program essentially enables the participants to bring back a brand new vehicle that is now used but does anyone have a random sample on how much money you actually save on taxes verses if we had purchased our xc&#39;s from a domestic dealer. Just curious, I think all of us OSDers are just plain giddy on how much money we have kept in our pockets by staying of the beaten path. Getting greedy is just part of the fun.
[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

yohuff:

The sales tax aspect (savings) is quite likely a function of the state you reside in. For me (WA) the sales tax levied is calculated on my OSD purchase price regardless of when (2 months or 12 months or 24 months, etc) I pickup car from my dealership after shipment from the FDC/Goteborg. So in my case the sales tax savings is due to 1) OSD base price being several thousands less than MSRP or dealership selling price and 2) OSD options being in general less than what dealership will charge and 3) having obtained the Premium package for free -- a &#036;2,595 savings on price of car.

I&#39;ll not go into details but my spreadsheet shows me saving &#036;8,768 overall (purchase price + tax savings) by having bought my XC70 via OSD vs. Edmunds TMV price. Now of course I would need to subtract out the cost of my trip/tour in Sweden/Norway plus some small loss of interest on me paying several months before receiving the car in USA. No matter I feel I&#39;ve saved considerably and this forum has helped me tremendously in feeling good about the whole OSD experience. Add to the savings if you like, the fact you+other get a free SAS flightto Goteborg. For me, it&#39;s a chance to take a European driving tour with my son who&#39;s very very excited http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

If you fly on the Airbus A340-400 it should be a comfortable flight as these aircraft are modern and relatively new to the airline market. I&#39;m a Boeing man but I&#39;m know Airbus turns out a superb product. If you find your flight isn&#39;t too full when at the ticket counter ask the SAS counter rep nicely if you can be moved forward to Traveller Plus seating. I believe they are the first few rows at front of coach class. These seats have more room, are more comfortable and have computer power outlets etc. I suspect food will be the same in Coach/economy or Traveller Plus seats.

Good luck and enjoy the OSD experience.

[yohuff]

Thanks

Kersti, Whit, and Bsharp &nbsp;thanks for data, I guess it&#39;s time to sit back and just enjoy the experience.

Huff

[stevel0923]

My wife and I are leaving for Paris on March 14 thanks in part to OSD. &nbsp;We&#39;ll be catching three different flights to reach our destination. &nbsp;Starting from Los Angeles, we&#39;ll be flying United Airlines up to Seattle. &nbsp;Then we&#39;ll fly SAS from Seattle to Copenhagen. &nbsp;From Copenhagen, we&#39;ll connect to our final flight to Paris. &nbsp;

I envy some of you guys who will have a chance to pick up your car in Sweden and drive around Europe. &nbsp;That was our original plan but OSD was pushing the free premium promotion if we take early delivery at the time we were buying. &nbsp;Then a few weeks later, they change the promotion to allow European pickup. &nbsp;Going to Europe and seeing the Volvo factory was half the fun.

Have a safe and enjoyable trip to Europe and thanks for all your feedback and testimony about the OSD program. &nbsp;It was so good to share with other OSD customer who were going through the process at the same time.

[kersti]

Steve,
How did you get travel to allow you to go through Seattle? I tried to go that route and Farah insisted I had to go through Chicago. &nbsp;I had also been told that the add on from LA was only the London package, Nice was only available for East Coast travelers. Drat&#33;

Kersti

[Low Tide]

Kersti-

Maybe the Seattle flight was full? &nbsp;I&#39;m heading out the next day (15th) from Seattle from SF. &nbsp;I was under the impression that Steve&#39;s Paris link was b/c of the Euro delivery. &nbsp;The Nice and the London flights both go through the Copenhagen hub as far as I know. &nbsp;

Steve- are you taking the Nice extension?

[barrysharp]

Well, it looks like we are right close to at least 4 of you people going to FDC nxt week. That is, hordtheviking 3/13, kersti 3/14, stevel0923 3/14 and Low Tide 3/15. All of you have a great trip. Then there&#39;s joe 3/24, MGC, barrysharp and katekka 3/26-28. Hmmmm, the last of the 2003 OSDers http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[rkestner]

we had a wonderful experience, even above and beyond the normally great sas experience. &nbsp;it was the last flight for THE senior sas captain&#33; &nbsp;there was plenty of service by the best assembled crew, special food, special drinks, flowers for the ladies, etc. etc.

[stevel0923]

Kersti,

No Nice trip or Gothenburg stop. We already got the car through early delivery. In return, Volvo gave us two round trip tickets to travel anywhere in Europe. So we&#39;re just going to Paris and back. Wife likes this option because we can spend all our time in France. I wanted to drive from Sweden instead . Oh well. We&#39;ll just have to do this on our next OSD purchase from Volvo.

http://xc70.com/pics/albums/userpics/normal_66197827703_0_ALB.jpg

[kersti]

Now I feel better, even with the anti-american sentiment now, France is still one of my favorite places to go. Looking at the weather reports lately we will definitely get a chance to try out the XC in Norway and Sweden (rain and snow forcast for the next 5 days).

Kersti

[stevel0923]

You know what the irony is to this whole trip? We&#39;re going to visit Normandy and pay our respects to the soldiers who died trying to liberate France from the Germans during WWII. Juxtaposition that with current events and it all seems all too surreal. At the same time, I have a brother in the middle east amongst the troops ready to fight. He is there to help liberate another group of people when the order is given.

If anything is going to happen in middle east, its going to happen in late March. And if the campaign does begin, then being in France will be a very unusual experience.

[kersti]

The news this morning said they expected the air attack to start on the 13th (my departure date) with ground troops going in on the 17th. I don&#39;t know how accurate the sources are. Hope all goes well for your brother and the other men and women over there and if we have a war, &nbsp;that it is over quickly.

Kersti