Same goes to most people, podium or basement parking is still the better and preferred choice of direct lift lobby.

Honestly, I couldnt find any pro for this development of separate the stand alone building for car parks. Unless security is tightly given and assume all car parks are with ventilation and fresh air, but this pro

Some projects forced to built this stand alone car park building are due to;
1. Land issue such as land slope or ex-mining land like Desa Park City which unable to build basement car parks;
2. Construction cost evolving like DPC scenario above.
Some projects may find it cheaper just to built 2-3 storey car park building (with the condo no basement parking) than initial plan of basement car park which required more floors hence higher construction costs due to stronger engineering works required, as well as to replace it with the facilities floor needed and cut cost from here.

Very subjective, my chief!

If the pocket or certain development is small and feasible counts by consultant say needed either 12 podium parking to accommodate the units or reduce to 8 podium level + 3 to 4 basement floors. The developer may consider the latter with the probability of maintaining the heights of the building means more units to be sold (revenue) and to provide little convenience to purchasers that drive one floor up equivalent to drive one floor down.

Generally, podium parking is cheaper to build than basement. Unless the the top floor is facilities floor (such as swimming pool) on top of the parking podium, another cost is applicable.