Modern Vespa

Hello

I purchased my GT200 in the end of October and the 90 day warranty is about to expire. I am going to do ask a local Vespa shop to do a Pre-Purchase Inspection to make sure there are no outstanding issues.

This will allow me to 1) give me a baseline of what shape the scooter is and what needs to be done. 2) alert me to anything that needs to be addressed before the warranty is up. and 3) give me a chance to start building a relationship with a shop for things I cannot do on my own.

What is a fair price for a pre-purchase inspection as a point of reference?

Thanks,
Ross

I would expect a minimum 1 hour shop charge. Most shops bill $75-90/hour. More to the point, you will want to ask what is included in the inspection. I would personally want the CVT cover opened and the belt, rollers, and clutch inspected.

figure on $80-120 for a 1~1.5hr inspection

i generally do an hour for a safety inspection, and if you want me to pop apart the CVT and inspect (which i generally only recommend on higher mileage bikes) i'll add a half hour to it.

best,
-greasy

Hi Greasy,

I purchased the bike at 6,600 miles and it has 7,000 miles on it. Do you still recommend opening the CVT? I saw in the service manual that the belt and weights are usually changed at 9,000 miles.

Thanks
Ross

Another thing you should do before the warranty is up is have the oil analyzed. http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ can tell you if there is hidden damage that needs to be addressed now, so it doesn't blow up a week after the warranty is over. Given the age of the scooter, you will want the cooling system pressure tested, to make sure the hoses and connections are sound, the battery load tested, the stator output measured, the flow of the petcock, and the vacuum generated at idle and high speed measured as well. Also, someone should check the diaphragm of the carburetor for perforations or damage from ethanol, and the slide of the carb for excess wear. Carburetors are super expensive on these bikes. The steering bearings should be inspected for excess play, because that is a commonly neglected area of maintenance, and you don't want them wearing to the point you have a flat spot when you turn the bike. A good shop can tell you if that's already started. The brake pads should be inspected, and the amount of wear measured, and you need to make sure the rotors don't need to be trued. A good way to tell this is if the brakes slightly grab when you lightly apply them, and have a sort of pulsing feel. That means your rotors will need to be replaced, and that's expensive.
Hope this helps.

i would, at this point it's not the mileage it's the age/heat cycles that have been gone thru.

best,
-greasy

while i won't argue with you on the price of a new GT200 carb, or the fact that the slides can wear excessively; i will state that i am intrigued as to how ethanol from gasoline would affect the carb diaphragm-- a pin hole here or there yes but damage from fuel? really? truing a rotor that is only, what, 4mm thick and has such a small run out?
how does one accomplish something such as that without it warping again immediately once some heat is built into it again after a few braking applications?

best,
-greasy

I would presume that a 90 day warranty would not cover most of the items that are being suggested to inspect as most are wear items. What exactly did your dealer warranty promise you in writing?

Best,
SDG

This is a inspection that you want to take back to the useless shop that sold it to you and say "do XYZ" because the shop down the road said you need to?

Can o worms there.

Hi SDG,

The dealer did not put anything in writing but they have already replaced the roller weights, silencer, all new final drive bearings and seals, gear box oil changed, and rear clutch cleaned and resurfaced. All of this was included with warranty.

I am close the 7500 mile mark. What do you recommend should be looked at to cover myself for warranty purposes?

Thanks
Ross

Respectfully that's a lot if good will in less than 90 days. It sounds like your selling dealer inspects it properly and often. Why not save your $100 inspection fee and use it for future services at your selling dealer, they sound like good peeps.

Best,
SDG

Hi SDG

If I decide not to do the inspection, should I just plan on doing the 7500 mile maintenance in the GT200 Service Manual?

Thanks
Ross

Absolutely a great plan. Props to your selling dealer for having integrity and your back.

Happy New Year!

SDG

You should definitely do the inspection, Who knows what you'll find. The problems you've already had are symptomatic of a flood bike, and you might want to do a title search, to make sure it didn't have a salvage title somewhere from flood damage. There are states where you can get a salvage title changed over to a regular title, and the problems you are having with the bearings and transmission are what you'd expect from a bike that was underwater. And that would explain the rusted exhaust too.

$100 for a real good look that involves removing a cover or two and some system checks. Should be more then visual and tightening bolts, and a near hour of solid work.

If you had a salvage title, it would not be necessary to do a title search to discover it. Salvage titles are marked right on the document.

My thoughts as well. Wear items will, well, wear. Unless something has failed or is wearing at an abnormally high rate, it's kind of difficult to make a warranty claim.

That said, hats off to a dealer who does offer any form of 90 day protection on a used vehicle.

I did a title search and there is no history of salvage and/or accidents. There was one original owner and was originally purchased from Colorado which means the bike was tuned for our higher elevation.

At this point, I am not going to do a pre-purchase inspection and am just going to replace the coolant and brake fluid before the 7500 mile servicing.

Thanks to everyone for their reponses.

Happy New Year!
Ross

There are ways to "wash" a salvage title.