Modern Vespa

Hi everyone,

This is my first post. I just got a new vespa from a dealer that sells a lot of bikes and ATV vehicles. I worry about there service dept. I asked if there mechanic are Vespa trained and they said they are. Mind you this is a chain of stores. Luckily there are a couple of other Vespa dealers nearby. They are listed on the dealer listing on Vespausa.com.
Should I be worried? I just want someone who's Piaggio trained.

Aloha and welcome to the forum from Hawaii. We have a horrible dealer. They sell Harleys also. Even the Harley people don't like the service they get. We don't have the luxury of being able to take them to another dealer so we have a group of us that DIY. Good luck

how do you get that then .... you go over there or do they send italians over here .... do you think car mechanics are trained in one type of car?? special plumbers for different taps???

Don't know if they still require it but the mechanics actually do have to be Piaggio trained. Rolf used to do it. I don't think our dealer has one, tho.

wow ya learn summat every day ... ive never been to one that has been n the stockist in bradford worked on em too n he wasnt .... wonder if thats why hes gone

The Vespa dealers are aways away from my husband and I, the Victory dealer that we bought our motorcycle on will do any of the service we don't do ourselves. They've worked on about everything and are good people.

I certainly know that most mechanics are so inclined but factory training is significant. Would you take your Ferrari to a Chevy dealer?
Bobert

dont have either....... but i do do me own vespa n what i cant i have a friend that can

Piaggio trained doesn't necessarily mean anything. But, it certainly doesn't hurt. Plus, if the person that is working on your scooter is Piaggio trained, should something go wrong, Piaggio will be more inclined to help with warranty issues.

If we knew where OP was, perhaps someone here could recommend a good mechanic in his/her area.

Edit: Yes, I trust my dealer.

Wish I had a dealer that I could make a judgement of trust on.

Oh, wait. You don't have a dealer who you go to, with a trained or non-trained mech. So why are you in this discussion at all?

I remember being told that when the BV 350 came out no Piaggio dealer could order them without someone factory trained to service them. I know Vespa Texas sent their mechanic to California for training on the BV. They has sent their service guys for years. I remember when they had to send someone with their service guy because he wasn't old enough to rent a car (25 for the agency they used) so they ended up with an extra trained person.

FWIW, Vespa Texas closed last week. The dealership was sold and the new owners will be opening mid-May. I know the Piaggio trained tech they had at Vespa Houston didn't go with the dealership to the new owners. He's moved to Mancuso Power Sports our other Vespa dealership in Houston. We'll see how the new owners work out.

cdwise, do you know where Vespa Houston will re-open? I hope it's in town.

My BV500 was disassembled to be painted and put back together by people who did NOT know what they were doing.

So it does make a difference. Better to have a Aespa/Piaggio dealer handle your scooter other than just any gear-head mechanic. It makes a difference.

I wouldn't let my dealer date my daughter (if I had one), but I have come to trust them with my scoot. Didn't really expect to either.

Mid May in the Heights I heard a few blocks from where Scootersmith was before they moved a couple years ago.

Piaggio holds a number of factory training sessions for mechanics on the West Coast every year. I presume there are similar training programs in other regional areas of the US (darned if I know what happens in Britain) . Piaggio has been getting more structured about requiring a dealer to send a least one person for training on a new model (like the 946 or the Primavera) before the dealer stocks them. That is a welcome change in my opinion, and many problems would have been avoided if they had done that with the MP3 years ago.

I trust my dealer...he has the best weed.

Best in the business is my boys at scooter west in San Diego. Never have I left their shop second guessing their work. I've even tried buying stuff from them and they talk me out of it because I don't need it. You guys rock

Found this after a quick google: http://static.piaggio.com/dealer_application/default.asp?lang=2


Yes I do trust my dealer.

Wow that is a difficult question. This has nothing too do with a factory trained tech. Its about "does the mech really give a crap" or is he so stressed he forgets washers, weather he checked the torque and a million other reasons he may have messed up.

From my exp with my local dealer i have had some pretty bad results. Nothing dangerous but for example.

1. missing a secondary washer that holds the caliper to the disc.
2. missing screws that hold the plastic to the body.
3. broken tabs that hold the headlight assembly to the speedo part.

I'm not a mechanic but after learning the basics from this site i found this stuff out because i had my doubts.

I do trust my dealer but take that with a grain of salt ...

Trusted...Yes!

After my first oil change I decided never to go back and have saved hundreds in shop rates doing everything myself/

Cheaper to get a Ferrari worked on!

Yes, I trust my dealer, for service and sales!

(.....and it's not, cheaper to get a Ferrari worked on!)

Since Vespa Texas (Houston) was until last week in the Ferrari dealership I can say without question that a Ferrari costs more to work on. Hourly rates were posted.

I trust Erico Motorsports here in Denver. Very professional and great service.

So far my dealer hasn't given me any reasons not to trust them. But having said that I do find myself more and more going the DIY route. I can do so because of the great knowledgeable folks here and I don't even own a Vespa. My Kymco runs great thanks to their help.

Fredericksburg Motor Sports. Great people. They sell a lot of brands, but they know their stuff. I trust them.

I heard that it would be located in the Heights and that it would be a restaurant/Vespa dealer.

Sounds like a truly promising venture (sarcasm).

Can I have a salad with 100% virgin gear oil please?
And while I'm here can you Tuna up my Vespa?

Yep. They are the only dealer I will go to. I pass up quite a few to get to them, I have done or attempted to do business with others but I usually end up choosing not to give them my money and go to VMS instead.

They've done work on every one of my scooters, I bought one from them, and I trust everyone there implicitly. I wouldn't make the 360 mile round trip to use them if I didnt.

I could go to a dealer near me that sells Hondas mostly and used to put down Vespas until they carried them. Or I could schlep over the Sepulveda Pass to the Valley and go to Vespa Sherman Oaks. I never even considered the former. I don't begrudge Vespaso making a profit and, on the other hand, I don't feel like I'm getting soaked either. And their mechanics can make a Vespa whinny like a weasel.

Are you in witness protection or hiding from the Brain Police??

This post was not quite
What we were hoping to see
Try again, perhaps?

as many others have posted - it depends

The official dealer here in Adelaide (sells erectile aids for baby boomers (AKA HOGs)- would not take my GTS there in a million years, a small independent retailer who stocks Vespa - would give them a try if I needed.

I deal with a bloke who runs a little shop in Adelaide, does other Piaggio stuff but is not retailing Vespa - he is an old school trained Vespa tech, but is probably the best scooter mechanic in Sadelaide.

He has had my scooter since its 1000k service, and it has run really well. he does not upsell, he is up front, and he is very reasonable.

so, as others have said - its about finding someone you feel comfortable with, and then building that relationship.

there are many great Vespa and Piaggio dealers.

just like anything else though. I have a local Subaru dealer that is most excellent but the next closest 30 miles away is a POS snobbish money greedy dealer who could care less who you are unless your writing a big check.

Its all about relationships with customers.

Hi NoelGray, You might get better help if you included your actual location in your profile instead of, "here".

I recently bought a new Kawasaki motorcycle and had a horrible dealer experience. The kid that set it up had the front forks and handlebars twisted to the right. He broke the vent tube nipple off the battery but just stuffed everything in there anyway and made it appear that the tube was actually connected. The positive battery cable was finger tight. The speedo cable popped out of the wheel hub at the 38 mile mark on my first ride home with it. I went through the bike and reset everything. To the dealers credit they bought me a new sealed AGM battery. Whats up with people these days?

I just bought a new 13 GTS 300 Super from a dealer 150 miles away and had one of the best dealer experiences ever and couldn't be more pleased.

in the greater seattle area, vespa of lynnwood (triumph of seattle) has been absolutely great to me, service-wise. they often go over the work in detail, and seem extremely knowledgable and thorough.

Not that I have much choice but regardless...I do completely trust my mechanic, Gregg Colasardo, at FreedomCycle Vegas. He took the time to show me exactly what was going on, gave me his card & told me to make sure I checked back in with him in a few days to make sure everything was up to par. Also said to contact him any time with any questions I might have. All three of those things are going above & beyond the call of duty as far as I'm concerned. That might be normal behavior in certain parts of the country but in these parts it's uncommon. Tiffany Bauer, Parts/Service Director is pretty sweet too & seems to know quite a bit about Vespa even though they're primarily Triumph/MV Agusta dealership.

And no, I'm not on their payroll or having my arm twisted right now to type this.

You go to a GM dealer you get a GM trained tech, Honda Motorcycle Dealership you get a Honda trained tech, should be able to expect the same from a scooter dealer, especially at the MSRP of a Vespa.

I wouldn't let my dealer date my daughter either.



But only because he's already married and I happen to like Lynda.

Do I trust my dealer.....
So far, I have to say yes.
They pulled out all the stops to get my GTS300 otr for 1st September last year, good considering Italy is on holiday all of August.
The 600 mile service, I asked them to do it first job as I was going to wait for it. Got it in early and they'd serviced it in a bit over the hour.
All in all, so far so good.

I'm pretty sure there is a compliment laced in there somewhere.

Thanks, I think........



SDG