Modern Vespa

I browse craigslist every day because I want another Vespa.

today I stumbled upon this

https://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/mcy/5668794103.html

how's that price for that model?

That price is not that bad, but check the blue book value to be sure. But, remember if it makes you happier than having that bike than having that much money in the bank, then it is worth it.

Hmm, 8 years old and only 1950 miles? I'm no mechanic, but being old and having very little use doesn't seem the best combination.

It's not that bad of a price, IMO. I'd be happy paying 2 grand and owning that sucker. Everyone's mileage (opinions) may very well vary.

Seems to be very common with scooters in the USA. You don't see that many for sale with mileage over 5K. People buy them thinking it'd be a neat commuter or a toy to make short hops on, they put the first thousand miles on it and then they lose interest and ride it less and less, until it sits idle for the past two years and they then realize they're better off selling it while it still rums and they can realize some cash getting out.

I'd see if you can get then down a bit. I doubt any maintanence has been done. Your going to have to change out the belt and rollers,do all the fluid changes and throw some new tires on there. Also the fuel and vacuum lines should be changed. Rubber degrades over time so changing out the rubber bits is a really good idea. When i bought my Vino the guy kept saying "it doesn't have 6000 miles on it and thought that magical number would get him $1,500. It was a '07 and was 8yrs old. Got him down to a grand. Explain what your going to have to do and why it should be lower. I'd offer him $1,800 and come up to $1,900. However if you really want it you can come up further but can you do the work yourself and how bad do you want that particular scooter? People who don't ride them much are clueless about the maintenance. Good luck.

Yes, I realize that. It's just that machines are meant to run. Who knows what happens to all the components, including seals, lubricants, etc, when they sit idle for a long period of time. I'd trust an 8-year-old scoot with 20 thou miles more than one with not even 2 thou miles.

I think people boost up the price because it has had so little use, they don't realize all the stuff that will need to be changed like tires, fuel lines, coolant flush, oil change from just sitting.

Now if those were all recently changed, that wouldn't be a terrible price. The KBB value is for a vehicle in prime condition with it ready to ride or a big service looming overhead.

I generally agree with you but until the scooter is inspected, and the owner is asked about what maintenance has been done, we can't assume that nothing has been done any more than we can assume that everything that should have been done was done... Also, the conditions in which a scooter is stored or garaged can have a great bearing on what is or isn't dried out.