Modern Vespa

We are thinking about getting a scooter with a salvage title here in CA, what exactly does that mean? I know the bike was tipped over and had body work, but what does a salvage title have to do with registering and insuring?

thanks!!

A salvage title means just that it was sold for salvage.

Meaning it cost more to repair then to replace.

Me, I wouldn't do it.


http://en.allexperts.com/q/Auto-Theft-Prevention-2384/clear-salvage-title-vehicle-1.htm

depends on the state; you'll want to check with the dmv.

where i live, in wi, salvaged vehicles cannot be registered or insured unless they are repaired and pass a state inspection. they almost always are denied when you do the state inspection.

when i was part of a dealer franchise, i saw 1 vehicle in 10 years successfully pass the re-certification inspection.

i'm very leery of salvage titles. it almost always turns out badly (at least in my personal experience).

On scooters they might do a salvage title just because the body work can be expensive. There is a wide range of what might be wrong with the scooter from body work only to a bent frame to a damaged engine.

A salvage title will seriouly devalue the scooter/motorcycle/car/boat, etc etc if you ever want to sell it....even if everything was fixed and there are no apparent problems. I guess if you had the item checked out by a very good mechanic and a very good body person who said that it had no problems, it might be worth considering if you can buy it for about half (or less) of what the same item would go for without a salvage title.

Me?................I wouldn't buy anything with a salvage title because they're difficult to sell to the majority of buyers.

Unless it is REALLY, REALLY cheap, pass on it. Nobody will buy that bike from you when you go to sell it with a salvage title.

thanks for all the input..I'm always a bit leery of buying a used vehicle, let alone one with a salvaged title..might just get a brand new one again!!

thanks everyone

Nicky, what are you thinking of getting next?

Susan is looking at either a Buddy or the Vespa S. We are probably selling her P200 and possibly they smallframe..The new scooters are just so much more reliable and easy.

Last year I bought an '08 LXV with a salvage title. It took $300 of body work to get up to 100%. I have never figured out why the insurance company totaled it. I sold it recently and bought a 300. Took a little hit due to the salvage title, maybe $200 less than without. Could of been awful, I suppose, but it worked for me.

If you get an S, it better be the orange one, I still love the S in orange.

I like the orange too, but I think she would get a black S since we already have an orange sprint

Black is good, matches everything.

yea, it will match her boots!!

Well, I've got a slightly different take on Salvage bikes. I don't know what to tell you about insuring a salvage bike but...

If it's currently registered and being sold to you private party than nothing different to do when you register it in your name.

If it's a dealer selling it to you with a salvage title they will be registering it for you so again... nothing for you to do.

Now, if you're buying it salvaged but not registered you will need a brake and lamp inspection and then a CHP inspection (or your DMV may do it). You then pay $85 on top of the normal reg. fees. to get it done.

It's easy to do and most of the salvage Vespas I've picked up, and that's quite a few, have only had cosmetic damage on par with a good chunk of the bikes I see in S.F. daily. Some have had so little damage it's amazing to me that they are branded.

If it's priced properly then it should be worth it.

I never feel it's worth it to do the cosmetic repairs to these because at that point you've spent as much as a clean titled bike. I also prefer to see the damage so you know what's going on.

Which bike were you looking at?

*curious

salvage titled: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/mcy/1282369511.html
or this one: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/mcy/1292015108.html

I would really like to get her a Vespa, but she likes the Buddies too..she has never actually ridden a Buddy, but likes the feel of the Vespa 150S

First one is too much for a branded buddy IMHO. The second one looks ok, is it clean title?

that's what we were thinking too..we haven't called on either yet..just starting the search

I wouldn't say no to a salvage bike, just because of the word. My Cannonball GTS was a salvage bike because it had been laid down pretty good, with minor bodywork needed and lots of damage to just about every piece of plastic. In most cases, scooters are salvaged because the bodywork and parts would cost too much to replace, without any serious or irreparable damage. The most important thing is to make sure that the frame isn't bent or twisted. Plastic can always be replaced, bodywork can be straightened and new paint can be sprayed. Case in point, here's my salvage bike, before and after:

Before:


And after:



Besides, I see it as good scooter karma to take a poor busted bike and make her whole again.

true, so true Bagel..Your blue scoot is awesome!!!
I totally understand how the broken plastic pieces can add up quickly and total out a bike..

That's gorgeous Bagel.

I would steer clear of a Buddy with a salvage title. They're not as expensive as Vespas to repair, so to total one, it's probably got a bent frame.

Bagel, thats probably the nicest custom GTS I have seen to date.
Simple, yet Stylish paint job and seat covering.

I'm not sure thats true, I paid 2k for a 2008 GTS and fixed it for 600-700 dollars and it is fully insured for 120 per year. INS companys total the bike if that don't have a repair shop in the area that they work with when it comes to Scooters and Motorcycles
http://picasaweb.google.com/175mws/VespaGts2008#

The price of repair inculeded new Med Flyscreen also

Your cost of repair didn't include labour charges though. How many hours did you work on it, and what are the local labour rates?

Often it's not the cost of parts that makes a bike a write-off, it's the labour charge, the cost of storage until parts come in, and the cost of a hire bike in the meantime.

^^^I forgot about the storage charges! That's a huge factor along with the actual towing of the thing.

My GT200 has been rented now by one person for 32 days and I don't get it back until the 31st if his GT200 is out of the shop by then. I've given the insurance company a low daily rate but it's still going to be expensive.

That was it parts were not much, ( less then 100) and body and paint was done for 450.00 usd. as far as my time I did not spend much on it. I got lucky with this one.