Modern Vespa

My dealer took my GTS on the 13th of August and they just now told me they found the problem, but still unable to determind why it will Cut-Off the engine after it warm up. 13 days in the shop! I want my Vespa back!!!!!

My shop has had my GTS250 since July 11 and it is just waiting for a part from Italy..... so that is 47 days...
I would be going nuts if I did not have my LX150 to ride....

This is exactly why I have learned to do most of my own work and horde a stash of commonly needed parts.

Yes it is great to have an extra Vespa or two lying around to ride when your primary ride is out of commission. Sorry your Vespas are both stuck at the mechanics waiting for parts, that sucks.

exactly, I know not everyone can have or even want a second scooter but it sure helps when one of em is in the shop, plus I can steal Joyce's buddy if shes not looking

I can relate to the frustrations of having your scooter laid up in the shop for weeks. I don't know who your dealers are or what parts/service you're waiting for, but here's my unsolicited advice for these situations:

Stay on your dealer. Keep in contact frequently. Don't pester or annoy them (keep it friendly), but once or twice a week at least. They have new business coming in while your scoot is sitting there. Make sure you keep getting attention.

If possible, make direct contact with the service manager or tech.

If waiting on a part, encourage your dealer to look for alternate sources. Let them know you'd settle for a used one. I once waited months for a part that was ordered from 3 sources. When the order directly from Piaggio in Italy arrived, it was the wrong part. Fortunately, I'd already gotten one pulled off a totaled ET.

If you have to, take some initiative and try to find the part yourself. Call (don't just email or look online) the big Internet parts suppliers as well as other local dealers. Place "Want it Now" ad on eBay and a post here on MV. You never know.

If you have no other form of transport, ask if they'll provide a loaner scoot. Most dealers don't but there are some which do, especially if your ride is laid up for a long time like this. I once rode my wife's Buddy (scooter) when my LX was in the shop. Totaled it.

Sometimes a threat is needed to get Piaggio off their lazy customer service butt. Relay to your dealer that you are thinking of enacting the "lemon law" of your state. The dealer will relay this info to Piaggio headquaters and you just might get your scoot back real quick.
Worked for me last year.

My heart goes out to you all. While this type of thing has not happened to me yet, I made sure I had a back up and decided to keep my Buddy in case something like this happens. Our riding season is too precious to be scooterless. may a cure come soon!

This won't work unless the scooter is new and the issue is covered by the lemon laws. Owners frequently cry "lemon law," but if it doesn't apply in your case, you could just create friction with the dealer and risk being ignored as another hostile customer who doesn't know what he's talking about. Before pulling the trigger on this one, you may want to check your state's laws.

This is true as most state lemon laws are almost identical, but some have minor differences that you have to know about.
However if you bought the scoot from the dealer and it's not a year old you would have a good chance to inact it.

Yay! I was looking for an excuse to get another scoot...primary scoot, backup scoot, emergency backup scoot, backup to the backup scoot...

I agree, It is a bummer to be scooterless in the sumer. Mine went in 12 days ago. It does not help when the shop is closed 2 days a week too. I have faith though, and the fall is my favorite time to ride.

Well, let's have a looksee...

In CA, the lemon law is a provision of a broader protection, called the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act. It applies only to issues covered by warranty. It applies for the duration of the warranty.

From the state AG's site: "The law requires that if the manufacturer or its representative in this state, such as an authorized dealer, is unable to service or repair a new motor vehicle to meet the terms of an express written warranty after a reasonable number of repair attempts, the manufacturer is required promptly to replace the vehicle or return the purchase price to the lessee or buyer."

The Lemon Law provision helps define "reasonable number" of attempts and is applied to the first 18 months of ownership. It applies only if: 1. the issue is serious enough to cause death or injury; 2. the dealer has unsuccessfully attempted to repair the vehicle four times; OR 3. the vehicle has been out of service for any number of problems for a cumulative total of 30 days since delivery to the buyer. (There are more details I omitted, so see above link.)

Oklahoma laws are similar, but the duration of lemon law coverage is one year and the total number of days out of service is 45, not 30.

Mine went in on June 27 for body work. I dropped it in the garage. There was a backup at the painters because of a hail storm previously in the summer. I got it back on August 7. There was a good size scrape in the paint near the trim. They said they had the touch up paint on order. When I got home, I realized that the temperature gauge wasn't working and that the paint was wet and scraped off down to the metal in front of/below the seat. I took it back on August 11. I got a call today that it will be ready on Saturday. They didn't like the paint job and the painter is redoing it. Argggghhhh At least the weather has been hot as hell and sucking.

eric, great advice!

to add to that, techs like beer.
seriously. find out who's working on your bike, treat them like a human being and bring them beer. more than likely you'll get the ball rolling faster than being the squeaky wheel.

best,
-greasy

I give my mechanic liquor store gift cards instead of beer, that way he can choose what he wants to buy. He keeps telling me not to do it, but when he does me extra favours I think it is warranted.

i'll actually be using the lemon law here in texas very soon on my scoot and i'll let you know what happens. the threat of the lemon law doesn't to work, at least not for me. i've lost count of the number of days i've missed out on. oh well, maybe i'll have better luck next summer.

Just in case you are not aware of this.......Italy basically shuts up shop for the whole of August as they are all on holiday.
Hopefully parts will start to flow again shortly.

Shame they're not built in the UK really as we never stop working.

Living where I live ... and because there are no dealers or scooter/motorcycle shops anywhere in the BVI, I quickly discovered that unless I didn't mind being scooterless, I had to have a back up scooter.

After looking at various other brands and models and having had one false start in purchasing a different brand, I finally decided to just buy another LX. It makes sense (for me) to have two of the same scooters because I can keep certain parts on hand that are likely going to have to be replaced at some point and it won't matter which scooter goes down because they share most of the same parts. (The new scooter is fuel injected though)

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get my new scooter running properly and am waiting to hear back from my dealer (in Italy) what Piaggio recommends in order to sort out the problem. In the meantime, my original scooter is running very well, so at least I am not stranded.

If you are able to afford a back up scooter (even a cheap Chinese scoot will do) ... I highly recommend it. It tends to take away the pain of not being able to ride!

I second Erics comments as well. Best keep your dealer on your good side! Although 13 days may seem like an eternity ... it really isn't all that bad! I had to go nearly three months without mine while waiting for parts. Damn near killed me!

Hang in there, you'll make it!

I live in Spain and have had 1 month plus waits on parts from Italy on two occasions leaving me stranded without my GT.

Since some of us keep extra parts on hand, it might be worthwhile asking on Modernvespa if anyone has a part we need and wants to sell it?

When it comes between waiting for weeks on end to have my ride back, or paying a little extra on shipping, I'll gladly take the second option.

Thats a good idea.
Maybe MV could have a list of spare parts and who would be interested in selling them should the need arise from another member.

32 days and counting! They still have my Vespa.....still no ETA from the dealer. I took the liberty of calling VespaSoHo in NY service department and the service department told me to check on the fuel pump. It took my dealer 32 days and counting, but I took me just 1 phone call and I might already have the answer. Now the question is being Vespa Italy is on vacation for the last 30 days....when am I going to get a replacement fuel pump?

I believe they were closed for the month of August but have reopened. I too am waiting for a response from Piaggio (through my dealer) in rergards to what might be wrong with my brand new scooter. It dies at idle and isn't safe to ride in that condition. Hopefully, I will hear from the dealer sometime soon!

+1x10^99!!!!!!!

Come on, people, where's our beer?? And not crappy beer either. We want, nay, NEED crisp, hoppy ales and rich, filling lagers!! Cookies are good also.

yap, the service manager did indicated that he likes " Stout". They finally called and it is the fuel pump. My Vespa will be ready by next weekend.

Please list what those parts would be as I think I'll stock up on them too.

A horde of the commonly-needed parts isn't a bad idea, but it's inevitably the less common one you'll need and be unable to obtain.

You're probably right, but it still gives me some peace of mind and costs me no more than a single major service at a dealer.

I've based my own parts hoarding on a gut feeling of which reasonably priced parts are most likely to fail: cables, switches, relays, belts, etc.; which critical ones are most likely to be damaged in a minor drop: mirrors, brake levers, etc.; those inexpensive parts that are really hard to find, such as 7mm exhaust studs and nuts; and parts that ought to be replaced every time they are removed, such as oil drain O-rings and variator nuts.

I never set out to build up a huge stash, but whenever I've ordered parts that I knew I needed for a project at hand, I've also looked around the website of whomever I was ordering from to see which parts that fit into the categories above were reasonably priced, and always threw one or two into the order. My total expenditure is maybe $200 (some of the parts are eBay salvage), but I'd wager my stash will get me through 80% of typical minor mishaps and failures without any more downtime than it takes to do the actual repair work. I've never lost a single day of scooting to waiting for parts.

I was just doing a mental inventory of my parts stash. The stuff that fits into the categories above probably does indeed add up to less than $200, but I forgot about some items I've also stocked for purely convenience reasons: tires and wheels. I've acquired spare front and rear wheels and had tires mounted on them so that I can very quickly replace a flat without hassle or major expense, and then replace the flat tire at my convenience without down time. I got a slightly used rear tire and wheel for just $50 from eBay. I had to pay retail for a new spare front rim and tire (and another $25 for mounting from the vendor), but I think the convenience is worth the cost.

I've done the same thing as Silver Streak.

My list of spare parts includes:

Bulbs for headlamp, turn signal indicators and brake light
fuses
belts
oil filters & O rings
Agip - 5W-40 synthetic oil (we don't have it here)
gas filters
battery
mirrors
brake handles
gas line tubing
shocks
tires
oil drain plugs
brake pads

I can't remember what else I have off hand. I know I want to get a few more things like a spare brake line and a few other little nuts and bolts ... but those are the major items I keep on hand.

Guess I'll count myself as fortunate that I wouldn't have any trouble getting most of those things here at a moment's notice. The local dealers keep ample supplies! I usually have oil, filters and fuses around. That's about it.

My Vespa is back home! After 5 weeks...she is finally home.

Not a great pic, but it will do. Nice and clean!

5 weeks is deplorable service.
Even though Piaggio Italy is on vacation the month of August, Piaggio USA is not. You should have gotten a responce fron Piaggio USA within 1 week at most. Another week to get the part to your dealer and 2-3 days to fix it.

Just shows the DEPLORABLE customer service from Piaggio. Absolutely the worst service of all manufacturers.

I'd interested to find out what exactly fails in these fuel pumps. Touch wood, I've never had one fail - but I bet most of the 'failed' ones are very easily repairable.

Congratulations! And just in time for the good riding season in Oklahoma. Is it cooling off up there yet? It's down into the 80s and 90s here finally. Ah Fall in Texas

Glad you finally got your scooter back. I live in the land of no good mechanics/parts so we have spares of things. Altho most of the scooters are 200's. I have a LT and LX so in a pinch i can trade out parts. eff just bought a brand new LX and so fa it's been in the shop a week with no end in site Lucky we can ride year round here but still it sucks

Funny you should mention that. Piaggio had a slew of fuel pump issues in the US based on the ethanol alcohol that is common in our fuel now. The fuel pumps were installed in Aprilia scooter but i am sure they share parts or technologies between the different brands. i wonder if this has anything to do with he failures.


As for stocking common service or "disposable" parts, that's smart but who thinks you will need the seals and gaskets deep in the engine for a warranty repair? I am going to guess these are things people wait 10 weeks for.