Modern Vespa

In what month are the new model years typically released?

Here we go again! No reflection on you Cogito, but this always causes a "spirited" discussion.

And WELCOME ABOARD!

Thanks for the kind welcome, hr2lrn!

Feel free to direct me to threads that have addressed this previously. I've been "lurking" for several weeks now and thought I had searched every possible keyword combination. (Even tried the tip about Googling "modernvespa.com + keywords".)

cogito-

Usually in the Fall. That said, "model years" are not the norm in most of the world, and hr2lrn's comment refers to the endless debates over whether such a phenomenon is useful or not.

Since you live in the US (well OK is technically in the US ) model years are a part of the culture, business and legal environment, so your question is legit.

Welcome aboard.

Al
A Yank living in Paros - permanently.

As you might imagine, we're lucky to have even one Vespa dealership in Oklahoma (a BMW/Ducatti dealership (same dealer in both OKC & Tulsa.) Unfortunately, the dealer here doesn't have much selection beyond several S's and a couple of LX's. (Not even a GTV.)

I started my scooter search by looking at the Buddy Internationals at a local scooter shop that was highly recommended. (Atomic Brown.) But as soon as I first saw a Vespa up close, I was quite impressed by the fit and finish. From my brief experience, nothing else compares. I'm dying to see an LXV in person to see the quality of the adds (over the LX) first-hand. Since I also prefer Sienna Ivory, I followed Pooh's search

https://modernvespa.com/forum/topic48880
https://modernvespa.com/forum/topic49051

and have lived vicariously through her purchase.

But also recently saw a posting that the ends of the distinctive handle grips are chromed plastic. Plastic?!

Last summer in July, we bought a new 2009 GTS that had just arrived. I don't know if Vespa does this every year but this was our "first-hand experience" of actually buying a 2009 model in early July of 2008.

usually around a month after you got tired of waiting and bought last year's model

OK, but here we are in September and I haven't heard of any 2010's released yet. Does "fall" mean this month or next?

Vespa typically does not ship new model years until late in the year, probably November would be the earliest you might possibly see one pop up but I'm guessing more like December/January because of the slower year we had (in comparison to last year). Dealers also do not typically get many units in for the months of October-December, based on the weather and trying to sell their remaining inventory left over from that year. So the actual months and quantity of models may vary.

Last year was different because dealers were running extremely short supply of units to sell and Piaggio wasn't meeting demand - they sold out of their 08' quantity and were forced to bring in 09's earlier than usual to meet demand, so thats why we received the model year earlier than typical.

That being said, we have already gotten a few 2010s in this year. All of the GTS 300s are 2010 models as well as the limited edition pink LX 50/150s. I imagine that for any other model, we probably won't see them in numbers until the actual new year.

I'm not sure, but I think it's every year.

However, some places are either anomalies or just weird (Keep Austin Weird ). My husband bought my GTS 250 in April of this year. It was a new scooter that had never been registered and had less than 20 miles on it. It was made in 2007. I am not sure of the model year though, because the end of 2007 could be model year 2008. It is Excalibur Grey, not Cortina, so that may narrow it down. He got a better deal, because it was an older year. I guess our dealer just had some older ones in stock. I have heard that this is pretty common in Europe to see older year, new scoots still being sold.

I would mention that Piaggio does not really change "model years" in the same manner as auto manufacturers that ship to the US or build in the US. Vespas for the US market are made intermittently based upon demand and Piaggio USA's sales forecasts. They have to be a unique production run to meet SU legal requirements, and thus are not just pulled off the line and shipped to the US. Thus the intermittent nature of production of US bound scoots. The US market is too small for Piaggio to be continuously making US spec scooters.

Since US law requires motor vehicles to carry a "model year" designation, Piaggio will put a "model year" on each batch of scooters it makes for the US market based on when it is actually assembled more than any changes in the scooter. If the current inventory/demand doesn't require a US production run of a given model until next Jan, for example, then the 2010 "models" will not be produced until next Jan. And, while they will be called "2010" that does not mean they are any different from the same models produced as a "2009".

It's a quirk in the importing of low volume motor vehicles into the US. AND absolutely nothing to worry about.

Al

Earlier manufacture perhaps, but here an unused bike is judged as being 'born' when it is first registered. No account is taken of actual time of manufacture, no 'model year' applies, there is no 'year digit' on the VIN. A model's manufacturing run might be for several years with no changes in design whatsoever. If a substantial change is made, then the model name is changed or suffixed somehow.

So an MP3 manufactured in 2006 but not sold until 2008 would have a 2008 registration, and would have the same value as one manufactured just a week before that sale date. Seems fair to me - as with zero miles on the clock they are identical.

Aloha and welcome to the forum. You could always buy it out of state and have it shipped if you can't ind what your looking for. We have a Harley/Vespa/Aprilla dealer and their selections of Vespa's is horrible. Bough mine from the mainland and had it shipped. Good luck with your search.

The tenth digit (letter on older stuff) in a vin code is the year of manufacture.

ie:

A - 1980 through to Y - 2000 1 - 2001 through to 9 - 2009

Gets interesting next year they´re all out of letters and single numbers.

The VIN plates on both of our Vespas have an area above the VIN numbers that shows the month/year when each was manufactured. Apparently Vespa doesn't do this on UK/European models.

XLR8

What jimc is talking about is that in the EU, regardless of month/year of manufacture, there is no such concept of "model year". My car, for example, has a data plate with month/year of manufacture, but it's "year" is the year it was first registered, some 14 months later. I don't know what Vespa does for its EU models in terms of data plates, as I don't own a "Modern" Vespa.

It is two entirely different systems. Europeans are used to the system here, and Americans are used to the system there.

Note that an European Market vehicle will always have a zero in the tenth (model year in US) digit position.

Al

2007 (registered) UK Fuoco VIN plate:

Just got confirmation..

2010 MY LX for now is only the Pink Special Edition.
2010 LX won't come out until next Spring.
Same with GTS... only the 300 is 2010 for now.
The rest of the GTS line won't show up as 2010 until next spring.

There won't be a BV300..... cost of certifying the bike for the U.S is not worth it for Piaggio with so little sales.

Got my 2010 in early August and it had been in the show room a few weeks.

Hi! Just thought I'd mention that the Tulsa shop has lots more inventory than the OKC shop--and is also far more scooter-oriented in general. Worth the trip!

(I got mine in OKC, but just recently saw Tulsa's store and wished I had checked it before buying... Just a thought!)

Just curious when you guys are getting the new 125/150ie models?
Just ordered an LX150ie should take a week from my local scooter shops supplier. Cant wait!

what was the price of your Lx150ie? Is the MSRP the same as the carburated models?

I wanted to get the gts250 because its Fuel Injected, i did read on the wiki that the f.i. LX is coming so maybe I should wait.

Same as the carburetted model i think..but here in OZ they are discounted by $300 so they can get rid of the older models to make way for the injected models

Yeeeeees, up to a point. However, plenty of people do talk about cars, and bikes, and some scoots as having model years in the UK.

For instance, with cars, there are plenty of instances where a car model name stays the same (e.g. a Ford Escort), but the spec changes according to yr of manufacture. If you were buying a workshop manual for, say, a VW Golf, you would find that there's more than one and that they are differentiated by yr of mftr.

And the same goes for a lot of geared bikes (people talk about 08 - or more frequently "K8" GSXRs, for instance. This refers to yr of mftr, in the same way as for the Escort/Golf above. Different yrs will have different spec's).

It doesn't apply to MV's (at least not any I can think of), because a new spec generally gives rise to a new model with a new name (although, perhaps the ETs had different specs according to year when the new pollution reg's were being introduced?).

But, for instance, I was looking at TMaxs for sale in the UK the other month, and found a dealer selling a "2007 model" which was new and unregistered (and so, if it was bought and registered this year, it would have a 2009-dated number plate). This model would have a significantly different spec (no ABS, different chassis, different bodywork) from a 2009 model, but they could both be on '09 plates.

BB-

You are definitely correct as to the European usage.

US "model year" vehicles are typically manufactured during two calendar years. For example, 2010 Fords are already on the dealers' showroom floors
http://apps.dealerconnection.com/dealers/frontier/newvehicles?lang=en&inv-radio=on&VehicleType=All&Year=2010&modelId=171

Obviously, this Escape was manufactured in 2009, but is a 2010 "Model". Ford will continue building "2010 Models" into 2010, and at some point in 2010 will begin to build "2011 Models". Thus the US requirement for a "Model Year" digit in the VIN.

US law refers to an "annual production period" which is when a company declares that a given "model year" is manufactured. Car manufacturers set this for their company. This could be from Jul 1 to Jun 30, for example. Does not necessarily have to be 365 days. Every brand X car manufactured between Jul 1, 2009 and Jun 30, 2010, would thus be a 2010. If the manufacturer does not set "annual production years", then calendar year of manufacture determines the "model year". And, IIRC, a manufacturer must begin calling a vehicle manufactured on or after Jan 1 of a calendar year the "model year" of that new calendar year. So, no matter how popular the 2009 Mustang might be, those made on or after Jan 1, 2010 must be labeled 2010 Mustangs, even if not one item is changed. Of course, Ford declares the new Model year much earlier than Jan 1, so this doesn't happen.

Since US spec scooters must be made in discreet runs by Piaggio, they can assign "model years" in a manner familiar to US customers. There is no guarantee that a 2010 differs from a 2009 (or a 2008). It simply identifies that the scooter was manufactured during the time frame selected for identification as that specific "model year".

Regardless of when a US market vehicle is registered for the first time, the "Model Year" on the registration will reflect the "Model Year" applied at time of manufacture. Thus, the Escape linked above will be registered as a 2010, even if first registered today, 8 Sep 2009.

Al

2010 MP3s are on sale here. I just bought a 250. Has 14-inch rear wheel like the big boys.

What really happens is:
When they run out of 2009 in the warehouse they will
start shipping 2010. Last year that was early because scooter sales
were so good. This year it will be later. Could even be in The first part of 2010. You never know. I have seen orders that come in with some of
old year and some of new year.

Yup!
Don't expect the 2010 models until mid to late spring next year.

I was able to pick up a 2010 GTS 300 Super at the Vespa shop In Oklahoma City about two weeks ago, So the Oklahoma dealerships already have them.

Wow Al! (For the explanation of what "model year" means in the US).

And I thought us Brits had the complicated rules and reg's...

The only 2010 available at this time is:
GTS 300 Super
Special Edition Pink LX50/150
MP3 250
That is it..

Everything else will remain 2009 until mid spring

Since the two dealerships have the same ownership, the salesman in OKC said he had checked their inventory. But thanks for the tip! I'll make it a point to check them out.

While it is codified in law now, I think a lot of it is rooted in US buying custom, which is in turn rooted in the sales and marketing of cars in the US. Traditionally (i.e. when I was a kid) the "model year" cars for the following year would appear in the fall, around September. So the 1974 models would be available around September of 1973. I always understood this to be a selling point, a way to stimulate car sales at a point where sales would otherwise be slowing down. Especially in the Northern states in the US, cars just don't sell in winter.

As I got older, a few car companies started playing around with variations on this theme, sometimes in extreme ways. I seem to remember Ford introducing the following model year sometime in the spring a good 9 months before the calendar year actually started, and there was a big kerfuffle about it. The law allowed it, though.

For Vespas, I've found the "model year" designation to be essentially random. I got a 2010 300 Super in late spring, as soon as they arrived in the US. Other 2010 bikes haven't appeared yet.

There's no rhyme or reason to it, the model years change either when Piaggio feels like it or when they are obligated by law, whichever comes first.

The 2010 VIN's have an "A" in the year digit.

In Canada, most LXs are now 2010s. All 300s, most BVs, most Vespa S are also 2010.

The 2010 LXs are pretty cool as they have some extra chrome bits. New colours here are white and orange.

I'm trying to make a deal on a (used) 2010 GTS 300 Super! It's not the LXV or GTV and it's (obviously) not in Sienna Ivory, but it does already have the Flyscreen -- and even an optional "split leather saddle" that caught my eye on the LXV.

Wish me luck!

In which case: you are Marty McFly, and I claim my £10

Sorry Alex I like ya and all however I have been invoiced for a 2010 LXV and it's on the way this week.

They trickle in by what 09's are sold out, its that simple. FIFO aka first in first out.

Best,
SDG

To meet a variety of US laws, I understand Piaggio must make US spec scooters in identified factory runs. They can't just pull non-US spec scoots off the line or "out of the warehouse" and mod them to US spec if one, two or ten are needed in the US. It must be a "US production run", and all those scoots go to the US.

So, for example, they will produce a supply of LX125s during a given week. All of the scoots in a given run will thus be assigned to the "model year" appropriate to that run. Since Piaggio does not make US spec scoots continuously, but rather to demand or sales projections, which ever is higher, it could be very possible for them to be "early", "late" or not at all in terms of a given "model year" of a specific scooter to arrive in the US.

In the case of your 2010 300 Super, my guess is that they did not want to introduce it as a 2009, and have people whining for discounts 6 months later, even if no more were scheduled to be brought to the US. It's really difficult to import low volume vehicles into the US with the "model year" thing that we have.

Al