Modern Vespa

So I have had my 500 for about two months now and have put about 1000 miles on it and have clearly decided that I am not a fan. I feel like I am riding an office chair down the road. I know there are @ssloads of upgrades to the seat I could make but am convinced that it wont make any difference. I think it is because my legs are too long and feels like my knees are in my throat.
Anyway....I know I am going to take a horrible depreciation hit on selling or trading but question is, does anyone know what a 09 500 with 1000 miles on it should go for?
Any help is appreciated!

Scotth1224, have you tried riding with your butt up on the pillion? That has become my standard riding style with the exceptions of slow-speed traffic and interstate (where I use pegs).

i feel your pain on being cramped but i am soon going to get a new seat made for my 500. Take a look at my pics from my ride to Savannah GA and you can see how cramped i am on my ride. https://modernvespa.com/forum/topic53075

How tall are you guys?

I am 6'2

Search the forum for several threads relating to this. I've seen a number of folks asking if what they found is a good price, etc. But I would be surprised if you didn't have to take a 20% to 30% hit on what you paid, assuming you paid retail. Too bad its not working out for you, but clearly these are not for everyone...

Good luck!

Have you thought about trading it in with your dealer for something else? Then again, you'd be taking a hit there, as well.

With that mileage I wouldn't go lower than $6600.

6' 5", 34" inseam. If I had only the front seat to ride on and no pegs I'd be unhappy on long trips.

Tall you are, surprised you even bought the MP3. Worse guess is $5500 tradein value. Bought mine for 6400 with windshield and Givi case on, with 665 miles. Look at suziki Burgman scoot.

I just bought last month a 2009 500 black which was originally purchased in Sep 2008 and so still had about one month left on warranty. It was a one owner bike in like new condition and 2000 miles. Stock bike, no windshield or topcase. Originally listed on craigslist at $6800. Owner needed money for closing cost on a rental property he was buying. After about 15 mins of negotiation with my citing another one for sale, we agreed on a price of $6200 which includes bike, a Nolan 3/4 helmet, a BMW Motorrad jacket, and a cover. Owner bought it for $10200 out the door.

My backup purchase in case this first deal didnt' go through was a 2009 500 Red which was originally purchased in Sep 2008 and still had about one month left on warranty. It was a one owner bike in showroom condition and only 250 miles. This one had a Givi windscreen, a Piaggio topcase, and 2 helmets and 1 pair of gloves were being thrown into the deal. Listed on Craigslist for $7500 and I had agreement with him to purchase at that price until I came across the black one.

I had searched all the craiglists in states near me using http://www.searchtempest.com/ and $6500 was about the lowest price that I saw for 2009 MP3 500.

I was also watching 5 that were on Ebay at the same time, some 2008, some 2009. Two were sold. One for 7,300 and the other for 6,400. Here are the 5 that I was watching:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260471871732&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120455251100&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400065030193&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360176268091&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260448738294&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT


It's funny because I wanted one of the MP3 500s so bad but couldn't justify paying full price so I was looking for the longest time for a used one. I rarely came across some MP3 250s and never came across any 500s on craigslist or ebay. I came to the conclusion that the owners must all be really happy with them and no one wanted to part with one so I gave up on owning one. Then one day I happened to look again and found one on my local craigslist. To comparison shop I looked on all the craiglists and also on ebay. All in all, there were probably 10 to pick from that were all within a half day's driving distance from me. Soon after I bought mine and I looked again and suddenly they were none to be found again.

For what it's worth, even with the economy they way it is, I think there are plenty of buyers out there for a used 500 since they are so hard to come by.

Best of luck with your sale.

BTW, if you've only had it for two months, you may want to consider buying the extended warranty before the 90 days is up. I think that would help your resale value tremendously. If I had come across this forum before buying one and saw all the reported issues, I would have been more than willing to pay top dollars for one with a 3 year warranty. The one I bought had 1 month left on the 1 year warranty. I had it for 2 days and then it went in the shop for issues with the front suspension lock. Warranty expired yesterday and it's still held hostage there. I got mine for $6200 and would have willingly paid another $1000 if I had found another one in like condition but had 3 year warranty.

Just a heads up, you can purchase the extended warranty any time before the standard 1 year warranty ends...some dealers will say otherwise simply because they either don't know or don't sale them themselves.

Unless it has changed recently Piaggio printed literature states only in the first 3 months can the warranty be extended. Third party warranties can be purchased prior to the Piaggio one running out.

I think MySkyMizer had a thread on this in the spring. https://modernvespa.com/forum/topic42053?highlight=