( 
)I searched and found a Chinese Scooter on Ebay. 250-cc for $1800 + $400 ship to my door with tailgate.
I come from the belief system which most of you understand, for quality you buy a Toyota vs. Ford or a Sony vs. Zenith. This comes from word of mouth as well as experience. This is not true of Chinese scooters. My experience as well as that of others goes as follows:
1. What if I can't get parts or are you willing to wait 2-4 months for parts? Then once you got the parts, you fix one problem only to find out another problem exists also meaning another 2-4 months for another part. Meanwhile, the scooter is sitting all taken apart as your eye-sore.
2. What if you get a lemon? Then your going to pay return shipping and shipping for another scooter. What if you can only exchange and not get your money back? What if you get a second lemon? You think I'm joking but this is happening every day. What if like me, the lemon wont be refunded?
3. If you do file a lawsuit for say $2000, where you going to file that lawsuit? Now how do you track down the registered agent for whom you bought the scooter from when most of you don't know what a registered agent is and you can't sue without knowing who it is. Then how are you going to collect it and think about how much time it will take to collect it. Most likely, that dealer is in another state. Now what if the person you bought this scooter from isn't a dealer at all and just joe q citizen?
4. If you think PayPal is going to resolve and return your money? Well I filed my claim on a scooter that I bought that was not the same advertised scooter, a different manufacturer, I did not get a MSO and the scooter was a lemon from the time I put it together. Well I thought PayPal was a easy resolution, it wasn't and they -->denied<-- my claim. Read this paragraph again, you think I'm joking.
Total odometer read 17 miles (6 miles of driving and 8 miles of pushing on separate occasions) when I had a local scooter shop pick it up for $45 and diagnosis was another $110 (2-hrs labor) to discover it needed $600 in labor provided the guy who sold it to me could provide the parts under the "warranty." If parts had to be found add another $600+ I was quoted.
Partial list of problems:
1. Bike overheated quickly and would shut down and not re-start.
2. Used 1/2 tank of fuel in 6 miles of engine on use.
3. Mirrors for rear view to left and right, so low you could not see anything behind you. Barely above your hands on the grips and that is with the highest adjustment you could make on the mirrors.
4. Center stand. 3 inches of ground clearance -->after<-- i took off the center stand itself. When you lean slightly to the left or right, metal bar where you connect the center stand could catch the ground. With the center stand attached, 1 3/4" ground clearance. Go around a corner, it catches and locks thereby throwing you off the bike and luckily this did not happen to me.
5. Most of the plastic pieces did not fit together leaving gaps all over the bike.
6. Rear tire would not hold air due to bent rim.
7. All the lights would flicker high/low while idling.
8. Bike advertised by a Square Trade certified seller. He was not.
9. Bike as advertised at 19.5-hp while the owners manual had it at 14.5
I left negative feedback for the seller and because I did not update my phone number, the seller had my feedback removed but his stayed on my account. He says that I needed to ask him for which parts and he would send them. So many problems that this should have been a 100% refund.
I come from the belief system which most of you understand, for quality you buy a Toyota vs. Ford or a Sony vs. Zenith. This comes from word of mouth as well as experience. This is not true of Chinese scooters. My experience as well as that of others goes as follows:
DO NOT BUY A CHINESE SCOOTER. WAIT, GET THE MONEY AND SPEND THE EXTRA $2000-$4000 MORE.
Buy the brand name scooter because when the time comes and hopefully it never does, but if it does, getting one of these Chinese Scooters fixed is not worth the cheap price. Further as you will see by my experience, I never got any use out of the lemon I received and then was told that I could not expect the quality of a Honda, Vespa, Suzuki or Yamaha from the scooter I just got. Ironic you only find this out after you buy that cause no one will tell you that before they get your money.
I don't agree or think it's true, IT IS. Most all of the sellers of scooters are fly by night. Before you buy, ask yourself the following:1. What if I can't get parts or are you willing to wait 2-4 months for parts? Then once you got the parts, you fix one problem only to find out another problem exists also meaning another 2-4 months for another part. Meanwhile, the scooter is sitting all taken apart as your eye-sore.
2. What if you get a lemon? Then your going to pay return shipping and shipping for another scooter. What if you can only exchange and not get your money back? What if you get a second lemon? You think I'm joking but this is happening every day. What if like me, the lemon wont be refunded?
3. If you do file a lawsuit for say $2000, where you going to file that lawsuit? Now how do you track down the registered agent for whom you bought the scooter from when most of you don't know what a registered agent is and you can't sue without knowing who it is. Then how are you going to collect it and think about how much time it will take to collect it. Most likely, that dealer is in another state. Now what if the person you bought this scooter from isn't a dealer at all and just joe q citizen?
4. If you think PayPal is going to resolve and return your money? Well I filed my claim on a scooter that I bought that was not the same advertised scooter, a different manufacturer, I did not get a MSO and the scooter was a lemon from the time I put it together. Well I thought PayPal was a easy resolution, it wasn't and they -->denied<-- my claim. Read this paragraph again, you think I'm joking.
Total odometer read 17 miles (6 miles of driving and 8 miles of pushing on separate occasions) when I had a local scooter shop pick it up for $45 and diagnosis was another $110 (2-hrs labor) to discover it needed $600 in labor provided the guy who sold it to me could provide the parts under the "warranty." If parts had to be found add another $600+ I was quoted.
Partial list of problems:
1. Bike overheated quickly and would shut down and not re-start.
2. Used 1/2 tank of fuel in 6 miles of engine on use.
3. Mirrors for rear view to left and right, so low you could not see anything behind you. Barely above your hands on the grips and that is with the highest adjustment you could make on the mirrors.
4. Center stand. 3 inches of ground clearance -->after<-- i took off the center stand itself. When you lean slightly to the left or right, metal bar where you connect the center stand could catch the ground. With the center stand attached, 1 3/4" ground clearance. Go around a corner, it catches and locks thereby throwing you off the bike and luckily this did not happen to me.
5. Most of the plastic pieces did not fit together leaving gaps all over the bike.
6. Rear tire would not hold air due to bent rim.
7. All the lights would flicker high/low while idling.
8. Bike advertised by a Square Trade certified seller. He was not.
9. Bike as advertised at 19.5-hp while the owners manual had it at 14.5
I left negative feedback for the seller and because I did not update my phone number, the seller had my feedback removed but his stayed on my account. He says that I needed to ask him for which parts and he would send them. So many problems that this should have been a 100% refund.
Guide created: 01/04/09 (updated 06/15/09)
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