I've emailed back and forth with the guy and he has been fairly prompt with his responses but is certainly not very verbose. He sent some photos and answered my questions.
The latest exchange, this weekend, had me asking for the VIN so I could run it. He complied. It turns out that the scoot was originally from California which I guess wouldn't be a bad thing. I ran the VIN in the stolen car database and a couple other BC databases and found nothing. Then I ran it in the California database - a negative report showed up but with no details.
Agitated, I hummed and hawed and eventually paid the $36 for Carfax, a website that gives you more information on a negative report. Had it been in an accident? Was it stolen?
It turns out that the odometer figure has the potential for not being reliable. The report stated:
A NAM title is issued when the owner discloses to a DMV mileage
fraud, a broken odometer or that the actual mileage of this vehicle
is unknown.
Mileage reported after this reading is potentially unreliable.
At first I thought, that's it, I won't even bother. But as the day went by, I thought, why not give the guy a chance to respond?
He responded by saying that when he bought it, the battery was dead and was told it had 5000 miles on it but when he went to the Vespa dealer (in San Diego, I believe) they told him that it actually had 10,500 miles on it.
Now, he's saying that it has 11,000 miles on it which still sounds reasonable. My wife wants to go to Kelowna anyways to visit her sister so I'm thinking, can't hurt to take a look. Maybe it'll look fine and run fine and maybe I'll even get a good deal...
Or maybe I'll get soaked...
Mileage reported after this reading is potentially unreliable.
At first I thought, that's it, I won't even bother. But as the day went by, I thought, why not give the guy a chance to respond?
Now, he's saying that it has 11,000 miles on it which still sounds reasonable. My wife wants to go to Kelowna anyways to visit her sister so I'm thinking, can't hurt to take a look. Maybe it'll look fine and run fine and maybe I'll even get a good deal...
Or maybe I'll get soaked...
7 comments:
Worth a look, maybe you could get a mechanical inspection. Looks in pretty good shape, if you can test drive it too would be awesome. I bought my scoot off of used Victoria and it was awesome. Christmas is coming up & I bet if you showed up with $2500 cold hard cash he would sell it to ya. Good luck.
Well, good for you to check on Carfax. At least you know what you are getting into. 11,000 miles is not a big deal for a Vespa, but now it at least explains where the price come from.
Just better be prepared to have an inspection done at a Vespa dealer (Urban Wasp comes to mind), which will likely cost you another 300 to 600 bucks depending on parts. Maybe something you might want to throw in when negotiating the final price?
I am keeping my fingers crossed that this might work out.
Dave:
Go for it ! if it looks good, and runs good. Can't go wrong at that price
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
Maintenance is more important than actual mileage. I would suggest you give it a good look and take it for a ride; if it feels okay, there's a Vespa dealer in Kelowna (or at least there was, last I heard) at which you could schedule an appointment for going-over by a trained tech. Make the sale contingent on passing said inspection (you pay for it), and see if you can deduct this from the final sale price.
__Orin
Scootin' Old Skool
Hi dave if you get the time to see the scoot ....stop ..look...and listen,provided its had a few oil changes with that sort of miles on the clock it should be fine......theres a gts on scooter community thats done over 70,000kms and still running great!
cheers len
p.s i ejoy the readings of your blog...its nice with a coffee!
Want to see you navigate the Hope Princeton. Does it come with snow tires? Let me know. Maybe you can talk me into driving up to Kelowna with my truck.
Thanks to all for their comments...
Dar: no way for an inspection - going to have to go on intuition (crap) - but will try to swing a deal.
Sonja: Don't think I can have an inspection before I buy but will take it to Urban Wasp after I make the purchase for a good thorough servicing. Fingers crossed...
Bobskoot: great advice! I like the price too.
Orin: Unfortunately, the Vespa dealership in Kelowna closed in 2009. Damn! I wish I knew more about what to look for.
Len: That's good to hear - I'm hoping MOST of the GTSs can do over 70,000 kms. By the way, I enjoy writing the blog, too!
Anonymous: I think this is Dale! I've got a plan if I do, in fact, buy it. We'll see...
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