Manufacturing Defect?

[Scootaloot]

Small World!!!! Its the same scooter. They had fixed the miss before I came on the scene. I left messages with several people at Kymco today and no one has responded yet. At this point, my faith in Kymco's integrity is completely gone. I will try a couple more e-mails but doubt I'll get a reply. I called the dealer in VA today and they said as far as they know none of the additional parts needed are on backorder . Anyone reading this forum should avoid Solano Cycle and give dealer service and parts availability serious consideration before buying Kymco. Unfortunately, I think my next scooter purchase will be a Japanese brand.

[Scootaloot]

Steve Oliver did e-mail yesterday so there is a glimmer of hope .

[Scootaloot]

1 day short of 8 weeks my scooter was liberated from the evil clutches of the dealership!!!! The scooter is running like it is supose to. Basically it has a rebuilt engine in it as the parts list included a piston,crank, clutch,starter parts... The dealer said the cost of the repairs was $1300.00. After 2 emails from Steve Oliver communication stopped. I don't know how a company the size of Kymco could handle a problem as poorly as they did. They will have a tough time growing if they provide such lousy support and communication. Any one reading this prior to a purchase should think hard before committing to Kymco and those of us riding need to keep pushing for better from them.

[ultra-maniac]

I've had great responses from Kymco regarding a now defunct dealer.  They put the screws on the dealer to get my registration completed.  The resolution was:  I got my registration and that dealer lost their dealership and is now out of business.

But you are not alone with issues with scooter manufacturers.  I've heard of people waiting 6 to 8 months for Piaggio to send them parts for their Vespas.  Also, if you search www.modernbuddy.com it is not uncommon to see posts of people waiting 2 to 4 months for certain parts.

In fact some people are still waiting for windshields they ordered back in early July.

[Areomyst]

I used to work for a Kymco dealer, and Kymco was the absolute best distributor we worked with as far as parts were concerned.  We only had two mix-ups in the 3 1/2 years I was there.  If your parts are coming slow, it may be because the dealer isn't on the ball.  When I wanted parts before, it was as easy as looking up the parts, and then e-mailing the appropriate person at Kymco.  Parts would arrive in a couple of days most times.

It often took us a long time to get parts from Piaggio/Vespa.  The slow boat from Italy is slower than the one from Taiwan, evidently.

~Josh

[Scootaloot]

Scooter had another noise similar to the original noise. Took her in to another dealer and spoke with him today. He thinks that 2 shims associated with the camshaft were missing and there was slop going on between cam lobes and valves. Scooter now has about 1900km on her. Other dealer may have missed putting them back in on last repair or maybe factory never installed them? I'm sure that this repair will cost Kymco hundreds more so they are fast approaching the point where the repairs will exceed the cost of a new scooter. If this had occured during the riding season I would have been upset but at the moment it brings a laugh.

[Scootaloot]

Scooter found its way home again today! Dealer said previous dealer missed the shims and also didn't tighten something in the camshaft area when they put it back together. This dealer(Virginia Power Sports in Ruckersville,VA) gave great service and I would recomend them. The cost of this repair to Kymco was about $400.00+.At this point Kymco has done about $1600.00 in total repairs. I am going to give my scooter one more try but I'm contemplating trading it toward a used Piaggio BV200. Any one out there with any experience with a BV200? Thanks!

[kriden]

Hey Scootaloot...I have owned a BV200.  Nice scooter...but a pain to work on.  Typical Italian style over function.  Road great but I sold it after a year.  Main reasons:
1) parts were forever to get
2) storage under seat was miserable

If you can get a good deal on it and have a good Piaggio dealer in the area, take a close look.  But getting parts was awful for me.  I needed a new thermostat housing and a gasket and it took several weeks.

Good luck...it was a nice riding scooter