Is this a great deal for a People 150?

[pattomike]

Recently I found a scooter on CL for $900. It is a 2009 People 150 with 7,000 miles on it. The person selling it had no knowledge of scooters. He had taken it in trade for doing some work for the owner of the scooter. I offered him $600, and he accepted. But then I bought a new Honda PCX 150 instead. The People seemed to run good, but it was a little dinged up, and the seller had no information about its maintenance history. Plus it didn't excite me when I test drove it. It is still for sale so apparently there aren't a lot of people looking to buy scooters. If you think $600 is a great deal, maybe I should go ahead and get it. I can probably get my money back when and if I decide to resell it. I look forward to your thoughts. 

[ronigj]

Used as backup scooter, I've been a user of KYMCO Super 8 for 8 years now. [emoji6] [emoji106]

 'If you don't mean it, don't say it.'

[kingkymco125]

Unless it is San Diego, Los Angeles, or Austin, TX, there is not much demand for scooters in general. I had a friend of mine who tried to sell his Kymco 500cc scooter here in Vegas on CL. There were no takers for it. There is still the negative perception about them in general. For what he was selling the bike for, they told him they buy a used motorcycle for what he was asking.
Kymco bikes are really Honda bikes. The company did start out making parts for them in 63. You are getting a quality scooter for less the money you would pay for a Honda product. You are paying the advertising for Honda. I would use the Kymco as a backup bike. You simply cannot go wrong when it comes to buying a Kymco bike. The bike has just 7000 miles on it which is nothing for Kymcos. The bike is eight years old. I know you need to replace the tires. I have read scooter tires need to be replaced every five years. You probably need to put a new spark plug, air filter, battery, and gear and engine oil to keep her running. At $600, you are looking at more like a $1,000 for the whole bike. The scooter tires, with the labor costs, will be closer to about $150 to $200. If your gonna buy the bike from him, have him pay all the maintenence costs for the bike. I think your better going with the newer Honda PCX.

[h2ou8n4]

So you offered $600 and he accepted? You made a deal and now you are contemplating backing out? Bad form, old boy.

[ScooterLar]

Offer and acceptance constitutes a contract. I agree.....bad form indeed if you renege on the deal.

So you offered $600 and he accepted? You made a deal and now you are contemplating backing out? Bad form, old boy.

[Scooter Dan]

After all your efforts (which you do not get paid for) and cost of tires and maintenance you still have to pay state taxes, tags and registration, you will be lucky to make a profit on re-sale...if you can sell it.  Unless you are a tinkerer and just love fiddling with fixing them up and making a little pocket change, if you are lucky; I would pass.  Geez, you just bought a PCX, why would you want to take on 2 scooters at once? That's expensive and allot to deal with. Man, love on that PCX.

[Mr. Paul]

You should honor your word and buy the scooter. Period. A mans word is his bond.

[pattomike]

bullhsh**, I have a right to change my mind. My first test drive was just around the subdivision where he lived. It lacked a fun factor when I rode it. He texted me the next day and said are you still interested, I said not really. But I might give you $600 for it instead of the $900. He countered with $700 immediately, I said no $600 is what I feel instinctively. I texted him the following day and said I would like one more test-drive so I could take it out on the two lane road and see how it feels (top end, etc). I came over and test drove it, and was even more disappointed than I was during the ride around the subdivision. It just wasn't fun to drive. So I declined to buy it. So get off your high horses and concern yourself with your own integrity, or lack thereof.

[Mr. Paul]

 "I offered him $600, and he accepted. But then I bought a new Honda PCX 150 instead."  I will let your words stand sir.

[Redk]

IMO

It may be 'bad form', yet a deal is Not until money is exchanged and material possession is accomplished.

I have experience in auto/mc sales.

A 'deal' is not necessarily made even when that clunker is paid for and crosses the curb with zero warranty !
There is a well know factor in processing of the official paperwork called an 'unwind' of a deal.
It kinda hurts when you are a commissioned salesperson.

Negotiations should never be done, or relied upon, over the phone.
redk

[Mr. Paul]

IMO

It may be 'bad form', yet a deal is Not until money is exchanged and material possession is accomplished.

I have experience in auto/mc sales.

A 'deal' is not necessarily made even when that clunker is paid for and crosses the curb with zero warranty !
There is a well know factor in processing of the official paperwork called an 'unwind' of a deal.
It kinda hurts when you are a commissioned salesperson.







I know we are getting off topic here but, many of us were raised under different values. Once you said you were going to do something, it was as good as done. People could count on your word. As for me and I know many on this forum, they still can. Unfortunately Red I realize this is not how most of the world works these days.


redk

[Redk]

You should honor your word and buy the scooter. Period. A mans word is his bond.

Not quite, though I will give you full points.

There are indeed bonded endeavors where significant values are exchanged in a single word.
This level of horse trading is not one of them.
redk

[Redk]

Of course, MrPaul, each and every one of us were taught and raised to the highest moral standards !  :-)

Then before the door slammed on the way out we heard "There is a world out there of people who were taught it is morally wrong to give a sucker an even break. Watch out for them !"

When I worked as a builder, it was mandatory that I hold to my word, or I might never work again. I'm overweight today.

If there ended up no profit for my own wage in a job, it was necessary to accept it and move on, chalk it up to experience.

I can clearly recall one specific time when I told my client, 'Frank, I did not think it was this bad and it will take me a huge amount of extra labor to deliver a decent job for you.  Will you pay me more ?'  That nice fellow did.  I think it was a 20% increase ??
 (As I think more about that episode, it was a gamechanger for those folks and they told me specifically my workmanship had ended up so good, beyond their expectations, they were able to change their plans and avoid a subsequent step in the project, saving them a great deal of money in the end.  Yet that is Not the end of the story...  Following that, they hired me for two more, larger projects. )

There are only two certainties in life, Death, and Taxes.
redk

[Stig / Major Tom]

This new Pcx owner will enjoy their forum.

(Hmmm....
 If the owner had sold his People 150 for $800 to another, while  pattom was also ignoring their agreement of $600 and checking with us about it being a "great deal".....

CL for private sales can be like berry picking in a swamp.
Stig

[MJR]

Negotiations should never be done, or relied upon, over the phone.

I've made two great deals via phone and through email on brand new bikes, one being my '09 B650 from OTD Cyclesports (LA Cyclesports now) and the '14 MyRoad 700i from Bert's Mega Mall.