questions regarding long distance stella purchase

The original 2-stroke Genuine scooter and its 4-stroke manual and automatic offspring

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Meis
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questions regarding long distance stella purchase

Post by Meis »

Well I am in the market for a Stella but there are some specifics I am looking for.

Gotta be a 2t motor with a manual transmission.

As you can imagine, all of the listing that I can find are rather far from me, well... far enough that I wouldn't want to make the trip back on it at least. Have any of yall had a scoot shipped before? I have never even considered it up to this point as I would be buying it sight unseen and relying on pictures and the word of the seller.

How does the shipping process work?

Any pointers?
cummingsjc
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Re: questions regarding long distance stella purchase

Post by cummingsjc »

Meis wrote:Well I am in the market for a Stella but there are some specifics I am looking for.

Gotta be a 2t motor with a manual transmission.

As you can imagine, all of the listing that I can find are rather far from me, well... far enough that I wouldn't want to make the trip back on it at least. Have any of yall had a scoot shipped before? I have never even considered it up to this point as I would be buying it sight unseen and relying on pictures and the word of the seller.

How does the shipping process work?

Any pointers?
I shipped an MP3 from Tuscaloosa, AL to Oceanside, CA back in December 2012. I had talked to the seller via email and phone and then talked to the shop at which he said he had maintenance done. They verified to me that the owner had several quality brand scooters and that he took care of them. This led me to believe that I wasn't going to get a piece of junk. After lining up the sale, I talked to my local scooter store about who they recommended for shipping a scooter and they gave me a primary and alternate shipper they we comfortable with using. I talked to that shipper and paid him $600 in cash to bring the bike to me on a swing his driver was doing around the country. Overall, it was a relatively easy process.

On another MP3 I bought, I tapped into other members of an MP3 forum of which I am a member and had someone who lived about 30 graciously agree to go check out the bike for me.
cummingsjc
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Post by cummingsjc »

Alternatively, if you buy me an airplane ticket I will be happy to go check out any bike you want and ride it back for you... :wink:
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jimmbomb
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Post by jimmbomb »

Alternatively, if you cant find a 2t Stella close to you, then 2nd choice could be a Vespa P200. Search for.those too. Probally same price. A bit older, but they hold up very well.
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cummingsjc
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Post by cummingsjc »

Here's one not too far away from you over in Austin for $1300 OBO:

http://austin.craigslist.org/mcy/5657860583.html

I found this on www.scooterfinds.com. There were 6 located in Texas for varying price levels.
Meis
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Post by Meis »

I saw the TX ones on scooter finds. The red one in Flower mound is nice and that is 2 streets down from where I used to live lol. DFW, Austin, heck even OK city aren't too far for me to drive (OK. Is pushing it but I can stop halfway in DFW to show off to friends haha) and bring it back. At those distances, utilizing a friend with a truck (or paying your plane fare!) Would be worth it also.

I'll have to check out the P200. My father in law (in San diego) restores old Vespas and lammies and has amassed quite the collection (13 to 15 last time I was there) so I may pick his brain too.
dasscooter
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Post by dasscooter »

Having owned both a 2T Stella and a P200, the Vespa is hands down a better choice. Especially now that the P-Series market has crashed and you can pick up a decent one for the same price as a clapped out Stella.

Another thing to consider is that many Stellas are owned by non-enthusiasts that don't know/care about keeping them well maintained.
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Dooglas
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Post by Dooglas »

jimmbomb wrote:Alternatively, if you cant find a 2t Stella close to you, then 2nd choice could be a Vespa P200.
I wouldn't even call the P200 a second choice. The Stella 2T has been discontinued in the US and Genuine seems to be sliding away from the Stella altogether. The P200, on the other hand, remains a well built scooter with ready availability of parts and many shops qualified to work on them. With good maintenance, I'd say the P200 would be the more reliable ride and it certainly has more power.
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jimmbomb
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Post by jimmbomb »

Dooglas wrote:
jimmbomb wrote:Alternatively, if you cant find a 2t Stella close to you, then 2nd choice could be a Vespa P200.
I wouldn't even call the P200 a second choice. The Stella 2T has been discontinued in the US and Genuine seems to be sliding away from the Stella altogether. The P200, on the other hand, remains a well built scooter with ready availability of parts and many shops qualified to work on them. With good maintenance, I'd say the P200 would be the more reliable ride and it certainly has more power.
Yeah I agree, but the original poster did say he was wanting a Stella.
Actually, we're off topic too.
He needs info about shipping a scooter.
Sorry, I cant help him there.
Good luck
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Meis
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Post by Meis »

I am looking into the P200 as well but for the purposes of forum compliance I decided to keep it genuine related. My questions regarding shipping are not dependant on what scooter I go with. I'm a little leary of having it shipped without seeing it first so I may end up just finding one close-ish and either cruising it back or loading up a pickup truck.
cummingsjc
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Post by cummingsjc »

As I stated in my original post on this topic, there are many folks on this forum that would probably gladly check out a scooter for you if it was a decent distance away from you. I had someone from the MP3 forum check out a bike in Tennessee that I was buying for my father-in-law while I was in California. He drove to see it, diagnosed that it was in overall good shape but had a voltage regulator issue, help me lock down the replacement part, installed the part several days later, then met my father-in-law there to help him load the bike.

There are some great Forum members on this site and many would love to help if they can.
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