Modern Buddy

What makes for a good scooter dealership? The dealer I visited last week that I told you guys about is 87 miles from my house. They didn't seem totally ignorant of scooters, but they didn't seem to take a real interest in them either. It kinda blew me away when the guy told me the top speed on the Buddy 150 is 52 or 54 mph. Contrary to what I've been reading. So that kinda turns me against them. As well, they do not hold a rally. This is a dealership that is in a money type college town. And I mean lots of money. Beautiful campus and all. The next closest dealerships are 149 and 167 miles from my house. Looked at both sites. One sells Beemers (motorcycles, that is). Absolutely nothing about scooters on the home page even though he carries Genuine and Vespa. Lots of pics of Beemers though. The other dealer calls Buddys, mopeds on his home page. Thats right, mopeds. The closest high quality, big time visible dealer is 195 miles away. I hate to give my money to someone who is just there for the dollar. I prefer my money to go to a dealership that loves working with people and loves scooters. Am I making too much of this? Is it askking to much of the dealership that is 87 miles away to hold a rally? Or do most people not care about who they buy from because they do most of the maintencance themselves anyway? What do you think? The dealer at 195 miles holds a rally once a year, and a nice one at that. And his dealership is gorgeous.

Most dealers do not hold their own rallies. Often they will contribute space, support and/or raffle prizes to the rallies local clubs host. Sometimes dealers will host a day ride or open house.

hillbillybear wrote:Is it askking to much of the dealership that is 87 miles away to hold a rally?

I think it's expecting too much. Sure rallies can be a good promotional tool, and a nice way to build a scootering community, but it's not like selling accessories and providing maintenance and repair services, which are actually part of the business. Maybe they don't think there's interest. (Maybe they tried once, and there wasn't.) Maybe they just don't want to get into the social-event-organizing business.

First step is to learn more about the scootering community then gett upset at a dealer.

A scooter rally is typically put on by a club not a dealership. Dealers typically just sponsor them.

Dave

I expect two things of scooter dealers. First, like anyone I do business with, I expect them to tell the truth - all the truth, all the time. Second, I expect them to have mechanics that really know my scoot - inside and out. Know the bike and be honest. Everything else is just window dressing.

They have to be passionate about and interested in scooters.
They have to provide good customer service on the sales and support end.
Good, experienced mechanics.
Understanding of the scooter market, scooter buyers, and the culture of scooterists. (I mean the culture and mindset of people who buy new scooters in this day and age, not the mod malarky.)
Fair pricing and policies.
Good, well-rounded scooter knowledge.
Interested in supporting and contributing to the scooter community in some way. This doesn't have to be money or holding a rally. But it does mean finding a way to promote scooters and scootering.
Good all-around business practices and financial sense. We want them to stay in business.

All good answers. Maybe the one 87 miles away is not as passionate about scooters as Eric would want but as I said this is a rich little college town. I don't see scooters going away from this town anytime soon. Mom and dad will buy whatever the kid wants, I'm sure. So what if he's majoring in philosophy and minoring in drinking. I think these guys probably know how to work on bikes as well if not better than anyone. Money talks. But I couldn't believe not one of you said anything about the guy calling Buddys mopeds. Haha

What rich little college town are you talking about?

i plan rides for a local dealer

what do i look at for a dealership

there customers i prefer to go to shops where the customers are scooter geeks why is that it tells me that the shop knows what scooterists want

if you walk into a shop and you see guys just hanging out in the shop then that is a good sign its a place i would shop or be one of the guys hanging out

how well does the shop know there product are the mechanics actual scooter mechanincs or are they motorcycle mechanincs that dont realy want to deal with the scoots
the yamaha shop i got my zuma from has a guy that just does scooters

the shop where i got my stella sells nothing but scooters no quads no motorcycles just scoots

the other thing i would look at is what do they do for or with a local club or riding group and if they have a riding group that meets up there how do they treat people who show up with a brand other then what they sell

I expect my shop to have an awesome support staff that knows my buddy inside and out.

I want to buy from someone who is passionate about their products. The mechanic here drives a blackjack as her primary vehicle.