When bying used bike

Stormswift · Post by **Stormswift** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 2:59 pm

What questions to ask? What to look for? How to check if it is a salvage title? Is it customary to have a mechanic look at it?
I am salivating over Piaggio MP3 500ie

pdxrita · Post by **pdxrita** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 3:32 pm

If you can get ahold of the VIN number, you can do a title search here to find out if it's salvage or stolen:
https://www.nicb.org/theft_and_fraud_aw ... k/vincheck

As far as what to do, a lot of that depends on your comfort level. My suggestions are:
- Ask to see the title (it will be clearly marked if it's salvage)
- Ask to see service history
- Look over the entire bike carefully, inspecting each piece of plastic. If it's been dropped, there's likely to be some damage somewhere, even if they've fixed most of the damage. IMHO, a small amount of damage should not preclude the purchase but you can use that in your favor when it comes time to negotiate the price.
- Ride it, if you can. If you can't then have them start it up and ride it in front of you so you can see and hear how well it runs.
- Use your intuition. How do you feel about the seller and the scooter, once you've met both of them?

Stormswift · Post by **Stormswift** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 3:51 pm

pdxrita wrote:If you can get ahold of the VIN number, you can do a title search here to find out if it's salvage or stolen:
https://www.nicb.org/theft_and_fraud_aw ... k/vincheck

As far as what to do, a lot of that depends on your comfort level. My suggestions are:
- Ask to see the title (it will be clearly marked if it's salvage)
- Ask to see service history
- Look over the entire bike carefully, inspecting each piece of plastic. If it's been dropped, there's likely to be some damage somewhere, even if they've fixed most of the damage. IMHO, a small amount of damage should not preclude the purchase but you can use that in your favor when it comes time to negotiate the price.
- Ride it, if you can. If you can't then have them start it up and ride it in front of you so you can see and hear how well it runs.
- Use your intuition. How do you feel about the seller and the scooter, once you've met both of them?

Thank you! The bike is being sold by someone who presents themsflves as a " dealer". I e-mailed and asked which dealership. There is only one who carries Piaggios in my town. The bike is very cheap so this is either a lie, stolen, salvage or best case scenario re-posessed. I asked about the title and all of the above questions. Lets see if they respond. I certainly want to run a check on it's VIN number and at least see them ride it. By law before selling the bike it will need to pass state inspection also

50CC Cape Cod · Post by **50CC Cape Cod** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 7:58 pm

I would se if the odometer reading and the shape of the scooter look like they match. Stop at the dealer and ask the service dept. tech what to look for with this specific model and if they perform prior purchase inspections.
At least you would have some knowledge what to look for. Also see if the scooter has a valid current inspection or how long ago it was on the road
with one. See if the tire tread looks like it matchs the odometer.
Check the value on sites like NADA guide etc to get a ball park figure what the price should be.