A guy I'm doing property management for has a '78 Vespa P125X in the back of his carport with 9,900 miles on it. I inquired about taking it off of his hands, but we haven't talked money. The good: It's all complete, hasn't been crashed, the paint is in good shape. Engine turns over. (kicker) The bad: Last inspection expired in March '03. It has a LOT of dust on it. Everything looks functional, but given that it's sat for nearly a decade, I'm thinking it needs fresh rubber, new hoses, new cables, the tank needs cleaning (tank is dry, and non rusty), carb needs cleaning, brakes need to be gone over. Some surface rust on the muffler. (edit) electrical likely needs to be gone over and corrosion cleaned off. He says it 'ran when parked' He also went on about how "it's an Italian one, and not one of those SE Asian models." As if '70s Italian electrics were supposed to make me feel better. KBB says in good shape, it's worth ~$1,000. Given the parts and elbow grease it needs, I'm thinking $200 or under. What say ye? What are the potential problems to look for?
In the condition you describe, it wouldn't be unreasonable to price it around the $1,200 mark. Hell, if it runs, some people are crazy enough to pay upwards of $3,000 for it; It's a very desirable machine, running or not. The electrics are relatively simple, and the engine shouldn't take much more than a good tank of fuel mix to start, depending on what's in the carburetor. A Vespa that needs an engine, has fallen off the back of an aircraft carrier in the mid-Atlantic and was fished out 20 years later and left to rot on the shore is worth more than $200. Given your situation, I'd offer $500 (you might get a black eye, but a $200 offer will likely get you two black eyes).
I would say $800 - $1,000 is a fair price for a non-runner in the condition you state. I know lots of people that would pay much more than that.
I think your $200 sounds fair to me. You are taking a risk. If KBB says $1000 then that gives you some room for parts and something for your time.
Evil handling, unreliability, poor brakes, useless lights... that's once you've got it going, of course
In California, if its not been registered for 7 years, all you need is a "bill of sale". You can get a new title from the DMV.
Actually, the Asian vs. Italian thing is huge. A lot of Vespas that make it to the United States are SE Asian "restorations" ... where they define "restoration" as "a bunch of random parts bodged together to create a running, pretty, tremendous piece of shit." Google "viet bodge" and you'll get the lowdown. There are websites that sell these "restored" Vespas online to American buyers. So that it was an Italian bike is important. There's a '78 Vespa - frame only! - on my local CL for $700. I would not trust KBB's value on a complete-and-not-totaled/bodged P series. I'd start at $500. Running, even not that well, I'd expect it to fetch at least a grand. The classifieds at www.scoot.net will be a better price gauge than KBB. edit: looks like similar-vintage P-series are going for around $2k in good nick; the 125 would probably be worth a bit less than a 150 or 200, so in solid running shape it's worth maybe $1500?
Depending on your state's DMV laws, you may have to pay back registrations from 2003 on. Those costs would come directly off the value, IMHO.
Not in Delaware. The bike still has a PA title, the owner moved into DE, and never registered it. As long as it has a title, it's good. But, I'm not interested in what some fool will pay for it. I've made plenty of 'free' bikes roadworthy. (there's really no such thing as a 'free' bike, is there? They *always* need parts.) Plus, there's always the 'x' factor. X being the story that the past owner told you about how everything ran. I'm not going to get all sweaty about the possibility about owning an old(er) Vespa. It's really easy to get drawn in to a project bike that sucks a lot of money. If it's going to happen, it needs to be for the right price. Sure, it'd be fun, but I need another way to flush money like I need a hole in my head. Hopefully, he just wants it gone.
I know exactly what you mean. I've done a few Vespa rebuilds, and one thing I can tell you for sure: there's only one way to avoid losing money on a vespa that needs fixing, and that's to buy it right in the first place. If you can pick it up for $500 or less, fine. Otherwise it's a wash at best, especially in this economy.
I say 500 max to. If you haven't read this thread to tell the difference between Asia vepsa and Italian . http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=657487&highlight=vespa
Really? I never new this! I'd also agree on $500. I wouldn't pay anything over $800, but thats just me.