Vespa Primavera Prices! By kz1000st (Read 1,335 times)

[kz1000st]

motorscooterguide.net/

$4800 for a 150cc scooter? Seriously? How about $3800 for a 50cc? I could buy four 150s or four 50cc scooters at that price. Even if I bought from Cookees I could get three of either at those prices. Nutty.

[cyborg]

As of 2 weeks ago 2013 LX 150 left over,,,,$4599 +$440 freight+$90 setup+$800 tax/lic/doc fees,,,=$5929,,,for a LEFTOVER,,,if i didn't get the sceaming deal i did on CL i would have never gotten a vespa,,,just plain oldie too much money,,, ,,,parts at counter prices are crazy stupid too,,,thank goodness for e-bay and the internet,,,if you remember,i did order a ssr and it was the dealer/vendor that screwed that up,,,,i checked around CL and even used vespas were insane money,,, after creeping around the doc forum,,,it was you KZ and ALLEY that sealed the deal for me,,,i could have gotten 4 ssr sonics for what they want now for one vespa 150 ,,, that's out the door paid in full licensed and everything,,,and i posted this earlier on another thread ,,(paraphrasing) "there's no way that vespas at their prices are 4-5x better than one of the decent chinese manufacturer's scooters" it just isn't so,,,and also what i uttered in another thread,,can you imagine what i could do with a chinese scoot and $1000 in upgrades?

[kz1000st]

What puts the price in even greater perspective is when you compare to motorcycle prices. That $4800 will buy you a Ninja 300, non abs or a SYM Citcom 300. How about for $3800? A SYM Wolf 150 at $3000, a Cleveland Cycle Werks 250 for under $3500, or a Kymco Like 200i and $1100 change. Piaggio is going to have to start pushing the Piaggio scoots to compete in this market.

[Bashan]

I hope I'm not being a snob but I gotta say this is a better deal:

RV 200 Evo, $3.700

The HD looks like a Peg and it's $3,500! I'm just saying if you want to get away from the Chinese bikes, SYMs are a bargain for what they give back. Quit looking at me like that, I am not a snob.

[cyborg]

i personally think the italian stuff is way out of line,,,,i have been looking at the wolf,,,not too bad,,,i like a gearbox myself and the mileage that goes with it

[jct842]

For that sort of money I would be buying a used 8-900cc cruiser. Way too much for a 150 and that much for a larger scooter that has a hump, I would just go back to a bike as much as I like scooters/

[kz1000st]

Feb 18, 2014 22:36:29 GMT -6 jct842 said:

For that sort of money I would be buying a used 8-900cc cruiser. Way too much for a 150 and that much for a larger scooter that has a hump, I would just go back to a bike as much as I like scooters/

You mean like this John?

binghamton.craigslist.org/mcy/4336552968.html

What would you do with the change?

[jct842]

That sort of thing is exactly what I have in mind. Yesterday I had xrays on my hip that was replaced in '93 and if I do not get sent to ortho over the xrays I just may trade off the majesty on a vulcan. A scooter with a hump just is not a scooter period. A vulcan would just about be right, suz and honda also have a decent bike in that price range.

[fugaziiv]

I'm not trying get an argument to flare up here, but I wanted to add to this for the sake of objectivity.

Full disclosure: I ride a Vespa. Granted it's 30 years old, and that is largely why I like it but still...

I firmly believe that there is room in almost any market for a product with a premium perception, including scooters. I mean, will a Taiwanese scoot be a better scooter than a Vespa, particularly for the cost associated? Absolutely. But does a Taiwanese scooter have the "je ne sais quoi" of a Vespa? Not really. Purely subjective opinion you ask?

Here is an interesting take on this, keep in mind marketing background blah blah blah:

Get a picture of the best looking Chinese or Taiwanese scoot and a Vespa (LX, Primavera, pretty much anything but a classic. Using an actual classic isn't even fair to this experiment), or even better, if you have access to both a Vespa and a China, Taiwanese or Japanese scoot, and then have them compared for general desirability by someone who doesn't know scooters from jack. Vespa scooters still have an overall desirability that others in the market lack for the most part.

Piaggio has through Vespa captured many of the styling cues over the years in the newest scooters that they make to pull on the nostalgia of what many uninitiated people know as "Scooters". It's really a very powerful marketing tool, and it allows them to remain upmarket. So powerful in fact, that even when those cues are copied, most people can identify the real thing from the copy. Seriously, it's uncanny. So long as Piaggio can maintain the perception of "better" (subjectively or otherwise), there will be room in the market for their product, overpriced as they are for what they actually offer.

In all actuality the notion that a Vespa is overpriced at all is even subjective if you really think about it.

I mean, hell, their own tagline for the 10k 946 is "Only For A Few." They know exactly what they are doing.


Matt


P.S. My love of my Vespa has more to do with shifting and smokey, loud, large bore two strokes than it does an actual love of the Vespa brand itself. If the Stella was as high quality as my old Vepsa, I'd be happy to ride one of those, but sadly, they really aren't.

[LUKE]

Feb 18, 2014 7:55:29 GMT -6 kz1000st said:

motorscooterguide.net/

$4800 for a 150cc scooter? Seriously? How about $3800 for a 50cc? I could buy four 150s or four 50cc scooters at that price. Even if I bought from Cookees I could get three of either at those prices. Nutty.

kz, you know,not all people wants 10 rotten apples for 2bucks, some people, i for one, wants to taste how a $3/pc apple taste like once in a while... some people wants QUALITY!!! uhm,some,obviously don't!!!

lol

[cyborg]

That's what's been keeping Harley alive for decades,, the mystique ,,,

[kz1000st]

What you've quoted, Matt, is what Harley does and it's created a "My bike is better than yours" mentality.

Now along those lines BMW builds equally expensive motorcycles that deliver. Their owners appreciate their machines but don't get snotty about it.

Which model do Vespa owners follow? www.modernvespa.com let me know.

What you're saying is that Vespa is a premium brand. Sorry Matt, premium is as premium does. Vespa 150 Primavera or PCX 150? A Vespa won't stay in the same zip code when the chips are down and won't outlast it either. Is a Vespa a premium brand because it has a monocoque chassis. Hmmmm. Didn't Honda and everybody else use Pressed Steel frames in the 1960s? Nope the assumption that Vespa is a premium brand came from the marketing department, the same as Harley Davidson.

The 946 is just another CVO Harley. I read Cycle World. The Honda Gold Wing F6B variant kicked the Harley's butt for $10,000 less. A 946 would probably struggle keeping up with a Kymco Movie although it might have a chance against a $2500 Kymco Super 8. Think how humiliated a 946 owner will be when he comes up against an old E-Charm or Glory.

Vespas aren't "premium", just expensive.

[kz1000st]

kz, you know,not all people wants 10 rotten apples for 2bucks, some people, i for one, wants to taste how a $3/pc apple taste like once in a while... some people wants QUALITY!!! uhm,some,obviously don't!!!

I don't know what you're talking about Luke. I've gone just as far on my "Rotten Apples" as you have on your "Molotov Cocktail". Does that make them $3 apples too?

[fugaziiv]

Feb 19, 2014 12:06:46 GMT -6 kz1000st said:

What you've quoted, Matt, is what Harley does and it's created a "My bike is better than yours" mentality.

Now along those lines BMW builds equally expensive motorcycles that deliver. Their owners appreciate their machines but don't get snotty about it.

Which model do Vespa owners follow? www.modernvespa.com let me know.

What you're saying is that Vespa is a premium brand. Sorry Matt, premium is as premium does. Vespa 150 Primavera or PCX 150? A Vespa won't stay in the same zip code when the chips are down and won't outlast it either. Is a Vespa a premium brand because it has a monocoque chassis. Hmmmm. Didn't Honda and everybody else use Pressed Steel frames in the 1960s? Nope the assumption that Vespa is a premium brand came from the marketing department, the same as Harley Davidson.

The 946 is just another CVO Harley. I read Cycle World. The Honda Gold Wing F6B variant kicked the Harley's butt for $10,000 less. A 946 would probably struggle keeping up with a Kymco Movie although it might have a chance against a $2500 Kymco Super 8. Think how humiliated a 946 owner will be when he comes up against an old E-Charm or Glory.

Vespas aren't "premium", just expensive.

Premium is as premium is perceived. It doesn't actually matter if it's any good, only that people think it is. If people go ahead and think that it is good, then the market will justify the expenditure (which it does for Vespa, HD, Ducati, Moto Guzzi, MV, and all the other bikes I can't afford). That's all I'm actually saying.

Basically, a 946 owner won't care if he/she get's blown off by an E-Charm because he's riding a 946, and the simple act of the ownership of that 946 is all that mattered to that consumer. That it's actually a lesser scooter? He spent 10 large on that turd, he probably knows and couldn't care less. Marketing is exorbitantly powerful.


Matt

[kz1000st]

I'm sure it is to some people. I've just never fallen for it in the vehicle sense. If I get 100,000 miles out of something it's just as good as the high priced spread. Borg had the right idea. Search CL, find a deal, run with it and not worry about "Mystique".