Zapino Owner Ratings & Questions

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planetscott
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Zapino Owner Ratings & Questions

I am considering buying a 2008 Zapino. (Is there a 2009 model Zapino?) There seem to be many comments and issues discussed on this site that make it difficult for me to determine if this is a good product or not. So, i thought a survey might helpful. I appreciate the feedback...

ZAPINO OWNERS PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:

Model Year:
Date Purchased:
Miles Driven:
Max. Speed (mph):
Range (mi):
Price Paid:
Top 3 Issues you have experienced?

Please rate 1 to 5 (1 low/bad and 5 high/good):

Initial Quality:
Ongoing Quality:
Overall Reliability:
Overall Satisfaction:

Other?

weissp
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Re: Zapino Owner Ratings & Questions

ZAPINO OWNERS PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:

Model Year: 2007
Date Purchased:2007
Miles Driven: 1500
Max. Speed (mph): 44MPH on flat ground
Range (mi): at highest speed 40+MPH about 18 miles or 20+ at slower speeds (I weigh about 160 lbs)
Price Paid: $3000.00
Top 3 Issues you have experienced? Poor quality of parts. Plastic cowls frame parts with screws that break plastic (no metal inserts), broken speedometer, broken brake sensor, broken odometer cable, broken kickstand spring, broken wire to the charge controller. No mechanical drawings or service manual with the scooter at all! Since there is no dealer in my state, I had to do all repairs myself!

Please rate 1 to 5 (1 low/bad and 5 high/good):

Initial Quality: 4
Ongoing Quality: 3
Overall Reliability: 2
Overall Satisfaction: 3

Other? In theory this is a nice scooter. I loved it to begin with. If they just would improve the quality. There is no reason to have such horrible design on quality. It does not cost more to have metal thread inserts on plastic parts. There should also be a full service manual since I do not have a dealer in my state! It is crazy to have to do all these repairs myself with no instructions.

djkees
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Re: Zapino Owner Ratings & Questions

ZAPINO OWNERS PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:

Model Year: 2008
Date Purchased: 10/09
Miles Driven: 1600
Max. Speed (mph): 43mph on flats
Range (mi): ~ 20 ungoverned 80% of the trip is full throttle
Price Paid: $2500 (got a really good deal on a closeout)
Top 3 Issues you have experienced? I had a squeaky rear brake...that's it.

Please rate 1 to 5 (1 low/bad and 5 high/good):

Initial Quality: 5
Ongoing Quality: 5
Overall Reliability: 5
Overall Satisfaction: 6 ( I love this scooter!)

Other? I strongly believe that for the price, the Zapino is the best scooter in it's class. I have over 1600 miles on my scooter and have had none of the problems I read about in these forums. I take very good care of my batteries with regular bank charging. From my experience, I would highly recommend the Zapino. That being said, it is also the only scooter I have owned or ridden.

alandf
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Re: Zapino Owner Ratings & Questions

Model Year:2008
Date Purchased:/april 2008
Miles Driven:2300
Max. Speed (mph):44
Range (mi):15-20
Price Paid:2900
Top 3 Issues you have experienced?Out of round rear wheel, bad controller, broken turn signal switch

Please rate 1 to 5 (1 low/bad and 5 high/good):

Initial Quality:3
Ongoing Quality:3
Overall Reliability:2
Overall Satisfaction:2

Other? What exactly will be your driving habits? Do you really need a full scooter or could you get by with an electric bike? Will you be going over a fixed commute or will you be doing alot of variable driving? Will you have easy access to electricity when needed for recharging? These are probably more important questions than which scooter to buy. Good luck.

TerryJFundak
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Joined: Sunday, November 8, 2009 - 11:32
Points: 2
Re: Zapino Owner Ratings & Questions

I am considering buying a 2008 Zapino. (Is there a 2009 model Zapino?) There seem to be many comments and issues discussed on this site that make it difficult for me to determine if this is a good product or not. So, i thought a survey might helpful. I appreciate the feedback...

ZAPINO OWNERS PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:

Model Year:? Manufactured 12/15/2007 Certificate of Origin say 2007 Bill of Sale says 2008
Date Purchased: 12 May 2008
Miles Driven: 1257
Max. Speed (mph): 43
Range (mi): 20 Ave - Max 34
Price Paid: $3386
Top 3 Issues you have experienced? The Seat doesn't lock even after the dealer "fixing" it once. Electrical Controller is sometimes confused and requires the the key be turned off and back on to get full power. Dealer check connections - perhaps they were loose? I have tipped it over twice because the kick stand spring is a little weak in my opinion. After the second time I have been more careful about parking on even a slight slope.

Please rate 1 to 5 (1 low/bad and 5 high/good):

Initial Quality: 5
Ongoing Quality: 4
Overall Reliability: 5
Overall Satisfaction: 4

Other? I'd like to upgrade my batteries but can't seem to find anything useful on the ZAP website....

Tanner
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Re: Zapino Owner Ratings & Questions

I am considering buying a 2008 Zapino. (Is there a 2009 model Zapino?) There seem to be many comments and issues discussed on this site that make it difficult for me to determine if this is a good product or not. So, i thought a survey might helpful. I appreciate the feedback...

ZAPINO OWNERS PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:

Model Year: 2008
Date Purchased: 15 May 2008
Miles Driven: 1360
Max. Speed (mph): 45
Range (mi): When new 30 miles. Now, after 1360 miles with original batteries 18 miles max.
Price Paid: $3000
Top 3 Issues you have experienced? Squeaky rear brake. Electrical Controller is sometimes confused and requires the the key be turned off and back on to get full power (happens about 10 percent of the time on initial startup).

Please rate 1 to 5 (1 low/bad and 5 high/good):

Initial Quality: 4
Ongoing Quality: 4
Overall Reliability: 5 (The only thing that has broken is the stock string battery charger)
Overall Satisfaction: 5 (Fun to ride)

Other? I need to replace my aging batteries to increase the range. I presently have the B&B EVP35-12 batteries. If anyone has any information on better batteries, or info on good battery deals please post the info. I believe the current market price of the B&B batteries is about $100 each.

Steve Tanner

antonius
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Re: Zapino Owner Ratings & Questions

ZAPINO OWNERS PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:

Model Year: 2009
Date Purchased:June 2009
Miles Driven: 1200
Max. Speed (mph): 44MPH on flat ground
Range (mi): at highest speed 40+MPH about 35 miles
Price Paid: $2500.00
Top 3 Issues you have experienced? Broken seat-lock, broken speedometer-cable

Please rate 1 to 5 (1 low/bad and 5 high/good):

Initial Quality: 4
Ongoing Quality: 4
Overall Reliability: 5
Overall Satisfaction: 5

Other? I use 19 LiFePo4 cells with 40Ah. I have 65 - 51 V during driving. I use it in my town, going for work and shopping.
If anyone wants to replace his batteries with LiFePo4: http://www.evcomponents.com/shoppingcart.asp?Check=True
I am happy with my scooter!

Antonius

__Tango
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Joined: Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 20:21
Points: 59
Re: Zapino Owner Ratings & Questions

Model Year: 2007
Date Purchased: June 2009
Miles Driven: about 400
Max. Speed (mph): 39.5 (measured by Garmin GPS watch).
Range (mi): 13 miles until it goes into "oh shit" mode where the max speed is reduced by the controller.
Price Paid: $1500 (used. 2 previous owners who put a total of 100mi on it).
Top 3 Issues you have experienced?

  • headlight is sub-optimal at night.
  • one time, the charger didn't want to start. I ended up having to unplug it and leave it for a minute then try again. Worked thereafter.
  • Sometimes (like maybe 2% of the time), when i turn it on and get going, the scooter is very sluggish. I have to turn it off, and i also flip the limiter switch to the "conservative" mode, then start it up again. This usually works and everything works after that. I talked to a zapino dealer and said this is a "known" issue with the controller and what i did was the proper way to "fix" it (well, get around it at least).

Note that all of these issues are minor.

Please rate 1 to 5 (1 low/bad and 5 high/good):

Initial Quality: 4
Ongoing Quality: 4
Overall Reliability: 4 so far
Overall Satisfaction: 4

Other?

I do like my scooter. Most of my issues have to do with me and finding after buying it that 35mph (39 even) isn't fast enough. In my daily commute, i ride on a road that is rated at 40mph. going 39.5 on that road makes other drivers mad...or at least i feel bad for being the slow-poke on the road (it's one lane in each direction).

After having it for a while, it has made me want to get something faster and with better range. I bit the bullet and am in the process of converting a motorcycle to an electric.

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