Hello,
I found a Vectrix at 5000 € and I have some questions.
Can you tell me if it is a good opportunity?
What are the things to look before buying?
Is the vectrix reliable ?
What are the problems of the vectrix ?
How many miles have you ride with your battery ?
Excuse me for my poor english .
is it second hand?
First of all ask for the serial number. If you tell us the serial, we can tell you how old is it. The new vectrix from end 2008 are fully reliable.
Another thing to check is the battery: If it is first hand, ask about a sheet with all partial recharges done during storage. If it is second hand, check that it has the latest firmware and ask about a test drive. If it was been laid for weeks, you'll need discharge it two times until red battery light. The third charge will show you the real range and condition of the battery.
A - I don't know your currency, so I can only guess, but I'd say if it's new, 2/3 the original sticker price is a decent deal, and if it's used 1/2 the original sticker is a decent deal. Anything better than that would be a GOOD deal if there are no problems with the bike.
B - Test ride it, then plug it in and make sure it will charge properly. While riding, check both brakes, and the brake LIGHT as well, make sure the throttle action and response is smooth both on accelleration AND decelleration (regenerative braking). Insure that all lights work and just look for any physical damage that might devalue the bike from it's asking price.
C - Yes, practically everything manmade will break sooner or later. If the bike is functioning fine now, chances are it's reliable, but the biggest issue that you have to deal with is whether or not there will be anyone that can fix it or even offer parts, should it ever become UNreliable. Here in the states, we have virtually NO support for the Vectrix bikes anymore, so they are only good until they break, then they are toast. Wasn't so risky when we had a company to lean on, but in today's market, no tech support is a tough gamble to take.
D - Problems, for the most part, are the occasional component malfunction that would have otherwise been warranty fixed during the first two years of ownership. Other than that, most "problems" are just consumers unfamiliar with the technology and worrying about every little thing. Plug it in, and go to sleep. In the morning, it will run. That's mostly all you need to know.
E - I have 2200 miles on this Vectrix, and put 1300 on my first one (replaced due to VIN/registration issues), and I hope to have many times that amount on her before she drops dead. I normally can get 25 miles on a full charge, but that varies according to how long it's been since a deep discharge and of course, mainly according to my driving mood for the day! ;-)
It's a great, user friendly bike, built with awesome technology, but with no user servicable components, no open source or alternative parts available and no company to support the product, I would not buy one today at any price. However, since I already own one, I'm in love with it, and I hope that the company can get its act together soon and continue to push (and support) such a great product. You should be aware that this bike is built to be electric, from the ground up, so it would be a monumental task to even attempt to "convert" it to other forms of power if and when it fails on you (they will ALL fail sooner or later). We might eventually figure out how to strip the original power components out and replace them all with some new aftermarket "system", but even that will be far more expensive than what you are about to pay for the bike, and at that point, it will be less user friendly as well.
If it appeals to you, and you can afford to gamble the price on a bike that might last a month or ten years, then welcome to the club, and I wish you many troublefree miles. In July, I will have had my Vectrix for two years, and in that two years, my wife's sports car has lost at LEAST what my Vectrix cost in depreciation alone, so I don't consider my bike a "bad deal", but I'm still hoping for a ten year love relationship with it! :-)
I paid $AU5200 for my new 2008 model on ebay about 3 months ago (left over stock)
I figured that I'd lose that much money in depreciation buying a reasonable scooter....so if I get zero for it, I'm no worse off than having bought a new scooter anyway.
At full retail the vectrix was $14k here in Aus. 5000 euro sounds like too much to me....but different market so who knows.
Here in the US on ebay dealer show room floor models go for about $4,000.00 US. There is only one auction going right now and they want to sell three at once:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2007-Vectrix-Electric-Scooter-Buy-2-get-one-FREE_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem414c89d52fQQitemZ2804...
If your are ever curious about the "going" price for something anything really I find the best place to look is the ebay closed auction price list. Go to ebay look at the last 20 or so closed/sold auctions you will find a wealth of knowledge about what items sold for at what price and what items could not sell because they where over priced.
I paid $3,400.00 and then another $600.00 to have it shipped to me for my Vectrix new 2007 model with 300 miles on it. Quality wise these things are amazing top class fit and finish, the only problem I have had is at very cold tempters 0c the "Go" sensor to start the bike can be touchy. The only thing to note is that the range in real life is about half the range posted in the manual. I love mine and I think is handle better then most MAXI-scooter, but if you need to go more then 25 miles a trip, you might want to go for the http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/07/piaggio-mp3-hybrid-trike-hits-the-streets-in-early-2010-for-arou/ instead.
1170 miles on my bike since August and no problems at all. These scooters are cheap now and you can look at it as an economical decision at such a low price. I calculate a payback period of 7 years just in gas savings. Assuming 4$ per gallon gas, 4800 miles per year, 25 mile per gallon alternative transportation, with the bike price of US $5,500. Driving without fumes and noise...priceless. Think about the price of gas in just a few years from now. Oil is now around $73 and the global economy has just recently shown some signs of stabilization. Supply will simply not keep up with demand as the economy around the World recovers. If you like the Vectrix then buy it to simply hedge against any price increases in petrol !!
JJ
Thank you for all your answer.
I have more informations about the vectrix:
>it have 2050 miles
>it was buy on july 2008
>finnaly it cost 4500€ (6,238.80 USD OR 7,059.46 AUD)
>it probably have 5 years of warranty (warranty finish on july 2013) but i'm not sure of this ...
In the US, you'd be lucky to sell a used one for $3500.
Most of these bikes came with only a TWO YEAR warranty, but now that there's no company left to support them, the warranties are all dead, except for possibly the UK region, but I don't know for sure. (Heskith has some kind of deal going with the company buyout)
For me, that would be way too much money for an unsupported (no parts or service) vehicle.
In spain you can have a new one (october 2009) for 6050 euros... 4500 euros for a july 2008 unit is expensive. keep in mind that the bike has the 125Ah fuse, it must be upgraded to 200Ah fuse. on the other hand the battery is quite old also, and nobody can assure you that it is in good condition...
5 year warranty???
I was able to have a special 4 year warranty. I believe it was only given to the very first units. I've never heard of a vectrix with 5 year warranty... your bike probably has two years.. You may still get half year of warranty depending on your country...
The warranties are fully supported in UK and Spain, the rest of countries I have no data. I've heard vectrix is rebuilding up the EU and US network, where are you from?
I come from Paris - France.
The battery was changed last week under warranty ...
That's nice... if the battery is new the bike is really worth. If you finally buy it, please consider replacing the 125A fuse for the 200A fuse. The 125A sooner or later will break down in the middle of the road or of a hi-way...
Is the french dealer supporting the warranties?
which bikes are affected by this fuse thing? where is it exactly?
http://www.voltforum.cat/voltforum/YaBB.pl?num=1257251983
October 2008 bikes got the 200 A fuse upgrade. the fuse is installed in the main borad, in this forum you'll find all pictures and advices you can need...