Except the engine which performs satisfactorily, but by no means the best in its class, the rest of this scooter’s spare parts universe is designed to wear off at 2-3 month intervals. They need to be replaced continuously at very high cost to the by then bewildered customer.
The Vespa service centres are almost 100% franchised out, and these franchisee premises are never subject to inspection by Vespa India.
Most spare parts are barely available and what is available is immediately plugged into the scooter during service, regardless of whether it is required or not.
The service centre technicians almost never open the gear box case assembly or check the ball or clutch bearings during service and wait for the customer to get into some catastrophe or the other before acting on any problem.
It’s a lackadaisical and casual attitude, with no respite from inflated billing for the customer and no proactive scrutiny of the engine functioning or gear box and its components while servicing the vehicle.
Even requests for simple and important accessories like rear view mirrors, footrests and seat covers are met with the answer of “no stock”. I have seen Vespa-owned showrooms with no stocks of a particular paint colour or accessories giving the same unconcerned response for YEARS ON END.
The company has adopted a casual attitude towards widening its services footprint in South India, resulting in trapped customers forced to go to private services companies and being cheated even more blatantly than by the Vespa franchisees.
Avoid Vespa scooters totally. They have been running on brand value for the past decade, while betraying the trust of the customers built down the years by their parent company. Never buy one if you value your money, your time and your life too.
The VXL 150 I use currently was the second Vespa scooter I purchased from them in the hope that they would get their act together after a few years of operations, but I was wrong.
