For the last couple of years I had been obsessed by the idea of owning a new Vespa GTS 250. I thought that it was the ultimate do-it-all scooter. A modern Vespa, classy, sleek, powerful. I wanted one really bad and decided that this was the year to fulfill my dream. So, what stopped me from buying the GTS and turned me toward the P250?

In one word, “attitudes”.

My local Vespa dealer, in more than one visit to his shop, indicated that he couldn’t't care less if I bought a Vespa from him. One small example is when I asked him to call me when a new gray GTS that supposedly was already on order came in. He said that it would be better if I just called him “every once in while to check on it” since I was more likely to remember to call
him than he was to call me. When I called him five days after this conversation, he sounded irritated and told me that he didn’t mean for me to call him so soon. Remember that he had told me that the GTS was already on order and was due any time and that I had repeatedly told him that I wanted the next one that hit the door. Needless to say, this Vespa dealer is not
the dealer from whom I am going to buy anything. I guess they are making more money as a Ducati, Moto Guzzi, Triumph & BMW dealer than from their not-in-stock Vespas.

Contrast the attitude of that Vespa dealer to the attitude of my newly discovered KYMCO dealer. They are exclusively a scooter dealership, no motorcycles. These folks were friendly, knowledgeable, candid about the pluses and minuses of various models, happy to answer all my questions, and passionate about both KYMCO & Genuine scooters in particular and scooting in general. They also wanted to be sure that I purchased the scooter that would best fit my needs rather than what would make them the most money or help to clear out their floor stock. In fact, they had a wineberry P250 on the floor but when I told them that I liked it but would really rather have a gray one, they did not try to talk me into the wine P250 but said that they would be happy to order me whatever I wanted. They also told me their personal choices on helmets, top boxes and other accessories that were not the most expensive ones they stocked. They even offered to deliver my new P250 by trailer to my house. Pretty impressive considering this KYMCO dealer is 110 miles from me!

So, I considered all the above and the many postings on modvern vespa.com and other sites complaining about PiaggioUSA’s failure to timely deliver not only accessories as basic as windscreens & top boxes but also spare parts. I also considered the reputation that KYMCO and their US distributor have built for reliability and customer service. Suddenly my decision of which scooter to buy from which dealer became a much easier one.

I decided on and ordered a gray P250, a Givi top-box and a flip-up full-face helmet. I’m almost ready to ride!

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