Flip #29- 2013 Tao Tao CY50T3 4T $150
Sept 24, 2016 16:19:52 GMT -5
90GTVert, 190mech, and 5 more like this
Post by niz76 on Sept 24, 2016 16:19:52 GMT -5
PREFACE:
My list of scooter parts that I want to buy seems to be growing by the day. Many of you have probably already realized this, but when it comes to spending money modifying my scooters and I can be a real tightwad haha. The thing is, I think I have a somewhat (healthy? or unhealthy?) reluctance to spend money modifying my already decent scooters. I mean they run just fine, but I always want to do MORE! I'm sure many here understand this- it's that little twinge or feeling of guilt you get when you pull the trigger on those fancy aftermarket parts that you know you don't need, but you certainly want!
Why this feeling of guilt? I mean, the family is fine and the bills are (mostly ;P ) paid so what's the problem right? I have a feeling- no, I actually know some of us here go through the exact same thought process. Well, for me anyway- this is how I justify spending all that extra $$ on this seemingly self-indulgent hobby, by doing these flips! Sorry if I'm getting a little deep here. I'm 29 flips deep and some may wonder why I keep doing and posting these? It's not to boast about the great deals I find- it's really just more about documenting the process and information that can learned by digging into all these different scoots. So I hope I'm not boring you 29 flips into it haha. There's always trials and tribulations with each flip but on the other side of the coin, there's also some moments of triumph and success! In any case- each and every one is an adventure and I just want to share each scoot's story. So I hope you're still reading and enjoying these threads. Lets see what adventures come with this one!
Sincerely, your scooter brotha in arms,
Jeramy.
Ok, got another flip for ya. This is a pretty boring one- kind of a "bread and butter" flip I guess you could say. Not really anything we haven't all seen before- just a typical 139qmb, but this one is different! Well, different for me, but not really any different in the scheme of things. The reason this one is different for me- and a little more exciting- is that I've made up my mind to spend all the profit from this scoot sale on performance goodies. Every cent of it! haha. I usually enjoy splurging for my family- the ladies of my life- they seem to be the biggest benefactors of these flips haha. But, this time it's for ME. It's all for ME ME ME!!! (reminds me of that Toby Keith song; www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxUuDPNbkJk) Hehehe. It seems so weird to type that as it goes against my usual mindset but my ladies will understand. I spoil them every chance I get and I'm sure they'll understand this one time. Ok, enough babbling- lets see this scoot!
Here she is- a 2013 Tao Tao CY50T3. It has a clean and clear title and this one actually runs!
I usually copy and paste the original CL ad, but they already deleted it before I got a chance. It was pretty short and sweet and didn't even have a pic of the scoot. Said something like:
"2013 scooter for sale. Runs but needs some TLC. Probably needs new battery. Title in hand. $200."
or something like that...
Of course this purchase didn't come without a little of the usual CL drama. I texted the # in the ad (it was only 2 hrs. old) and before I even asked, the lady sent pics. That was cool. Ok, I set up a time and date to come check it out Wednesday evening after work. It was going to be about a 40 minute drive each way. Right before I was ready to head out of the house to meet at the agreed to time I texted the lady asking for an address. She texted back and said she couldn't meet that night because she's a realtor and had to work late. Thanks for the notice haha. I sent her back a msg assuring her of my interest and that I'm a serious buyer and proceeded to search for another scoot to buy. I honestly didn't expect to hear back from her and at that low of a price with title I figured the scoot would sell fast and I'd miss out. I found a Triton clone for sale on Offerup with title for $150 and set up a date and time to meet that guy. He cancelled the day I was supposed to come. Grrr. It's not just flaky buyers on the net but I've dealt with my fair share of flaky sellers too!
So I went the next day to meet the guy with the Triton. Another 40 minute drive each way and this friggin idiot didn't have a title. He had an application for title. AARRGGGHHH. I was so pissed!
Feeling dejected I figured it'd be a while before I finally found another scoot for sale decent enough to flip. It's not always easy!
Well, the lady with this TaoTao texted me Thurs. evening and said she'd be available until 6:30pm if I was still interested. It was 5:30 and I was just finishing up work. Geez lady, thanks for the short notice-again! So, I didn't even go home and get the van like I usually do. I just took the work truck and rearranged all my crap in the back to fit a scoot.
Long story short- I got the scoot for $150. She agreed to take $50 off the price because it needed a new battery. The battery is actually fine (they didn't have the connectors screwed in tight) and I was more concerned with the broken CVT cover and kickstart hardware. It's a shame it's broken because it's a nice looking CVT cover- not the "typical" type.
All the kickstart pieces are missing too...
All in all it's not a bad little scoot. The lady actually drove it up to the Publix parking lot where we met. It starts and runs but the idle is really high and it's painfully slooowww. It has some scratches and gouges on some of the panels and the front fender is broken off and missing. I probably won't bother replacing it as this scoot seems to look finw without it.
I already started working on it. The headlight cowl had some clearcoat chipped off and as I wet sanded it I quickly went too deep and removed a bunch of the blue paint. Doh! In typical flip scoot fashion, I came up with a workaround- some scrap vinyl carbon fiber wrap I had laying around!
It's not perfect but much better. I'm hoping this will be a quick flip and a quick sale (I always say that haha) so I can get on with ordering some more scooter goodies for my scoots. I'm thinking I'll go conservative on the price and hopefully sell quickly when it's done. I'll probably put it up for $450 and let someone talk me down to 400. I'd hate to lower the price much more than that I will I have to. As with all my flip scoots I figure if it's clean and reliable when I'm done the price is more than fair for everyone.
Here's to funding our addiction!
My list of scooter parts that I want to buy seems to be growing by the day. Many of you have probably already realized this, but when it comes to spending money modifying my scooters and I can be a real tightwad haha. The thing is, I think I have a somewhat (healthy? or unhealthy?) reluctance to spend money modifying my already decent scooters. I mean they run just fine, but I always want to do MORE! I'm sure many here understand this- it's that little twinge or feeling of guilt you get when you pull the trigger on those fancy aftermarket parts that you know you don't need, but you certainly want!
Why this feeling of guilt? I mean, the family is fine and the bills are (mostly ;P ) paid so what's the problem right? I have a feeling- no, I actually know some of us here go through the exact same thought process. Well, for me anyway- this is how I justify spending all that extra $$ on this seemingly self-indulgent hobby, by doing these flips! Sorry if I'm getting a little deep here. I'm 29 flips deep and some may wonder why I keep doing and posting these? It's not to boast about the great deals I find- it's really just more about documenting the process and information that can learned by digging into all these different scoots. So I hope I'm not boring you 29 flips into it haha. There's always trials and tribulations with each flip but on the other side of the coin, there's also some moments of triumph and success! In any case- each and every one is an adventure and I just want to share each scoot's story. So I hope you're still reading and enjoying these threads. Lets see what adventures come with this one!
Sincerely, your scooter brotha in arms,
Jeramy.
Ok, got another flip for ya. This is a pretty boring one- kind of a "bread and butter" flip I guess you could say. Not really anything we haven't all seen before- just a typical 139qmb, but this one is different! Well, different for me, but not really any different in the scheme of things. The reason this one is different for me- and a little more exciting- is that I've made up my mind to spend all the profit from this scoot sale on performance goodies. Every cent of it! haha. I usually enjoy splurging for my family- the ladies of my life- they seem to be the biggest benefactors of these flips haha. But, this time it's for ME. It's all for ME ME ME!!! (reminds me of that Toby Keith song; www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxUuDPNbkJk) Hehehe. It seems so weird to type that as it goes against my usual mindset but my ladies will understand. I spoil them every chance I get and I'm sure they'll understand this one time. Ok, enough babbling- lets see this scoot!
Here she is- a 2013 Tao Tao CY50T3. It has a clean and clear title and this one actually runs!
I usually copy and paste the original CL ad, but they already deleted it before I got a chance. It was pretty short and sweet and didn't even have a pic of the scoot. Said something like:
"2013 scooter for sale. Runs but needs some TLC. Probably needs new battery. Title in hand. $200."
or something like that...
Of course this purchase didn't come without a little of the usual CL drama. I texted the # in the ad (it was only 2 hrs. old) and before I even asked, the lady sent pics. That was cool. Ok, I set up a time and date to come check it out Wednesday evening after work. It was going to be about a 40 minute drive each way. Right before I was ready to head out of the house to meet at the agreed to time I texted the lady asking for an address. She texted back and said she couldn't meet that night because she's a realtor and had to work late. Thanks for the notice haha. I sent her back a msg assuring her of my interest and that I'm a serious buyer and proceeded to search for another scoot to buy. I honestly didn't expect to hear back from her and at that low of a price with title I figured the scoot would sell fast and I'd miss out. I found a Triton clone for sale on Offerup with title for $150 and set up a date and time to meet that guy. He cancelled the day I was supposed to come. Grrr. It's not just flaky buyers on the net but I've dealt with my fair share of flaky sellers too!
So I went the next day to meet the guy with the Triton. Another 40 minute drive each way and this friggin idiot didn't have a title. He had an application for title. AARRGGGHHH. I was so pissed!
Feeling dejected I figured it'd be a while before I finally found another scoot for sale decent enough to flip. It's not always easy!
Well, the lady with this TaoTao texted me Thurs. evening and said she'd be available until 6:30pm if I was still interested. It was 5:30 and I was just finishing up work. Geez lady, thanks for the short notice-again! So, I didn't even go home and get the van like I usually do. I just took the work truck and rearranged all my crap in the back to fit a scoot.
Long story short- I got the scoot for $150. She agreed to take $50 off the price because it needed a new battery. The battery is actually fine (they didn't have the connectors screwed in tight) and I was more concerned with the broken CVT cover and kickstart hardware. It's a shame it's broken because it's a nice looking CVT cover- not the "typical" type.
All the kickstart pieces are missing too...
All in all it's not a bad little scoot. The lady actually drove it up to the Publix parking lot where we met. It starts and runs but the idle is really high and it's painfully slooowww. It has some scratches and gouges on some of the panels and the front fender is broken off and missing. I probably won't bother replacing it as this scoot seems to look finw without it.
I already started working on it. The headlight cowl had some clearcoat chipped off and as I wet sanded it I quickly went too deep and removed a bunch of the blue paint. Doh! In typical flip scoot fashion, I came up with a workaround- some scrap vinyl carbon fiber wrap I had laying around!
It's not perfect but much better. I'm hoping this will be a quick flip and a quick sale (I always say that haha) so I can get on with ordering some more scooter goodies for my scoots. I'm thinking I'll go conservative on the price and hopefully sell quickly when it's done. I'll probably put it up for $450 and let someone talk me down to 400. I'd hate to lower the price much more than that I will I have to. As with all my flip scoots I figure if it's clean and reliable when I'm done the price is more than fair for everyone.
Here's to funding our addiction!
looks good hopefully it sells fast!!