Should I Get a Second-Hand Scooter or a New One?

When you buy something you need to know as much as possible about the object you want to purchase, and if you wish to know more about electric scooters, check out our article where you can find accurate reviews of electric scooters for adults.

Knowing the characteristics that you want your scooter to have will help you greatly when making a choice. Furthermore, it will help you decide whether you should get a new one or a second-hand scooter. Here are some things to consider when you can’t decide.

The bad

Safety issues

Before you buy a used scooter you must ask yourself why that person selling it wants to get rid of it. You can even ask the seller for the reason the scooter is being sold. Sometimes people sell their scooters because they don’t work that well anymore. That’s not such a big issue as long as the seller is honest, but safety is very important.

You don’t know what kind of life that scooter had, and if it sat out in the cold for too long, or if the components are faulty, you might wish you didn’t buy it in the first place. Always make sure that you check the scooter before actually buying and riding it. Buying an e-scooter is similar to buying a second-hand car.

If you don’t have the knowledge, ask a person you trust to check it out for you. The more you know about the scooter the better. Furthermore, with knowledge comes power, and in this case, you will have the power to bargain for a better price if you know that the scooter is worth less than it’s sold for.

Defective parts

Electric scooters are relatively simple vehicles, but they still have a lot of parts that make them work. And all of these parts need to function well to ensure you have a safe and comfortable ride. Amongst the scooter parts, the battery is one of the most important. When buying a second-hand scooter, you don’t know how many times the battery has been charged.

That’s a problem because batteries have a limited lifetime and with each recharge, they become less powerful. Furthermore, the previous owner may have overcharged the battery pack or charged it incorrectly. Either way, this leads to a faulty battery. Assessing the battery takes time, unfortunately, and when buying second-hand you don’t always have that time.

The brakes are also important and unless you ride the scooter for a while you don’t know if they work or not. If you don’t know how to check them and you can’t see if there are any signs of wear, ask an expert to have a look at them.

One thing that you can look at is the deck. Most of the times you will be able to see if there are any dents or cracks on it, and these would indicate the scooter has been mishandled. If the previous owner took care of the scooter and rode it safely, you won’t find any signs on the deck.

Expensive repairs

You might think that getting a second-hand scooter is a great deal, but sometimes that is not true. Especially when you pay a significant sum on the scooter itself and then you find out that you need to take it to service and change some parts.

If you find a scooter sold by a previous owner and see that the price is close to that of a new scooter, it would be best to choose the new one. You might be saving $20 or so, but in the long term, if you use the scooter often, you’ll lose.

People sell scooters when they’re upgrading to a better model or when they haven’t been using the scooter for a while. If the person selling you their scooter hasn’t been using it for a long time, chances are most of the parts will be useless, especially if the scooter has been sitting in tough weather.

Batteries are a delicate part of electric scooters and if you don’t charge them for months, they won’t start again. And they’re pretty expensive to replace. But you can still get a good deal if the owner is honest and sells the scooter for the correct price.

Old models

When purchasing a second-hand scooter you won’t be getting anything new. As you might expect, the scooter that you get may have been purchased initially some years ago. The worst thing that could happen to you is finding out that the second-hand vehicle you’ve just bought is so old that you can’t find replacement parts for it.

Fortunately, that rarely happens and the only thing you have to worry about when getting an old model is the fact that it’s not as performant as the newest ones. Spending more money can bring you a new scooter with added features, but if you don’t really want that, settling for a second-hand option is a decent alternative.

The good

The reduced cost is one of the main advantages of buying a second-hand scooter because you can save up money for other priorities.

You can find a scooter at a very good price and you can fix it or even upgrade it without spending too much money. It is a great deal because counting all the eventual fixing and upgrading, the final price would be less than half of the price of a brand new scooter.

If you are the type of person who is really passionate about the technical part and you really like to assemble things, then buying a second-hand scooter is another great way to improve your skills. You can practice on an electrical scooter by changing the battery or replacing the motor belt.

There are a lot of tutorials on YouTube that help you build your scooter or show you how to replace certain parts. All you have to do is to be careful to watch the right video for the model of scooter you own. The owner’s manual for almost any model of a scooter is available on the manufacturer’s page. It can help you better understand how to assemble its components with images and clear steps.

You can also buy spare parts from different sellers and assemble the scooter on your own. There is also a possibility to buy an old scooter in order to fix it and replace its used parts and then sell it at a higher price. This way, you can start your own little business in a town where scooters are used a lot.

Buying a second-hand scooter is a good way to save money and also to practice in order to improve some skills that could be really useful in your future.

Is it recommended to buy a rental electric scooter?

There are a lot of cities where rental companies deal with scooters. People tend to care less about a scooter they rented comparing to their own scooter, so a lot of scooters are abused and left in public places where they can be vandalized. It is recommended to avoid buying from rental companies that are selling their scooters because they could be almost irreparable so it is not worth it.

Overall, you have to consider every point of view when buying a scooter in order to satisfy most of your needs because the choice depends on what you care more about and the risk you’re willing to take.