Help me decide. One of the scooter manufacturers is offering 0% financing and no payments. The deal is good until June 30th. I can't remember the rest of the deal. I'll check it out before making a final decision.

The deal caught my eye and I looked at the scooters a little closer. Prices range from $2000 to $3500, plus upgrades. One upgrade I'd get is a sidecar for carrying DD and misc stuff. Gas mileage on the scooters is really good - anywhere from 50 to 90 mpg, depending on model.

I confess, most of my driving is within close range. We live about 1.5 miles to our little downtown which has a grocery store but little else. A second grocery store and our pharmacy is within about 5 miles. The problem with most of our driving is that it is up and down very busy, congested streets. That isn't very safe on a little scooter that doesn't have much around you.

And of course, the other consideration is the weather. Except for a few months here and there, our weather is either very hot (three digits) or very cold (freezing and snowy.) Because of my chronic inflammatory arthritis, I tend to not tolerate extremes in weather very well. When it is hot, I sweat buckets (literally, dripping off me). And when it is cold, I get flu-like sick. As far as I can tell, scooters don't come with A/C or heaters (big motorcycles do.)

Yet, a scooter is so inexpensive and the gas mileage is so great, it is tempting.

What would you do?

__________________
"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

According to your description, I'd not get the scooter. Since everything is relatively close, and you can't use it year-round, it's not worth it imo. Safety is always a concern too, I'd not put a child on a side car.

I'd have safety concerns as well - I have a friend who was hit by a car while on her Vespa, she was injured but OK, but they didn't find the driver (hit and run). She wore all her protective (BRIGHT colored) gear, and still was hit. I've known a lot of people who have had accident on other "Two wheel" transportation, usually from being hit by cars, not from their own carelessness. That is why I will not get a motorcycle or the like.

__________________

We owned one when we lived in India.

Based on what you described, I would not get one in your situation for these reasons....

You can't ride it when it's
rainy
too cold
too hot
which is pretty much 75%-80% of the time

You may just be doing short trips in but they can't carry a lot. Dh would wear a large backpack for the market stuff he bought. I could not have managed the weight of all the food and me driving it and if you have arthritis, it would make it even more dangerous.

The $3000 upfront cost is only the beginning. Then there are helmets, maintenance, and insurance. It might just be easier to 'budget in' an extra $3000 in gas over a two year period.

Even with the sidecar, (which will add to the price), how many days in the year will you be able to use it based on your description. I know here it seems the perfect days of spring and fall when it's not too hot, not too cold, and no rain number about 10 days in the spring and 10 days in the fall. The rest of the time it's either freezing, boiling, or pouring rain.

Now if you lived on the west coast, didn't have arthritis, and didn't mind the heat, I'd say go for it.

Here is a photo of ours.

__________________

We bought a scooter (I think it's a Suzuki) and it gets 120 mpg. I wouldn't buy a scooter if it only gets 50 mpg. He rides it all the time to work (he usually drives a truck) when it's not raining. We figured he could ride it 7-8 months out of the year.
How many mpg does the car you currently drive get? If it's a gas guzzler it might be beneficial, but I would not get a side car. Ours has a storage compartment and dh can fill it with a small list from the grocery store.