Second hand rides

[Sidepod]

I’ve been monitoring eBay of late and I think there are some bargains to be had. Maybe not bargains but some pretty good prices.

Personally I feel the Bosch is emerging as the market leader and I’d feel reasonably confident in purchasing second hand.

£3 - 3.5k seems to be the sweet spot price wise for a low use unit.
I definitely wouldn’t buy new.

 

[Gary]

You're right... £3.5k isn't a bargain for a second hand used Emtb with no warranty.

But Ebikes has brought in a different type of buyer. ?

 

[Sidepod]

Agreed but , relative to new price/availability, it’s pretty good. Personally I couldn’t care less about warranty. It’s not worth messing about with. Bike components are what they are so the only thing warranty is needed for is motor/battery.
The Botch motor certainly isn’t bulletproof but it is easily fixable if needs be.

Given that many bikes advertised have less than 1k miles on the clock, another 12 months sat in the shed should see the price sub £3k or “open to offers”.

 

[Mikerb]

At least with a Bosch motored bike the motor warranty is with Bosch not the bike brand. In fact when you dig into many of the brands warranties the brand is actually only providing a warranty on the frame ( Specialized are an exception to that). I bought a Whyte second hand, albeit only a month old with 50 miles on the clock. Whyte warranty is non transferable, so I took a gamble, but my LBS is a Bosch dealer and said they can deal with any motor warranty issues I have. The shock and Fork are warrantied by Fox. The derailleur is warrantied by SRAM. The rest I can take care of myself........and I have the £ gap between what I paid and the RRP. I have had the bike nearly a year...zero issues...but then it is a Whyte!!

 

[Beatjunkie98]

Ok so I’m looking at a few trek rails in the second hand market they don’t seem to sell that quickly!

looking at several different Rail 5 21 models, what would you pay for low mileage with an original proof of purchase? Concerned about warranty with the battery and motor is my main issue.

buying new you seem to have a huge depreciation value it seems if you do want or need to sell it on.

 

[Mikerb]

In common with most brands the only real Trek warranty is the frame.........lifetime for the original owner, 3 years for any subsequent owner ( I assume that is from original date of purchase). Everything else is warrantied by the part supplier.........fork/shock/drivetrain etc. Bosch motors are warrantied by Bosch ( 2years from original purchase I think). The Trek 5 is £4.3 or £4.6k and unless it has been extensively upgraded a fair price really depends on age ( Trek 5 released in late summer 2020?) mileage and condition. Low mileage and a 2021 bike rather than 2020 (which will have done a full winter!) I would think £3k max. Maybe more if it has good upgrades. Not sure a bout battery warranty.
Limited Warranty | Trek Bikes (GB)

 

[maynard]

I purchase second hand goods regularly. Including my 8000$ levo . The guy I bought it off paid 12500$ and he was nice enough to chuck a fancy renthal stem and carbon bars . Nice pedals and grips too . We had some intense negotiations. What a legend . Cool dude . My advice would be do it . You just gotta be real careful and picky . Find out why they are selling it ?

 

[R120]

I think the issue is that used EMTB's are considered to carry a "risk" with them of spending a lot of money and getting no warranty.

Also because the tech is moving so quickly a last gen bike is going to suffer a fair old bit of depreciation, even if its actually still great to ride.

 

[steve_sordy]

I sold my last emtb and the guy that bought it got a great deal. He knew everything I knew about it, history and so forth. If I knew all that and had confidence in the person I was buying from, then why not buy used? But there is the problem.

 

[maynard]

When u buy used cars there is no warranty. Well dealers will sell u one that ain't worth shit . So what's the difference? Nothing . But shore if u wanna convince urself you have to buy new. go for it .

 

[Mikerb]

OK..a real life example. I bought a 1 month old Whyte second hand from a guy on this forum. That was over a year ago. The bike has been faultless and a lot of fun.
So this is how the transaction was done ( excluding price negotiation!).

Firstly I wanted to know why the bike was being sold and recieved a full explanation of the guy's circumstance.

Second I requested and recieved by email copies of the original purchase...receipt etc.

Thirdly I viewed and tested the bike at his home address ( only a short run up and down the cul-d-sac but enough to confirm all was well with motor/controller/gears/brakes etc.) I took into account the fact the bike was not set up for me either in terms of suspension or cockpit.
I paid in cash and exchanged hand written receipts with him. Loaded up the bike in my car and drove away a happy man ( except for a tortuous drive through the motorists hellhole that is Bristol on the way back home!!)

The Whyte warranty only includes the frame and the LBS he bought the bike from was too far away from my home address to be of any use to me anyway. So I knew in effect there was no warranty. The Bosch motor is in any case warrantied by Bosch and the components on the bike warrantied by Fox for the suspension and SRAM for brakes and drivetrain.
I made enquiries with my local LBS who sell Whyte bikes among other brands but rarely get more than 2 or 3 to sell and they are sold before they even arrive in the shop ( or the owner grabs one!). They were perfectly happy to deal with Bosch on my behalf if I had any problems with the bike.

So no reason why buying second hand cannot be a good experience if you take all the right steps.

 

[Beatjunkie98]

The comments here are great and pretty reassuring as long as you do your back ground checks it seems! My main concern was battery and motor warranty since I know normal bikes pretty well compared to ebikes. So if Bosch supplies a warranty which can be transferred to a new owner then it's settles my nerves slightly!

 

[Mikerb]

I'm not sure about getting support for a battery problem. If it is a Bosch battery I reckon you are OK but some brands use their own proprietry battery so it may be an issue if the warranty on that is with the brand and not transferable to second owners.

 

[maynard]

Yes original receipt is very important. I've had a motor replacement on my levo . I paid 100$ aus for labour. And I need a new power cable ATM. With out original receipt I'd be in for a bit of cash .

 

[Kingerz]

Just imagine how you would feel if it broke first ride, or six weeks later, and everything you would actually do in that case.