- Joined
- Jan 23, 2008
- Messages
- 3,550
Ugh!
I had this WHOLE thing typed out and firefox crashed on me. That doesn’t make me happy since this is probably the longest post ever. This time I’m typing it in word and pasting.
I need help making a decision. I’m sorry for how long it is-but I feel that background information will be helpful so you can see my thought process on how I’m trying to make my decision.
For years I’ve wanted a vespa-I started looking quite a few years ago while I lived near Houston-thinking the weather would be great for it and the gas prices had increased to almost 4.00 a gallon-my part time job paycheck was going to fill up my 95 Chevy pick-up and not only were they cute-but they seemed practical at the time. I went to look at them and would have walked away with one but the retail price tag combine with the traffic in the suburbs of Houston helped me change my mind.
Fast forward and I now live in Ontario. My FIL loves all things vintage and has a picture of him in Holland on a scooter (actually German-not a Vespa) from the late 50’s. Twice every summer the family gets together and drives the couple of hours to go visit my DH grandma and along the way we usually stop at yard sales (since we all love that sort of thing) and over a year ago we are going though the usual towns and we stop at a yard sale. They had a vintage robin egg blue vespa sitting out by the garage and my FIL and I both noticed it and he inquired to see if it was for sale. It wasn’t. It was in amazing shape and it was a gift to his wife from him and she wasn’t selling it.
Fast forward to this summer-we are driving though that same town and we stop at a yard sale next door to the century home that had the vespa. The husband is outside mowing the lawn & I ask my FIL if that is the same house with the Vespa-and he said yup it is. There was a for sale sign advertising their home was for sale. So I approached the gentleman and I asked him if they were considering selling the Vespa-he said he didn’t believe so-that he thinks his wife will display it in the living room (he was joking) but to leave my contact info and if they do decide to sell-they’d give me a call.
A week later I have a VM from a wonderful sweet woman-the wife of the guy I had spoken to-she is going to put her Vespa up for sale. We chatted and got along great-kindered spirits. The first thing I mention to her is how much I LOVED the color and hadn’t seen another like it-and she said that is what sold her on this particular model. She had researched a lot prior to buying it-spoke to the mechanic-it was a fully restored when they bought it a few years ago and she had only ridden it a few times. Her husband had paid 4500.00 for it new and it pretty much sat stored properly and she has all the manuals.
We’ve chatted a few times about life and different things and her and her husband are retiring and she wants the vespa to go to a good home.
Now moving on My DH and I just bought our first (and probably only) home in a very small town-cottage country. Perfect for a scooter-the speed limit is right below what the max the scooter can do-the stores are a 5 minute drive away and a larger town is only 10 minutes away. The scooter has a double seat and can have a side car attached and is all around perfect for a good amount of months here. We live off of a dead end road off of a dead end road-none of these roads are very busy. Had we not bought the house the scooter wouldn’t have been a good idea-too much traffic and no place to store it. We now have a very large garage with plenty of space to store it.
We only have 1 car which my DH takes to work every day leaving me at home without many options unless I wait until he comes home-which can be quite late and the stores are often closed since it’s a small town.
Here are the things that I keep going over in my head though. Our house needs work-it’s 100% fully livable but we have to put a new roof (steel) on in the fall (DIY with family help-we’ve done his brothers and his dad’s already), our first is due in the fall and we leave for our honeymoon this month. I also have to take a class to get a license to operate the scooter-which in reality isn’t a big deal since my DH would take the class with me and we’d get our full motorcycle licenses since he wants to get a bike next spring to help with gas and the commute. This wouldn’t have been an option a year ago but since it’s mostly country roads and very little city traffic I’m more comfortable with him riding a bike now-and his dad has ridden for over 40 years.
The details on the Vespa are this:
1963 fully restored Vespa Piaggio 125cc
Double seat-robin egg blue
Side car can be attached (doesn’t include it).
Was used in a few films in Toronto
I’ve searched high and low for something similar and anything I’ve found is either not the same or the 2 I have found were over the 4k price range. I know she would give me the family discount (she already has expressed she would like it to go to someone who appreciates it and knows we are just starting out and is taking that into consideration). That being said we could probably offer 3-3500.00 for the Vespa (closer to the 3k range) and I’m fairly confident she would accept it since I already dropped that price on her over the phone-although it wasn’t a formal offer.
The thing is I would have to sell some of my jewelry to help fund the purchase. My bling obsession doesn’t fit in with my lifestyle AT ALL. I’m pretty crunchy and am at home all day every day unless it’s a family event or church. My 1ctw OEC earrings are bigger than most peoples center stone and I don’t wear them often at all. I have bezel set amber earrings that I wear or small gold hoops that I wear more often than my diamonds-and only wear a wedding band on my right middle finger and my e-ring. I have more necklaces/pendants that I can possibly wear-although I do wear them sometimes when we go out.
A vintage vespa is going to be harder to find in the future-especially at this price point and in this color. But the price I paid for my earrings and many other things that I would be selling (list to follow) are also hard to come by at the prices I got them for-although I have many years ahead of me to hopefully replace them. I am only in my early 20’s and there are many birthdays/anniversaries/etc to be had.
I would sell my:
1ctw OEC martini prong earrings
WF sapphire by the yard necklace
Sapphire pendant
Diamond pendant
Silver tiffany bracelet only worn twice
Sapphire and diamond 3 stone ring
Sapphire solitaire tulip ring
and a few other odds and ends
That would leave me with my art deco sapphire and diamond watch (which I would sell since I never wear it but it was a wedding gift and I really do love it-it took me 6 years to find the right watch in the right price range but selling that I could keep my earrings and many other pieces); wedding set; my snowflake OEC/OMC diamond pendant/diamond cross/YG gemstone by the yard necklace with matching flower pendants/some silver jewelry/and a few other odds and ends.
If I sold what I had listed I could almost fund the 3k fully-and anything else we could afford. We can probably afford it without selling my jewelry but I just feel like I *should* sell it in order to help fund it since it’s not 100% a need-it’s still a want.
I should have pictures of the vespa soon-I still have to discuss things more with my husband but I wanted to get input from you all first. I’m sorry this is so long. If you read this and still respond I really appreciate it. I can post pictures of the pieces I'm considering parting with as well as the scooter if those will help make the decision lol.
I had this WHOLE thing typed out and firefox crashed on me. That doesn’t make me happy since this is probably the longest post ever. This time I’m typing it in word and pasting.
I need help making a decision. I’m sorry for how long it is-but I feel that background information will be helpful so you can see my thought process on how I’m trying to make my decision.
For years I’ve wanted a vespa-I started looking quite a few years ago while I lived near Houston-thinking the weather would be great for it and the gas prices had increased to almost 4.00 a gallon-my part time job paycheck was going to fill up my 95 Chevy pick-up and not only were they cute-but they seemed practical at the time. I went to look at them and would have walked away with one but the retail price tag combine with the traffic in the suburbs of Houston helped me change my mind.
Fast forward and I now live in Ontario. My FIL loves all things vintage and has a picture of him in Holland on a scooter (actually German-not a Vespa) from the late 50’s. Twice every summer the family gets together and drives the couple of hours to go visit my DH grandma and along the way we usually stop at yard sales (since we all love that sort of thing) and over a year ago we are going though the usual towns and we stop at a yard sale. They had a vintage robin egg blue vespa sitting out by the garage and my FIL and I both noticed it and he inquired to see if it was for sale. It wasn’t. It was in amazing shape and it was a gift to his wife from him and she wasn’t selling it.
Fast forward to this summer-we are driving though that same town and we stop at a yard sale next door to the century home that had the vespa. The husband is outside mowing the lawn & I ask my FIL if that is the same house with the Vespa-and he said yup it is. There was a for sale sign advertising their home was for sale. So I approached the gentleman and I asked him if they were considering selling the Vespa-he said he didn’t believe so-that he thinks his wife will display it in the living room (he was joking) but to leave my contact info and if they do decide to sell-they’d give me a call.
A week later I have a VM from a wonderful sweet woman-the wife of the guy I had spoken to-she is going to put her Vespa up for sale. We chatted and got along great-kindered spirits. The first thing I mention to her is how much I LOVED the color and hadn’t seen another like it-and she said that is what sold her on this particular model. She had researched a lot prior to buying it-spoke to the mechanic-it was a fully restored when they bought it a few years ago and she had only ridden it a few times. Her husband had paid 4500.00 for it new and it pretty much sat stored properly and she has all the manuals.
We’ve chatted a few times about life and different things and her and her husband are retiring and she wants the vespa to go to a good home.
Now moving on My DH and I just bought our first (and probably only) home in a very small town-cottage country. Perfect for a scooter-the speed limit is right below what the max the scooter can do-the stores are a 5 minute drive away and a larger town is only 10 minutes away. The scooter has a double seat and can have a side car attached and is all around perfect for a good amount of months here. We live off of a dead end road off of a dead end road-none of these roads are very busy. Had we not bought the house the scooter wouldn’t have been a good idea-too much traffic and no place to store it. We now have a very large garage with plenty of space to store it.
We only have 1 car which my DH takes to work every day leaving me at home without many options unless I wait until he comes home-which can be quite late and the stores are often closed since it’s a small town.
Here are the things that I keep going over in my head though. Our house needs work-it’s 100% fully livable but we have to put a new roof (steel) on in the fall (DIY with family help-we’ve done his brothers and his dad’s already), our first is due in the fall and we leave for our honeymoon this month. I also have to take a class to get a license to operate the scooter-which in reality isn’t a big deal since my DH would take the class with me and we’d get our full motorcycle licenses since he wants to get a bike next spring to help with gas and the commute. This wouldn’t have been an option a year ago but since it’s mostly country roads and very little city traffic I’m more comfortable with him riding a bike now-and his dad has ridden for over 40 years.
The details on the Vespa are this:
1963 fully restored Vespa Piaggio 125cc
Double seat-robin egg blue
Side car can be attached (doesn’t include it).
Was used in a few films in Toronto
I’ve searched high and low for something similar and anything I’ve found is either not the same or the 2 I have found were over the 4k price range. I know she would give me the family discount (she already has expressed she would like it to go to someone who appreciates it and knows we are just starting out and is taking that into consideration). That being said we could probably offer 3-3500.00 for the Vespa (closer to the 3k range) and I’m fairly confident she would accept it since I already dropped that price on her over the phone-although it wasn’t a formal offer.
The thing is I would have to sell some of my jewelry to help fund the purchase. My bling obsession doesn’t fit in with my lifestyle AT ALL. I’m pretty crunchy and am at home all day every day unless it’s a family event or church. My 1ctw OEC earrings are bigger than most peoples center stone and I don’t wear them often at all. I have bezel set amber earrings that I wear or small gold hoops that I wear more often than my diamonds-and only wear a wedding band on my right middle finger and my e-ring. I have more necklaces/pendants that I can possibly wear-although I do wear them sometimes when we go out.
A vintage vespa is going to be harder to find in the future-especially at this price point and in this color. But the price I paid for my earrings and many other things that I would be selling (list to follow) are also hard to come by at the prices I got them for-although I have many years ahead of me to hopefully replace them. I am only in my early 20’s and there are many birthdays/anniversaries/etc to be had.
I would sell my:
1ctw OEC martini prong earrings
WF sapphire by the yard necklace
Sapphire pendant
Diamond pendant
Silver tiffany bracelet only worn twice
Sapphire and diamond 3 stone ring
Sapphire solitaire tulip ring
and a few other odds and ends
That would leave me with my art deco sapphire and diamond watch (which I would sell since I never wear it but it was a wedding gift and I really do love it-it took me 6 years to find the right watch in the right price range but selling that I could keep my earrings and many other pieces); wedding set; my snowflake OEC/OMC diamond pendant/diamond cross/YG gemstone by the yard necklace with matching flower pendants/some silver jewelry/and a few other odds and ends.
If I sold what I had listed I could almost fund the 3k fully-and anything else we could afford. We can probably afford it without selling my jewelry but I just feel like I *should* sell it in order to help fund it since it’s not 100% a need-it’s still a want.
I should have pictures of the vespa soon-I still have to discuss things more with my husband but I wanted to get input from you all first. I’m sorry this is so long. If you read this and still respond I really appreciate it. I can post pictures of the pieces I'm considering parting with as well as the scooter if those will help make the decision lol.