January 1st, 2014 we moved to 450 Airport Rd Suite 904, Elgin, IL 60123. While we were happy with our original location it had it's service limitations and we need to grow in that direction. Seeing as service is the bulk of our business, we had to move into a location that is more friendly to larger vehicles. We now have an overhead door and have room to store all vehicles indoors at night.
Since we opened in 2006 we have enjoyed selling entry level Chinese scooters to our customers. Many years we sold over a hundred of them, some years not so good. Being entry level scoots, our biggest competition is the internet bikes. Internet bikes are usually cheaper, and websites do not have the overhead that it takes to be a licensed dealer in the State of Illinois. We have always counted on our service and commitment to customer satisfaction to set us apart. Unfortunately, too many people only shop the bottom line. We have had several people show up test-drive our scoots to see what they like and then order a similar one on the internet and then turn to us for service down the road. When we have multiple years of low scooter sales it is tough to maintain a dealer license when overhead is fixed. The state requirements for a scooter dealership is the same as it is for a large car dealership, and that is very costly if it is a low volume year.
Our ideal dealership future is to move in with a car dealership that has an open service bay and a desire to add scooters to it's vehicle line-up. We have seen so many used car dealers try it and fail because their certified mechanic doesn't know how to work on them or they don't know where to find parts or they source the most unreliable scooters to begin with. They all look the same on the internet, but there really is a difference in quality of internal parts. We have those problems solved, stock our own parts, and have a wealth of knowledge and contacts in this industry. If you have a location in the Chicago Northwest Suburbs you would like us to consider a joint business venture with, please contact us.
In the mean time we are going to Service and Parts only until we find a more permanent service friendly location that could be re-coupled with vehicle sales. We still will honor all warranties that are in effect. We have room to expand here, and may finally combine our parts warehouse with our new service location, this upcoming season will be the test.
To all of our customers, thank you for your support over the years and we still look forward to serving you with pride. We still have a handful of inventory left and have a local dealer that can sell it to you if you are interested in any of the scooters we have left.
Sincerely,
Dave & Jean Williams