Affordable Vehicle Alternative: Yamaha 2007 C3 Scooter

Being my 16 year old daughter recently obtained her license and summer running is already going on for the fall cross country season at the high school. My family and I had to find another reliable vehicle without breaking our budget or purchasing a "Gas-hog" type of vehicle. I mean come on now $3.25 a gallon is a little outrageous.

So with much discussion and research we decided on purchasing a moped. Being it's only 6-1/2 miles to work on 25-35 MPH roads, the moped seemed like a great idea. But what to buy was the next question.

We narrowed our choices down and finally settled on the new 2007 Yamaha C3 after a side by side comparison with a similarly priced ($1999.99 MSR) Honda model. It was perfect for our needs and offered the following features which really attracted us.

Because the Yamaha C3 has a retro "Old-school" box scooter design the wide seat affords for a lot of storage space. I mean a lot. Try nine gallons worth. Lets just say that on review I read had a guy place 16 cans of beer comfortable in the larger part of the seat with room to spare. I've hauled donuts, milk, eggs, and orange juice already at the same time with room for more groceries. The extra wide seat (by my measurement 15" wide) is only 29" from the ground so even a shorter individual should have no problems reaching the ground. But the size of the Yamaha C3 will allow for even taller heavier riders to feel comfortable.

The Yamaha C3 features a new 49CC fuel injected, liquid-cooled three-valve, four-stroke engine that is both powerful and quiet. This powers a fully automatic V-belt transmission that provides easy twist-the-throttle-and-go operation. The Yamaha C3 also features pushbutton electric start(a back-up kick start), push button turn signals, front and rear drum brakes, and 120/90-10 front and rear tires offer excellent traction and rugged looks. The instrument display provides a speedometer, odometer, fuel gauge, high beam indicator light and engine management indicator lights.

Now the hardest selling point: Gas Mileage. The Yamaha C3 is rated for 116MPG. Yes that is not typo, 116MPG. This I'm told is due to the unit being fuel injected which allows for more efficient fuel economy. With only a 1.2 gallon tank onboard, a full tank will take you about 139 miles. Or in my case back and forth to work almost eleven times.

I do know that since Yamaha C3 is new, parts and accessories are not cheap and hard to come by. I found this out the hard way when my friend's wife made it a total eight feet before the basketball pole stopped her exiting the driveway for a test drive. The pole won.

Due to the fact the front forks are completely covered in a plastic cowling the damage incurred was quite extensive, $740.00 worth to be exact.

As a consumer, I'd highly recommend a Yamaha C3 for an alternative in town or even campsite vehicle. Just don't let your friend's wives drive it!