Buying a 2nd hand e-bike

Is it a silly idea?

I’m thinking of getting a 160-180mm enduro eeb, as most of my riding is straight up a fire road to come back down the steep stuff. There seem to be some great deals on lightly used 2nd hand bikes, approx half RRP. But will it be a nightmare when the motors decide to break?

e.g. I’ve seen a nice Whyte 180 for £3.5k in great condition, but the Whyte warranty isn’t transferrable, whereas something like a specialized Kenevo has transferrable warranty. Is it likely to be a nightmare, or hideously expensive if something goes wrong and I don’t have a warranty?

From my experience (and most others by the sound of it), emtb motors are very unreliable and are only as good as their warranty. A motor surviving its full warranty duration seems to be the exception rather than the norm amongst my riding mates. I think if I was buying second hand out of warranty I’d mentally budget for a new motor on top of the price. Obviously if the mileage is very low then you may get lucky and never need it!

if you can get the purchase reciept for potential motor warrenty then it might be ok. or budget for a new motor

Yes I’ve heard from a a few people that if you have the original receipt, a local dealer should be able to help with any motor issues. Have a look on emtb forums for peoples experiences.

The motor going wrong is a worry, especially on Shimano, but my Shimano e8000 has done 3000 miles without any issue so far and you often see them for sale with a few hundred miles on.

fwiw, Canyons warranty is also transferable I think.

The Whyte is a pita for battery change. The new bikes have addressed this I believe.

e.g. I’ve seen a nice Whyte 180 for £3.5k in great condition, but the Whyte warranty isn’t transferrable, whereas something like a specialized Kenevo has transferrable warranty.

Motor and electronics warranty isn’t with Whyte or Spez…. it’s with the motor manufacturer.

Is it likely to be a nightmare, or hideously expensive if something goes wrong and I don’t have a warranty?

When something goes wrong outside warranty it’s up to the manufacturer if they will even sell you a motor full price let alone repair it.

Very limited black market on Bosch as they won’t sell motors at all regardless you have to send in your old one to be destroyed even if paying full price.. (Can’t say for other makes).

I’ve just bought an ex hire bike Trek rail. Got 3 months warranty on the electrics.
I didn’t think bosch reliability was a big issue? Maybe I’m wrong.
I did research the cost of a full motor rebuild at £350 before I bought though.
Expensive, but not the end of the world.
I hired one of the Whytes from FOD in March, great bike, they said they sell them around September, and they transfer the remainder of the warranty I think.

FWIW, 19/20 Levos and 20 Kenevos have a 4 year from date of purchase transferrable warranty on their motors.

We sold our first Turbo Levo bought in 2017 during lockdown to some one local who needed one for himself and a normal bike for his son. Didn’t advertise it. It was a phone call to see if we had one. Same guy has just been back and bought my 2018 Turbo Levo for his dad. No problems with the bikes and got back virtually what we bought them for.
Bought a second hand 2022 S works Turbo Levo in March this year, huge discount, and had no problems transferring the warranty. Bought anther 2022 one second hand in July again, huge discount from new and warranty transferred.

Depending on the make and model and condition I wouldn’t have a problem buying second hand again

Very limited black market on Bosch as they won’t sell motors at all regardless you have to send in your old one to be destroyed even if paying full price..

They are not destroyed, they are refurbished and used for warranty replacement.

Bosch are fully rebuildable out of warranty by companies like Performanceline Bearings for significantly less than the cost of a new motor.

Bearings are available for Shimano motors but electronics aren’t and the sensors have a nasty habit of failing for no apparent reason.

The Brose in FF Spesh bikes is also rebuildable.

I think the Yamaha used by Giant is rebuildable, but I’m not certain.

Last time I looked Performanceline stated somewhere that they (nor anyone else) can’t get replacement boards…so board gets damaged outside warranty its toast.

Viewing my current Gen-2 CX and hence the entire e-bike specific bits as anything other than disposable doesn’t really seem sensible.
I’ve been tempted to try and buy black market ones taken off wrecked bikes TBH…
I had a complete panic a couple of months ago when the electronics just failed… and thought that was it. Nowhere could sell me a replacement motor. In the end it turned out to be a connection had come loose and after spot welding it back on its working again but had the board gone I’d be either trying component level repair or just write off the bike.

They are not destroyed, they are refurbished and used for warranty replacement.

I just don’t believe/trust them … them saying they don’t just bin them carries no weight at all considering the other BS they come up with whereas them taking the motors away gives them a complete monopoly.

Specialized were the only manufacturer that allowed the transfer of warranty to 2nd owner but I believe trek might have stepped up & allowed upto 3 years from date of purchase for the 2nd owners. Make sure you have the original receipt, spesch are very hot on requiring this

Giant use a Yamaha motor with giant electronics, they are not interchangeable & Id confirm with the likes of performanceline bearings, if they do work on them (I’d treat them like shimano & not rush to buy one 2nd hand).

All this is said but there talk of either using adapter kit to fit bafang motors to bikes whose motor have died, & manufactures coming through with motors that fit directly (Oli ebike motors into shimano).

but I believe trek might have stepped up & allowed upto 3 years from date of purchase for the 2nd owners.

For 2nd or even subsequent owners trek do transfer a warranty on frames and trek forks only for 3 years from original purchase date by original owner.

Electronic components would not be covered

You just put it into the cost calculation, i’d avoid buying a shimano motor ebike secondhand, but bosch, yamaha, etc are all serviceable and if there is an issue, it’ll cost £250 or the likes for a service on it, treat it like shocks/forks, they need servicing every now and again.

Spesh do offer some warranty, but again that’s on the motor, so issues with wiring or the battery aren’t covered, and in many instances, it’s the wiring loom that’s been the issue on a lot of ebikes.

Oli ebike motors into shimano

All these alternative motors that fit into Shimano mounts are meant for OEMs. No-one is selling any aftermarket replacements (and you’d also need to replace all the wiring, switch, controller etc too anyway as none of that is compatible across brands)

Interesting thread .. Is it mainly the emtb’s that have motor issues frequently or it is across the board and why ?
Are the bolt on motors ala bafang more reliable if somewhat more primitive ?

Is it mainly the emtb’s that have motor issues frequently or it is across the board and why ?

the road and commuter ebikes can do many many thousands of miles without issue, a lot of them use the same motors as are found in mtbs. It seems to be the harsh use that mtbs get that kills them.

Just been in the same boat.

If you Buy second hand with lowish mielage and well looked after and even if you have to buy a new motor and battery, if you’re sensible about purchase price its still cheaper than buying new.

Its electrics and bearings. Near grit. Dust. Water. At some point you will need a new motor. Or battery. Buying new you pay enough but for 2 years you have peace of mind. After that…same boat as buying second hand.

For me the question is more about funding the thing. I’d have bought second hand accepting up to 750 on new battery and motor as long as purchase price was right. But second hand analogue bikes aren’t selling so i didnt have the cash on hand to go second hand. But finance is dirty cheap per month and interest free so bought new. And i bought local so have local support if anything does go wrong. No posting back to germany or elsewhere.

I think my local bike shop is selling some mondraker ex demo ebikes with full warranty. £££s cheaper than buying new and in stock. Quite a few sizes available.

If your interested, send me a message and I’ll put you in touch.

“They are not destroyed, they are refurbished and used for warranty replacement.”

“I just don’t believe/trust them … them saying they don’t just bin them carries no weight at all”

Why would a company bin a motor/transmission unit which contains lots of expensive components when only one part is often broken? The motor unit in my Specialized was replaced earlier this year due to a slipping drive belt. Everything else worked fine. The shop put a whole “new” unit in and the unit with the slipping belt went back to the factory for repair so it can become another warranty/aftersales replacement unit.

Thanks for the replies everyone, this is really useful.

The serviceability of the motors makes a huge difference; performanceline bearings (now called the ebike motor centre) do service most motors and in their words (very quick to reply to my email!) a general repair and upgrade normally costs around £250.

Factoring in that there are often 2nd hand batteries about for good prices, the 2nd hand eeb isn’t looking like such a bad idea