I have read some good stories about a person having a problem with their scooter and the scooter company replaced the engine with a new one instead of rebuilding it too. So I think it balances out. We normally hear about all the bad things but rarely do we hear about the good things. So I think for the most part things get fixed OK, we just don't hear about it.
But when we hear about something bad happen, we do need to find out the whole story including the other side's explanation too.
Everybody including the big name car companies are not big on warranties.
They all try to get out of honoring a warranty issue, if they can. It is common to read about a big name car company shafting someone all the time. Those extended warranties, you pay extra for, are a huge scam, and big money maker for the businesses, not the customer.
My sister got ripped off by one of the German car companies even.
One guy i know bought a brand new Lincoln Continental, while driving it home, it dropped a valve, and the engine locked up in rush hour traffic. He wound up paying to have the car towed back to the dealer. It took four months before the dealer and the car company grudgingly replaced the engine with a rebuilt engine. Yeah 20 miles on the ODO and you get a rebuilt engine. he wasn't a happy camper about it either.
But I do read some of the warranties in the fine print, basically exclude almost everything. One brand's warranty excluded everything except the engine. Another brand excludes everything except the frame. So one should be prepared to do their own work and assume they don't have much in the way or warranty support. Many of the cheap scooters essentially have no warranty, as the importer is impossible to contact anyway. Dealers usually quit selling these scooters pretty quick, as soon as they discover there are no parts or support.
The legal system can be taken advantage of, these sleezier companies simply go out of business, or declare bankruptcy, and close down for a while, and then re-open under a new name later. It happens to many businesses, not only scooter companies.