yea, ive heard crap about them too, but my 1990 A3 held together alright, sure it leaked tranny fluid, but thats because i was too lazy to replace the gasket. ive also heard tons of crap about Avanti's, i just bought a super sport and i LOVE the thing, sure it has a few weird problems, like the brake light switch flickering on & off, but i can deal with that, its such a fast & smooth riding bike, really well built too. if your gonna get a brand new moped, id have to reccomend the Cosmo Stinger (same as avanti supersport, just different decals, its what i have) from www.menintools.com it arrives semi assembled, but assembly isnt hard, and they give good assembly instructions with the bike.
-Garret
p.s. the cost is $895, with shipping (atleast to where i live) it came out to about $1000, which is crazy for that bike, thats like a new tomos sprint BEFORE shipping's included. its also a much bigger, more stable bike.