New Nor Cal looking for a scoot
 

Back in college in the late 80's, I put 36 thousand miles on a Honda Elite 250 scooter. Rain (humbolt county) or shine, the scoot was my only transportation. Now my daughter is going to college, and I want to get her a good scooter. I was looking at the Lance models made by Sym, but it doesn't seem like any dealers want to come off MSRP, even for a 2013 model. What gives? Is there a good way to find a good deal out there?

Welcome to the forum. Your Honda Elite must have been an excellent scooter. Since the scooter is for your daughter, I would definitely spend the extra money for a Taiwanese scooter like the SYM.
My experience with the local SYM and Genuine dealer was that they will not discount the price much at all. It may be easier to get them to throw in some riding apparel instead of coming off the price.

SYM also makes scooters for Tomos. I've noted a lower MSRP for those. In addition a Kymco Agility 50 or 125 is less or the same as a Lance of equal size. Those are all good options.

[Is there a good way to find a good deal out there?]
The last time I was in a Honda shop, they don't deal all that much either.
I love the Forza, but for my wallet it carries to high of a price, so I'll wait for a used ones to pop up.
SYM's are damn nice machines, I dont know much about their offerings, but I'd not run anything smaller then a 250 cc whatever in your beautiful area.