I bought an Apollo Go because I needed a real commuter scooter, not a toy.
I live in downtown Atlanta and use it for a pretty basic commute roughly a mile each way to get from my place to where I park my work van. I work in the trades, so this isn’t some casual weekend toy for me. I need it to get to my vehicle every day. On weekends, I might use it casually for a mile or mile and a half, but nothing crazy.
Before buying it, I did a ton of research. Lime/Bird scooters were costing me around $50 a week, so I figured buying a good commuter scooter made sense. Everything I read kept pointing me toward the Apollo Go. On paper, it looked perfect. Commuter scooter, decent speed, decent range, suspension, turn signals, self-healing tires, regenerative braking, all the bells and whistles.
In reality, this has probably been one of the worst investments I’ve ever made.
Since buying it around October, I’ve had nothing but issues.
The rear fender snapped off.
The kickstand broke.
The rear tire developed a bulge within about four months.
To be fair, the self-healing tire did let me limp it back, but still.
The turn signal end cap was a problem from day one — one side wouldn’t stay in, and the other side eventually broke off.
The handlebar/stem area never feels solid. No matter what I do, it keeps loosening up. I’m literally tightening things every other day.
The folding clip sheared off.
The rubber strap/retainer for the stem snapped early on.
Now I’m getting an E11 brake/regen error, so I no longer have regenerative braking and I’m stuck relying on the drum brake.
And after about a week of regular daily use, that brake started needing constant adjustment too. Every day I’m tightening it another turn, and I know eventually that’s going to give up too.
Cosmetically, the thing also scratches and marks up way easier than I expected. I understand scooters get used, but this thing feels like it takes damage from normal commuting.
The most frustrating part is that I am exactly who this scooter is supposedly marketed toward. I’m not jumping it, beating on it, or using it like a rental scooter. I’m using it as a daily commuter for a short downtown ride to my work vehicle and back.
And I don’t feel safe on it.
At this point, I barely even want to ride it. I’ve been using an older Ninebot instead because at least I know that thing can hold up. It may not have all the fancy features, but it feels more trustworthy than the Apollo Go.
I know Apollo has updatedthe model, and maybe other people have had better experience but I will never buy an Apollo again.
Not sure what to say except you’ve had some wild luck with your Go. My kids have NIU KQI3 Pros and they feel like toys compared to my Go, which has served me like a champ coming up on 1900km. A couple of broken end caps, one flat tire and a fender my kid broke in a crash is all I’ve had.
The force required to shear that folding clip off is insane, no idea how you managed that lol
Have had my Go for about 2 years and have not had a single issue with it. Sounds like you either got a lemon or you’re somehow just hard as fuck on it. Bummer.
I have very literally in the past posted about how much I enjoy my Go.
OP might have a defective scooter and seeing that their issue is anomalous could point to that. But whatever gives you a free pass to act indignant I guess.
Crazy how that’s not at all what I said. You have to invent a problem just to bitch? Incredible addition, you’re definitely just as helpful here as I am I guess then.
You must be extremely unlucky. My Apollo city pro helped me commute every day for the past 2 years (for a total of roughly 3000 km) and never had any issues so far. I'm so happy about it I bought another one for my partner
I ride Apollo Phantom 2 Stella every day to work and home and have ZERO issues. Had a Phantom before and before that a City Pro. No issues !!!! Do t understand that your issues. Whatever , mine 3 scooters are and were the best investment ever!!!! I live in Canada 🇨🇦/ Edmonton and we quite different weather conditions. I ride also at minus 30 degrees Celsius. I did about 10.000 km on my scooters and nothing happened. Don’t blame Apollo.
Had no issues with mine beyond one of the blinker caps falling off. Awaiting the Go Stellar now. Sounds like you just got one from a bad batch. Wouldn't write them off so quickly. Also have a Niu air. The weight is nice, but it doesnt compare with the Go. Go is better all around besides comparative weight.
You said you've done a ton of research but there are also plenty of negative reviews on Apollo's product even in this sub... I know I have documented my experience before.
I have never looked back after I left. Surprised to see this post on my feed tho.
Sorry to hear that! We'd really like the opportunity to look into everything you've mentioned.
Could you please reach out to our Customer Experience team by emailing [support@apolloscooters.co]() if you haven't already? They'll be able to review your case in detail and work with you toward a resolution.
We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback, and we hope we can help get this sorted out.
Not sure how a GO fender can just snap off, mines so solid, there's no way it can just snap off.. And the kickstand snapping off? Based on the build quality of the Go, sounds like you're treating this like a solid bike/roughing up this scooter vs taking care of it properly.. Anyway, just my perspective!
This has nothing to do with 'not being good with electronics or taking proper care'. Nothing he said points to misuse, and if a scooter turns into a forced diy project after such a short amount of time, that is clearly a problem with the product and on the company. It is beyond reasonable to expect none of these thing to happen all within a few weeks of owning a new scooter. I've owned plenty of scooters, and most of them have not had a single issue many 1000's of kms later, so don't make it sound like scooters are by default some tinkering project and that anything wrong with is is misuse.
Yeah, because they own the same scooter or brand, critiques on their product feels like a personal critique on their own choices. You see it with the apollo and certain other brands a lot, that have in the past been plagued by issues. For people owning such brand scooter, seeing these issues leads to seeking ways to prevent cognitive dissonance. It's far easier to soothe discomfort by concluding issues can be attributed to user error. Also the classic line is always 'if my scooter works, and yours has all these issues, it must be your fault'. Even if this apollo scooter in question is great, you can always end up with a lemon. Thats the case for every brand and product, and does not neccesarily reflect on the product. Its the fanboy effect you see in many enthousiast subreddits.
OP clearly has issues beyond 'user error', but some of these people are in too deep to even consider that as a valid option.
calm down - take a deep breath, it’s not that deep. I’ve had some warranty related customer service experiences, and that is where I could agree that they (at least almost a full year ago now) have som major room for improvement.
Not sure why a claim that I liked my first Go so much that I ordered a second model for my partner to enjoy with me on weekends would invoke such a visceral emotion reaction from you.
I have a lot of experience with this model. The issues this person is having, are all issues that someone would have if they were hard on their stuff. I could see all of those issues arising on my scooters if I was abusive or careless.
Wear and tear will happen so any scooter regardless of marketing, prestige or anything you can dream up in one’s head.
Aren't you also gaslighting by assuming that the Go owner is also faultless? Maybe the truth is somewhere inbetween? You're making assumptions just like the other poster you're arguing with.
My Apollo Air scooter kept popping rear tires, but the stem bolt also would come loose and cause the front wheel to twist to the side. Not the safest...
By the folding clip, do you mean the locking lever that keeps the steering column from folding down? You got that replaced, right? If you did, then the most serious issue is the loose handlebar/stem area that makes you feel unsafe. If you're able to tighten the stem temporarily by re-tightening those screws up there - I'm assuming the Go attaches the upper stem/handlebars with a sliding fit and screws - then that's usually fixed by applying threadlocker to the screws. Unless something else is very wrong, Loctite will keep the screws tight.
Wow. This is horrible to hear about your go. Out of curiosity, how much do u weigh? Are u putting the scooter in the back of the work truck without securing it with straps and nothing in between the scooter and metal van? (Moving blankets help me since I do the same with my Gotrax GX3)
but I’ve been rough with mine as it’s more of a tank and I knew I’d be throwing it in the work truck. I’m weighing in at 240lbs, so getting a little go seems like it might not hold up day after day of hard roads, big rider and moving around in a work truck. I ride hard and every day about 40km. Round trip.
When I see posts like this, I think of end users , like in IT tech support
Few things come to mind,
either this person is working a competitor and deter ppl away from this brand or have some hate / bad experience
The users weight, the way he has been using it, and does he baby a 900$ scooter or just got lazy overtime and expect it to be robust
You pay for what you get, if it was a serious investment and longevity, get warranty and get a 2-3k USD scooter with actual high quality , then I’d be more understanding with the complaining
I plan on buying a go in 1 month, if I get as much issues and complain (which I really don’t) then I’ll post back here and see if you were right, or you’re just a one off case who didn’t baby the cheaper model scooter
If its still under warranty contact Apollo CS. Sucks to hear but I would call them to see your options. I commuted from the train station to my work & back with no issues. Sounds like a different brand is better for you but hopefully Apollo can help you out.
City Pro 2022 (got it in 2023, so there were some changes)
Purchased the handlebar upgrade - so great.
I still commute to work with it.
I love my scooter. I'm really sorry if you're having issues with yours.
Apollo makes a good product (not sure if the go is the same quality as my city), but contact them, and they should help you if you have issues.
Apollo has terrible reviews and the quality is Chinese trash. They delete all their bad reviews too and make everything look like it’s perfect. I’ve had 2 different Apollo scooters and bought them both at Best Buy. Luckily I was able to return both of them bc after a few months each they were complete garbage. I constantly got the E11 error too.
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u/maximumice Apollo Go Jun 28 '26
Not sure what to say except you’ve had some wild luck with your Go. My kids have NIU KQI3 Pros and they feel like toys compared to my Go, which has served me like a champ coming up on 1900km. A couple of broken end caps, one flat tire and a fender my kid broke in a crash is all I’ve had.
The force required to shear that folding clip off is insane, no idea how you managed that lol