Polaris

[JohnMickish]

In the "Which ATV to buy" thread alot of you with more experience in this field than myself stated to "stay away from Polaris". Why?

I find it hard to believe that a company could produce as many wheelers as they have and not have a quality product. Are there certain years/models that are bad or are they "all junk"? Is this just a Ford vs. Chevy thing or are there real facts?

Thanks for the help, as we are also looking for a new/used wheeler and trying to narrow the choices down.

[jltimm]

There are alot of people (including me) that have had bad expieriences with polaris wheelers.I owned a brand new one for 6 months,and had problem after problem with it and got rid of it.I also have several friends that had them with the same result.If you ever get a chance to go to some atv auctions you will see there is a vast majority of polaris's.I've heard that the newest ones have better reliability,but after having owned one and contacting polaris about all the problems and getting nothing but a "sorry" letter from them I will NEVER own a polaris again!One of the reasons they sell so many wheelers is they are a simple to use wheeler with a automatic transmission and one lever braking system.Their automatic belt drive transmission have grown in the atv market,and now almost all brands run auto belt drive tranny's.polaris also made a diesel atv for a VERY short time!They use the general public for their guinea pig,and if their idea's are poorly thought out they drop the product!

[Greg T]

The last Polaris I owned was an '87 250X Cyclone, so my experiences are dated. But when we go to the cabin up near Leech Lake, it seems like we are the only Honda riders up there. All I see is Polaris and Arctic Cat wheelers. Somebody must like them, because they are everywhere.

[spearchucker]

I think everyone makes a pretty good ATV now. You won't go wrong with any of them. Buy whatever you can get a good deal on.

[tripper]

I have only been riding since 94 but from what I have seen of most people that complain about their machine (no matter what make) are people that think they are suppose to be able just ride and beat without doing matnace on them. An atv is like a car, truck or any other piece of equipment. If you want to use it you have to maintane according to how you use it. They are all good so go for the one you like or you will never be happy.

[hoggs222]

I've got a 98 sportsman 500 and they are tough. Wrapped it around a tree once. A little repair work and she still runs great.

[budselect]

I am not going to knock any machine all makes are pretty good.I own a 2004 sportsman 400 & a 2005 sportsman 500 no problems with either so far. Did some riding with some honda guys they told me I made a mistake buying polaris until we were done riding they were the ones that were stuck all the time so I had to rub it in a little thank god my belt didnt get wet. Like the post above pick what you like and go for it!

[Rainydaze]

I have a Polaris Sportsman 2004.5 700 Mossy Oak edition and I love it! No problems thus far.

[BigWormin]

I bought an 05' Sportman 500 this year and couldn't be happier with the purchase.

[Neiko]

I have owned a 95 and a 98 Xplorer. Had 3800 miles on the first one and 4300 on this one. For what I have put it through it has been great. You can't expect to beat on something and not have to do any maintainance on it. Mostly it is to do with the chain but I am taking care of that this year. I am getting a EFI

[JohnMickish]

So from what I am hearing the posters in the other thread that said to stay away from Polaris don't really have any facts to base their opinion on. It is the Ford vs. Chevy thing.

[FishPiCkLeS]

I've got a 2004 Polaris Sportsman 700 EFI.... 2 words "BULLET PROOF"....

[rundrave]

2003 Polaris Scrambler, couldnt be happier, and none of the other manufactures have gotten smart enough to make a similar model. Well Yamaha tried for 2006 but....

Polaris doesnt have any problem selling the machines, I looked at purchasing a 2006 scrambler and had to get on a list because they cant keep them in stock.

[Northland Sportsman]

I think this is the classic "ford vs chev" debate. i ahve an 04.5 sprotsman 600 and have had no trouble with it. I did get it rejetted to start & run better in the cold and couldn'rt be happier. Go with what you like, I don't think polaris would be selling so many machines if they weren't a good product. my 2 cents.

[lipp_ripper]

I'll add my 2 cents also. I've owned my 2000 Sportsman 500 since it was new. I have never had any problems with it. If for some reason I needed to get another wheeler, I would go straight to the Polaris Dealer and get a new model. No second thoughts.

For what it's worth....

[jltimm]

So far it seems like I'm the only anti-polaris person?I thought I had more men in my army!LOL!!

[MNmikew]

I've been riding ATVs since the 3wheeler days (sure miss my 250R). I have a 01 Scrambler 500 and a 05 sportsman 500 without a single hitch so far. The Sportsman did have a recall fix done, but most manufactures have recalls at sometime.

[Dave]

When Polaris first introdcued an ATV, yes, it was an innovation that needed some refining. But, as you see now, all manufacturers followed that innovation as well. All brands due have some quirks or lemons, at one time or another, with one part or another.

All you can do is study each brand that's in your price range, look for features that YOU like or need and pick one up. If you're brand loyal, that's okay too.

[pikechaser]

Innovation??? Actually Suzuki made the first atv with fully independent suspension & true 4wd, back in 1987...some years Before Polaris did it...I think the reason they have sold so many is because their sleds are decent & they already had many diehard polaris riders. thats where their loyalty comes from. Not to mention the Millions they spend on marketing..they probly spend more on marketing than all the other manufaturers combined. The machines they are building today arent to bad when it comes to reliability. but its taken them 20 years to do it. Ive ridden them and never been overly impressed..I dont personally know a single person who hasnt had a fair amount of problems with them, Hear of lots of ROCK SOLID or BULLETPROOF ones on here..but talk is cheap, and Im not buying any....and why cant they build a machine under 650 lbs....they are over rated & waaay to heavy for my likeing and im still not convinced they have worked out all their bugs...have a friend with a new 500ho..he has gone thru numerous belts, has had water gettin in there, hard starting..seems like lot of the used ones Ive seen in the paper have new engines..so Id be willing to bet their engines have some issues as well...just my opinion but Id steer clear of them

[pikechaser]

Innovation??? Actually Suzuki made the first atv with fully independent suspension & true 4wd, back in 1987...some years Before Polaris did it...I think the reason they have sold so many is because their sleds are decent & they already had many diehard polaris riders. thats where their loyalty comes from. Not to mention the Millions they spend on marketing..they probly spend more on marketing than all the other manufaturers combined. The machines they are building today arent to bad when it comes to reliability. but its taken them 20 years to do it. Ive ridden them and never been overly impressed..I dont personally know a single person who hasnt had a fair amount of problems with them, Hear of lots of ROCK SOLID or BULLETPROOF ones on here..but talk is cheap, and Im not buying any....and why cant they build a machine under 650 lbs....they are over rated & waaay to heavy for my likeing and im still not convinced they have worked out all their bugs...have a friend with a new 500ho..he has gone thru numerous belts, has had water gettin in there, hard starting..seems like lot of the used ones Ive seen in the paper have new engines..so Id be willing to bet their engines have some issues as well...just my opinion but Id steer clear of them

[fasternu]

OK, I wasn't going to chime in, but I must(since we were invited!). I ride quite a bit with a group of people (they are a large extended family with many miles of trails), and they let me join in with them. They have about any brand of machine you have ever heard of. In 2004 one person bought the Polaris 500 new. It had less than 14 miles on it when the darn thing would just up and die going down the trail. Whenever we went to stop, it would backfire, then die. Took it back to the dealer. 10 more miles and it did it again. Back to the dealer we go. After a third time and a "Oops, we sure can't figure this out", it was sold back to them. Another person bought one (400, I think), and whenever we went ice fishing, if you shut it off, you would be walking off the lake as it refused to start (even pull-start). This one had less than 300 miles on it.

After riding all of their machines, everyone would fight over the Honda 500 and the Yamaha Grizzly. When the time came for me to buy one, I looked for used. Guess what, all the used machines were Polaris, and they were selling for darn good prices (meaning low). Around the area, seems many Polaris people wanted to trade them in for a different make. So, to make a long story short, I stayed away from the Polaris, and bought a Honda 350. Don't regret it a bit.

By the way, in our group of 10 riders, we have never gotten a Honda stuck, and we can usually put them in places the Polaris would never go. These are just my experiences, please take it easy on me.

[Shorthair]

I've had two Sportsmans and not a lick of trouble out of either. The ride I think is second to none. The only complaint I have at all is with the racks on my 05. The front is darn near useless.

[fasternu]

Are the racks on the new Polaris models still plastic, or have they finally gone to metal? I guess I haven't looked at one close since I got my Honda.

[jltimm]

I knew someone would help my "lonely" defense!I also know some dealers that will not take a polaris for a trade,as they have gotten burned on that one time before because the traded and resold machine kept coming back in for repairs.They had to keep fixing it to keep the customer happy,and it was just a lousy deal!I'am sorry that I'am so "anti polaris",but after I owned one i became EXTREMELY sour towards them!I also have yet to see someone actually "use" one and not have some type of issue with it.And by "use" I mean ride it like ya stole it! I ride with some polaris's,and see their 4 wd not properly working,see them get water in their belt,and see alot of them avoid the "tougher" part of the trails!

[JohnMickish]

Pikechaser and fasternu, I can tell you guys really like the Honda and Yamaha, but before you claim they never had "issues", did you guys ride any of their stuff from the 60's and 70's? Remember the Honda Dream? It was a nightmare. ATC 90 or 110? Trouble from day one. Yamaha MX motorcycle and tri-zinger three wheelers? Yamaha sleds in the lake 70's? Bring a trailer. Totally junk. I just had to throw that in to show NOBODY has ever built anything without having a few "issues" and buy backs.

I'm not trying to make anyone mad here, just stirring the pot a little, but I can honestly say that I have gone out on both a Yamaha and a Honda and had to walk back. Both newer machines and not being hammered on.