Help! Overwhelmed on new ATV purchase.

[SomethingFishy*]

I am looking to purchase a New ATV 05/06 model. I am considering both 500's and 700's. I am open to consider ALL brands. I think I want EFI and IRS. This will be my first wheeler and it will be used mainly to transport myself and my g/f and also to pull my Otter Lodge fish house. The "plan" is to purchase and keep this unit and in 2-3 years add another wheeler so we don't have to share.

I have read thru many of the other threads and it is a hard decision so some fresh perspective would be nice. I would also like to hear of specific experiences that YOU have had, good or bad with units that YOU have owned.

I am also trying to find the "best" place to purchase from cost effective and great services.

Thanks in advance,

PLEASE NO CHEST BEATING OR JUST PLAIN BASHING.

[rundrave]

I think as far as information on this board, its the same case with any make/model that your going to get a biased opinion, ford vs chevy sort of thing. You cant really say some makes are better than others. All will have a few lemons, and all will have there bullet proof machines.

My recomendation is do some research get an idea of what you may consider purchasing. Go to a dealer and test drive everything you would consider. What you think fits you the best or what your most comforatable with is a good way to help decide.

It also depends on what you are going to use it for as well. There are pros and cons to alot of features.

Good luck to you and let us know what you end up getting. Searching for that killer deal is all part of the fun

[jltimm]

Ok,here goes! your options in the 500 fuel injected class are the polaris sportsman 500. The 600 class is the 2006 Bombardier 650 FI twin and the 2006 Honda Rincon 680 FI (they call it a 700) The 700 class is the Suzuki Kingquad FI 700 the Arctic cat 700 FI(soon to be released)or the polaris sportsman 700 FI twin. In the 800 class you have the Bombardier 800 Twin, and the polaris sportsman 800 FI twin. My personall choice on out of all of these quads would be the Bombardier 650.I'am not sure if they are at dealers yet, so you may not be able to see them quite yet.The new Bomb's are a bit pricey though. I will not get into the bashing of polaris's,but you mentioned previous expieriences of wheelers and since I owned one myself I have mentioned I will never again own one for reliability issues.I have owned Yamaha,Suzuki,and Honda,and have nothing but good expieriences with them all.My current Suzuki is getting a little ridiculous with the recalls though.(it feels like i own a ford!)

[SomethingFishy*]

LOL Too funny. I am not a ford fan, but i have owned one and it was a good vehicle, just not a fan of the stylin concepts.

Quote:

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My current Suzuki is getting a little ridiculous with the recalls though.(it feels like i own a ford!)

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[FlyingV]

I made the decision to buy a new four wheeler last October and like you was struggling with the decision on which one to buy. I was getting the full court press from Honda and Yamaha salesmen and was also looking at the Polaris models. I really wanted to buy American. Then I drove a friend's Bombardier 400 in Canada. I liked it. He told me about the standard 3 year warranty. I liked it even more. The Japs only offered a 6 month warranty! Then I seen an info-mercial on the Bombardiers and they were offering a free 5 year warranty (the offer expired Dec 31st). That was enough for me. Anybody willing to stand behind their product while I beat it up for 5 years has got to be given a chance. I've only had it for 6 months and 130 miles (14 hours of "running time") but I don't regret it so far. I'll be the first to post up when it breaks too!

[Ears]

I bought my first 4 wheeler about 6-7 months ago and bought a polaris 500 ATP. I have only put on a little over 100 miles and 15 hrs, but it works great for me. Pulls my 14 ft house on the lake, pulls my otter lodge and 2 people and has a great little pickup style bed to hold gear. I think you can find one on clearance for about 5400. They may not have the 3 year waranty, but not a bad price for what I need it for.

[Neiko]

I have owned 2 Polaris Xplorers with a total of over 8000 miles on them. I just bought an Polaris X2 and would highly suggest looking at them. It can convert to a 2 up plus you have a nice dump box in back to put stuff for ice fishing. Go to a dealer and check them out. My dealer suggestion on price is Stacy Our Own Hardware in Stacy. It is a small place but Doug back in service is a great guy and knows alot plus they are usually the cheapest I have found and I shop around. Everybody can bash a manufacturer because they all have there problems if you look on the internet message boards. Do I think Polaris is the best made out there? No but for what little difference there is I think Polaris is the best wheeler money can buy.

[JollyJoker]

I thought you might want to take a look at the polaris dealer 50 miles sw of Chicago. They are selling new 05 700efi's for $5538.00 otd. Won't find a better deal anywhere. It is a 900 mile trip to pick it up though!

[mattkimk]

Kust bought new Bombardier. Only a 400 though, but it is a great machine and I agree with the erlier posts about them standing behind their product. One thing to keep in mind is they are the only machine that is Liquid cooled, auto transmission and a standard 3 year warranty on everything they make. The price difference was about $150 bucks and after that is financed in you monthly payment barely changes.

My two cents anyhow.

[Smokey]

I recently purchased a 400 Arctic Cat, it's air/oil cooled but the 500's are liquid cooled. It's still way too new to give any reliability reports on it, but so far it's been a great machine. The chatter that I hear is that the Cats are more "utility" than "sport", which is fine with me. If you are considering this brand, I would recommend that you jump on 94 and head over to Sauk Centre, the dealership there gets high ranks when it comes to customer service.

Arctic Cat is offering a 2 year warranty through the end of March, after that it goes back to 6 months I think.

[castmaster]

be very careful to get all the info if you decide to purchase out of state. i know there are several "loopholes" dealers in the chicago area as well as some in MI use to lure out of state customers into their shops, and then you find out it'll cost you just as much as at home.

things like set up fees, transport fees etc.

[red ice]

Check the classifieds in the Sunday paper. Quite a few dealers put ads in there with new clearance ATV's. I recently picked up an '05 Honda Rubicon and they threw a full 4 year warranty in with it. Haven't used the machine much yet, but I love it. Good power for pulling everything around the farm. Love the "Hondamatic" trans too.

RED

[SomethingFishy*]

One other dilema is I am currently looking at New 05's and 06's, The wheeler would get minimal use at best for me this summer, would I be better off to see what the 2007 models bring in June?

[luckey]

SomethingFishy

Just make sure you get something the g/f wants, or you may never get the second one. lol

[ratherbefishn]

I was in the same spot as you. I ended up getting a pretty good deal on a 05 AC 400 auto. I would have liked a manual but because of her I went with the auto and dont have any regrets. Most the use this machine will see is Ice fishing and pulling the trailer around up north and this machine has more power than I need. This one is covered for 2years and the 06 would have been covered for 3 years.