I have been thinking about getting another ATV and thinking about the Rancher AT.....but I am concerned about how well the transmission will hold up and how much $ I will be out if the durn thing does go bad......so, some questions for you Rubicon owners........

Just what is the warranty on the transmission????.....the "saleslady" at the Honda dealership said it was the same on the rest of the quad but "don't worry about it" as they haven't had any problems.....well that was a little less than satisfying....believe it or don't, I have beenlied to in the past by salesmen. I have read that Honda is fixing these things as they go bad...even if off warrant......is that just a rumor?

What has it cost those of you that have had beyond warranty repairs?

Anybody with an out and out failure where an off warranty replcaement was required?

BTW....I have heard about the Polaris rep for mtce and repairs but my 99 Sportsman has cost me zero in repairs while my 98 Grizzly is about to eat me alive with driveline/differential repairs.....so is the Honda tranny really a good thing or not?

Thanks,

Slim

 

I know several people besides myself that own rubicons and have not heard of a transmission problem yet.We all run larger tires and do a lot of mud and muskeg riding so these machines are being ridden fairly hard.

 

01 Rubicon, 3000 miles, zero problems. Change the oil and filter every 500 miles. The engine and trans share the same oil.

 

The sales person is correct its the same as the quads warranty. Honda Corp wont fix them out of warranty. If a dealer wants to put in a special claim they can, but again, this is at dealers discretion...its NOT Honda policy.

Having had problems in the last 6 months I know more about the Hondamatic and the Rubicon than just about any person I have met. I have replaced my tranny. BUT it was on the bad...bad...BAD advice of 2 dealers who swore up and down on the procedure to test to see if it had failed. They said "we have replaced many transmissions from this test". Turns out that test is in the service manual. It is NOT a test to see if the transmission is bad. It tests a particular gear inside the front cover. Unfortunately I didnt find this note in the service manual until it was too late. I did replace my transmission and of course since it was never broken, it didnt fix my problem.

The tranny itself is around $850. I have heard horror stories of dealers over charging for this. Never pay dealers price. www.servicehonda.com is in business for a reason. The tranny basically a worm gear oil pump. There is not much that can go wrong in it. After having a spare one in the garage to learn about I am not worried in the slightest about one going bad. The biggest problem is lack of training at the dealers. They see any problem and replace everything. Of all the reports I have seen on the net about this, the dealer has replaced dang near everything since they couldnt find the source. This is why they get replaced. Its usually not the tranny at all.

My Rubicon has seen hell and back. Heck take a look at my pictures for proof at www.ansley.net. Would I buy another one, heck yes.

One thing to note is that the new Rancher will NOT have low range. To me this will be the detrement of this quad. Now, if all you do is ride trails and dont want big tires you will be fine. But if you intend to mud and put big tires on, I will assume it will bog down bad.

 

Gents,

Thanks for the input....btw....I did NOT know there would no low range on the Rancher AT.

Rubicon seems to be more machine than I need or want right now.....thought I'd trade in my 99 Sportsman but might keep it and get a machine for the mountain twisties we have here in Colorado but I wonder about not having the low range.....I use that quite a bit on the Sportsman and my Grizzly......hmmmm?

I guess I'd better go try a Rancher when they get in....

Thanks,

Slim

 

I am really curious about the new Rancher. We have a Rancher 4X4 ES, no low range. The 350 Rancher is a very capable ATV. It does not really need a low range due to how low first gear is, it's 1st gear is more like the old "compound or granny" gear in the old four speed trucks. You start off in second and use 1st when it gets tough. If the new Rancher is the same, it may not need it too.

 

Yeah...maybe so. My father has an ancient 300 fourtrax, auto clutch and the granny type first gear is low so you can creep through the rocks and what not. Maybe the AT will have the same thing.

Guess I'll have to wait and see.......may go over today to another Honda dealer and ask when they are gonna get these in.

Slim

 

The lack of low range is even mentioned in the new Dirt Wheels that came in the mail the other day.

 

Don't bunch all dealers in the same category. Honda's dealer support is the best in the business, but you have to take advantage of it. Nobody has paid for a tran or oil pump out of our shop yet. In or out of warranty, and we replaced quite a few on 01's in particular, most recently last fall. That doesn't mean they're going to buy them forever of course, and the policy may have changed already. But I know they bought one as recently as 6 months ago, the machine was 18 months out of warranty.