Hello, I am a newbie with a question. I have been looking at ATV's for almost 8 months now and have narrowed my search. One question that still lingers is the question of reliability. I hear and have read that the Polaris ATV's have "issues" after a few years; also "for every hour of ride it needs an hour of maintenenace" and "major costly malfunctions as they get older". I've also heard that this was true in the earlier years but that Polaris has fixed the prob's and they are now much more reliable.

What is the real truth according to all of you Polaris owners? Are they reliable machines?

Thanks for laying these rumors to rest.

Mac

 

As key with any atv. Maintenance is very important and will determine the quality of the vehicle. All the companies ATV's are good quality. Just as always stay away from first year vehicles. Also the more aftermarket parts you have the more care its going to need and this seems true for any brand just ask a 250r or banshee owner. As a general statement Polaris quality is very good but as always certain models have there own problems.

 

polaris' are extremely reliable, they just have alot more faulty machines than everyone else because they make ALOT more then everyone else. polaris controls the ATV and snow market.

each company has their lemons, but each company is equally reliable. polaris' wernt very relilable before 2000, but you can find quads before that that run like they were new. polaris has fixed alot of their problems and stands behind their warrenty. you cant go wrong with them. and like everything, as stuff gets older, maintnence becomse more expensive, parts for old vettes are huge, and things that arnt made anymore like broncos

 

In my family we have 4 2004 Sportsmans and all of them have been ridden alot and used for hunting and we have had no pfroblems. We also have a 95 Sportsman and a 96 Explorer and both have nearly 5000 miles and both were used to plow and neither of them have had any major problems and very few minor problems. We just ride them and have fun.

I have never been able to figure out where the unreliable comments come from. They must come from the competition since I have never seen what they are talking about.

 

sorry guys, i hate to drop in here and bust your bubble but polaris is by no means reliable. The quote about maintainance being a huge necessity, thats why i ride a honda yes a honda because even though i do the maintaince like change the oil etc... i can ride it hard put it up wet and come back knowing its going to start, and run problem free period. ive towed tooooo many polaris out of the woods to ever call them reliable.. heavy and always squeaking yes but reliable no..

now that i have that off my chest i just want to say that im not trying to start a war or offend any die hard polaris owners, just stating my opinion and personal experiences....

ride red or stay home (or if polaris get pulled home)

 

Here was the question..........................What is the real truth according to all of you Polaris owners?

You are going to have problems with any brand of atv, and that the bottom line. If you take care of it, it will take care of you. I have had no problems out of Polaris quads. And I don't think you have towed to many out of the woods with your 350 & 250.......remember you said they are heavy![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

hey dont knock the 250... it has 15 forward gears... how many does your polaris have ........ since its a predator we only have what 6? and i dont think id have any problem pulling you out of anything with any of my quads.... ive pulled my buddies 500 ho more times than i want to remember.... its kinda like the old saying...... if i had a dollar everytime i pulled a polaris id be rich by now!!!

 

LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dude you are funny, I will give you that! I would give the 250 & the 350 to the wife and kids, and get a real quad like a 800 EFI! I think it would take some time to get use to POWER, but I think you would be ok. The Pred had five gears and I could smoke you in the first two!

 

you mean the 760 dont you? naw im waiting on the tried and true from honda.. or maybe the bomb 800. if you want to talk 800 and power thats where to look..

 

I have owned 2 Sportsman's, a 98 and at present an 01 500 HO. To be absolutely honest they have been great quads in the performance catagory but score less in the reliability department. Both had water pump seals go and would have continued if I had made some modifications to it. Also both my Sportsman's had the struts wear out (loss of shocks) after about 3000 miles which for me is 4 years of riding. The 01 needed a clutch rebuild (worn sheaves and creeping which is very common with the 01 HO's) at 3000 miles too. A clutch rebuild for those that don't know is $650 CAD parts only (fortunately I developed a method of rebuilding them myself). Also on the 01 I have replaced 2 tie-rod-ends, one on each side. The brakes on these quads work very well but need to be replaced once every year providing you use the EBS as much as possible. I also had 2 CV boots ripped due to a poorly disigned rear A arm. (Too long to explain here). One front CV exploded and was replaced under warranty.
Don't get me wrong I have enjoyed both my Sportsman's but my next quad will most likely be a King Quad.
I don't want to here any comments regarding "proper maintenance" because in my working life I'm a preventative maintenance specialist which carries over into my quad maintenance. My garage has several air operated grease guns which are put to use after every ride also cases of oil and many filters to fit all my machines. Maintenance is not in short supply in my garage.