Hey all. I have the opportunity to buy a 2004 Arctic Cat 650 for a fair price. The guy will allow me to take it for an inspection. It has 175hrs and 1800km on it. Does this sound good or should I hold out for a newer machine.

 

All depends on what that fair price is! 1100 Miles isn't a ton for an 04 though. We have almost 6000 miles (~9,500 kilometers) on our 2005 Outlander 400.

None of them easy either!

 

Thanks for the reply. I guess after getting stung once I am a little nervous about buying another quad. I took this one into a local dealer and they came up with a list and estimate that looked more like a chance to gouge than service. The quad is being checked by another dealer in Bonnyville that has a great reputation, so we will see.
Thanks again.
Wes

 

I think your own mechanical abilities should also be taken into consideration here. If you are pretty handy with a wrench, you should be able to handle most of what it will throw at you (especially if you arm yourself with a factory service manual) Fortunately I am pretty well mechanically inclined, (for a lawyer) so I have fixed everything on my quads over the years.

My best friend is mechanically challenged, so he takes his Grizzly to the dealer for everything that goes wrong, and they screw him every time. They do good work, but they also sell him things he doesn't need or could do himself if he just had someone to show him how. If he lived in the same city as me I would save him a lot of money by doing the work for him.

I just bought a used 2007 AC 650 TRV from a dealership, and was able to talk to the little old man who owned it before he traded it in (on a 1000 TRV) and was pretty confident it was a good deal...especially with the economy the way it is

Good luck

 

Thanks for your help.

I guess for me I really am cautious about buying quad because I just don't have the time to work on the unit myself and prefer to enjoy reliable riding, do regular maintenance myself but not having to have the ATV in the shop most of the time.

The funniest thing I heard from the Arctic Cat dealer mechanic was that it is common for a AC ATV to have to have the front end, bearing and brakes done after even 150 hrs of riding. To me that would be a bunch of bs!!!

SO the ATV I am looking at is in for checks at a more reliable out of town dealer to see what he thinks. This guy has built his reputation largely with the farming communities but is also one of the largest sellers of quads as a result.
Thanks again for incites.

Ride on.

Wes

 

Cool, well you'll have to let us know how it checks out and if you pull the trigger or not.

Good Luck!