I am going to look at a 96' Sportsman 500 for sale. It looks to be in pretty good condition. What are they going for. Anything to really look out for. It is not going to be used hard, mainly putting around in the woods and trail riding. It does have a plow on it but could get it with out the plow. I have a 01' Scrambler 400 right now, just looking for another good quad. Thank you.

 

96 had rear u-joint drive shafts,plus some,not all depending on maintenance had excessive cam wear(later models had improved cams)plus flywheels had glued in magnets which as they got older would break loose and tear up the stators. NOT trying to scare you,but MPO I would look for a 2000 model at least,one with cv drive shafts (I'm sure others will disagree,some may have several thousand miles on em) but this is from my experience on working on em. OPT

 

so what do they want for it?

 

The 96 and 97 have u-joints not CV joints, We have 97, you really have to put the grease to them ever other wet ride. Look for a 98 and up thats when they changed to CV joints. In 2001 the Sportsman got the Scrambler carb/cam 500 H.O treatment. If you want more power.

 

I totally agree.!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I appreciate the info. He was asking 1700 but would take 1600. It did have a bad front wheel bearing. Could even be the whole strut tower, hard to say. It was a good runner and was in real good shape, other than that. Too much? What are some good prices for a early 2000-2003?

 

2000-2003 400 Sportsmans go in the $1500-$1800 range 500s $1500-$1800 in my area

 

I gave 800 for my 96 500 the only thing i have had to do to it in the last year is replace all but 2 of the ujoints.