Heres my deal, so I recently bought my first quad, a 99 honda 400ex only to discover it needed major top end repair, thats done,now it needs brakes, and swing arms bearings, and who knows what else. My question is should i keep it? or save money over the rest of winter to buy something newer not brand new i'm thinking 05+
Also wondering what you guys think my best bet is for a used quad that will be generally reliable and fun to ride and not run into too much $$$, p.s. trying to get a heads up on things before I even begin to look

 

older or newer...they all seem to need something most of the time. Then there is the whole thing of stuff you WANT.
You have a good quad to start IMHO

 

its alright but it looks a bit rough and still needs brakes, bearing etc. I've already dumped $1000 into it so even if I sell it i'll be losing money but, I kinda think I'd rather spend money to buy something newer and somebody else can put a few $$$ into my quad and they would have a decent bike,

so my question is now name me a brand and model of used quad I should consider in the future, just incase I sell it

 

First off, my newest machine is an '05, and I have already replaced everything you are talking about several times on it. Unless you are only going to settle for a garage queen that has 10 hours or less total, don't count on maintenance free. ATVs and really anything used offroad will need frequent maintenance. If you ever ride in mud, count on replacing axle bearings, shock bearings, wheel bearings, a-arm pivots, swing arm bearings/bushings on a pretty regular basis regardless of brand or age.

DuneDragin is spot on in that the 400EX is widely acknowledged as a reliable and hardy machine. My suggestion is to buy a Honda service manual for it so you don't have to pay labor to fix the wear items. Replace what needs it, and stay on top of the rest. Ride and enjoy. Selling it now while it needs work will lower the price. My bet would be that it is much cheaper to fix yours than it will be to sell and buy another.