We all want to think the "good old days" were, well, good. Better than the here and now anyway. So which was the better deal- a modern quad or a vintage 3-wheeler?

The answer may surprise you:

Ask the Editors: ATVs More Affordable Then or Now? - ATVConnection.com

 

7 horsepower. What a joke. My friend's new ATV is 88 HP.

 

Todays modern quad is far superior to any 3 wheeler, more HP, better handling, more comfort etc. Now from a price point.......that another story.

 

Here's a picture of the first Arctic Cat 4 wheeler, does look hell for stout.

 

I guess they haven't really gone up a lot in price for similar hp machines over the last 15 years or so. My friend bought a Grizzly 660 back in 2002 when it first came out and paid 7 grand back then. You can buy a Kodiak 700 with eps for the same price now. Yes we have 1000cc machines that cost 12-13 grand or more but the 500-700cc machines cost basically the same as they did back in the early 2000's Its like when people talk about how cheap gas was many years ago but they also didn't make very much money either. Not to mention the cars got much worse fuel economy than average cars do now. $1.50 for gas now is cheaper than the 29 cents or so that they paid way back then according to how much the average hourly wage is.

 

If I'm not mistaken the Sportsman 500's price stayed the same for 10 or 15 years while most peoples wages went up so the newer ones were actually a better deal than the old ones.

 

I remember when the Sportsman 570 was introduced in 2014 that the retail price was the same as the 500 was when it first came out back in 1996. $6499 in 2014 is worth less money than it was in 1996. Inflation basically doubled the price of everything else in that amount of time, most notably automobile prices. A truck that cost $20000 back in 1996 would cost $40000 for a similarly equipped model today.

 

All my family rides is three wheelers........And we go bout anywhere a 10k quad does.....dependably to.

 

Those can be fun too. But there is a lot of middle ground between the price of those and the brand new machines. For around 3k, you can find a quite capable 4x4 quad, I paid a little less than that for my Grizzly. If I had 10K to spend, I'd rather buy a newer truck. I don't like hauling my quad in a truck thats worth less than the quad but that's just me. I've got a 4K truck(99 Silverado ext cab Z71) hauling my 3K Grizzly, I'm ok with that. Truck is mechanically solid but does have its share of rust as would any 17 year old truck that wasn't repainted at some point. It gets the job done and so does the Grizz. Nada actually says the truck is worth a little more than that but if I were to sell, 4K would be a realistic amount to expect.

 

lOL....aND i CAN GET 2 BIG THREE WHEELERS IN MY SHORT TRUCK!.....iD LIKE A NEWER TRUCK ALSO...bUT TALK ABOUT STICKERSHOCK!!!! $40K FOR AN AVERAGE NEW TRUCK NOW? i ABOUT TIPPED OVER. i HAVE A 2003 2500HD CHEV iLL BE KEEPING FOR A LONG TIME i THINK!......Damned caps lock.....Sorry bout that.