Sup boys and squirrels,

A couple of my buddies are starting up an Arctic Cat dealership. What I would like to hear is good and bad reviews on the AC's that you have owned, what they were, how you liked them, pros and con about them. All the good stuff. All of your help will honestly be greatly appreciated, thanks a lot in advance,

Patrick

 

I love my 375. The most critical thing those guys can do is provide good customer service. I paid a couple of hundred more for my bike, and I'll be paying probably 2 to 300 more for my new 650, but the dealer treats me like I'm his only customer. When they perform service or maintenance, if they say it will be done on Wednesday, they have it done on Tuesday. If I bring it in for anything, they look it over and ride it to see if there is anything else that needs done. For example, they thought the tranny was making an odd noise. They then adjusted it and fixed it. I would have never known because it is the only 375 I've ever ridden. They ride them all the time and know what they should feel and sound like.

I didn't even shop around for another dealer for my 650. These guys have earned my trust and my repeated business. That's the kind of dealer they need to try and be.

One other thing: have them hire competent mechanics. They will run into problems with customers if the mechanics are not good. For example, a mechanic might say a problem or a noise is normal if he can't figure it out. That will drive a customer nuts, and they won't be back.

I'm jealous of your friends. I think it would be a blast to be an AC dealer, and that is the brand I'd have. I might also consider Suzuki and Kawasaki along side them, just because the mechanics would be able to work on those without much additional training.

As for the product, the things I would change on my 375 have been addressed on the 650. (Locking front diff, improved rear brake, aluminum master cylinder housing, shift on the fly pushbutton 4wd, and digital, multifunction dash, although that isn't a big deal, and Goodyear radial tires. The Carlisle Badlands radials on the 400's and 500's look pretty good, too.

Best wishes to your friends. I hope they are wildly successful! I hope my opinions were helpful.

 

What really gets me is if the Dealership (or salesperson) does not know much about the products they sell. This year I bought a 400 AC manual trans. Everthing was just fine until I kind of got stuck (just a little) and wanted to back out of it. Well this thing just does not have the jam to back out of anything 'cause the reverse gear is allways in high range... I went back to the dealer and asked about this (hey, my old 350 Honda can at least spin the tires around... ) and the guy asked why I did not go to low range... like on the 500 AC. So I had to show him that the 400 has a different tranny and he better point that out when he sells them in the future.
Overall I like the bike and the dealership is pretty good and has good mechanics. One reason why I went to buy a Cat is that here in the Yukon we only have one dealer for each brand of bike. So you better go see the dealer that gives you a deal. It's a long ways to south to find another one.
All the best to ya!

 

Woodpecker they must have changed the tranny in 2003 because my 2002 400 man. has a low reverse.

 

thanks for all of the replies so far guys, you already have given ideas and ways for them to be more successful. Only problem with Arctic Cat is that they won't allow any other brand in the dealership, ex: no Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, etc. It's weird but I guess its the way they are, probably just becasue we live in NJ, I wouldn't be surprised. Keep the replies coming, again they are all greatly appreciated,

Patrick

 

Dealership in the Yukon Territory has Arctic Cat, Suzuki and Kawasaki...

 

Trailblazer, yes they changed it. Good for them... I'll use it for an excuse to get a 500 or 650 AC as soon as I have more cash. I'll keep that 400 'cause it does not have any electronics to fail in the cold weather... . I just don't trust anything electronic when it comes to water (condensation) and real cold weather. One of the things that turned me away from Honda is a 'sensor' in the limited slip front diff. Yes, this may work well in California but cold weather, water and time (age) are rough on this kind of stuff.

 

Not true. My dealer has Kawi and they also sell John Deere, which will be badging Bombardier products in the near future.

 

well all I can tell you is that the AC sales rep. / manager (whoever they were talking to) told them that they were not allowed to have any other atv/snowmobile dealers. They are getting Cub Cadet but thats it. Maybe it's since they are just starting out as a dealership that AC only wants their quads on the floor. As for the future, if they do change their mind about letting other dealers in, the only other dealer they would be able to get would be Honda, we live too close to other dealers and wouldn't be allowed to sell them so close to eachother,

Patrick

 

We have suzuki and arctic cat and i'v never heard a peep from AC about it. Its honda thats trying to get all there dealers to be one line dealers.