I am going to be purchasing a AC 4X4 in the very near future. I found a like brand new 2001 AC 500 Auto with only 80 miles on it, it also has a WARN winch, what is a good price for this machine? Also, I do a lot of trailriding, through hilly areas, I want a machine that will be able to go through heavy snow if neccesary and do some pulling. Which machine will be most likely to suit these needs best? The 500, a 2002 375, or a 2002 400. Is there any clear cut advantage to auto or manual for pulling? My uncle has a pair of Polaris Explorers, they suck, grease the drive train once a week, tighten the chain every other week, and a new chain every year. I don't want to have these kinds of headaches. Need your help.

 

Hey everyone, correct me if I'm wrong. I think that there was a major improvement made to the 2002 automatics. Something about the vent locations, and some other issues. Can't remember exactly, someone will help us out here, it may have been 2000 or earlier. Regardless of that, a brand new 2002 500 4x4 auto, with winch, taxes, destination, etc. will cost about $6500 (make it an i model for only $200 more). So probably from $5000 to $5500 if it's in like new shape. Just my .02.

Auto versus Manual, I'm not going to start anything here. But I chose manual. You really can't go wrong with either any more, I'm just old school and prefer manuals. It's really a preference call, they'll (newer models) both do fine. There was some issues with auto's when they were first retrofitted by Polaris from snowmobiles, but most if not all of those problems have been weeded out now.

 

If it boils down to the '02 375 or 400, and shifting is NOT an issue, get the 375. It feels a little lighter and is faster. My brother consistantly beats me in a race and he outweighs me by 30 lbs. If you have to shift (like me), the 400 is still an excellent machine, and feels more sure footed than the 375. Either of the '02s will have improvements in suspension and other areas over the '01 500 (I beleive), though from reports here, those older 500's are nothing to scoff at.

Take a look at my photo album (in the "Red Top" area of the "ATV" album) to see a photo of how deep we had the 375. Note that the machine was running when the photo was taken and, in fact, continued to run until we winched it out (which took a half hour) and shut it off.

 

Cool, looks like your cat likes water :-)

 

Antrim4Wheelin:

I would say a good price for the 2001 auto would be $5700-5800 somewhere in there, maybe cheaper.

As far as which machine is better is hard to say. For normal trail riding, there probably isn't much difference. Between the 375 and 400 it's whether you want to shift or not. With the 500 it's whether you want last year's model with the changes in the 2002's.

I do alot of pulling with my auto and I know quite a few others do on this forum. I don't know of any problems associated with towing with AC's automatic transmission. I often skid logs (or whole trees) out of my timber to cut up. Many weigh more than the maximum rated towing capacity even before you factor in the friction of dragging them. I also plow alot of snow in winter, and the auto has held up well. So as far as auto or manual goes, either will work fine.

My father-in-law has a 375. It's a nice machine. The biggest difference I see in the 375,400 and the 500 is low-end torque. After riding the 500 and getting on the 375, it's the biggest difference for me. Places where you just blip the throttle and you're through on the 500, you're find yourself mashing on the throttle harder with the 375. If you've never ridden a 500, you probably wouldn't notice though.

Hopefully this helps. Merry Christmas [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]