To me that is not to bad of miles and hrs if it is in good shape and has not been majorly wrecked!

 

You often see machines with much lower miles and hours, but that I think is more because many people don't use them very often.

Retired folks, and/or farmers and such will often rack more than that up in a single season.

If it has been taken care of, most quad engines can last 2000+ hours.

 

2000 miles on a well maintained quad is not a lot... on a quad that wasn't well maintained, it could be trouble.

You made a smart decision on getting more feedback on that Grizzly forum. Some of the 660's did have some issues.

 

Well tonight the wife and i went to test drive the used grizz. from the minute i saw it i knew,it had lived a pretty rough life. she was banged up pretty good. front brushbar was bent back into the right headlight, scratches and scars all over the plastics. i found out that it was a 2005, 342 hours, and 2059 miles. not sur if it had ever been. cleaned in its life. this was a strick farm use vehicle and you could tell. still had the original tires on and they were nearly bald. both rear cv boots showed signs of leakage. i took her for a ride. power felt good and it started easily. i took it up into a horse field and at times i heard a sqealing noises like something needed greased. but i couldnt make out what it was. put the grizz in 4wd and drove up a hill. seemed to work as advertised. however, i stopped and engaged the diff lock and tried to take off and the grizz sputtered. after turning the diff lock off it started running smoothly again. when i got back from the test drive i asked the owner about the diff. he said he's never noticed that happening. he turned the diff on and it ran fine. so go figure. not sure what was going on. he said the best he would do was $2900. according to nada it might be worth it but im not comfortable with its condition. think im gonna pass.

 

Keep your head up something will show up! You are in prime (Consumer) buying season rt now for people who want to dump there quads a lower prices that in the Spring season!

 

Pass on that one sounds like a wise move.

I started shopping for used before I bought the 500 Foreman. It seemed I ran into a lot of them that were really banged up, or if they were late model in good condition they were priced pretty close to a new one.

In the end I got a good price on a new one. For the warranty and knowing how it has been taken care of, for me going new was worth it.

Now it has lots of tree scrapes and dings on the bash guard, but that's what it is for, and I know it has had valve adjustments, quality oil and filters and other service done correctly and on schedule.

 

It's hard to find something cheap when your actively looking.. every good deal i ever got was almost by accident.. I got a 06 Rincon with 686 miles on it in 08 for 4700 bucks.. I also got in the same year, now get this a 2003 yamaha big bear 4x4 with a plow and winch with 181 miles on it and a matching yamaha timberwolf 2wd with even less miles on it with a 2003 snopro trailer.. I walked in the guy was moving in 3 days he took 2000 for everything i almost ****.. I still see some nuts deals on craigslist time and again was a guy here local selling a 2005 kodiak with a plow it had never been in the mud and you could tell.. only had 400 miles on it for 2300 bucks i almost bought it but jeepers how many quads can you have sitting around that you dont really want. Just keep looking you will see one in perfect shape with low miles soon.. I will tell you this in this economy you can low ball all day long if they don't take it just leave they don't wanna sell bad enough.. I've actually low balled people they would say no i would leave my number and 2-3 days later they would accept or have a counter offer that was much lower than they would do at the time. Don't be afraid to offer way less than what you think something is worth when people are selling something they either NEED money or want this thing gone.. either option puts the buyer in control.. GOOD LUCK DOOD!!!!!!!!

 

All good advice. Thanks everyone. I called her back and told her that considering it's long work life and present condition I'd go as high as $2200. Told her she had my number and if she decided to sell at that price let me know. She didn't seem insulted but said right now she was looking for $3k. So I guess a low ball can't hurt. If she would for some reason change her mind it would probably be a reasonable deal considering it has a plow and thats what I was really looking for. Worse comes to worse I could give it a good tuneup and clean up and fix any mechanical issues and maybe resell it.

In the meantime if nothing else used comes around I will look into something new by late October. Still liking the idea of the Kingquad 500 and the Grizz 450/550.

Still have the opportunity to get brand new 2007 Suzuki Eiger 400 auto for $4400. I know it's a little small and has a solid read axle but it's priced for a person on a budget. Any thoughts on the Eiger? is it a reliable quad? Would it plow snow sufficiently?

 

The Eiger is pretty reliable. Basically, in low, most quads will push snow until they run out of traction. I've even seen plenty of 300cc machines with plows. The solid rear axle will not have as comfortable a ride as an IRS machine and will have less ground clearance. I saw the difference when my son had a Polaris ATP with the solid rear axle and I had the Sportsman X2 with IRS. I was able to get through things a little easier. He got hung up on the axle a couple times. SRA will be a little quicker in corners.

 

A buddy of mine had an Eiger auto. Not much on the power department, but ride is softer than the Rancher solid axle.

It struck me as a lot of machine for the money.