What to expect on MSRP vs out the door price
 

I'm thinking hard about a new Sportsman Touring 570 EPS. The MSRP is right at $8700. I was wondering what to expect on actual prices including set up fees, any discounts, etc.. I know the tax will vary from state to state. I just wonder what I should expect so I don't spend more than I need to.

It varies by dealer. Some will treat you right, and others only see dollar signs when you walk through the door. It pays to shop around. There's a $300 rebate on them until the end of April, at least in my ZIP code.

You have to compare multiple dealers, that is a must unless you have deep pockets. Once you have multiple quotes from multiple dealers then you start going back to those same dealers and see who can better there price. My old trick was to always carry 1000 in cash so when you were about as low as your gonna get in price then you flash a little cash to show your serious. Dealers see to many shoppers that have no real intention in buying to get right down to bottom dollar so they need to know if your really serious about buying. Many years back I was negotiating with a salesman who was running back and forth to his boss. this soon became a pain, so I layed 1000 on his desk and made him a final offer. If he picked up the cash we had a deal if we didn't have a deal I picked up the cash and walked out the door! The first dealer I did that to....yep I walked out the door and he chased me to the parking lot, but the second dealer grabbed the cash and said sold! Guess the second one wanted the sale....won't always work but it lets them know your serious!

I don't know of any dealer that actually charges MSRP on any new unit. Its too competitive among dealers in my area. If a dealer charged full msrp, another dealer would simply discount the unit and they would lose the sale. But they usually tack on extra fees in the end to get back a lot of the discount.

So basically I'd be looking at right around MSRP after the discount and then the add on fees. Is that about right? One problem I have is that there are not many dealerships close to where I live. I know a person can drive somewhere else and get a better deal usually especially when a local doesn't have competition close. But I'd rather buy locally because you generally get a better deal on service if you buy from the local dealer. That's been my experience with cars and lawnmowers and ATV's too for that matter.

Any thoughts on whether an extended warranty is worth the cost? I know they aren't generally but my 2003 Polaris had all sorts of drivetrain issues. That probably had something to do with the fact I used it to push gravel around in my driveway which is pretty long and I had to push a lot of it uphill. It was a Magnum 330 that I found a really good deal on used. I think I would have been better off spending a little more to get a Sportsman though. I bought it from a guy who used it to plow his lot where he had an oil change business. The nubs were still on the tires and I got it for well over $1000 off the price of a new one (which wasn't all that much in those days).

Most all of the good quality brands are well built today, good maintenance is the key to long life. If your going to use your quad hard then you need a heavy duty unit. In 2000 I bought a Praire 300 new, used it hard for 16 yrs, from trail riding to plowing my 300 ft drive and using it as a tractor on my property. Other than routine maintenance I had O issues in 16 yrs. When I bought my Kymco UTV 2 yrs back I researched hard...even searched for customer complaints per 100 vehicles manufactured. To my surprise Polaris had the highest and Kymco had the lowest of all UTV mfgrs sold in the USA.
In todays market a lot has to do with luck of the draw, find the machine you really like and you are comfortable on as comfort has a lot to do with how much use it will get. If you want to stay local, have a serious talk with your dealer to see what he can do....hard to believe any dealer sells at MSRP. As far as extended warranties go.....are you a gambling man? I don't use them and because I take care of my stuff I have never needed them, but anyone can get a lemon, so roll the dice and decide! Whether you get a good deal or not, its your money and your machine, as long as your happy, makes no difference what others think. I don't think I got a real good deal on my machine, in fact I probably could have saved 500 if I was willing to drive a few hours, but my dealer had an awesome test track and let me run it hard on the test track thru water and mud, uphill and down hill, over snow and ice etc....no other dealer had that and the dealer has been excellent with getting spare parts and options....so...again your money, your choice.

I've got a 2000 Kaw Bayou 220 I bought for a song back in 2003. Someone had apparently rode it once and ran straight into a tree or something. The front rack was bent but other than that it was mint. I bought it for less than a third of the price of a new one. It has not had one actual repair done to it in the 15 years I've had it. The starter motor quit working but I didn't bother fixing it. Pull starting was easy. I basically use it just to haul stuff around my place. It does get a short if it gets really hot and the fuel line freezes if I try to run it in cold weather. Neither has caused me much grief. I thought I was stranded once on a slow trail on a hot day but once it cooled off it ran like new again.

That's the kind of reliability I'd like to get. I had a LOT of problems with my Polaris but there were really good things about it too. It was very comfortable and the actual 4wd on demand was always a good thing. But I had to replace both front axles because of joint issues, a drive belt quit on me even though it was bone dry and clean as a pin inside, I had a shaft issue cause me to lose power to the rear wheels while I was way out in the wild (had to let the front wheels pull me home). twice the piston that pushes out the brake caliper pushed out completely while I was riding because the pads had worn too thin (still appeared to be good pads but they moved enough so that they piston came out) leaving me totally without brakes (luckily I was on flat ground both times). I bent a front suspension arm, and the transmission was about to go out when I finally got rid of it. The thing cost me more to keep it running than it cost to buy it almost. I don't want that again. That's the only reason I would consider an extended warranty. Polaris sold me one machine that wouldn't hold up and I didn't push it all that hard except for moving gravel around. I guess I did winch it up in a tree to get out of a deep hole I was in. I rode it a lot but my son rode the Kaw a lot and it never had any problems.

I'd still like to get another Polaris. The comfort, like you said, determines how much it gets ridden. And they have that in spades. But I will likely get an extended warranty because of my previous experience. If it breaks a lot I'll sell it after the warranty is over. I just don't want to pay out a small fortune in repairs like I did before. I know I spent $2000 in repairs on that Magnum and I did all the work myself with the help of a friend.

I've had about a half dozen Polaris ATVs and most haven't had any problems. The ADC broke on the one I have now. It was the most expensive repair I ever had, and was years past when the extended warranty expired. I would still get an extended warranty just in case something broke during that time.

I would pay a little extra to get from a dealer close to me. There are some larger dealers a bit farther away that offer bigger discounts but if something goes wrong, then you have to drive a lot farther to take it there and get warranty work done. Basically, the discounted price ends up adding up to the original msrp by the time you're done. I looked locally and none of my local Polaris dealers had a touring 570 in stock though. Just the single seat 570's and 850's. One had an 850 without eps advertised for $6999, that's not a bad price for such a high-performance machine. The 570 single seat non-eps models were advertised for right around $4999. I guess the dealers around here just don't sell many touring models.

It's about 350 miles to Abernathy so that's a lot of driving to save some money. And it might end up costing me more in the long run. I'll check with them on their prices. I'm guessing there aren't a lot of 2 up ATV's sold in my area either. I wouldn't mind waiting for one if it didn't take a long time. Any thoughts on that?