I am looking to get a new atv for this winter to plow driveways. I am buying used off of craigslist. Currently I am torn between two deals, both are in excellent condition. I dont know if i need the extra power of the 650 or how important power steering is. Keep in mind I will have to shell out ~$500 for a plow and mounting system for the 2015 outlander L. What do you guys think is the best deal? I can afford the spend $6250 but that amount is a huge purchase for me. Tell me what you'd go with if you were in my shoes. i will not do much riding other than just plowing in the winter

#1 [Price: $6250] 2010 Can am outlander 650 xtp with 300 miles. comes with warn 2500# winch and a 54 inch moose plow set up. has power steering.



#2 [Price: $5000] 2015 Can am outlander L 500 with 50 miles. Comes with a little over 4 years left on a transferrable warranty and a winch. Does not have power steering.

 

Power steering really depends on your arms and shoulders and what you will be doing with the quad mostly. For plowing, power steering is excellent. I have an 06 polaris 500 that I used to plow my driveway and the cutting/turning was hell on the shoulders and arms. Now I use my outlander max 650 to plow and it's sooooo much easier.

As for missing the power, at 46HP, the 500L has plenty of gumption. My 650 doesn't plow any more snow than my sporstman, just easier to manoeuvre it with the power steering.

The G1 chassis which the XTP is running, had some flaws I'm told. Do some reading on that. The 650 engine is rock solid though.

If the price was closer to the 500 I'd say go for the XTP, but that's a bit of extra coin to shell out.

 

That 4 year transferable warranty on the 500 might be the deciding factor for me. No warranty on the older 650 means if something does go wrong, you're paying for it yourself. Power steering is nice but you'd have to ride both to determine if its worth paying extra for. The 500 has more power than my Grizzly 660 which is no slouch on power itself so no need to worry about whether its got enough power. The very low miles on both of these quads puzzles me a little though. The 2015 I can guess that maybe some financial emergency happened and the owner had to sell. The 2010 with 300 miles apparently was only used to plow snow. Some people put 300 miles on a quad in a month. I bet once you buy either of these you won't just use them to plow snow. You will want to ride them for fun too. Might as well get your money's worth out of them.

 

The 500 is plenty powerful and has the upgraded Generation 2 chassis. The older chassis was pretty thin in the spar box frame and had a tendency to bend where the lower A-arm mounts are located. Hit a root, rock, or obstruction hard enough on either side and it is weak. We put frame inserts in both our Renegade 500 and Outlander Max 650 XT-P. The inside of the box frame is exactly 1.25x3.75 inches so I inserted 3-1.25x1.25 pieces of aluminum in mine. My son's Renegade has a high molecular weight plastic insert. Good for peace of mind. All this being said, I'd go with the Outlander 650 just for the power steering alone. Especially when plowing. When you lift the plow that adds a lot of weight to the steering. Power steering makes it a joy. I would check the frame on the 650. It should be a nice straight box from front to back. If it has skid plates I'd still check it to make sure they're not covering up anything.

 

You guys get great warranties in the States. Two of my friends bought new ATVs this spring and both have a short 6 month warranty. One is a Polaris 570 Sportsman and the other a Honda 500 Rubicon.

If they bought them in the fall the warranties would be used up as they sat in a shed parked for the winter.

 

The L series had the 5year even in Canada tho TLC. My dealer also did a year for me on my outlander max. BRP covers the first 6 months and the dealer the remainder of the year.

 

I think Can-Am discontinued this warranty. My friend that bought his 450L had to pay extra for an extended warranty. Polaris was offering a free 5 year extended warranty on the Sportsman 570 but I think that was for a limited time too. Now if you want an extended warranty you have to pay for it. I think its about $800 for a 5 year warranty on most quads. That's still not too bad I guess. One major failure could easily cost more than that.

 

I could be wrong, but if the 500L was sold with the 5 year transferrable, then it's still in effect. New purchases wouldn't have it, but the one he's thinking of buying will have it. Granted from what I hear of denied warranty claims, what's the point anyway?

 

I think Can-Am discontinued their free warranty earlier this year. It was a way to boost sales of the new L models I guess. Once they took off, I guess they thought they didn't need to give away a free warranty anymore. I think every quad should come with a free 5 year warranty. As much as you pay for a new quad, it should be included. It shouldn't be a way to nickle and dime a customer in the showroom. People see how much they're paying for a new quad and then think that spending another $800-$900 for a warranty doesn't add that much to total price. And they like the assurance that if something goes wrong, they don't have to pay for it. Can-Am's warranty is very specific. Basically if you use any parts or put any accessory on your quad, you better make sure its Can-Am approved. Or most likely you'll void the warranty. Putting on a plow probably voids the warranty, for example unless its a Can-Am plow. Even if you don't use Can-Am oil or Can-Am replacement parts you can void it. I heard of a warranty claim that wasn't honored because someone used brake pads that weren't Can-Am. Something broke in the drivetrain and they said because they used those brake pads that they wouldn't fix it or something like that. Abuse can always be blamed for some failures and the customer can get screwed that way. The customer may not have really abused the machine but the manufacturer can decide that's what caused it and then your warranty is useless.