I'm looking into buying my first ATV, and I have found a used Rancher 420 ES(87 hr/600 mls/$3.600) and Sportsman 500 HO(61 hrs/350 mls/$4,500) both low mileage/ hrs and well maintained. the Sportsman has some extras, winch, brush guards etc. Does anyone have any opinions on which would be a better option from a reliability standpoint. I believe the Polaris is carbureted and the Honda is efi, so the efi seems like the better option since its new tech, but the carb might be just fine looking for insight. This will only be used for hunting and some trail riding possibly. Thanks for the help.

 

My 2008 500 H.O. is an EFI. I think they made both EFI and carb that year so you should see for sure which one it is. The EFI has just a tad more HP than the carb version. Either one will have way more power than anything Honda makes except the Rincon which is slightly more powerful than the 500 H.O. Honda has a better reputation for reliability but the Polaris will have a better ride. Since I've owned and ridden both an IRS quad and a SRA I'll never buy another SRA.

 

Its definitely carbureted, which is my only real concern with it, I'm not sure about the maintenance vs a Honda either.

 

I read the mileage on these machines and I thought it was a misprint. Who buys a quad and rides it less than 100 miles a year? I was going to suggest a Grizzly 700 but you'd never find one with low miles for that price. Perhaps a Grizzly 550 which still has more power than either of these but still probably not under 1000 miles for under $5000. Carbs are a bit more finicky in cold weather especially, efi is basically hit the button and instant start and go. A carb machine needs time to warm up to run well. My 660 when cold takes a bit of idling with the choke pulled out to warm up or it will simply die. But carbs are easier to work on, ask any mechanic. So if something does go wrong with an efi machine, it will cost more to fix. The Sportsman 500 has about 10 more hp, that would be enough of a reason to buy it over the Rancher.

 

The only real concern with a carb model besides cold starts is altitude. If you're going to ride at a much different altitude like in mountains you'll have to re-jet the carb. I rode Sportsman 500 carb models for 11 years without any carb or engine problems. I just had to turn the idle up a little in winter on one of them.

 

Both my ATVs are carb and I never do anything but start them and run them even ice fishing. I rode many efi ATVs and you really can,t tell them apart.

The 500 is a full chassis machine, with much more power (35hp vs 26hp), rear hydraulic dick brake and a nicer IRS ride then the 420 Mid chassis with SRA and a rear mechanical drum brake with causes much less ground clearance.

Both machines must of have slow riding to have hours like that with low miles . When I was at 80hrs I had 800 miles which works out to 10mph trail rides.

 

The guy travels a lot for work so they just didn't get driven much, thanks for the feedback, Polaris it is.