My parents own a Polaris and from my experiences with theirs i will never own one. I have owned a yamaha, kawasaki, and a honda.

Here is how I rank the companies:
1. Honda......... no question
2. Yamaha....... no question
3. Kawasaki & Suzuki
4. Polaris and everything else.

I am talking about stock for stock, reliability.

It is getting to where just about all makes are equaling up. They all have ups and downs. Otherwise everyone would be driving the same quad. It is all about what you want out of the machine.

 

ShouldhaveboughtJapan...
Look like I'm not the only one in those shoe's Back in 2001 Bought a sp 500 good machine until I had 250 miles on it then problem after another. Dealership was selling Polaris, Honda, Suzuki, They agreed to take it back and to choose any other one.
Rubicon 500 was my choices. Drove 40 KM...(Yes Kilometers) Tranny was all jamed and had to get towed home... Took it to the shop. Didn't know what happen Tranny had just seized... Gave me a brand new Rubi (After arguement) and never had any other problem with that one until I got rid of it this last october.
Had an AC 500 but was peice of Crap and got the Grizz, Not too bad but got rid of it too, just didn't had what I was looking for.
Tried a Rincon for a few day's. Good ATV overall for trail, good tranny and power is great but no front diff lock???. Not as much bottom end power as the P700.
So my new choice was the P700 which is what I was looking for, agressive driving, bit of mudding, working horse and lots lots of fun. Don't have ground clearance as others have but I don't give a ....

Good luck finding a new one and too bad you got a lemon because In 2004 all brand make good ATV for different riders even Artic cat and Bombardier LOL[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Ok then how many broken down Polaris's does it take before you can think they are all junk? My god, the man paid his hard earned money for something and it was a major piece of junk to him. I think that would **** me off about the WHOLE brand. If Honda was like that to me, I would be pissed at them but they have been very reliable to me so I am not. What DOESN'T give him the right to hate Polaris now that he forked over 7 grand for something that didn't even run right!? You guys are so defensive when it comes to this crap. Oh my god you might get your pride hurt because you own a quad that some people don't like so you feel you have to try and stand up for yourself!

 

I'm mostly in line with Hutchies' ratings, as an average for all ATVs currently in use, except I'd put Suz ahead of Kaw by a nose. I've owned 4 Polaris quads, they were all high maintenance and had failures of vital stuff that never went wrong on my "Japanese" machines, many built by redneck cooters in the Confederate States of America. Ask mechanics at shops that sell Polaris and anything else which ones they work on the most. Why was I such a slow learner that I owned 4 Polaris machines? They were such great deals used, because the previous owners were frickin' sick of them. I think they look tough and ride easy on test rides, then let you down when the going gets tough. Quiz time: How does a Polaris stay close to a Honda? Answer: When the Honda tows it with a ten foot strap. Ride Red!

 

You might also consider the Arctic Cat. Same Kawasaki 650 VTwin engine as the Prairie650 but has IRS, and plenty of ground clearance.
I personaly prefer the Kawasaki Prairie 700, it handles great, runs great, and I find it a lot of fun, even when compared to my Raptor.
But by all means look around, go and talk to people at places they ride....and make the choice that's right for YOU>

 

when your in the polaris fourm, you might see the polaris guys ask themselves " why do yamaha, suz,honda guys bash polaris, we dont do it to them?" because they CANt! they have and will never have nothing on a jap bike. ther're in there own little world, and they dont get it or just dont want to face the facts that they suck! if you go in there and say something such as..:my scrambler belt slips" they will be like "why you bashin?,we love our quads." i dunno its like a religion to them.

 

Polaris made in the good old USA!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] And Have TRUE 4wd not this 3 1/2 wheel drive stuff...

Go with polaris, best 4x4s on the planet....

 

I'm man enough to admit I made a bad mistake. If all Polaris bikes are made with the same quality as mine which has 59 hours on it, they are pure junk. It's bad when another Polaris, Honda, Kawasaki dealer admits to you that four out of five Polaris's he sells can't be fixed to run right. HELLO!!!!!!!!!! He said ,"I don't know why, but I can sell one of the things and the person will never have a problem, but the next four I sell I can't get them to run for sh_t!" Go figure.

 

If you call 20mph to 65mph bottem end, it's got it and yes it will get you were you are going but you might have to walk back. You wouldn't know bottom end if it kicked you in your butt.

 

Well when you blow 6000+, it's easy to be pissed! I'm willing to take a hell of a loss just to own a decent bike again.