I went and looked at an 04.5 Sportsman 500 HO. Please convince me that these quads are as reliable as the Japanese brands. I love the looks and the independent read suspension but I want to be sure I not buying something that is going to break down. Sorry if you Polaris riders here this question all the time, but the reputation of the older Polaris' is not that great. I told the dealer I would call him next week and let him know what day I will be in to pick it up. He has no money though so I don't have to.Please make feel comfortable with my choice. A million more questions will be posted from me, I'm sure. Thanks

 

The Sportsman 500 is the most reliable Polaris IMO. Got a 2002 and 2003 Sportsman 500 HO in the family and they both hold up very well to the beatings we give em lol. Had a 2000 till the 2003 was bought also and it was in good shape. Hell even my 2000 Scrammy 400 is in good condition [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] and I'm pretty damn rough on it. Some people have problems with their Polaris but my whole family rides them and we havn't had any problems.

 

I have a 03 600 twin and a 03 pred and both are very reliable. But i agree that the old polaris were not all that great in the realibility.

 

Go and get the 500 !!!

I have one and I had the same questions. I got them answered during the deer hunt when we traded off with other hunters rigs for a try. We all agreed were keeping our sportsman's. We compared our down time(repairs), comfort, performance and looks. Out of 9 of us we had 3 sp 500's 1 sp400, 1 AC 425, 2 yamaha Kodiac's, 1 honda foreman and 1 honda Rincon. They all had their good and bad points but the Sp's seemed to do all things well. We thought we might be a little biased but even the other owners called our rigs the caddy's of the bunch. As far as reliablity I am a firm believer in "If you take care of you ride, it will take care of you". Plus I think working(fiddling) on your rig is much more fun than sitting on your butt watching the tube.

Hope this helps

Rider

 

Take care of it & it should hold up well.

I have a 99 Xplorer with 9300 miles, never been back to the dealer. The hubs still work great, too, and have never touched the internals of either one of them.

Brother-in-law has a (I think 2001) Sportsman 500 with well over 12,000 miles, and it has never been to the shop. We both do minor repairs like CV boots ourselves, but let the dealer do the major stuff.

The biggest thing is maintanence. Change oil like you should, change ALL fluids every spring, and keep an eye on the CV boots, and you should be fine. Also, common sense helps a lot. For example, don't drown it in the river, never check to see if you contaminated the oil, and then wonder why the engine is ruined.

 

I have a 2003 SP500. I can't say enough good about this machine. I also had my reservations about buying a Polaris, but this machine has been great. What other machine can you buy that has its combination of true front locker, low gears, IRS, rack capacity, and the most comfy seat I've ever seen on an ATV. And brand for brand, I believe Polaris has more factory accessories for this rig than any other.

 

You are right. The older polaris quads did have a bad rep but within the past 5-7 yrs they have come a very long way. They are the number 1 selling utility quads for a reason. Very reliable,lots of power,irs suspension, True 4x4, USA!!! The sportsman 400,500,500ho and the 600 twin are awsome. The 500 ho and 600 twin have tons of power. The 700 is pretty new and still has some bugs but still overall reliable. Just ride one and you will see.

 

And your butt will thank you later[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

i bought my first polaris in 97 and have had good look with them being reliable.

 

with the exception of the 600 and 700, the motors on the 500 are made in japan, the rest of the machine is made in the u.s. so you have to have both metric and sae tools to work on it.