Leaning towards a 500 Sportsman,i want a quad that will last me 10 years or more, will i regret buying a sportsman?

 

You won't regret it in the least.
Sportsmans are awesome ATV's.

But if I was you and was planning on keeping it that long you may want to think about a Sportsman 600 or 700 twin. or the new EFI.
You may want the extra power down the road.

 

Sportsmans are great quads, I know a guy that has a farm in Michigan he runs his 500 sportsman everyday never does anything to it, never changes the oil checks nothing... Its a 98 he had bought new.. So far in its life it has only been serviced once thats it... Still runs strong plowing in the winter and working in the summer...