I posted a topic a while back about a Sportsman H.O. that a guy wants to sell me that told me he thought it was a '03, turns out it's a '01 H.O. It has <200 miles on it and it looks almost new. He installed a winch on it and never used it. It as a windshield and baskets for both front and back racks. This guy really takes care of his stuff and told me he had it to the dealer for all the proper maintainance. After reading about the 500's it sounds like their really nice machines, however, I did come across some posts talking about possible cam problems in early '01's? I looked at the date of manufacture and it said 2/13/01. Should I stay away from this machine? I would almost feel safer if it had more miles because from what I've read it sounds like if they have problems it will show up soon. So is this a definate problem or just some isolated cases? I'd like to purchase it because I could save alot of money than buying new, I think it books at about $4000. I'm wanting to spend $4500-$5000 on an quad and everything I've looked at new in this price range wouldn't have nearly the features the Polaris has. My only real concern is that since it's already 4 years old it will start to look kind of ancient several years from now since Polaris has restyled the new '05's. His dad has a '03 just like it that he may sell as well so that may be an option if the '01 should be avoided. Sorry for the long post. Any info greatly appreciated?

 

Anyone? If you had a problem with the cam, how expensive would it be to fix? What would you have to replace?

 

Hey Doodle, I'm not sure where Hugoton, KS. is, but for $5430 you can purchase a new '05 SP400 w/EBS at a Polaris dealer just west of Kansas City. Great guys to deal with. The SP400 w/ebs I purchased is a GREAT bike for me and has all the power I need for the trails I ride on & work I use it for. I was also just there a few weeks ago picking up an oil change kit and they had 2 '04 SP500's both with less than 200 miles for $4900 that looked new. The machines were purchased from Polaris and were used as demos and farm shows and other outdoor events. One of them had less than 100 miles in fact. My neighbor is looking for a used Polaris Sportsman 400 or 500 also. But he may look at an ATP.

 

99Farmboy, what is the name of the Polaris dealer west of KC? Hugoton is way down in the SW part of the state. Sounds like even though the '01 looks new as well, it probably isn't worth too much.

 

Here is the the web site of the dealer. I purchased my ATV back in late Dec. & took delivery in Jan. This was a cash price & the dealer kept all incentives. (No $49 winch, no finance, etc.) I just wanted the best price on a 400 w/ebs. I still had to pay sales tax and license it in MO. I called several dealers in and around KC and these guys had the best price and were the easiest to deal with. Plus they are only 20 miles from my house.

http://www.austinsales.com/

 

Mine is 01/12/01 with 250hours on it with a wiped out cam.. I am at about $460 for cam and rockers.. It would apeer that the first generation H.O.s had soft cams.. no probems since then..

 

I wonder how much of a problem this was? Was a few cases or common?