I've never had a Polaris however, I have relatives that use them every day on the farm for everything from chasing livestock to hauling hundred's of pounds of bails, towing, play, you name it. They claim they will never buy anything else, and they have had several different brands, accept AC. My one cousin is 6'4" and weighs nearly 300 pounds, he rides his everyday, all winter long. It sits outside, too.

 

Thats too bad, we have both Polaris ATV's and Polaris snowmobiles. The quality of both are high, but I've found their Snowmobile line is much stronger in the industry than their ATV line. The mentality of the general consumers is different towards the sleds, most consumers look up to Polaris innovation on snow, unlike the ATV market consumers shown in this very thread.

 

This thread has just turned into a bunch of finger pointing.

If one manufacturer was producing a product very inferior of other brands they would not sell nearly as many products in all the catagories as the other "supreme" manufacturers. Thats how it works, if a company comes out with a POS it gets laughed at and they know that.

Everyone has a story or wants to point a finger at how much of piles a certain manufacturer has.

EVERY BRAND WILL HAVE PROBLEMS.

Pick the brand of problems of your choice and relax already! No one has anything out better than the next company...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]

 

Hear about kawi's recall on 650 and 750 vtwin front a-arms. Breaking when turning sharp and bumping into anything. Worst ever on my 99 scrammy as bending edges of the wheels cornering and hitting something. Oh well. I'll take the scrambler anytime.

Steve Lubecki

 

Sportsmans have pretty good protection on all corners, what do you mean only on one side?

I do know that the KQ's have small axles and weak tie rods and ends. And how bout that reverse prior to 05? Throw in a CDI that goes out in a blink of eye?

 

So all the problems we see on a daily basis and all the problems reported on this board don't exist?

Are we ALL liars?

I am a Polaris man. I have owned them since 1992. I worked at a dealership for years. I still work on Polaris today and I do it for a living.

I personaly ride a 04 500HO. I know that Polaris STILL has reliability issues BUT I am willing to accept them to some degree because I like the Polaris design and I like how they run and ride.

 

Cornbread2 I think you hit it right on the head. Polaris is a high seller because feature for feature you get the most out of a polaris. Probably the best riding trail quads with great desing and innovation. But unfortunately there quality isnt number one or number 4 for that matter but I think thats the trade off for innovation. Honda has the best quads for quality because they are never changed and thourghly tested before released of any changes but boring and lack of innovation in design. I think the Poo Poos are getting better though but if you buy a new release quad expect some problems. Thats why the 500 HO is there best selling because its been out the longest and is the most tried and true with years of development.

 

Seriously, THEY ALL HAVE PROBLEMS. YOU ALSO HAVE TO MAINTAINENCE YOUR ATV. Please quit with the reliability issue. TAKE CARE OF YOUR ATV, AND YOU WILL HAVE VERY FEW PROBLEMS. End of story. I've had the privilage of owning an atv from every company, except Bombardier, and Suzuki. ALL of our other atv's have had there problems, not just Polaris.
--------------------
2004 Polaris Sportsman 700
27' ITP 589 M/S Tires
3000 lb. Warn Winch

2001 Honda Rancher ES (2wd)
2.5 Warn Winch

 

Sorry cornbread, i skipped over your reply. I didnt mean that they dont have problems, i was being sarcastic meaning, since '03 and up, it seems Polaris has come a VERY long way, and from what i hear, they're arent AS MANY reliability issues as there used to be.
--------------------
2004 Polaris Sportsman 700
27' ITP 589 M/S Tires
3000 lb. Warn Winch

2001 Honda Rancher ES (2wd)
2.5 Warn Winch

 

The recall was about the ball joint actually coming out of the steering knuckle. Nothing breaks, until the ball joint comes loose of course [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]. If you hit a big bump on a turn it could actually deform the steering knuckle where the ball joint attaches, thus causing the ball joint to come out of the steering knuckle. The problem...the steering knuckle is made of aluminum. The fix...I heard they are replacing the aluminum knuckle with a steel one. They are also giving recalled machines new a-arms, bushings, balljoints and possibly new wheel bearings. That's got to be expensive.

I ride with a bunch of Honda guys every once in a while and the one time I heard them talking about how Honda can go through more stuff than any other brand. I just laughed. Now who would say that, honestly? That's just dumb. I asked the guy if he listens to himself talk.