Have not been on the Ploaris forum so I don't know if this question has been asked. My wife is thinking of trading in her 02 400 Sportsman for an 06 500 Sportsman. Is it better to get the EFI or not? Is the reliability of the 06 good? I have heard there have been some heat problems with Polaris but don't know what models. I drive an 07 650 Outlander which has EFI and it starts great. We have never had any problems with the 02 Polaris and use it for plowing snow and will use the new Polaris for plowing, if we get one. Any info from 06 Polaris owners would be welcome. thanks

 

I have a 2006 carbureted 500 HO. I chose the carbureted over the EFI because I have never had a problem with a carburetor in over 23 years of owning and riding motorcycles, snowmobiles, and ATV's. I didn't feel the pros of EFI outweighed the cons in my situation. My 500 starts first time every time and only takes 30 seconds or so of monitoring of the throttle before the idle steadies and I can walk away from it. My buddy has an Arctic Cat 500 EFI and he likes not having to mess with a choke, whereas I don't mind it at all.

 

roacher,
Polaris had problems with the '06 500EFI's. i know, i owned one. a simple search topic will go back a year with numerous complaints about the overheating, constant stalling, and some melting plastic issues.(although mine never melted the plastic- Winter use for me). i do understand that Polaris has addressed these issues but if you have to buy a 500EFI PLEASE read the production date on the plastic or ask to read the Cert of Origin and buy the latest build model. i feel all the early ones are BIG problem childs.

the 700EFI's have been flawless since their inception. if you can afford it, imo that would be the route to go. in '02 the 700 carb models had a leaky waterpump but that was fixed- and was an easy fix.

all of my 700EFI's had been terrific- start in the dead of Winter (i park my ATV outside under a tarp), excellent power and good MPG, and had no problems at all.

BTW, i had a '02 SP500. and that was a great machine as well.

~MT

 

oh, i forgot to add.
the new SP500 CARB lacks EBS, and i like EBS. i owned a non-EBS Magnum years ago and that thing just sailed down hills! my left hand grew sore reaming the brake handle all the time. no fun there!

EBS all the way!

~MT

 

Hello roacher. I have 3 buddies with Sportsman 500cc with carbs. I've driven both their quads and my X2 with the EFI. I would have to say starts are smoother and launches seem to be more seamless. Power is good and fuel economy a little better than my friends carb versions.

 

roacher; i have a 500efi and i had some high altitude prolbems but polaris has two reflashs out , both of which i have, and this has made my 500 very good. you get a tire up grade,engine brakeing system, better fuel milage than the 700 and 500 carb and better cold weather starting. if you want a 500 i think the efi is the best by. but made sure you get the latest build date possible or wate for a 07 unless you get a killer deal on a 06 as the season is starting to wind down on this years models. hope this help you.

 

Thanks for the replies, yesterday while looking at the 06's we found a mint 04.5 sportsman 500HO with a winch and less than 200 miles. The dealer did a background search on the machine and the only problem was no spark due to a pinched coil wire. Also ser# not one that needed recall for fire priblem. We traded a clean 02 sportsman 400 with 1200 miles for $1,500.00 difference, he wanted $4,100 difference for a new 06 sportsman EFI with a winch. The guy that traded the machine was from Long Island (NYS) and the machine was his wife's he also traded his sportsman 700 toward a new ranger. I hope we did the right thing.

 

Sounds like a good deal. Especially the part about it having been the wife's machine, as girls tend to ride very carefully on these things.

 

You are a wise man.

The EFI will cost you a lot more in repairs in the long run and that is for sure.

 

What build date is considered a "problem child"? Mine is built on 9/27/05. Is that an issue?