To me....just me apparently, the 850 has a little bit of understeer compared to the 800. Would I trade back? Absolutely not, it is a much better and stable machine.

 

My dealer will NOT let me ride one! He says that he can't accept the liability and he would be out of business so he is looking out for his future.

I told him there were dealerships that you all claim you can try before you buy and his comment was "Yea and there are dealerships out of business now because of it".

All that said, I just wanted to hear some folks testimonies to really get the low-down.

Thanks!

R'

 

Hi I posted HighOctane with this same message that we are experiencing transmission slippage with the 28" tires, a chatering sound when hard on the throttle and at starts. Are any of you with the 850xp with larger than stock tires having this same problem. And until it's rectified I'll keep my 800sp. Lots of upgrades. 30"mud lites with aluminum offset wheels, 15" of clearance, full header and exhaust, head ported, throttle body bored, cam, timing key, K&N, power commander usb3, clutched fully, this thing hauls ***.

 

Ive been a customer of this dealer for about 10 years now. Have bought 2 sleds and now a 4 wheeler and they have never told me i couldnt test drive any of them. The 4 wheeler he even said we could take to the mtns and test out as long as he came with us. Also there were 3 of us there when i was looking and he gave us free run of the lot, told us we could ride anything there to see what we liked, said he would be inside if we needed anything

 

This is becoming all too common. Dealers and manufacturers are expecting you to spend 10,000 dollars or more on a vehicle you can't test drive. That simply isn't acceptable. If you walk into a car dealer you can take the car out and operate it on the roads and terrain it is intended to be operated on. many dealers even have certain "demo" cars they use for such purposes. Heck, I've known dealers who to get you do the deal will loan that dealer demo car out to you for a couple of days.

If you're buying an ATV you're lucky if you can ride the things across the parking lot or a patch of grass before you buy it. The dealer should at least have a small area with rocks, dirt, rough terrain and small humps and hills for you to test drive on. Preferably there would be a system that with the proper credentials, proof of means to buy and a deposit one could rent or check out a prospective ATV for a few hours, a day or a weekend so you could try it on the trails you normally ride. Sign liability waivers or whatever but make it possible to try before you buy.

It is simply unreasonable to ask a potential customer to drop 10 thousand dollars or more on an ATV they can't try before buying. It's nuts.

As for the original question I think if I had an 800 I'd wait until the next model year just to avoid any first year model problems. I'm sure there will be an update or two next model year. In this case I don't think you're going to lose anything waiting a few months.

 

Wolf..you are right about the understeer,I had forgot about that..I don't notice it anymore,IMO it is about 90% better with good tires,and basically gone with good tires and some weight,Guru brush guard,winch ect up front.

Mudcity Mudder..soudns like the Spike Load Dampner..it is a "clutch" of sorts in the tranny designed to slip up heavy shock loads to prevent actually breaking something. I have heard of one other machine doing it with 28's...but mostly only on machines with over 30" tires. I run 32's and I have heard it twice,I mean 2 total "pop"..thought I broke an axle the first time lol..it's louder than I expected... I was hung up on large logs in deep mud both times..
I can do wheelies,nail it WOT from a stop on the pavement ect..and it never slips...guess I got a good one.

R...find another dealer IMO..I be darned if I would buy a machine from a dealer who won't even let you ride one...come down to NC I know a great dealer who will take you out to Busco beach and let you mud one before you buy lol..

 

I never had an issue with my transmission slipping, only on how it engages is what bothers me, but again I will get used to that. As for the wheelies, I still have the stock tires on my machine but in the trail the frontend lifted up nicely when stabbing the throttle and going up a hill When you do your wheelies, are you in low or high gear? Yes this machine does have some understeer but like you said, with better tires this should remedy that.

 

Funny my Polaris dealer would not let me test drive one ether because of liability. Apparently they had someone crash one a couple of years back and don't let anyone test drive quads any more. They did guaranty in writing that if I took it home and test drove it and didn't like it they would give me 100% money back, and not in store credit. As anybody with an 850Xp would know I did not want my money back.

Funny thing everyone here says how expensive the XP's are. When I was looking the XP850 was cheaper than the 750 king quod and the grizzly. I ended up buying a Browning LE for a couple of hundred bucks more than the bare bones King Quod.

 

Opinions vary!

All good discussions, yea I think it is BULLHOCKEY to sell them at that cost and not let some test driving. I could see if it was someone new off the street but a repeat customer who is interested in trading up perhaps, why not? Ohh well, if I was a Polaris dealership maybe I would feel differently. One thing is for sure, their not hurting for any dough they have sold the most in the US.

R'

 

I've always been allowed to test ride, I guess it just depends on any negative experience the dealer may have had....In a way I don't blame them for saying no but at the same time I wouldn't deal with a dealer that wouldn't let me go for a spin before buying.....First time one of 'em says no I'll turn around and walk out!