Are test rides common in certain areas and not others. I just bought a pair of new Polaris quads over a pair of Yamaha quads. I am right now a little shocked about the dealers I have encountered shopping for our units.

The local Yamaha dealer in Southern New Hampshire told me flat out, there is no such thing as a test ride. You buy it and ride it, and no refund.

I was looking for a Warrior for my son and a Grizzly with a plow and winch for me. I wanted a pair of quads and a trailer, and I was prepared to buy.

I had the toughest time even talking to anyone there. I first had to prove my son was in fact 16, which was a major pain, and then I was told to buy and take 'em, no test ride.

"The Warrior is a good bike, no need to test it, I don't want him ripping *** around the lot" When I offered to drive the machine instead of him, I was told "No test rides, I told you."

I ended up buying a pair of Polaris units in the NH lakes reigon. I am very happy with both machines and take delivery of this weekend. The dealer offered me a test ride on a unit he had on the floor of my Magnum 500, and let my son test ride a used Scrambler for an afternoon on the trails near the store. He took a copy of my license and loaded the quad on HIS trailer and sent us off for the day. I spoke to him for less than five minuites the day before!

Hell, the guy offered me a written warranty to take them back within a month if I hated them, no questions asked.

The other 'local' Polaris dealer told me the same damn thing as the Yamaha dealer. No test rides, no one offers them. I drove over 100 miles each way to get a pair of quads from what I thought was a decent dealer.

I ended up buying them from the distant Polaris dealer only after finding him thru Polaris' website. It was sheer luck to find this place.

Do you really have to drive 100 miles to find a descent dealer, or have other people had similar experiences? Were you allowed to test drive your machine? Was your local dealer rude, or did you have to hunt high and low and end up falling in crap and coming up with the proverbial pearls?

Thanks,

Jack



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THUNDERTHUD,nothing is more important than having a competant Dealer when purchasing your quads.I have also heard of dealers that wont allow test rides.Guess what?I ''QUICKLY'' leave those types of dealerships.You did get very lucky in being allowed to test ride for as long as you did though.Sounds to me like the 100 mile trip one way to purchase the quads was well worth your time.Best of Luck and happy trailing======BILL 99 Sportsman 500cc 4x4

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My dealer lets you test ride around the dealership as does at least one of the local Honda delaers. There is a huge place about an hour south of here (Des Moines, Iowa) that sells all brands of quads, motorcycles and PWCs. He is planning to build a small lake so that folks can test drive the PWCs.



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Hawk - stock (for now) 99 Scrambler 400

 

Another thing you might want to check out as time goes on. I live in the twin cities in minnesota. The first time I brought my atv in
to the dealer for the full maintenance after breakin period. I did have a coupon to reduce the price but there regular charge was over 100 dollars. Latter on, I was way up at duluth minnesota closer to where I keep my atv. I had them give it full maintenance at the same time I brought it in under warranty to have something checked out. They charged me almost 50 dollars less for the full maintenance. The moral of the story is, check
out the costs for maintenance at several shops as there prices seem to vary.

My original dealer where I bought the atv was willing to let us drive an atv that they had in the back yard but we could only drive it in there immediate area and the dealer watched. You found a real good one. Now go find which one charges the least for maintenance. Happy atving !!

polaris year 2000 xpedition 425 cc 5 speed.

 

I am going to get a polaris trailblazer as soon as the dealers get them in. they cant tell me when they are getting them in because the polaris people arent as organized as other companys. they are pissing me off

 

Well, I would have to say that it sounds as if you have found the worst but also the best. Most dealers will let you run the bikes around in the immediate area, but I have never heard of one letting you take one off the lot to try it let alone giving a guarantee that you will be happy with it. If I had a dealer give me attitude like the one you mentioned, I would have certainly done anything including driving out of state to avoid him making one red cent off me!

 

Sounds like you have an excellent Polaris dealer. My dealer sells more tractors than quads but is very receptive with test rides and information on parts/mods. Make sure he knows how much better he is than the *** at Yamaha. Feedback is what makes dealers good and better.

 

My Polaris dealer let us take a new Xplorer 400 out for a test ride and it is the only dealer i have had let me do it, i rode some around the driveway of the dealership. I was actually quite surprised he said fire it up and take it for a spin. My girlfriend and i got on a took a good ride, it worked we bought an Xplorer. I have had really good luck with Polaris and the people who sell them , I owned Yamaha and Honda in the past and not to knock the quads but the dealer owners were jerks.
The Xplorer we rode was a demo , that is new to me i have never been to a dealership that had one.

 

my dealer was pretty decent. i was supposed to buy a 400 scrambler. he didn't have any at his dealership, but he said there were plenty of them around. so, two of them were supposed to come in. i went to test ride one and they didn't have anything assembled, so they offered to take the scrambler 500 floor model out so i could test ride it. needless to say they tried to get me to buy the 500, but i told them that i wanted the 400. they were good with everything overall.

bigdevil/'99 scrambler 400

 

Thanks for all your replys. I guess I just got lucky. I picked up both units this morning.

They were loaded on the trailer, full of gas, and ready for my inspection. They even registered them for me free of charge. I almost fell over. I actually felt good laying out money to someone. All prepped ready and waiting warm in their garage.

To go with my good feeling, my son conned me out of a new helmet and jacket, and being good dad, I caved. Damn warm fuzzy feeling.
I'm quite pleased with the machines so far.

I'm eagerly awaitig snowfall so I can try out the new plow tomorrow.

Good dealers are few and far between. I have no clue how the crappy ones stay in business, but good will made another accessory sale right after the fact! Be sure to tell your dealer they did a good job, i sure did.

Jack