I dont see it as getting beat up,instead,I look at it from a general standpoint that the ones bad mouthing me are usually the ones that are ATV rookies with little to no ATV experience and VERY Loyal to THEIR ATV brand.

When I purchased my 99 Sportsman 500cc back in Sept of 98,I really liked Polaris,however,after buying my second Polaris in March of 2000 and having ALOT of problems with it also,I decided it was time to stop defending my purchase's and pass on my BAD experiences also,hence comes my disliking for MY two Polaris.

They can try and beat me up all they want.There's no dening what I see in the repair shops,and its not a Honda.

Bill

 

I agree 100% with everything Bill has said so far. I don't see any brand bashing here at all.

What I see is that a professional from within the industry itself, like myself, stating the truth from which it is seen in all dealerships across the country.

I am the Floor Manager and Parts Manager at a multi-line dealership and will tell you that the "truth" as some of guys has put it, is that the Polaris quads have proven themselves as being un-reliable when compared to other makes. All the information to back this up is given year after year by both Motorcycle Dealer News and Consumer Reports.

I don't see where there is bashing for telling it how it is in the real world. The real world isn't a dozen of your buddies who go riding on weekends. The real world are the dealerships who see hundreds of ATVs go in and out week after week.

"King of 4x4s"???
Performance-maybe
Sales-not even close
Reliability-Hardly

By both sales and customer satisifaction, there has only been one king of the ATV's. It has been discontinued for two years and still holds the sales record. The 1988-2000 Honda TRX300 Fourtrax 4x4. Not an opinion but a fact.

Ride what you like. Every machine has it's place, and every customer has it's machine. If you like Polaris, that's fine. If you ride a golf cart to the woods, that okay too. Just don't get mad at guys trying to get a point across about what is seen in the big spectrum of ATV,s versus what you guys guys see and hear.

I don't see any posts here bashing the Polaris. Just what they have experienced, whether it's good or bad.

The flamer's are the ones who jump in protest rather than debate.

 

Knowsalot, humble arent you (the name!). What WE need to remember is that these are OPINIONS. In your last post you said the Hondu TRX300 WAS and STILL is the KING of the 4x4's. Why dont they still make YOUR king anymore? What makes the Hondu the king? Sales? Customer Satisfaction? What????? The magazines that cover this industry chose their king, and it was not Hondu. NOW, I dont think that the "KING" title is all that prestigious. You guys are getting ruffled because we dont agree with yall, so turnabout is .......................

 

Muddy4Life explains that Honda does not offer many of the extra features that other brands offer. Yet they command a premium price for their ATV's. My Honda dealership wanted more for the 450 Foreman than I paid for a Kawasaki 650. Feature for feature there was no comparison. Maybe its to offset their perceived position on reliability. Mind you, I believe Honda is quite reliable, just not as much as they think.

Daryn

 

okiedude,.......Humble??......My name??
Fella, You really need to get out of the Polaris forum more often.


DUstanko, Your local Honda dealer wasn't asking more than MSRP for the 450, so if you bought a Kawie 650 cheaper than a Foreman, I would say that your Kawasaki dealer was desperate to put it on you.

 

To clarify, my Kawi dealer wanted close to MSRP for the Kawasaki 650. I had to go out and get other bids in order to get the price down. But the Honda dealer in my town said that Honda had such suberb reliabilty; and that it would not be in the shop as much as other brands. He said "pay more now and save later." Then again, the guy looked like he failed from a dozen car sales dealerships and now he is trying his luck with ATV's.

You have to understand that I am not knocking Honda. My perception is that they are reliable ATV's. I like them a lot, just found out that a Honda is not for me with their current models. This is just the actions of the Honda dealer in my area.

Daryn

 

Hell,

My Kawi dealership was desparate to sell the 650 at $100 off MSRP. Being astute and shopping competition gets the price down in a softer market. This same Honda dealer does the same thing with its Yamaha line. I happen to get the prices closest to invoice from various Polaris dealerships since there are so many close to me and I could pit one against the other. They did not like that but when one is talking 6-7K for an ATV, every dollar counts and its my money.

Daryn

 

I haven't had any problems with my 2002 Scrambler 400 X , except when i flipped it at Coal Creek Mining in Oliver Springs Tennesse the brake ripped off but that is it. Polaris has good 4 wheelers if you get the right ones.

 

Guys,....Before this post ends up how it started, take notice that I never said that Polaris built poor quality machines in general. I was simply pointing out that when compared to other brands, there have been more problems with their line up than the other guys.

I was stating what I have seen in our dealership over the past 10 years. Nothing more. If me telling it how I've seen it appears to be a bashing of Polaris in one's eyes, then you are just a brand loyal customer. Nothiong wrong with that. Just don't argue with guys who say different. I have no problems with you guys opinions on it. The forums are for discussions and debates. Not arguing and bashing.

I deal with 6 brands of motorcycles and 5 brands of ATVs and am not brand loyal to any of them. I see the pros and cons of every model out there, and ALL models have them. I own a Cannondale,Honda, and a Yamaha right now. I may own two other brands tomorrow and I might sell them all and buy even more different brands, so don't call me brand loyal.

And by the way, the "King" thing in my above post was a mimmick of some of the previous posts on this topic above.

DUstanko, I didn't think you were knocking Honda or anything else. I was just trying to figure out how you got the Prairie650 so cheap. Sounds like you got your money's worth.

 

I got my money's worth. I had come to find out that Kawasaki salesmen were letting the 650's go out the door for cheap since there was a manufacturer to sales rep spiff paid out. Kawasaki bypassed the dealership and paid the spiff directly to the salesmen. Their goal was to move numbers and make as much as they could during their selling promo. I ended up paying $6,100 for the 650.

Before the 650 was in the picture I looked at the Rubicon and Foremen ES. I am a first time ATV owner and my first choice was to look at Honda's. I had nothing to go on but they wanted 6k somthing for the ES and $6,800 for the Rubicon.

Then I saw a Polaris SP700 at a boat show for $6,319. I just cannot understand why in my particular market Honda is asking a premium compared to what Polaris and Kawasaki were offering. But they must be getting what they want since they have been in business in my town for over 20 years. I was poised to get the Foreman ES but found out that I could go "big bore" for so little more.

Ulitmately, my ego led me down the road to a Kawi 650. I really wanted the SP700 but I raced them both at a Kawi/Polaris dealership and I wanted to be able to beat other utility 4X4's in any race. Don't know if I would ever get to race. This is my first quad but I am having fun nonetheless. My main use will be for hunting and casual trail riding.

The 650's and SP700's seem to be selling very well in my area and maybe these dealerships are very competitive for marketshare that they are letting them go for less? I read in these Forums that others are paying a premium for the same Polaris's and Kawasaki's.

Daryn