Krazey
Member
Hello all,
I thought I'd post my experiences in case anyone could find them helpful.
In August of 2011 I bought my first ATV. I bought a brand new 2011 Arctic Cat 550 LTD. It had the EPS, EFI, Front and Rear Bumpers, Winch, and Aluminum rims. I was super excited. I took it out quite a lot of the next several weeks, and I learned a lot about how to handle it and some of what NOT to do. No wrecks or anything, but a couple close calls. I had it into the shop a few times in the first 6 weeks to go over some warranty issues. I was already feeling like I should've maybe got something a bit bigger though, and I was not too thrilled that it had to be in the shop so much so soon. Then in October 2011 I was using it hunting in the mountains SW of Calgary and the transmission died. With a loud bang. The thing would start but wouldn't move. I was quite a few KM's (8-10) from my truck and I had to walk back. Then I had to get my truck up this trail to get my dead atv out! I was super happy with my 2002 Toyota Tundra for getting me up this trail, and out again with the atv on the back. Not so happy with my new ATV!
I took the quad back to Bass Pro where I bought it and demanded that I get my money back. At first they just ignored me. After I got tired of that (about 2 days of calling and showing up and nothing happening) I started sharing my experience with all the potential customers that were walking around. I even interrupted one guy who was about to sign the deal and buy one, and I talked him out of it. Then all of a sudden I was being given a LOT of attention. They had me surrounded with 5 or 6 guys who were trying to intimidate me to leave. I don't intimidate very easily. So after I caused a bit of a rukkus, I finally had the attention of the manager. That's who I wanted and needed to speak with so I could get my money back from this lemon ATV.
They wouldn't give me my money back. IF they did I'd have bought a 700 Grizzly. But they DID give me a replacement brand new 550 identical to the one that just died. That quad seemed to have little troubles with it. I still craved a bit more power, but this atv seemed to work well enough.
In February 2012 I tried to satisfy my power craving by buying a 2011 Arctic Cat 700 LTD. So now I have 2 AC's. The 700 had a bit more torque, but only a bit. Not a whole lot more power. The 550 and the 700 would get to pretty well the exact same top speed, but the 700 would get there a bit more quickly. So in the spring of 2012 I took apart the 700's CVT and sent the clutches and all to Louisiana to a guy who calls his company "Papa Slap". He did the stage 3 machining and adjustment, which was all he offered at the time. It cost $500 after it was all said and done. Then I put them back together. This added a bit more torque again. The top speed was unchanged, but I didn't expect it to be. So now, with the Papa Slap clutches I could definately tell the difference between the 550 and the 700. Differences weren't huge or massive, but there was a difference.
The next major event occured in May 2013. My friend and I were ridding my 2 quads in Mclean Creek OHV area. He was on the 550 and I was on the 700. We were up Fisher Creek and he wiped out pretty bad. He was going faster than he should've been and put his front tire in a deep rut. This made the machine flip end over end and he flew. I was ahead of him, so I didn't see it happen. I came back and first aid, evacuation, etc etc. He was very hurt but not dead. He was wearing a helmet and it saved his life. In November of this year he finally went back to work full time. So it was quite a while of recovery.
But the quad, though repairable, was written off by the insurance company. I needed to go through insurance so as to help my injured friend have better access to physio, help pay lost wages, etc. If not for that, I'd have probably tried to repair it myself. But anyway, it was a write-off.
I argued and fought and got the most money out of them that I could get (NEVER take their first offer!) and with that money plus a bit of my own I bought a 2013 Can Am Outlander 800r XT.
HOLY SMOKES! This quad has the POWER I was craving and then some. It is soooo torqey and the fastest I've had it is 120 km/hr. The only negative that I can say about it is that the thing is so computerized that it knows when it is due for service and it yells at you to take it to the dealer to get the service done by them. And it's not cheap. But they're the only ones that have the DESS system to turn off the yelling. I understand that if you ignore the maintenance warnings long enough that the machine goes into limp mode.
Other than that annoyance, this quad is twice the quad that the AC 700 is. I still own the 700, and so far this winter it has been used to plow my walk and driveway. My wife rides it on trail rides. She says she actually preferred the 550. She says it was easier for her to control. But, I very very much prefer the Outlander 800. It's soo awsome.
So in the last 2.5 years I've owned 4 atvs. 3 Arctic Cats, one of which was a lemon, and 2 of which were mechanically solid. But all of which pale in comparison to the one Can Am I've owned.
That's my experience. Maybe, if someone takes the time to read all of this, they might find it helpful.
Krazey
I thought I'd post my experiences in case anyone could find them helpful.
In August of 2011 I bought my first ATV. I bought a brand new 2011 Arctic Cat 550 LTD. It had the EPS, EFI, Front and Rear Bumpers, Winch, and Aluminum rims. I was super excited. I took it out quite a lot of the next several weeks, and I learned a lot about how to handle it and some of what NOT to do. No wrecks or anything, but a couple close calls. I had it into the shop a few times in the first 6 weeks to go over some warranty issues. I was already feeling like I should've maybe got something a bit bigger though, and I was not too thrilled that it had to be in the shop so much so soon. Then in October 2011 I was using it hunting in the mountains SW of Calgary and the transmission died. With a loud bang. The thing would start but wouldn't move. I was quite a few KM's (8-10) from my truck and I had to walk back. Then I had to get my truck up this trail to get my dead atv out! I was super happy with my 2002 Toyota Tundra for getting me up this trail, and out again with the atv on the back. Not so happy with my new ATV!
I took the quad back to Bass Pro where I bought it and demanded that I get my money back. At first they just ignored me. After I got tired of that (about 2 days of calling and showing up and nothing happening) I started sharing my experience with all the potential customers that were walking around. I even interrupted one guy who was about to sign the deal and buy one, and I talked him out of it. Then all of a sudden I was being given a LOT of attention. They had me surrounded with 5 or 6 guys who were trying to intimidate me to leave. I don't intimidate very easily. So after I caused a bit of a rukkus, I finally had the attention of the manager. That's who I wanted and needed to speak with so I could get my money back from this lemon ATV.
They wouldn't give me my money back. IF they did I'd have bought a 700 Grizzly. But they DID give me a replacement brand new 550 identical to the one that just died. That quad seemed to have little troubles with it. I still craved a bit more power, but this atv seemed to work well enough.
In February 2012 I tried to satisfy my power craving by buying a 2011 Arctic Cat 700 LTD. So now I have 2 AC's. The 700 had a bit more torque, but only a bit. Not a whole lot more power. The 550 and the 700 would get to pretty well the exact same top speed, but the 700 would get there a bit more quickly. So in the spring of 2012 I took apart the 700's CVT and sent the clutches and all to Louisiana to a guy who calls his company "Papa Slap". He did the stage 3 machining and adjustment, which was all he offered at the time. It cost $500 after it was all said and done. Then I put them back together. This added a bit more torque again. The top speed was unchanged, but I didn't expect it to be. So now, with the Papa Slap clutches I could definately tell the difference between the 550 and the 700. Differences weren't huge or massive, but there was a difference.
The next major event occured in May 2013. My friend and I were ridding my 2 quads in Mclean Creek OHV area. He was on the 550 and I was on the 700. We were up Fisher Creek and he wiped out pretty bad. He was going faster than he should've been and put his front tire in a deep rut. This made the machine flip end over end and he flew. I was ahead of him, so I didn't see it happen. I came back and first aid, evacuation, etc etc. He was very hurt but not dead. He was wearing a helmet and it saved his life. In November of this year he finally went back to work full time. So it was quite a while of recovery.
But the quad, though repairable, was written off by the insurance company. I needed to go through insurance so as to help my injured friend have better access to physio, help pay lost wages, etc. If not for that, I'd have probably tried to repair it myself. But anyway, it was a write-off.
I argued and fought and got the most money out of them that I could get (NEVER take their first offer!) and with that money plus a bit of my own I bought a 2013 Can Am Outlander 800r XT.
HOLY SMOKES! This quad has the POWER I was craving and then some. It is soooo torqey and the fastest I've had it is 120 km/hr. The only negative that I can say about it is that the thing is so computerized that it knows when it is due for service and it yells at you to take it to the dealer to get the service done by them. And it's not cheap. But they're the only ones that have the DESS system to turn off the yelling. I understand that if you ignore the maintenance warnings long enough that the machine goes into limp mode.
Other than that annoyance, this quad is twice the quad that the AC 700 is. I still own the 700, and so far this winter it has been used to plow my walk and driveway. My wife rides it on trail rides. She says she actually preferred the 550. She says it was easier for her to control. But, I very very much prefer the Outlander 800. It's soo awsome.
So in the last 2.5 years I've owned 4 atvs. 3 Arctic Cats, one of which was a lemon, and 2 of which were mechanically solid. But all of which pale in comparison to the one Can Am I've owned.
That's my experience. Maybe, if someone takes the time to read all of this, they might find it helpful.
Krazey
