New Sled Warranty ...Do you purchase a new sled for the reassurance? And Why?

[Dakine879]

Hello All, just thinking about the sled industry as a whole, nothing brand specific, and also not just regarding this forum, i like to bump around and view threads from other forums like :

hardcoresledder
arcticchat
dootalk
amsnow

there are others...

I see threads with people claiming to purchase new sleds because of the manufacturer's warranty of two, three, or even four years.

My question is, i would estimate 95% of people who sled are blue collar guys who are capable and enjoy repairing small engines and the associated components....(I fall into this category)

Why spend the extra $$$ for new when you are capable of fixing (a potential) problem yourself?? I do not see the value in the warranty.

I can understand if you don't want to waste your time fixing something when you could pay someone else, or pay for the warranty...IE you are a surgeon, MBA, Lawyer, or small business owner making $280,000 per year...It makes no sense to fix something yourself when you make $135/hr and the repair dude makes a pittance at @ $28/hr. I would guess the majority of sledders make less than $200k per year.

Perhaps it has nothing to do with warranty, some guys just need to have the latest and greatest?

Thanks

 

[mitty26]

I tend to buy new for mainly the warranty and also not knowing the history of a used sled/atv.

 

[sledneck_03]

i bought new cause i wanted the latest and greatest.

 

[takethebounce]

I am poor. I purchase new because it had warranty and saves me $3500+ on putting in a new motor should something fail. Why spend $8000-$10000 on a newer used sled with the chance it needs a lot of work and more investment when I can own new sleds for $11000-12000.


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[maxwell]

im sure all of us could fix our own problems. new sleds are becoming more and more complex every year and its not as easy as cleaning out the pilot jets anymore. Specialized tools and computers are required to diagnose alot of the issues without just throwing parts at the machine. There are so many reasons why warranty and new machines are important to me. Firstly like mentioned above you NEVER know what you are getting picking up a slightly used machine even if you have a good feeling about it. Im not sure about yourself but many of us on here venture WAAAAY into nomans land in the backcountry so having a new machine with a clean history is very important. Having confidence in your machine to get you home at the end of the day. Granted warranty will not help you in that situation it is still up to you to get it into the dealer regardless if its 90 miles into a mountain range. Our time in the mountains is limited and what i have realized over the years is i enjoy loading my sled riding it hard, putting it away wet, and repeating. afterwords going out for a nice dinner and having some drinks and laughs with friends rather than being out in the trailer or shop until all hours of the night wrenching and tracking down parts. That used to be me and it was fun for a while but grew very very old after a few sunny deep snow days were destroyed and my friends were out having fun while i was tearing my sled apart LOL. I have yet to use my warranty knock on wood....but its a huge piece of mind for me knowing its there if my motor crators. i need to be back on the snow the next weekend and if it was up to me to track down and pay for all the parts and install them before friday it just wouldn't happen. My work and personal schedule is very busy just like everyone else im sure so wrenching has taken the backseat for me. Being able to drop your sled at your dealer and come grab it all fixed is well worth the $$. Especially with these new machines you could spend 2 days chasing weird computer and electrical problems that a dealer might be able to diagnose with the computer in 5 minutes. ( or maybe not some dealers are not that good ). Have you seen what an ETEC shortblock is worth? 3x the price of warranty. granted etecs are very reliable but its just probability that some will fail and thats a crappy bill to foot on a new machine. and your right, alot of us just want the latest and the greatest to keep pushing the limits!! That being said i think warranty should be 100% optional because if your one that likes to modify your machine and throw your warranty out the window anyways why pay for it.

 

[takethebounce]

im sure all of us could fix our own problems. new sleds are becoming more and more complex every year and its not as easy as cleaning out the pilot jets anymore. Specialized tools and computers are required to diagnose alot of the issues without just throwing parts at the machine. There are so many reasons why warranty and new machines are important to me. Firstly like mentioned above you NEVER know what you are getting picking up a slightly used machine even if you have a good feeling about it. Im not sure about yourself but many of us on here venture WAAAAY into nomans land in the backcountry so having a new machine with a clean history is very important. Having confidence in your machine to get you home at the end of the day. Granted warranty will not help you in that situation it is still up to you to get it into the dealer regardless if its 90 miles into a mountain range. Our time in the mountains is limited and what i have realized over the years is i enjoy loading my sled riding it hard, putting it away wet, and repeating. afterwords going out for a nice dinner and having some drinks and laughs with friends rather than being out in the trailer or shop until all hours of the night wrenching and tracking down parts. That used to be me and it was fun for a while but grew very very old after a few sunny deep snow days were destroyed and my friends were out having fun while i was tearing my sled apart LOL. I have yet to use my warranty knock on wood....but its a huge piece of mind for me knowing its there if my motor crators. i need to be back on the snow the next weekend and if it was up to me to track down and pay for all the parts and install them before friday it just wouldn't happen. My work and personal schedule is very busy just like everyone else im sure so wrenching has taken the backseat for me. Being able to drop your sled at your dealer and come grab it all fixed is well worth the $$. Especially with these new machines you could spend 2 days chasing weird computer and electrical problems that a dealer might be able to diagnose with the computer in 5 minutes. ( or maybe not some dealers are not that good ). Have you seen what an ETEC shortblock is worth? 3x the price of warranty. granted etecs are very reliable but its just probability that some will fail and thats a crappy bill to foot on a new machine. and your right, alot of us just want the latest and the greatest to keep pushing the limits!! That being said i think warranty should be 100% optional because if your one that likes to modify your machine and throw your warranty out the window anyways why pay for it.

We all know you get your sleds free!


jk!

 

[maxwell]

We all know you get your sleds free!


jk!

One can dream....hehe.

 

[ferniesnow]

im sure all of us could fix our own problems. new sleds are becoming more and more complex every year and its not as easy as cleaning out the pilot jets anymore. Specialized tools and computers are required to diagnose alot of the issues without just throwing parts at the machine. There are so many reasons why warranty and new machines are important to me. Firstly like mentioned above you NEVER know what you are getting picking up a slightly used machine even if you have a good feeling about it. Im not sure about yourself but many of us on here venture WAAAAY into nomans land in the backcountry so having a new machine with a clean history is very important. Having confidence in your machine to get you home at the end of the day. Granted warranty will not help you in that situation it is still up to you to get it into the dealer regardless if its 90 miles into a mountain range. Our time in the mountains is limited and what i have realized over the years is i enjoy loading my sled riding it hard, putting it away wet, and repeating. afterwords going out for a nice dinner and having some drinks and laughs with friends rather than being out in the trailer or shop until all hours of the night wrenching and tracking down parts. That used to be me and it was fun for a while but grew very very old after a few sunny deep snow days were destroyed and my friends were out having fun while i was tearing my sled apart LOL. I have yet to use my warranty knock on wood....but its a huge piece of mind for me knowing its there if my motor crators. i need to be back on the snow the next weekend and if it was up to me to track down and pay for all the parts and install them before friday it just wouldn't happen. My work and personal schedule is very busy just like everyone else im sure so wrenching has taken the backseat for me. Being able to drop your sled at your dealer and come grab it all fixed is well worth the $$. Especially with these new machines you could spend 2 days chasing weird computer and electrical problems that a dealer might be able to diagnose with the computer in 5 minutes. ( or maybe not some dealers are not that good ). Have you seen what an ETEC shortblock is worth? 3x the price of warranty. granted etecs are very reliable but its just probability that some will fail and thats a crappy bill to foot on a new machine. and your right, alot of us just want the latest and the greatest to keep pushing the limits!! That being said i think warranty should be 100% optional because if your one that likes to modify your machine and throw your warranty out the window anyways why pay for it.

Taking into consideration the above post and the product review thread, you must be turning a new leaf in the history of Maxwell. Nice to see!

Keeping on topic, I put a fair amount of kms on the sled in a year and I want to be pretty certain that the sled won't let me down a few mountain ranges over. The hand-me-down goes to my better half for a year and then there is still one year warranty on the unit. In my mind it is a win-win situation. Since 2008, rather following the 2008 release, I have not had one single warranty issue on my Doos; 2010, 2012, 2-2013's, a 2014, and the T3 and those all had well over 2500 kms in each year. So my new sleds are purchased for the reassurance.

 

[TylerG]

Taking into consideration the above post and the product review thread, you must be turning a new leaf in the history of Maxwell. Nice to see!

Keeping on topic, I put a fair amount of kms on the sled in a year and I want to be pretty certain that the sled won't let me down a few mountain ranges over. The hand-me-down goes to my better half for a year and then there is still one year warranty on the unit. In my mind it is a win-win situation. Since 2008, rather following the 2008 release, I have not had one single warranty issue on my Doos; 2010, 2012, 2-2013's, a 2014, and the T3 and those all had well over 2500 kms in each year. So my new sleds are purchased for the reassurance.

are you going to hit 2500km this year Doug?

 

[Dakine879]

thanks for the responses .

i can definitely understand purchasing new when you are way out in the back country, that's a hedge on your safety in the mountains

in terms of reliability I've always believed one should purchase vehicles in the last two years of the production run, I would never buy the first year of a model run from any manufacturer

this morning I was thinking exactly what Maxwell had pointed out that newer machines are more and more electronic over mechanical so you require special equipment to affect repairs...

well now there is some new fresh local snow it's time to ride!

 

[ferniesnow]

are you going to hit 2500km this year Doug?

There should be 3 months or more (May and June might be a little iffy this year but one never knows) and I have 1100 kms. It is possible but there will be a drought right now until we get some more snow. I doo have 3-4 flatlanders coming out at the end of this week but other than that, I won't ride around here until there is considerably more snow.

 

[suzuki_ryder]

I'd be happy without warranty if I could have it at a much better price. I wrench on my machines myself. I don't have time to wait 1-2 weeks to get my warranty claim done. I'll just buy the part and repair it myself. The only good side to warranty is if you pop a motor.

My 13 right now is used and got it for a good price. I threw a new top end in it and i figured it was good to go. Unfortunately there were many other problems I didn't anticipate but that's the world of used. For me, it better than paying 14k for some of these inevitable problems

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[tater]

For the amount of days I get to ride a year I want to have the most reliable problem free sled I can. I keep them couple years and replace with new. Works pretty good for me so far as only one day last 6 years ruined by breakdown. I am fairly mechanically inclined but as a small business owner and parent of 2 teenagers I'm busy enough to not wrench on sled.

 

[knee deep in it]

when I was buying a used sled, I paid extra for one that had a year of warranty left. Piece of mind at a much lower cost than new.

 

[moyiesledhead]

In 46 years of sledding I'm gonna throw out a wild azz guess and say probably 40+ different sleds, only 2 of which I bought new, and one of those I hated (2002 Summit). I buy used to let someone else pay the depreciation, so I can see what is actually working and what isn't by learning from others mistakes, and because most of the time I can't afford brand new (I never finance toys). Other than a 1981 Yamaha SRX440 POS, buying used has served me very well.

 

[toyman2k]

bought new sled as an out of state ridier flying or driving in to condo to sled and want to make sure no mechanical problems and love the warranty. My time is too precious and I can do repairs or maintenence myself just dont have the time while their for a long weekend. do like the latest and greatest yet there is always something coming out new each year. I do like customizing myself.

 

[1100]

My dad had that same sled. Said if it wasn't the clutches blowing apart it was the engine.

 

[Absledder]

This is an interesting thread because I'm kind of on the fence about a new sled for this exact reason. I've always bought used but I'm pretty tired of the breakdowns. Especially since I'm not the best mechanic.


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[Dakine879]

I'm the clown who buys used because I also hate the depreciation on new vehicles. the only vehicle I've ever bought new was a truck in 2007 because I was a sales rep for a manufacturer and they gave you a monthly stipend to drive new (IE less than four years old and it was still a lot of money)

i showed up to pick up the truck and the sales guy says " is everything ok? people are always in a great mood when they pick up their new vehicles! ".

i responded that I was in a bad mood because I didn't like losing $8,000 in one day and he laughed and said "true"....

but that's why I started the thread because there are different points of view from mine and it is interesting to read

I guess it boils down to how Warren Buffet puts it " price is what you pay, but value is what you get"

we all have different definitions of value

 

[Cummins610]

Value to me is knowing exactly what the vehicle or sled has been through. Every rock chip, Scratch, oil change, fuel used, warmup time, cool down time, tree/rock hit and how long it spent stuck in the mud or ditch. That all said, being under 25 I haven't been able to enjoy the luxury of owning anything of significant cost from new, but someday..