why do people hate polaris so much?!

[deaner]

I had an 02 sportsman and it was a fun quad but a peice of junk. Always fixing something, and even when it was running they just dont have the quality of other brands. Rattling friggin garbage. Even my 2012 ranger. I love the thing because of the bench seat and huge tilting box (great for around the farm), but the thing is a rough running rattling piece of crap. Wish Yamaha made something equivelant to the ranger.

 

[szprod]

I had a 2010 850xp and it had 1900km on it and only had 1 issue with oil in the airbox and removing the felt filter it was fixed. I now have a 2012 850xp with 500 km on it and no issues thus far. I do the regular maintenance and all seems to be good.

 

[Lund]

I purchased a new 2004 out of show room Sportsman 600 and never had an issue with it except one. Cold weather starts, it didnt like it and once i rejetted the carb all was good. I used it to plow my drive way as a work machine and used it as a toy exploring with friends. In all honnesty the durability of the sportman was unsurpassed by all my buddies atv's (Cat, Yami grizz and Kawi brute) even though some of these had slightly better power then my 6, all of these had issues especialy the Cat and Grizz with axles. While the Brute was exactly that a BRUTE to ride...horrible in comparison.
I sold it now and have no intention in buying another atv cause of personal reasons but if i was going to buy one, Polaris would be my #1 choice, though i would shop first but concidering my experience with the Sportsman, it would most likely be the Polaris that ied purchase.
BTW, it had nearly 5,000miles on it. Brakes one drive belt and suspension bushing were the only wear and tear repairs needed during that time.....ohya, 2 sets of tires.

 

[Lund]

Another thing to remember about these threads and on line enquiries. There are people out there that shouldn't own or even ride, they can destroy anything they are given or purchase and are very quick to throw blame. While in most situation they are to blame.
I personaly would never want to be a dealer of any type of recreational toy because of sometimes the type of morons you have to deal with. You could give them a TANK, they still find a way to break it.....i know i've seen those guys out there.
Common sense is your best warranty and friend to your toy.....don't have one, you just as well take the sledge hammer to your toy and blame the dealer and brand.

 

[X-it]

Kind of like made in china, if you treat it better it will last...ya right.

 

[Joholio]

I am hard on equipment. Lets ride!

 

[drew562]

I have had 3 raptors. 3 brutes. Kodak 400. Cat 500. 700 vforce. Multiple honda 450s. Kawi 450 sport quad. Grizzly 660. 09 renny 800x. Outlander 1000 and a renny 1000. Kawi Terex. Polaris rzr 800s. Xp900. I ride around 4000 km per yr and never saw over 600 km on a Polaris. I ride hard but still think a out the machine. Ie. tree root trails I won't rip down them cause I know they are super hard on steering and suspension. Personally I would never buy a Polaris again especially a used one. My rzr blew a tranny. All suspension bushing wore in under 1000 km the list goes on and on with the Polaris. My other machines never wore out near as fast. IMO a kymco or canadian tire quad would last longer than a Polaris. Riverside now sells them and I bet they move soon to accommodate the service repair space requied to sell them.

 

[tpollon2]

howdy all - i'm in the market for a new (to me) quad, am leaning towards a polaris sportsman, likely a mid 2000's 700/800 twin. so anyways i'm on 'other' atv websites that aren't brand specific (better to not mention names i think), and man do polaris ever get bad raps....i mean people all say to stay away from older sportmans, although some have told me the XP is much better. why the bad rap all the time? i worked for a polaris dealership in the mid/late 90's, when the sportsman 500 came out and man it was unreal compared to anything else at the time....i haven't been too much around atv's since then so not sure what has changed. i'm really leaning towards a 2006 sportsman 800 i found that is bone stock, low miles and next to new, but others on the other threads i've started on those other sites all telling me no....and not just people that are die-hard to their favorite brand, i'm getting told to get anything but a sportsman like that...why? are the 700/800 twins horribly un-reliable? is the XP really that much better? i mean they made that sportman chassis for a LONG TIME so it couldn't be that bad, could it? i'm starting to think its all just poo-poo, as i remember way back then i had a 400 sport and all my friends teased me as it was 'automatic' and automatics were for chicks, but of course now they're all 'automatic (except sport quads of course), so is this just the same old people love to hate polaris type thing? i really am leaning towards a sportsman, is there some models that do deserve the bad rap? is the xp really that much better, but still reliable? sorry for the life story but man this is tough to figure out - cold hard facts are hard to get from people....thanks in advance to anybody with any help on this.

I have had a 06 sportsman 500, 08 700 x2, and now a 2012 850 XP touring, only had 1 issue in those 3 quads (1 grip heater failure on the x2) By the way that 850 is an animal!

 

[BIGFOOT]

20 years in a relationship with Polaris.....It is a love hate affair !

 

[2dawgsfawkin]

howdy all - i'm in the market for a new (to me) quad, am leaning towards a polaris sportsman, likely a mid 2000's 700/800 twin. so anyways i'm on 'other' atv websites that aren't brand specific (better to not mention names i think), and man do polaris ever get bad raps....i mean people all say to stay away from older sportmans, although some have told me the XP is much better. why the bad rap all the time? i worked for a polaris dealership in the mid/late 90's, when the sportsman 500 came out and man it was unreal compared to anything else at the time....i haven't been too much around atv's since then so not sure what has changed. i'm really leaning towards a 2006 sportsman 800 i found that is bone stock, low miles and next to new, but others on the other threads i've started on those other sites all telling me no....and not just people that are die-hard to their favorite brand, i'm getting told to get anything but a sportsman like that...why? are the 700/800 twins horribly un-reliable? is the XP really that much better? i mean they made that sportman chassis for a LONG TIME so it couldn't be that bad, could it? i'm starting to think its all just poo-poo, as i remember way back then i had a 400 sport and all my friends teased me as it was 'automatic' and automatics were for chicks, but of course now they're all 'automatic (except sport quads of course), so is this just the same old people love to hate polaris type thing? i really am leaning towards a sportsman, is there some models that do deserve the bad rap? is the xp really that much better, but still reliable? sorry for the life story but man this is tough to figure out - cold hard facts are hard to get from people....thanks in advance to anybody with any help on this.

Its not that everybody hates the polaris quads, it's that Polaris won't get their 2014 sleds on the snow till this fall, and we don't have anything to mock till then

 

[rzrgade]

What`s funny for example is some people who used to bash Doo sleds and ride Cat , NOW ride Doo lol,and say they are the best.........They all make good machines now.........Some people just have to have latest and greatest..........

Where is the closest Canadian Tire....It`s time far a change........

 

[drew562]

What`s funny for example is some people who used to bash Doo sleds and ride Cat , NOW ride Doo lol,and say they are the best.........They all make good machines now.........Some people just have to have latest and greatest..........

Where is the closest Canadian Tire....It`s time far a change........

Point taken. But skidoo finally makes a good engine so for a high mile rider they are worth buying. Not a lot of older doos lasted 4000 miles like the m800 does. I ate my pride and bought 2 new etec sleds and put 2500 trouble free miles on the ditch sled and almost 3000 on my mountain sled. After spending some time on the maverick and after owning a few rzr s I now have a comparison of quality and toughness. Smooth tranny. Tough motor. Ect. Some have luck with the Polaris but as per usual we spent the long weekend fixing rzr's. hubs worn down so bad the wheel was slopping around on a machine that had 1100 km. never seen a hub wear out on other brands. And the machine we worked on was a 2009 and already had new wheel bearings/bushings and a tranny. This friend of mine hardly rides so he thinks it lasted a long time. I've already got a 1000 km on my renny 1000 in 3 weeks so that is why a Polaris isn't for everyone. There's lots of can Ams in my group with 3-4000 km with original front ends and outlaw tires and no play in the front ends. They op asked why most don't like Polaris and this is why most people don't. That said my victory is never for sale and out of the tons of bikes I've owned I love it.

 

[RZR101]

Every brand is a POS, just depends on luck and which looser or hero actually made the parts that went into them.

 

[High Velocity]

I bought an '03 500 Sportsman in Sept./03 and never had any major issues with it. At the time, it was the best riding quad on the market and that was what I was looking for. In Aug./09, I decided I needed more power and test rode an 800 Sportsman and an 850 XP Sportsman. There was no question that the 850 was the machine for me. Now, 2500 km later, I still couldn't be happier with my purchase. It is, without a doubt, the smoothest, best handling, sport/utility quad I have ever ridden. I have had no major issues (minor ones were self inflicted) and after 2500 km, even the original belt looks like new.

P.S.: Ignore sumx54. He has a serious anti-Polaris bias based on no sound knowledge. If he would like to prove otherwise, he should post up solid proof.


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[RZR101]

I bought an '03 500 Sportsman in Sept./03 and never had any major issues with it. At the time, it was the best riding quad on the market and that was what I was looking for. In Aug./09, I decided I needed more power and test rode an 800 Sportsman and an 850 XP Sportsman. There was no question that the 850 was the machine for me. Now, 2500 km later, I still couldn't be happier with my purchase. It is, without a doubt, the smoothest, best handling, sport/utility quad I have ever ridden. I have had no major issues (minor ones were self inflicted) and after 2500 km, even the original belt looks like new.

P.S.: Ignore sumx54. He has a serious anti-Polaris bias based on no sound knowledge. If he would like to prove otherwise, he should post up solid proof.


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Being as he owns a rental company I think he would have one of the best opinions. Just sayin.

 

[sledhead5000]

Being as he owns a rental company I think he would have one of the best opinions. Just sayin.

X2


My own experience with a beaten up, wrecked, rusty old Honda was that it was more reliable than the 2006 Sportsman 2-up I replaced it with. Electrical problems galore on the sportsman, would die every time it saw water (small puddles even), periodically ran rough for no reason, replaced all sorts of parts, greased & sealed every connection etc to no avail. Eventually I took the loss and bought a Suzuki King Quad, rode that for 2 years before getting out of the 4x4 market. IMO, the King Quads are among the best for reliability. I put that quad through hell and never had a single problem or replaced anything on it.

Buddy of mine has a 2012 polaris RMK sled, keeps breaking down, running poorly, electrical problems etc, and it's brand new. He has to fight tooth & nail with the dealership every time too. I'll never buy another polaris anything.

 

[sumx54]

I bought an '03 500 Sportsman in Sept./03 and never had any major issues with it. At the time, it was the best riding quad on the market and that was what I was looking for. In Aug./09, I decided I needed more power and test rode an 800 Sportsman and an 850 XP Sportsman. There was no question that the 850 was the machine for me. Now, 2500 km later, I still couldn't be happier with my purchase. It is, without a doubt, the smoothest, best handling, sport/utility quad I have ever ridden. I have had no major issues (minor ones were self inflicted) and after 2500 km, even the original belt looks like new.

P.S.: Ignore sumx54. He has a serious anti-Polaris bias based on no sound knowledge. If he would like to prove otherwise, he should post up solid proof.


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i personally own Polaris products at this very moment. I'm not bias. Simply put, Polaris sportsmans do not stand up to rental abuse like any other brand will period. If you own a Polaris and drive it like a grandma then sure you can get many miles and hours of enjoyment as I do with my own RZR's but put a Polaris on a rental fleet where they get the **** drove out of them and you will be towing them in every second fawking day. Been there and done it for three years. Never again. There cheap to buy and you get what you pay for.

 

[drew562]

So this thread went well. Very Few have any luck with Polaris and some swear by them. Now the original poster has some info for thought. And as sumx54 says they are cheap and i bet half of there sales is based on the lower price not reputation.

 

[rzrgade]

Once again though people are confusing the OLDER sportsmans with the NEW 850/550 `s. Two TOTALLY different bikes..........
Well i agree , although the crappy Bushings /bearings are a PITA ,it`s not a deal breaker....lol There are better bushing kits for 80$,same for whel bearings. The fix might cost you 200$ +......There are guys spending 5 times that amount to put a better clutch on a CANAM.....
Or when was the last time you saw a RZR overheat,do you ever see one with a relocated rad ???There are many ways to measure buyer satisfaction.......

The engines and drive train are pretty darn good on the new POPO`s ,except for the CHITY axles....But thet are priced a lot cheaper than some other makes,so i do think IMO they are a good bang for the buck....
As for comparison to the JAP quads,the popo s make almost twice the power EG: 77HP for a 850 XP vrs what for a Grizz ...LOL .Of course you will break more stuff !! As i have said earlier, the ride handling ,clutching, and power are well worth the extra few bucks /hours in maintence, every year TO ME...

That said if you the sorta guy to just buy it ,ride the piss out of it and don`t maintain it,you might be better off with a different brand....IMO

 

[2dawgsfawkin]

POLARIS = Pull Over Loser A Race Is Starting.... Bwhahaha. To be honest my fleet of Polaris sportsmans were all 2009-2011. Yes rental machines get abused but I seriously lost my ass on every single Polaris I owned except for the RZR's they seem to hold up to abuse. Not the sportsmans. They break EASY. Might be a good machine for casual trail riding and the average rider but they're weak. My books don't lie.

Comments are as solid as an oak tree