why do people hate polaris so much?!

[dgsmooth]

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.

 

[sumx54]

Having owned an ATV rental shop and having many Polaris sportsmans on my fleet along with Can-am and Hondas, pulling my own wrenches.... I will never own another Polaris as long as I live so help me little baby Jesus.

 

[dgsmooth]

but why? what went wrong with them? do you have any experience with the newer XP polaris?

 

[rubirose]

Hubby had an 850 XP for one year, got rid of it. He absolutely loved the ride, the best, loved the stability.Hated the fact that it needed so many repairs after one year of riding, and we do not abuse our machines. Frost plug went in the engine, oil all over the place,, clunking noise in the tranny, some other things with axles or boots or bearings, cant remember exactly which. Any way haveing had Grizzly's, and Honda Rubicons and never having to so anything but regular maintenence he got tired of the immediate problems with the poo-poo. Members in our group also have the XP and have had their constant problems, some just from regular maintenance, but more problems then a off shore machine. He now has a Can Am 800, will see how that goes. By the way the only mods we do is new tires and then only 26", never bigger. He said he would NEVER again buy poo-poo.

 

[Open Season]

I have an 06 500 Sportsman and the only reason it's still here is that I can't afford to replace it. I've replaced 4 fan motors 4 water pump seals then had to pull the motor and do the water pump drive shaft to. Just hasn't been a reliable machine. Plus the 06 had electrical issues.

 

[174mcx]

I have a 06 sportsman 800 with 28" tires and 4600miles i've replaced oil, gas and tires...

 

[whoDEANie]

Never been on an old one, but the new ones are nice rides. High maintenance, but nice IMO. I've taken my friend's 2011 XP in now about 4 times and it only has about 1200km on it. Granted, that 4 trips back to the dealership should probably only have been two, and that's the other problem - good poo-poo dealerships seem hard to come by and we've had to take the machine back 3 times for the same fan issue. They finally ended up SELLING her a fan override just in case they still hadn't resolved the issue.

 

[twogun]

in my opinion buy the best a person can afford to ride. there is hundreds of polaris atv where i ride in the crowsnest pass. so many around cant be all that bad i dont think. i currently ride a suzuki king 700. its been good to me very reliable but i put many of my own hours to get it the way i wanted it. it has grease zerks on all suspension parts which is a must in my thinking. unless a person wants to spend a 100$ a year for new bushings in rear per side and 60$ per side for front. im heavy in mud though so to play i pay. can am 800 seem to be really good i have 2 buddys that got them and they love them. i do too but they r a huge amount of cash over most other atvs. polaris is the cheapest way to go for big power . with the can am they heat from the exhaust is apparently overwhelming on hot days. thats the only major complaint ive heard bout them with going into limp mode when you winch lots

 

[sumx54]

but why? what went wrong with them? do you have any experience with the newer XP polaris?

the electrical was the biggest headache on ALL of them. I've replaced trannys, diffs, fuel tanks, rads, you name it. On top of it all Polaris quad parts are the most expensive junk on the market. Polaris sportsman 500 plastic foot well =$219... Honda 500=$40 the list goes on and on. Do your homework.

 

[twogun]

i have a honda for my wife its a 420 rancher. excellent quad other than rough ride . but no shock adjustment &solid rear axle. but it always starts. no offence to anybody but repairs suck and parts in the us r half of what the dealers in my area want. im a truck driver aswell so its very easy for me to get parts down south. every machine has its problems. like sumx54 said do ur homework on machines and parts prices ease of getting them parts , most important is maintaince and have fun. nyroc.com is a good site to look at if ur interesred in a king quad. they also have posts & tech with forum on most other machines.

 

[snopro]

The dealer in Brooks once told me they were his best line because they were always in the shop for repair. It was good for his business.

 

[Joholio]

I got an 08 sportsman 500ho. It has 1400 miles on it. It rides nice. Thats the good part. The bad part is that I have replaced both rear axles ($432 at Rainy Creek, $140 delivered off ebay), the entire starting system(solenoid, starter, bendix, recoil), a new battery every spring, one belt, the clutch cover got a hole wore in the top because it is floppy and my kids were resting their feet on it(fixed it with a piece of duct tape and an electrical epoxy kit), smokes and burns oil, engine has a "tick", one tire always goes flat, the new deal is when I installed the latest battery(fk) the fan came on and the display is flashing HOT as soon as I hooked it up...(fk). My wife has an 07 Kodiak 450, it always starts in the spring( 1 new battery since new) after being frozen in a shed all winter and runs so smooth...

 

[Eagle]

I have owned polaris quads for years and can say they have never let me down. I have a 850 xp and a 550 xp now. The biggest thing I can say is do your maintenance, oil, grease. I have never replaced a belt yet on any polaris quad. I think alot of the problems people have is the way they drive. Use high and low range properly. My 850 xp has 27" swamplites and I drive it hard. I will put my machine against any other brand out there and I am sure it will dominate. I have proved it over and over again. Price out a Polaris quad then price out a Can-am. Point made... Yes you can have a lemon , but you can have a lemon with any brand. My two cents..

 

[hedge]

I really don't have much direct experience with them but the reports that I've heard of the older ones were not good for reliability and back when they had 2 wheel engine braking was downright scary. Personally I hate how the pre-xp ones sound, couldn't own one for that reason alone. I also hate the tractor gear shift and the negative advertising they do.

 

[whoDEANie]

The dealer in Brooks once told me they were his best line because they were always in the shop for repair. It was good for his business.

I heard something similar from another dealer. He said they purposely added Polaris to their lineup becuase their service department was slow and needed more business.

 

[sumx54]

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.

 

[plio7]

in the words of the great Jay-Z...."men lie, women lie.........numbers don't"

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.

 

[rzrgade]

It`s a long story but POPO had a big shake up a few years back.........The first NEW product as a result was the RZR then the new XP Sportsmans, huge improvement !! The 850 & 550 are a VERY reliable bike, one of the best in there classs hands down....

I agree thre Popo`s need a litle more tlc ,(bushings, Wheel bearings etc) than some others but all minor chit in the big picture.The sales figures dont lie however as they have overtaken honda now by a wide margin and outsell all other ORV.
On the plus side you have the best 4x4 system,best ground clearence,easiest bike to lift & run bigger tires and the best clutching stock in the industry....
The older era sportsmans were a bad bike all the way around. This still haunts POPO to this day,that being said i laugh at the guy who had an old sportsman 600 and because of that thinks the new ones to this day still suck !!
To the OP the reasons (facts ) that the old sportsmans had issues were such as :
Low range was to low,high range to high shifting ALL the time, hard on the belt.....
The Secondary & Primary clutchs were not "tied together" in one piece like on the new XP`s . Belt defection was always changing and cracking the primary sheaves...Hot in there.
The winch was to high and the rad to low , PLAIN STUPID.
The older 800 motor though very reliable (in RZRS) is quite outdated,and hard to mdify for more power.
The wiring & electonics were not nearly good enough prior to the new stuff.
The suspension was just too heavy ,and the bikes were wide....The new XP~S are very narrow for a big bike in the seat chassis area.
The axle angle has been reduced on the XP due to rolled A Arms and a lower diff housing mount in the frame. This is very important as it allows less axle angle with more ground clearence..........

It is still my opinion that the new XP`s are one of best quads in their class,most likely the best best bang for your buck...! Would i buy an older sportsman,HELL NO. This is based off of first hand knowlege as well,not some BS some guys dealer might of said.

Hope this helps.............

 

[doorfx]

Best ground clearance? What is it?

 

[Clode]

I was a mechanic at the local dealer a number of years back, they sold honda/polaris....all I can say is I would never own one.