buying an atv

[Bucksnbows]

Facebook marketplace sells used quads locally to wherever you live. I have watched daily for deals for about a year now. You will definitely see the same person selling quads which means he is flipping them and that is a red flag. Then you’ll see guys like you and me trying to sell our battered old quads and convincing people they have low hours and you don’t want one of those either. Then you will find the other class of people who bought one to plow a driveway or ride and realized they had no room to store it and no place to ride. Those are the ones you can get virtually new for half price.


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[nmc02]

Polaris 570 sportsman ...pricey though. The hunter version is 9,999.

Edited March 25, 2019 by nmc02

[BillW0323]

I have had Suzukis and Polaris atv's over he past couple of years. I love my Polaris atv's. Many people say that they have issues and tend to break down a lot but I haven't had any issues and I'm definitely not easy on them. As long as you keep up with a little bit of maintenance they will run for a long time. The CVT drive belts is usually what goes on them but they are simple to change out. My current Polaris is a Sportsman 570 and it is a great machine. 

[BillW0323]

5 hours ago, nmc02 said:

Polaris 570 sportsman ...pricey though. The hunter version is 9,999.

I bought a leftover in red and got it out the door for $5,300. IMO no need for the extra $$ for the special edition stuff. The machine will perform the same and you can get all after market stuff for half of what they are charging. 

[kanigie]

1 hour ago, BillW0323 said:

I bought a leftover in red and got it out the door for $5,300. IMO no need for the extra $$ for the special edition stuff. The machine will perform the same and you can get all after market stuff for half of what they are charging. 

Where and when was that? I'm in the market for the same machine.

[BillW0323]

2 hours ago, kanigie said:

Where and when was that? I'm in the market for the same machine.

It’s a 2015 that I bought in 2016 at Motorcycle mall. Buddy of mine and I went in to look and ended up leaving with one for each of us at the same price. 

[Farmshine]

I owe an 03 Prairie 650 that I’ve had since new. It’s had its fair share of issues over the years but it still serves its purpose. The next one I buy will be a can am or a Polaris if on a budget.


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[BothBarrels]

15 hours ago, Farmshine said:

I owe an 03 Prairie 650 that I’ve had since new. It’s had its fair share of issues over the years but it still serves its purpose. The next one I buy will be a can am or a Polaris if on a budget.


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I own that exact machine. I'm almost positive that's the year. Bought it new back then.

It's had the crap beaten out of it for many years. I built a campsite a Tower City Trail Riders in PA for my sons and I on the weekends. That's the atv I rode, banging up and down the mountain, boulders, etc …. not "trail" riding. It held up as well as any of the other atv's there. Think so, anyway. Repairs are the nature of the beast when you ride like that.

I have a son that takes our Prairie out elsewhere in PA with friends now. They all have new machines, fuel injection, etc. Power steering even, I think? My kid tells me that his friends' new machines are much quicker off the start and all through the power band. I don't know about max speed. Also, the suspension, when speeding down trails with whoops …. the difference is night and day. My boy has trouble keeping up, and he and the atv get pounded. lol.

However, in the gnarly stuff, the new machines perform no better. Also, again in the beat-the-sh*t-out areas, the new machines break stuff more often. Broken, badly bent steering and suspension components, etc. And have to be dragged out. Maybe just a lot of bad luck and coincidences? Or, maybe they are making them a bit more "light duty" to match what most people use them for, and keep the price down a bit?

If considering a older, used model, they are not hard to work on. There is a guy on eBay that sells really nice copies of manufacturers' service manuals for $25.

Good luck.

[Farmshine]

I own that exact machine. I'm almost positive that's the year. Bought it new back then.
It's had the crap beaten out of it for many years. I built a campsite a Tower City Trail Riders in PA for my sons and I on the weekends. That's the atv I rode, banging up and down the mountain, boulders, etc …. not "trail" riding. It held up as well as any of the other atv's there. Think so, anyway. Repairs are the nature of the beast when you ride like that.
I have a son that takes our Prairie out elsewhere in PA with friends now. They all have new machines, fuel injection, etc. Power steering even, I think? My kid tells me that his friends' new machines are much quicker off the start and all through the power band. I don't know about max speed. Also, the suspension, when speeding down trails with whoops …. the difference is night and day. My boy has trouble keeping up, and he and the atv get pounded. lol.
However, in the gnarly stuff, the new machines perform no better. Also, again in the beat-the-sh*t-out areas, the new machines break stuff more often. Broken, badly bent steering and suspension components, etc. And have to be dragged out. Maybe just a lot of bad luck and coincidences? Or, maybe they are making them a bit more "light duty" to match what most people use them for, and keep the price down a bit?
If considering a older, used model, they are not hard to work on. There is a guy on eBay that sells really nice copies of manufacturers' service manuals for $25.
Good luck.

I too bought the manual. It’s a very helpful purchase.


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