With Market Place and Craigs list people listing 20 to 25 year old sleds for crazy asking prices ? People must think they are sitting on Gold LOL Wonder how many actually sell what they are asking ? On top of it a sled that old with 3000 to 10000 plus miles is going to need work.
I bought a 99 Yamaha for 1500 bucks with 1600 miles on it in 2008 . That same sled is worth the same amount today. Granted the value of the dollar is changed. Doesn’t help when the new ones are 14-18 grand .
Marketplace aka MarkItUpPlace
It’s a free way to post things that may/may not sell and most sellers value their item off of other “listed” prices rather than what they may actually sell for.
I’ve been on the hunt for a used Honda wheeler for a few months. It’s not just sleds.
We also now have the flipped reality that everyone thinks they will “make money” or “break even” on their original investment of used stuff they now want to sell after using. Covid turned supply/demand economics upside down, but that has and will continue to reset towards normal depreciating trends. Good luck to those buying the $15k sled today and running it for 5 years thinking they could get their $$$ back out of it
I seen a 2001 Polaris Trail 2 up with 115 miles on it and a 1997 Polaris 2 up with 1200 miles on it and a 2 place aluminum trailer for 2200.00 A smoking deal , i did not see it soon enough and the sellar informed me he had a party coming the next day to buy . I would have made the 5 hour one way trip for that in a heart beat . That was a deal not seen very often . My experience though even a sled with low miles and not being run can have some serious issues for lack of maintenance let alone the shear age of the machine itself . Bucky is right a day of reckoning will happen , just can’t predict the future . For now i have to get my 94 Skandic running , unfortunately its been a money pit !
Over the summer I picked up a 03 polaris sport trail 550 2 up for fishing. 1 owner, 1200 miles. Has brand new track, skis, shocks, heated handle grips, windshield and more. Along with 3 box’s of parts. I paid a grand. It took sl9t of looking to find the deal, but I only had to drive 15 minutes for it. It wasn’t sucking fuel in 1 carb so I figures the needle was stuck. Tore both carbs out, cleaned them. Fires up on 2nd pull every time. I then added aftermarket primer and can push fuel in to the carbs and now it fires first pull.
Capitalism at it’s finest.
I picked up 3 sleds last year for $0, the guy didn’t want them anymore and didn’t want to get them running.
A 1988 Polaris Indy Trail 488, 1992 Artic Car Jag and a 2001 Polaris Sport Touring 550. I just cleaned the carbs, replaced the fuels lines and sold them for $4000. I couldn’t believe people were willing to pay that kinda cash. All machines were in great shape, and had not been driven for almost 15 years, so that did help. It just blew my mind.
Yep, if your savvy and can find the right deal on a used toy it’s still fairly easy to flip stuff and make a quick grand here and there.
The higher end new sleds are 20k+ tax now. My dealer ordered in 115 ’24s and has approx 100 of them pre-sold via snowchecks so the market isn’t too soft yet but the reality check will come in the year or so I’m thinking.
Its a crazy market now.
Yep, if your savvy and can find the right deal on a used toy it’s still fairly easy to flip stuff and make a quick grand here and there.
The higher end new sleds are 20k+ tax now. My dealer ordered in 115 ’24s and has approx 100 of them pre-sold via snowchecks so the market isn’t too soft yet but the reality check will come in the year or so I’m thinking.
We’ve(Midwest) has mostly had great snowmobiling the last 7-8 years? Maybe a bit longer? I think it was 2014 when I had a trip planned for the North Shore in Feb and had to back out due to lack of snow. That defiantly helps sell new and used sleds. This year looks very questionable, and may be the time to jump on a new(2023/23024) next spring or a light used 2-3 year old sled.
This topic seems to come up every few months. Talking about a reckoning happening any day now.
Its the peak sled selling period right now so of course prices are high, you should have bought last February/March…
The crazy prices are for folks just fishing for new riders who dont know any better… happens every season…
I’m not in the market, but still like to “shop”. There are still deals to be had, but no doubt they go quick. 1 or 2 bad snow years would change prices in a hurry.
Ripjiggen, call it what you want, but history tells us there will be a correction of some sort. How significant is anybody’s guess.
I seen a 2001 Polaris Trail 2 up with 115 miles on it and a 1997 Polaris 2 up with 1200 miles on it and a 2 place aluminum trailer for 2200.00 A smoking deal , i did not see it soon enough and the sellar informed me he had a party coming the next day to buy . I would have made the 5 hour one way trip for that in a heart beat . That was a deal not seen very often . My experience though even a sled with low miles and not being run can have some serious issues for lack of maintenance let alone the shear age of the machine itself . Bucky is right a day of reckoning will happen , just can’t predict the future . For now i have to get my 94 Skandic running , unfortunately its been a money pit !
I’m not really into the “sky is falling” day of reckoning talk. Rather, I think things will head back towards “normal” with regards to depreciation of recreational assets/vehicles. No, I don’t think the great recession is coming. Nor do I think prices will ever go back down for new and lightly used things as new price floors are clearly set. What I do think will happen is that 5-10-15 year old vehicles and toys will go back to being worth LESS than they were when purchased years earlier.
Agree
As Joe pointed out, now is the WORST possible time to be trying to buy a snow machine if price is your concern. It’s like trying to buy a used fishing boat in early to mid-May.
BTW, it’ll get worse before it gets better. The peak of yearly prices is the week there’s enough rideable snow on the ground. That sends buyers into a frenzy.
But then get to Feb 1 and the thrill is gone and guys that are looking to sell start cutting prices because they don’t want to store the machine for the off-season. Best time to buy? IMO, April to May.
Not sure what the “Day of Reckoning” predictors are expecting to happen as far as prices. Like suddenly everything will be worth half of what it’s selling for now? What kind of price decline signifies this Day of Reckoning? As far as I can see, it’s already been and gone now that the COVID buying spree is over. Yep, trap people like rats in their own homes with nothing to do and time on their hands and they wanted to buy toys, but that’s all done with now.
I’m in the market for a used sled for my youngest son so I’m watching prices and I haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary. Yes, there are chancers out there hoping for silly money from the one person who doesn’t recognize overpricing when he sees it, but those machines just sit and sit.
Everything else looks pretty normal to me as far as prices. I guess I wonder what the expectation is when it comes to prices? Are people thinking that 10-year-old, sub-3000 mile sleds should be selling for less than a grand?
The value of old sleds has always held fairly strong. I am not seeing much more ridiculous prices now vs 10 years ago. The only thing that I have seen is that they are holding their value and being stable. A machine from the late 90’s will still sell for 1500 to 2500 depending on what it is and miles/condition. I bought a 97 bearcat 550 widetrack like 6 years ago for 1800 and I no doubt could find a buyer right now for it at that price, but I have freshened it up a bit with gas shocks and had the seat completely redone.
All this talk about snow machines whilst the media keeps telling us we’re warming up so fast we don’t have much time left. LOL
I think a lot of people selling on craigslist actually buy them at a decent price and are looking to sell for a good profit. It seems there are a few on every site
There are guys at Haydays doing this exact thing. They make a lowball offer, leave their contact info, and on Sunday they go home with a bunch of cheap machines – one guy said he won’t buy unless he is certain he can turn $1500 profit when he sells in December.
Two up machines are a very solid investment, they have longer tracks, longer suspension, seldom get beat on, are usually well maintained, lots of features, and they have more uses – trail riding, ice fishing, and work machine, so they appeal to a wider variety of buyers.
I too am surprised to see the pricing on many used sleds, but there is no crash coming. Most of the impact is just general inflation along with manufactures raising the prices on new sleds. Its tough to compare pricing now to what we were used to 10-15 years ago because 10,000 in 2010 is equivalent to around $14,500 today.
I dont think depreciation curves have changed all that much either, but the starting point price point has. There are still deals to be had (mostly in the spring) for someone with a mechanical background. I am a cynic when it comes to sledding due to the numerous issues I’ve dealt with in the past, but there isnt a better machine to get you away from the crowds when there’s a foot or 2 of snow on the ice.
I listed my 2up 2002 Polaris 4 stroke Frontier on marketplace for $875, paid $1200 in 7 years ago.I almost had a meltdown on my computer within minutes, sold it to cheap, but its gone, oh well had fun with it for 7 years
Check crankyape.com. it is a auction website. I have not personally bid on anything but a few guys I used to work with have bought things there. I believe you can go there and look at what your bidding on but I’d call to confirm. Also check the location where it’s at. Just another Avenue to check. Good luck
Overall what do people feel about prices and numbers of sleds being listed?
I feel like the covid blitz is definitely over and the number of sleds on the market seems like a typical year to me. Prices also seem very ordinary on average.
Definitely not a crash-is-coming mentality of people dumping toys they can’t or won’t be able afford.
If anything the warm weather and uncertainty over snow even coming has sales slower than normal. I’ve seen good condition sleds hanging out for a lot longer than I feel they normally would.
I ride a lot and have been fortunate enough to do new every two on snowmobiles since 1997. My 22 XRS 900R Doo cost me 16k my 24 XRS 900R cost me 20k.
It’s surly no longer a beginner sport when it comes to pricing. The younger generation will not be able to keep the sport alive at those prices.
Bidennomics 101
Overall what do people feel about prices and numbers of sleds being listed?
I feel like the covid blitz is definitely over and the number of sleds on the market seems like a typical year to me. Prices also seem very ordinary on average.
Definitely not a crash-is-coming mentality of people dumping toys they can’t or won’t be able afford.
If anything the warm weather and uncertainty over snow even coming has sales slower than normal. I’ve seen good condition sleds hanging out for a lot longer than I feel they normally would.
I couldn’t agree more with this, I’ve been shopping for newer snowmobile and I feel that they’re back to where they should be, there’s always a guy that puts a high value on something but there’s a lot used snowmobiles to chose from which is change from the last couple years. Like someone said new ones are 15-20k, craziness but I believe that pulls the used values up.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
