Newbie looking to buy

I am looking to buy my first wheeler and am looking for some advice. I’m in my late 20s and have driven friends wheelers numerous times before but never had my own. After just purchasing a house and having a long driveway to plow in the winter, I want to buy a 4 wheeler to use for plowing and some ice fishing. Lately I’ve been searching craigslist and have been focusing mainly on Polaris sportsman 500s. I’m looking to spend $2-3k and am looking for some advice on things to look for or lookout for when going to check one out that I might buy. What should I be looking for? How many miles is too many? If there’s a sportsman 500 for $2k but has over 4K miles on it but the owner says (and pictures back up) that it is in excellent shape; should I be shying away from it because of the mileage? Thanks for the help!

I have bought and sold dozens of ATV’s over the years. In fact, I sold 2 and bought 2 additional in the last year. I have owned Yamaha, Polaris, Can Am, Kawasaki and Hondas. I currently have a Can Am, Kawasaki and a Honda. Each unit has it’s ups and downs and most are all quality. Beware of older polaris machines, their electrical systems can become a NIGHTMARE if there is a short. I have seen many late 90’s to early 2000’s Polaris’ at the junk yard because of electrical issues.

If you find a good used Polaris, it should give you years and years of service. In the 2-3k price range, I wouldn’t hesitate to look at a Honda Rancher either. With any used utility ATV, there is no faster way to ruin a machine than from deep mud. If you inspect the used machine and notice mud packed in places up high where it shouldn’t be, i would walk away, regardless of price. Also check the air filter…if it’s covered in nasty grime and dust, it’s a good indicator that they didn’t care for the motor like they should.

At the end of the day, it sounds like you just want something that will be reliable and not give you a headache. My vote goes towards a Honda Rancher or Foreman. They are tough, strong and incredibly reliable. You won’t win any drag races, but you also wont be blowing through CVT belts like Polaris, Yamaha, or Can Am! In fact, I have a 93′ Honda ATV that literally will not register compression after a proper valve adjustment and it still starts on the first pull…

I have a 2009 Sportsman 500 (bought used) and I now have just over 2000 miles on it.

I asked the same question re how many miles are too many on a used machine in this thread.

Here’s what I’ll tell you about my Polaris. I’ve got the 500 carbed version. It starts and runs great and it always has. I’ve had 3 issues that required dealer service in 3 years of ownership.

1. The stator went bad. This is the ATV version of the alternator. In retrospect this probably caused the early demise of my battery as well, which also had to be replaced. The thing about the stator going bad is the machine would die without enough power, so it left me stranded a mile from my property once.

2. I’ve ripped up several CV boots. This is probably more “operator issue” than a machine problem, I use my machine as a work machine on my hunting property and driving through tall grass that has raspberry canes in it is unavoidable, but hell on CV boots.

3. The gas gauge quit working. Probably didn’t need to repair it, but did so anyway.

The carb version stars great, even at 10 degrees below zero and having sat in the shed at my farm for weeks before unused.

I had no trouble finding good used machines to look at, but NOW is the time. Don’t wait until hunting season gets close! Prices skyrocket and demand goes crazy. Buy before mid-August if you can.

A LOT of guys in the cities absolutely HAD to have one for up at hunting camp but then they get tired of having the machine taking up garage space in their condo so they sell a barely-used machine. My machine was owned by an older guy who went trail riding once a year with his kids and then drove the machine to his mailbox every couple of days. It had 400 miles on when I bought it, I’m not sure it was really broken in even.

Grouse

Take a look at the Yamaha grizzly 660 and also the kodiak. Should be able to find a decent one around your price range. They perform well and are reliable if maintained. The grizzly is far superior to the sportsman 500 your looking at in every way.

Take your time and find one that hasn’t been beaten and sunk. Miles aren’t as important to me as condition of the vehicle.

There’s a reason Yamaha made no major changes to the 2008-2015 model year Grizzly’s, they had a bulletproof design that lasts…I own a 2009 Grizzly 700, love it… The CanAm’s look cool, but all those electronic controls leave yourself more vulnerable to issues… buy now before the prices start going up the closer we get to Hunting season..

I’m not sure Arctic Cat gets the recognition it deserves. I bought a 500 in 2006 when I knew practically nothing about quads. It has been flawless for 10 years. I plow with it. I have fished with it and it sees the occasional long trail ride. Still just under 2k miles though. My buddy had an older one and same thing. He kept his at the cabin and beat the living hell out of it managing his property.
Now if you were looking for a fun trail ATV that can do it all I would tell you about my Brutes!

Lots of good info so far.

Have a Honda 450 Foreman and a 650 Kawasaki Prairie. Both decent machines. The Honda has been relatively bullet proof and we beat the daylights out of both machines. It is a work horse. But it is terrible to trail ride on county land trails and such. It will beat the daylights out of you with no independent rear suspension. The Kawasaki Prairie isn’t a bad machine and is fairly decent trail riding with not having independent rear suspension. It has had a few minor issues but nothing severe. Plow with both of them and do 3 bigger driveways with them and normally with the wind end up having to go over them a second time each snow fall. Plowing bigger driveways can take its toll on a machine. Winches are prone to issues and I keep a spare on hand even with 2 machines. Winch solenoids are prone to problems as well. Plowing does take some life out of the front shocks as well. If it’s main purpose is plowing winch recovery time can be an issue, some winches are brutally slow. Not a huge deal but a slow winch makes plowing a real chore. Personally I like the ride of the Sportsman but know guys who own them and buy other machines to work. Grizzly’s are a great machine and Kodiak’s aren’t bad either. I’ve heard a lot of horror stories with certain issues with Arctic Cat machines and am an Arctic Cat guy and know other extremely loyal Arctic Cat guys who wouldn’t touch a used cat atv with a 10′ pole. It seems fairly reflected in their resale value. Some of that I’m sure is earned but some of it might just be they got a bad rep for a couple things and it stuck. My next one is going to be a Grizzly or Sportsman for the ride of that independent rear end. For just plain work a Honda is tough to beat, but the used ones are priced high for the Honda name and their ride is marginal at best imo.

Good luck with it and post up pics of what you get.

Thank you for the replies. Besides the air filter and looking for dried mud in places it shouldn’t be, are there any other things I should for sure be looking for when checking one out in person?

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

Thank you for the replies. Besides the air filter and looking for dried mud in places it shouldn’t be, are there any other things I should for sure be looking for when checking one out in person?

I have plowed with my ATV’s, but I still would want to avoid a machine that was used to plow, specially in your price range. Take a peak at the bottom of the frame where a plow mount would normally go, it will have a few scratches from the mount. I would also look at possibly avoiding anything with a lift kit or big mud style tires….there is usually only 1 reason why those machines have them…deep mud.

Farm owned ATV’s are usually a safe bet. They may have a few more miles than most, but usually they are for moving around the property and lightly used. If buying belt driven, always ask about the life of the belts and when it was last replaced. I have seen same year and model machines that blow belts at 300 miles, some at 3000 miles. Sometimes it can be attributed to driving habits, but not always. Be mindful of belt prices also, most hover around $100 or more. An OEM BRP belt for my machine is $160…

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

Thank you for the replies. Besides the air filter and looking for dried mud in places it shouldn’t be, are there any other things I should for sure be looking for when checking one out in person?

Pay attention to how the owner maintains all his other property. cars, garage, house, etc. That will tell you a lot.

Check the dipstick. If its really nasty then consider the owner a dipstick.
Note if the engine feels warm (at all) when you get there. Might be sign he was afraid to start it cold in front of you.

Be mindful of belt prices also, most hover around $100 or more. An OEM BRP belt for my machine is $160…

It pays to do homework on parts as well. For instance many people claim the Gates brand belts outlast the OEM BRPs considerably. The OEM on my 2015 Outlander L is ~$90 I believe. The gates replacement is $42 on Amazon.

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

Thank you for the replies. Besides the air filter and looking for dried mud in places it shouldn’t be, are there any other things I should for sure be looking for when checking one out in person?

Check all CV boots for tears or cracks. This not an expensive repair if just the boot is bad, but if mud and water have ruined the joint, you’re into $$$ to replace.

I agree with Eagle, avoid machines that have been used as plow machines or have been tricked out for mud riding. There are just to many other good machines out there to bother with anything that’s been beat like this.

Have to disagree about farm machines, thought. My advice is to avoid anything that’s been used on a farm. My experience is that these machines get rode hard and put up wet. Lots of riding in acid manure and wet conditions causes all kinds of problems and it seems to me that farm machines often get treated as disposable, where the only goal is to get 4-5 years out of them without doing any maintenance.

I’m sure there are exceptions that just prove the rule, but IMO the best bet is the suburban creampuff machine that some guy bought for trail riding and “deer camp” and now his wife is on his @ss to sell it because it’s taking up too much room in the garage and he never uses it. I had no trouble finding good machines to look at when I was shopping 2 summers ago, biggest issue was having enough time to go look at them all.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

My advice is to avoid anything that’s been used on a farm. My experience is that these machines get rode hard and put up wet. Lots of riding in acid manure and wet conditions causes all kinds of problems and it seems to me that farm machines often get treated as disposable, where the only goal is to get 4-5 years out of them without doing any maintenance.

I’m sure there are exceptions that just prove the rule, but IMO the best bet is the suburban creampuff machine that some guy bought for trail riding and “deer camp” and now his wife is on his @ss to sell it because it’s taking up too much room in the garage and he never uses it. I had no trouble finding good machines to look at when I was shopping 2 summers ago, biggest issue was having enough time to go look at them all.

Grouse

So true.