Looking at buying a polaris

There are two on craislist I found one is a 2005 Sportsman 500 HO with winch, tow, gunrack, and plow has about 400 miles on it for $4750 (flexible)

The second is a 2008 Sportsman 400 HO gunrack only and 135 miles. $3700 firm.

Which is the better deal

 

What do you really need? What do you want?

How much is the extra 1500 worth to you?

I personally think 500cc is perfect, but is 100cc worth the extra money? But I don't really need a plow... a winch could be super useful, I've found myself wanting one a couple times... but you could always add one on for a few hundred...

Which is in better shape?

 

The 400 is like new. The 500 is worn alittle. A winch would be nice, the plow would be nice. and i dont know how much the plow would cost on its own.

I will want to do some trail riding, not necessarily go mudding but it would be fun occasionally. Not necessaily needing the extra 100 CC.

The 400 is about 2 hours one way. the 500 is 30 mins

 

4 times the miles and has been used to plow could mean that a lot more parts are worn or stressed and might need replacing sooner. Personally, unless you really need the plow, I'd get the newer one.

 

400 miles, vs 135 is what I read...

 

JUST DON'T BUY A POLARIS TO START WITH...

 

There's one in every crowd

 

Had to lol! Some may not like that I'm a Yamaha fan-boy. It's fine. To each their own! My honest opinion OP, ride them both and decide.

Me, I ride a 700 grizzly. My dad has a 700 and my mom has a 550. I put about 2000 miles on dad's (over 4 years) and about 200 on mom's (in 2 years) before getting mine and I've put 700 on it in 3 months lol Having ridden each I knew I needed the 700. it has the oomph that the 550 doesn't. Had I not ridden those before, a 450 would have probably been enough. My best friend has a 450 and it is gutless to me, but it is lower to the ground and he can corner way better than me.

 

I have a Honda foreman and it is the most reliable quad I have ever used plus it goes anywhere I need it to

 

When I was growing up, the monster quads were the 500's. The the Grizzly came out with the 600, then they just kept getting bigger and bigger. I liked my little 250 2 stroke for the tight trails I grew up riding.

 

I would say go with the 400 without a doubt. I bought my 3500# superwinch w/ synthetic line for my rhino off Amazon for $230.00. If you look around you can find a used plow for very cheap too, thats how I did it. If you even need the plow of course.

 

Honda or Yamaha for reliability like our toys.
Polaris for reliability like 2005 ford powerstroke.

The 400 Polaris used to be two stroke, not sure if that one is. So it a actually has more power than the 500, IMO.

 

You sure about that? Pretty sure the Sportman was always a 4-stroke. Either way, anything as new as the OP is looking would be 4 stroke anyways. The 400 Scrambler and 400 Sport used to have 2 stroke engines.

 

So the 400 isnt available this weekend for me to check it out. I have heard good and bad about polaris. I hear nothing but good things (except price) for can am. Id like a renegade. I like the outlander as well. I would love a grizzly. But I would like a 500 or higher I think. Id like to do some mudding and have the power if I want/need it. I would definitely like 4x4.

 

Yamaha big bear or grizzly

Honda foreman or rancher

Great quads

 

I looked at a honda foreman Rubicon it was nice. Full auto or electronic shift. 800cc I think.

 

We use atv's everyday for work on our farm. Put several thousand miles on them a year. We've always used Honda ranchers and they've been very reliable, but just recently bought a sportsman 500 and a ranger 800. The ranger burnt almost a quart of oil per fill up after about a year. The sportsman has about 2000 miles on it and it's been reliable, but seems built very poorly. Almost every piece of plastic on it's falling off and it's hard to start, it is a newer carb'd model. The one your looking at might be fuel injected, not sure when they changed it.

 

Well I dont know what I want to do now. I want to be able to ride with my wife on the back with less chance of flipping back.

 

You could definitely get a Honda Rancher for that kind of money. They are quite a bit smaller in size than a polaris 500 so if you want to ride two up you might not like it as much. I would take a rancher over a foreman but a big bear isn't a bad idea. They are a little old school but I've always heard good things about them.

 

Any of the full sized utility quads should be fine for that, especially 4x4. On a steep climb, you'll have to be careful regardless since the ATV's you're looking at aren't built for 2 up.

The 400 has more than enough power for mudding. Obviously, it won't throw mud like an 800cc V twin but it's a hell of a lot lighter and will do just fine. The older 4 and 500s used to be the monsters, they can turn mud tires.

The Can Ams are awesome ATVs. If you can afford it, go for it! They're pricey but damn nice machines.