Bought a 2008 Polaris Ranger the day before Christmas. Had it 3 weeks before parking it in the garage. The third day of having it in the garage it caught fire completely destroying the garage and 2008 Denali parked inside. Luckily the rest of the home was spared due to quickness of the fire department. This was a 2008 Polaris Ranger Browning Special Addition. Many recalls have been posted from Polaris for the RZR and many other atv's they make. The ECM may be the cause but they have also had trouble with leaking fuel tanks. The post investigation from the state fire inspector and insurance adjuster both determined that the Polaris was the cause of the fire. Buyer beware!!!  

yes it's par for the course for polaris, they had this same recall for years on other models still they wont buy better ecm's and numerous other parts for their atv's.

they'd rather use the same defective and low quality materials they have used for years to save money for themselves and charge you more.

I see it time and time again, the dealers refuse to warranty the defects, and if you call Polaris themselves, they tell you there's nothing they can do to just work with the dealer.  

Hey wolf1,
Here is some more ammo for you. I purchased a new 2008 RANGER XP 700 EFI cause they did not have a rhino. The other day I went out for a ride and noticed it would hardly move. After driving for a mile or so I stopped and felt the rotors. The back rotors and drive line rotors were cool. When I touched the front rotors they melted my finger tips. I wondered how this could be only having 12 hours on it. Being machanicaly inclined I pulled the tire off to inspect the brakes. I could hardly believe my eyes. The mounting plate that holds the caliper to the axles were twisted like a cheep piece of tinfoil. I checked the other side and the mounting plate was fractured in two pieces. Remember 12 hours on this machine. I took it back to the dealer knowing I was 1 month out of warranty and they said they would fix it free of charge. I asked if polaris designed a stronger bracket and he didn't know. When I get the thing back I will see if they replaced the faulty component with the same piece of crap. If so I am going to take it to my shop take it apart and build the brackets polaris should have. This is the first polaris I have ever owned and am already thinking of trading it in on a rhino.  

it's part for the course man,
Yu were absolutely lucky that they actually honored the warranty.

I have proven to Polaris many different defects only to have them refuse to honor the warranty. (and all while the customers atv was still under warranty.)

Polaris likes to claim that the atv was abused and the warranty is now void because of it.  

go buy the 08 Rhino the brakes on them quit working altogether......  

I have ridden with friends who owned rhinos for years. I have never seen a rhinos brakes, motors or anything else fail on them. The only problem they have had is when they blast thru a deep stream they tend to suck a little water into the air intake.(Polaris did a better job blocking the water from comming into the intake) To make things easy yamaha put a plug at the lowest point of the air intake tube so all you need to do is pull the plug and let the water drain out. Ask anybody that knows Yamaha is known for longevity and they will last and last. I guess the comment you made about complete brake failure is something you read on the net. Before I will put down any product I must experience the problems first hand. To this day I have seen only minor problems with the yamaha rhinos.  

No I work at a dealership the Rhino recall is for brake failure on 08 models. Not I don't believe much of what is posted as the majority of it is not factual. Anyone who has been in the industry to any degree knows that all - yes all manufacturers have their troubles.  

I am sorry for you loses and hope your insurance covered everything.  Just wondering if your insurance paid for the lose of your new ranger.  If so did you purchase another one.  I see the rangers come in and out of our shop everday and cant recall ever seeing or hearing of one with a gas leak or even bad ECM.  Now the claims of bad ECM's on the Sportsmans are correct and Polaris is addressing that issue.  I do know for a fact that the 3 cases of the sportsman fires also had outside influences, I.E. some sort of flameble matter touching the area around the ecm.  I know sometimes its hard to keep the gas from spilling when you fill up the gas tank.  

Polaris claims that the unit did not cause the fire. So, the home insurance company covered it all. Yes, purchased another one. This time, bought and installed a master electrical shutoff like the one that is on a race car. This disconnects the battery from the electrical system completely. We'll see how that works. And, parking the unit outside. I can't stand Polaris as a company but it's the only nice riding unit out there with a bench seat so the kids can ride. Yamaha needs one with a bench seat.  

Still rebuilding home.  

of course polaris is not going to admit the unit caused the fire, then they'd be responsible for the damages.

there already is a recall on the ranger for a fire hazard.

it's exactly the way polaris operates. they hate to admit a defect and hate to honor the warranty.
you have to force them to do anything.  

Polaris puts a bad image in front the american atv industry...  

you got that right,  there's a reason they have so many recalls, and there is a reason there are so many posts for polaris with problems on this website.

Polaris atv's are junk and Polaris knows it!

the co-founder of Polaris went on the record as saying "if we made 400 machines, we got back 500"