In defese of Polaris

okay, ive have seen on here a lot upset people with Polaris, and i dont really understand it. I work at a Polaris and KTM dealership, and i do Parts and Sales.

First off. . .wolf1, are you a Polaris dealer, because you did say this:

"I have fought with Polaris many times trying to get Polaris to warranty defective parts for my customers. time and time again they refuse to admit that the part could even go bad."

It does not sound like you are a dealer, but you are tying to get Polaris to warranty parts, something doesnt make sense to me!!!!! Hmmmmmmm?????

First off, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and that is exactly what everyone has. Lets just look at everybodys history. Polaris, Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, and Kawasaki have all been around for a very long time, so to say that any one of the are piles of junk, you would think they would of gone out of business a long time ago.

When it comes to recall and updates, yes polaris does have a lot. but, they are also not afraid to recall or update a part. as far as polaris not wanting to replace the CDI box on the 05s and 06s. . .we have extra new ones still at our shop. polaris sent us more than enough for our customers.

when it comes to getting parts and labor warrantied, it sounds like you have bad dealers. polaris has accepted 95% of our warranty claims. An early production 2008 RZR sucked in dirt through the throttle body when the customer rolled it, and it took out the whole motor. polaris warrantied a brand new motor and all labor to install it. a 2008 ranger XP also sucked in dirt through a cracked intake boot, again polaris sent a brand new 700 XP motor and covered 100% of the cost. we also had a 2007 sportsman 800 loose all of it coolant, and the motor overheated and seized . .same story, polaris took 100% of the cost and sent a new motor. we even got polaris to warranty machines that were a few months out of warranty. it is called a "good faith" warranty, and usually takes a 15 min. phone call from the service manager to get polaris to accept it. THEY WILL DO IT. . . YOUR DEALER JUST HAS MAKE THE WARRANTY LOOK VALID. you have to realize people . . .many dealers suck, because the dealership itself can make WAY more money by not doing a warranty. if one dealer says polaris will not warranty your machine, take it to another dealer!!!!

if polaris was such junk, why would KTM put their name on the line to be hooked up with Polaris. KTM prides themselves on being the best machine, the most reliable, and race ready. every single KTM bike and engine is hand assembled at one plant, in austria. KTM would not allow polaris to use their motor if they made crap.

and finally, i leave you with this. you can not take my word, i am bias. . .i know this, but ill tell you this. at our shop right now we have a used 2008 kawasaki brute force 750, traded in for a polaris. we have a 2008 rhino 700, traded in for a polaris. we have a kawasaki mule, traded in for a polaris. we have a 07 artic cat m1000, traded in for a polaris. we have 06 ski doo rev 800, traded in for a polaris. we have a 07 ski doo rev x 800, traded in on polaris. we sold 10 2008 ranger XPs to different government agencies this year. we sold two polaris snowmobiles to the sheriff department in a common area for sleds in oregon. i had a commercial contractor tell me that his 2008 ranger XP is the best machine he has had on the job site. he said he has had them all on the site, the rhinos, the mules . . .but his ranger XP out pulls, out hauls, out tows, every UTV they have had, all with the best speed, acceration, and ride comfort. . .that was just his word.

again, im not saying polaris is perfect, but show me a company that has not had its problems. but people, dont be so quick to blame polaris as a company, every brand has crocked dealers that want to make the extra buck by not getting you your warranty. and wolf1 please tell me that you made sure the car you are driving has NO chinese electronics on it, because you did say you wouldnt put your kid on a polaris because they are so dangerous with all the chinese parts . . .i just wanted to make sure your not putting your kid(s) at risk by driving a car with them in it that has ANYTHING from china, you never know, that chinese electrical componet might catch fire in your garage one night.

let the flaming begin . . .hahahahah!!!
whether you agree or not . . post up, i get my opinion, and you can have yours!  

update from today at work. . .

this guy about 4 months ago bought a brand new yamaha rhino 700, and 3 weeks after that, we sold a 2008 polaris rzr to a couple he knew. today he just became the new owner of a 2009 rzr s. he sold his rhino after 3 months of owning it!

we still have a used 2008 rhino 700 with 70 miles on it. . . any takers???? (guy traded it in on a rzr) we have sold about a dozen of the rzr and about 6 rzr s models, but yet this rhino still sits at our shop for sale, nobody even looks at it.  

I have an outlaw 525 I am having problems with headlights going out,any body else having this problem.And if so have you found a cure.  

look at the amount of posts on this site alone for serious issues with polaris,

and it is the same on every site like this one,  the posts for serious quality issues and problems with polaris machines in general out number the posts for problems with any other atv.
the only other atv's that come close to the same number of post' for problems are the chinese/taiwanese atv's.

And yes polaris has a recall for bad cdi boxes. ( for years they have had recalls for bad cdi boxes)

yet not long ago a poster' on here had his house burned down by a defective polaris.  the fire department acknowledged after their investigation that the fire was started in the garage by the polaris which was new.

YET polaris swears it couldn't have been their atv.

EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS A CURRENT RECALL FOR A FIRE HAZARD ON THE ATV.

People could have died in a house fire, (luckily they didn't) yet polaris would have sworn it wasn't due to a defect with their machine.

 Polaris' recalls speak for themselves.....
in severeity and level of danger to the rider.

They had recalls for steering shafts that broke while riding (and actually paid out millions is settlements to injured riders and family of injured riders)

They had a recall where the brake calipers fell off while riding,

Recalls for the transmission bolts backing out while riding, causing the wheels to lock up, causing injury to the rider.

They had a recall for an oil leak that caused severe burns to the rider.

Defective cdi boxes that caused fire.

THESE ARE NOT your normal run of the mill defects that you see in every atv make and model, but only in a polaris.

To be honest, if iam out riding the last thing i want is for the steering shaft to  break so that i have no steering suddenly.

or the brake caliper to fall off when i need to stop quickly.(which is most of the time)

or transmission bolts to back out and lock up the wheels causing me to go over the side of a ridge, or down the side of a mountain, or run into my buddy iam riding with, injuring them.

or the oil line to leak and burn me.

or my house to burn down because Polaris doesn't want to make quality the most important aspect of their atv's.

I am not a polaris dealer, i own my own shop, have for years successfully.

I have dealt with dealerships, trying to help my customers get at least the parts warantied when their polaris breaks down and potentially costs them a fortune to repair, due to a defect from the factory.

I have also dealt with Polaris directly and had them refuse to do right for the customer even when it was due to a defect they had issued a recall for.

Polaris' own co-founder, David Johnson made the statement
"if we made 400 machines we got 500 back"
speaking about their defects and quality issues.

and is it that hard to believe coming from a company that got it's start making farm tractors and is co owned by fuji heavy industries??


so yes given this Polaris would be reluctant to admit all of their defects and go belly up with their atv line.

The recalls they have issued; many of them are re-ocurring, which leaves me asking the question,
did they address the issue at all since the same recalls for defects keep showing year after year?


Most people that ride do so for the sheer fun of it and thrill of riding hard and living to talk about it later.

with that being said do you think they want to get seriously injured because their atv fell apart due to defects?

no one wants to get hurt, but even more so i'd think they'd rather not be seriously injured due to a lack of quality on the manufacturers part.

I don't have to come on here and say anything, if people would check the recalls on atv's and read them before they purchased an atv or sxs I honestly believe  Polaris would be their last choice in atv's to purchase.
but many people don't think about that when they buy, they just want to ride and have fun.

Seriously, how many more injuries due to defects is it going to take before they change the laws so that it's nearly impossible to ride anywhere? or legislation dictates when we can ride or what we can ride, or what age we can legally ride an atv? or that atv's are outlawed all together for public safety reasons?

Afterall, where did the three wheelers go?

I have owned polaris, i have myself been burned by their defects, as well as hear the same thing over and over again, after polaris owners bring their atv to my shop because the dealer wont honor the warranty and they can't afford the high labor prices at the dealer to get their atv back on the trail.

I would love nothing more than to be able to say "buy american, and Polaris is the way to go"

but due to the many defects that Polaris still has every year, and the danger to the rider, as well as watching polaris owners spend a fortune trying to make their atv run well enough to enjoy it, i simply can't say it.

my fault???  no!! if Polaris only made quality important in every atv they made i would be able to.

but they don't...they'd rather offer independant rear suspension or some new gadget than better the quality and try to get rid of the same old defects they have year after year.

bad dealers?
well for most people that's the only "go to" they have
to get their atv repaired under warranty.
afterall not everyone can dial up John Flint
and expect to get him to answer.

and yes ktm... ktm is like any other company they sell an engine or any other part in an effort to make more money.

it's a polaris and if it fails you can't really blame ktm for it.

I could sell you tires for an atv and if the wheels you put them on were poor quality and caused the tires to blow out, could you blame the tire supplier?
of course not.

I applaud the dealership you work for if they are working hard to honor the warranty.  many polaris dealers do not.

and i can understand why they don't. if they admitted all of the defects then the customer might realize they bought an atv that has serious problems and buy something else.... of course causing the polaris dealer to lose sales and go out of business.


my son wouldn't be allowed to ride a polaris for two reasons.

The first is that polaris has a history of very dangerous recalls for their atv's.
and second is that the 80cc and 90cc polaris atv's are made in taiwan.
the quality of the taiwanese / chinese atv's has been established as nothing more than cheap junk.

ask anyone who's had one for 3 or 4 months and you'll most likely hear them say they wish they had bought something better.

to date my son rides a yamaha blaster, no complaints, no problems, no issues with it what so ever,  and it's a 1998 model.
i ride a 1993 yamaha blaster big bore 240cc and haven't had the first problem out of it either.

thats a pretty good track record, especially given the way i ride.  
Keep it RUBBER SIDE DOWN!!

to all those who hate on polaris machines i say you have your opinion and i have mine. i go to work everyday, on fort campbell, i have deployed 3 times in the fight against terrorism so heres my 2 cents. if you dont like polaris atv's dont buy them, when ur honda or yamaha breaks i will drive by on my polaris and will tow u to ur truck. my wife, my self and all 4 of my kids ride polaris atv's. yep they have had there problems but never left me on the trail and never had problems with getting them fixed. do your maintenance and know ur dealer and polaris is the best machine on the trail. i will put my sportsman 800 against any machine on the trail and will make u cry like a little girl.if ur dealer wont help u go to another. but remember u seen ur dealer when u bought ur quad, u ride it hard, put it up wet and when it breaks 6 months or a year after u bought it u walk in the dealership and *** that aint how it works, send ur dealer a christmas card and stop in to buy ur service parts. know ur dealer and he will take care of u. mine does even after warrenty has expired, they helped me out. dont like polaris ride junk, other wise ride hard and rode safe.  

Well i wasn't going to answer this one as i feel my point has already been established.
but just had to.
please understand that iam not bashing anyone who owns a polaris atv.
only Polaris for not making quality number 1 in every machine they build.

I do appreciate your service in the military, and i respect all of our soldiers. though honestly how does that make you an authority on atv's?  
simple truth, it doesn't.
you own a few of them and as you said "they have had their problems."  

you may get lucky and have few problems with yours,(even a broken clock is right twice a day) but most likely you'll experience some serious issues.

And personally the dealer is the one who should be sending you a christmas card for doing business with him.

Especially with polaris.  if you bought a polarisunless you are one of the lucky few who got one that actually stays together, you got screwed without getting kissed and the polaris dealer knows it. so yeah a card, candy flowers.....

Geeze even cheap and diseased prostitutes get paid for getting screwed!!!

That's why there are so many polaris dealers who will not honor the warranty for repairs (they'd go broke if they did)
Polaris doesn't like to honor the warranty or admit all of their defects, which means the dealers wouldn't get paid for all of the warranty repair and defect replacements they perform.
and if the manufacturer wont honor the warranty then you have no choice, either perform the repair under warranty because it's the right thing to do and go out of business, or deny the warranty.

the effort online is to make people aware of the many defects and recalls with polaris machines. i believe whole heartedly that if people were more informed about polaris they would never buy one.

afterall who in their right mind would buy an atv that the steering shaft may break on it while you were riding, or the brake calipers might fall off.
or even if they had known that polaris atv's HAVE burned people homes down because of defects for fire hazards?


there is a reason there are so many topics on here for problems with Polaris machines.
there are over 300 topics asking for help with Polaris quality and repair issues...

not even the chinese atv topics are that high on here.  
Keep it RUBBER SIDE DOWN!!

Polaris atvs are we use down range, there the only ones that hold up to 140 plus heat in iraq and the rugged mountians in afghanistan. what makes u a atv expert. ur just a couch potatoe that thinks he knows everything. ur just a piece of s<>t. wolf1 replys to everything and just copys and pastes replys from other web links. go buy a quad and ride u sorry a<>.  

That last reply was a little bit nasty. Let's keep this a constructive forum and try to help each other out without the bashing.

I feel that Wolf1 has a very honest and constructive attitude and warning about that Polaris product. I own two Polaris Sportsmen, a 2005 and 2006, 700EFI models and both have been absolute lemons since day-one. It is not a question of "if I don't like Polaris, then don't buy one".  The problem is that I already own these two and have too much money invested in these to even consider opting out of them.  If we all had 20/20 hindsite we'd all be millionaires. Polaris definitely has quality problems and all dealer/service places that I have dealt with have attitude and incompetence problems.  They refuse to ever stand behind their product and refuse or are completly incapable of honoring their warranty work.  I admit that I have no experience with ownership and repair of any other ATV other than Polaris, but I have had it up to you-know-where with experience in repairing these damned Polaris' that I own.  So in my opinion, POLARIS SUCKS and I will do what ever I can to disuade anyone from ever purchasing one.