School me on side by side's

With all due respect you have no clue what you are talking about, we take a ratio of data, and that is what I am talking about, what ratio of vehicles produced come in for repair vs service. The ratio of units produced for Polaris that come in for repair is much higher than the ratio of units that come in for repair for all other makes. PERIOD end of story. That's how you calculate reliability,

 

Thanks to a little bit of moonshine and you end up with this.

My buddy caught a little air but stayed in the gas when the rear landed and that will snap axles everytime. Not to mention the driveshaft.

All these machines are made with 'weak' links...Axles are one of them. Better to snap an axle than to blow the trans or front diff.

Some people replace their stock axles with heavy duty, hardened steel axles. I will never do that. I'm not gonna risk blowing a trans just to save a $75 axle that can be replaced on the trail in 30 mins especially when you're 30 miles deep in the mountains, away from camp.

And of course chances of this happening go up 10x when running bigger/heavier tires, an aftermarket cage that adds 500 lbs (4 seater with all bumpers tied in), heavy 1/2" uhmw full skid plate, etc etc

The mfg's weight capacity is always overloaded once the machines get modded out, and throw 600+ lbs of passengers in it.

 

Ah yes the loose band clamp recall.... Now go and read every recall put out by Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Polaris, and Can AM. Read and understand ALL of them, you will notice a significant difference between them.

 

A recall is a recall. A catastrophic engine failure recall makes no difference as to why. Don't care about the specifics. And yes I know ALL of the polaris recalls....from the leaking fuel rails, tanks, fuel pumps, clutches, etc...Remember?, I have one.

I had one recall on my '18 XPT with the fuel pump. The fix was a plastic 'protective' cover over the fuel pump assembly under the passenger seat. Now, was that such a HUGE deal, no, but as i said a recall is a recall.

According to you, my machine should still be in the shop getting repairs done. But yet I've broke nothing in 6 yrs.

 

I did not say that.

Look the reality is this, I have 3,000 dealerships using my software every day. I look at 3 million records every year of what comes in for repair VS service. I also have a team of guys here that read every recall and understand every recall and the type of recall. I did a 8 year study on all the brands and how often they come in for repair VS service. I did it in a ratio so volume was not heavily weighted

If you can show me more accurate data than that across a larger sampling than hey I will listen. You saying cuz mine aint broke they are just as good as a japanese one is just one guy with one vehicle.

Looking at the repair vs service is kinda of what we do here.

 

Couple points of input here.

I have a 2018 CanAm Maverick XRS Turbo R Max FourSeater that stays in Baja. It has 7500 HARD miles on it.

I have a 2022 CanAm Maverick XRS Turbo RR Max Two Seater that lives in Idaho.

Not sure of all the hate on the four seater. I love the handling characteristics of the longer wheel base. Plus the extra storage in the back is important. I can only think of a couple of times I've had to do a three point turn in really tight stuff.
I got the two seater because I thought it would be a huge difference in maneuverability, but there really isn't. At least to me.

The two seater does have more Rs in its name, so there is that.
The Max part of the name is CanAm's way of calling out the track width. 72" vs the narrower 61" I think it is. Wider is better, unless you're talking about butts.
It can limit trail access though.

They both are unbelievably fast and stable. They both will scare the shit out of your passengers.
They both will climb over ridiculous obstacles.
CanAm upped their game with the front diff in 2018. They call it Smartlok. It works a lot like a slipper clutch with balls and ramps. Full lockers front and back when needed.
Get an intercom setup with comfy headsets with boom mics. These cars sound like a coffee can full of marbles at speed. The headset and intercom make it sooo nice. Plus VHF radio for car to car with your travel mates is essential.

As far as reliability goes, I've only broken stuff acting like I'm Robbie Gordon.

We do a ton of Overland stuff down in Baja. From one side of the peninsula to the other.
I travel with a very, shall we say, older crew. They don't beat on their stuff.
I try to carry spares and extraction equipment for any mishap. So far I've only had to work on and tow RZRs on the trail.
Knock on wood. I know my time is coming.

 

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Sounds spot on....IMO, eastern mountainous, mud trails, slick boulders, deep ruts with roots, wet rocky inclines, are more prone to breaking shit...Whereas you have to hit a steep, rutted out, mud/rock/tree roots of a trail on the 'hard' side of acceleration. That's when things snap.

Less likely to break an axle or blow a BJ when slowly crawling up dry rock at a snails pace when grip is not a problem. I'm not saying that;s your case, especially with high speed baja that you do. My buddy went to Moab once, absolutely loved it.

I am the 'repair' rig. Everybody carrys spare shit, but I go over and beyond. I carry spare axles, spare belt, BJ's, tie rods, wheel bearings, brakes, brake fluid, butane torch, axle removal tool, wheel bearing removal tool/press, BJ removal tool/press, Milwaukee impacts, grinder/cut off wheel, drill, sawzall, chainsaw, shift cable, fuel pump, 60 lb bag of hand tools, jumpbox, air compressor, tow straps/snatch block, wheel bearing loctite, tie wire, hose clamps, tubs of misc nuts and bolts, zip ties and gorilla tape of course, etc etc.

 

I have a friend/client who repairs gas-well tender's equipment. When I was in the market for a SxS in 2019 he said that the only one he would consider is a Honda Pioneer. Said the build quality was far better than other manufacturers, and wear parts are better engineered and built (plastic vs. metal, etc.).

I ended up with the Pioneer 1000-5 because I wanted four seats on occasion, but didn't need four seats regularly. I am very pleased with it, zero issues.

 

As an outsider to the 4x4 world and observer of this thread, let me point out that the discussion has gone from a guy needing something to get around in, on flat trails in FL, to competing in a 24 hour off-road event FTW, on a course that includes sand dunes, water crossings, tight dirt trails, massive whoops to be taken at WFO, and pit stops in the field. All while scaring the $h!t out of the wives of your neighbors.

Alex, no need for the lifted F650 Dually Powerstroke on mudders of a 4x4. But I know you know that.

 

Pretty standard beeb procedure.

 

You guys crack me up.

Thanks for all the feedback. Great info.

 

I have no experience with these vehicles, but learned something today. I had no idea Polaris is an American brand.

 

They own/owned Victory motorcycles and Indian and the Slingshot trikes.

 

They have been making snowmobiles in Minnesota for 68 years.

 

Why?

 

He must live under a rock.

 

Kubota RTV 520 fuel injected two cylinder 4 stroke 4x4 hydrostatic drive with something like a 2000 hour warranty. This one is not really for banging through ditches but it is a great ranch vehicle for us.

They come larger and with diesel engines too

https://www.kubotausa.com/utility-vehicles

 

Growing up riding sport bikes - the Polaris hate was strong. All of my friends hated them, constantly making fun of them.

Back in 2011, my wife got a concussion riding her dirt bike. She decided that she wanted a Rzr instead. We bought a 2012 Rzr 800. It is the 50" wide model that only has maybe 55 hp.

She trail rides it in state forests, we take 2-3 sand dune trips each year with it, I use it to plow snow in the winter - I plow an atv xc practice track through the woods, which beats the hell out of the poor Rzr while plowing...

One dune trip the o ring blew out of an emgo oil filter and she rode it around for about 20 minutes without oil. She pulls up and I ask her - don't you hear those weird noises? Haha. Girls. I put oil back in it and it never missed a beat, still runs awesome. That was years ago.

I have replaced the battery once. That is it.

I have turned into a Polaris fan.

 

The 800 has always had a great rep. A little tank of sorts. We still see them on the trails and get a kick out of them cause they just keeping going and going....and they're so small compared to todays 72" + machines. A lot of youngsters in them as their 1st SxS. Probably handed down from pops as he rolls around in his $50k machine.

 

Owned a Polaris ATV once and learned my lesson right away in 2yrs of ownership

Rubber intake boot failure

Head gasket failure

Water pump seal failure

Water pump seal failure

Water pump seal failure yet again because of the fucked up installation procedure that even the dealership couldn't get right

Blown fuse and discovered Polaris doesn't (or didn't at the time) use a simple spade-style fuse. Machine down for a fuse on order

Hated the mixed hardware, metric here and there but not everywhere

And the nail in the coffin was when the stator shorted out at idle

Factory plow was also a disaster and the pivot would flip in the wrong direction if there were any crests to plow across

I gave the machine away to someone and the new owner put something like $900 in electronics to update the charging system and I haven't heard from him since

Never again in this lifetime