I totally agree with
@TimG on the warranty. Some people get worked up any time they don't have a warranty and insurance on anything bigger than a toaster (actually, some people buy overpriced "protection plans" on that kind of thing too). I'd be fine with buying a new sled with no warranty except that everybody has issues, and you're benefiting from Poo's (or Doo's, or Cat's) cost if something major goes. But if I were down to a mythical choice between a sled that I know is built to a high standard with no warranty and one I know is just slapped together with a three or four-year warranty, I'm going with the former. It's too bad Polaris doesn't have better QC, because the 850 NA is a sled that could be dead-reliable if it was put together better. Lots of them pile on the miles, but I've also heard horror stories. Sometimes the quality of the product is so marginal and the repair costs are so high that extended coverage is a good value: a lot of major appliances are built so cheaply these days that making it five years is a win, for instance. The crisis of a failed fridge or dishwasher is nothing compared with a dead sled in the back-country though.
Now, an extended warranty is a good deal if it's thrown in or cheap enough. Even if we're not dealing with a problem child sled, it can be a value because of their cost versus your cost on parts. But they're generally a profit point off people who've "gotta have it." Just for me personally, because I like wrenching and have some idea what I'm doing, a warranty doesn't offer much more value - especially not when you factor in the back-and-forth with the dealer, potentially being denied a claim, and having no options if they're backed up, can't get parts, etc. For people who don't wrench, it's more difficult. I don't know what's happened, but there used to be small shops in every town who could handle anything on a sled, dirt bike, or ATV, and if you found a good one, you could rely on them. There are still some around, but most have disappeared. I don't know of anyone in Billings (town of 100,000+ people) other than the dealer who can crack open a P-85, for instance. Either way though, we shouldn't have to be second-guessing when we go deep into the woods or drop in somewhere you're not getting a dead sled out of.
