Proud to NOT own a Polaris anymore

[Butta]

So, after having quite the exciting pre-season last fall, with the acquisition of a '10 RMK Assault 800, I can proudly say that I NO LONGER OWN IT. Seeing the lack of Polaris support to both dealers and consumers alike, I can't believe a company can exist with similar business practices.

I was able to ride a total of 290 miles ALL SEASON.....early January I had a scuffed piston and it took quite awhile for Polaris to "ok" the fix. Then, on the second ride with a new topend (pistons, cylinders, etc), the mag side piston skirt broke and took out the whole motor (minus the cases) with only 60 miles on the repairs. So, after 3 weeks of being in the shop, again waiting on Polaris to "ok" the fix, I picked it up with everything internal being brand new. I was afraid to ride it....afraid that I'd get stuck somewhere in the backcountry with a failed motor....

When the piston skirt broke, we had just climbed out of this nasty gulley that we were playing in...had it broken at the bottom, just 30 minutes earlier, it would have been a nightmare to deal with. I did NOT want to replay that.

Sadly, Polaris and their lack of support and desire to actually fix these machines, has driven me OUT of sledding....for at least the next foreseeable future, anyway.

I had a couple interested buyers, but it was priced way low. My phone should have been ringing off the hook....it wasn't. Resale values on these are plummeting, that's evident. I finally just traded it in, because I didn't want to have "that call" from the buyer when it broke again. Let the dealer mess with it...now I've got a Yamaha quad for the kids....thanks, Polaris....

Come on, Polaris, quit biting the hand that feeds you!! Too many stories similar to mine............

 

[GBCB]

Don't blame you one bit. Your grandkids will still be riding that quad.

 

[Spankey99]

Wow, you did 290? Better than my 2006 FST switchback I had. Last season I was able to put on 48 miles (2009-2010). The sled broke twice WHILE LOADING IT ON THE TRAILER in the dealer's parking lot. The dealer failed to tighten the nut holding on the starter gear correctly 4 TIMES which caused me to need 3 turbo assemblies and 2 new heads. Way to be polaris products and dealers, way to be.

 

[754bigbore]

yup, I have a 09 800 rmk, just put the "fix" kit in it. heading to the mountains in the next couple hours. hope it works, otherwise she's down the road too!!

 

[BBDTCP]

Any warranty issuse that takes more then a couple days to get a anwser from Polaris is the dealer not following up, being a dealer i have seem the failures that you are talking about. Never once has Polaris taken more then 2 days to anwser a warranty claim-Most of the time it was the same day. I'm not saying anything about the sled motors other than when they do fail Polaris has always been there-With good or bad news. Have a great summer with the wheeler-I hope you don't have the same dealer as you did for the sled or there will be another post on Yamaha site soon.

 

[augerin]

Any warranty issuse that takes more then a couple days to get a anwser from Polaris is the dealer not following up, being a dealer i have seem the failures that you are talking about. Never once has Polaris taken more then 2 days to anwser a warranty claim-Most of the time it was the same day. I'm not saying anything about the sled motors other than when they do fail Polaris has always been there-With good or bad news. Have a great summer with the wheeler-I hope you don't have the same dealer as you did for the sled or there will be another post on Yamaha site soon.

As a dealer you must be getting tired of "toating" the company line. I got my answer from Polaris, they said "your sled is out of warrenty". I said "it was never fixed properly under warrenty and the responsability for that lies with Polaris". They don't care and as stated, if that is the way they want to run there buisiness I won't be buying the new Pro next year as intended. Do you think it is going to be any different with that sled if the engine in it turns out to be another engineering FU. Polaris has 3 MY's worth of crap in consumers hands and they refuse to address or even acknolege that there is a problem. One of my customers has an XP that he hasn't got to put many miles on but even after the warrenty was up for a year BRP fixed his sled when the crank broke at Baker. To bad I don't like the feel of the XP.

 

[milehighassassin]

What did you get on trade?

 

[Butta]

What did you get on trade?

ROBBED! But with the reputation these sleds have, I'm not sure who robbed who.....soon enough, these sleds will be worth next to nothing, and I didn't want to own it when the value tumbled further.

As for the dealer who posted on here, it seems that Polaris has seen to it that you are getting what you need, after their POS machine breaks. Well, the dealer I used is awesome. However, do you have any idea how busy they are with all the CFI4 motors that were in need of repair? And, even though my sled was 100% stock (motor, pipe, can), Polaris still had an issue approving the warranty work b/c I had 58's in the clutch rather than 60's...I rode at 10-12k feet, and still didn't get over 8k rpm even with 58's. But, they look for any and every reason to deny a warranty.

I've owned a ton of Yamahas through my days, dirtbikes, street bikes, four wheelers, sleds, and even watercraft. Not once have I had a reason to look at their machine with even 10% of the disgust I looked at that POS Polaris design. If the company cared about it's consumers, they'd REPAIR the CFI4 motors rather than limp them along with the same BS parts that are bound to fail again...hoping the owner will soon be out of warranty and on their own.

60 miles on a piston and it breaks a skirt? Tell me that's anything other than: piss poor quality parts to begin with; or hugely excessive piston to cyl wall clearance resulting in catastrophic failure.

It will be a LOOOOOONG time before Polaris sees me as an owner again.....



Furthermore.....my experience with Yamaha has been one that I've NEVER needed to rely on the dealer to "pull something through". The biggest reason is because they have outstanding build quality and unrelenting reliability as their number one goal. My Yammie products rarely ever have to see the dealer again. I couldn't imagine being a dealer for Polaris....I'd rather flip burgers at McD's.....

 

[milehighassassin]

$$$ amount on trade if you don't mind saying.

Curious what I can get or hope to get.


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[hillking]

$$$ amount on trade if you don't mind saying.

Curious what I can get or hope to get.


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X2 thinking new pro, my d8 has been ok ,piped 163 will take any 155 pro in the deep this year. But will get beat by 163 pro . So that sucks...

 

[augerin]

Is it just me or did a post get deleted here. How much did you get on trade in?

 

[Butta]

$5,100 on trade. I'm glad I was into it for not much more than that, so it didn't really hurt me in the long run...but (and there's always a but), if I had paid retail for it last fall, I'd be out a ton of cash....

 

[augerin]

Wow, for a 2010. Sad

 

[2XM3]

$5,100 on trade. I'm glad I was into it for not much more than that, so it didn't really hurt me in the long run...but (and there's always a but), if I had paid retail for it last fall, I'd be out a ton of cash....

Yup thats what there going for, or less. And I will agree 100% with you the Yamaha products I have owned and still own be it generators,dirtbikes,sleds,streetbikes all have been PERFECT and I ride my wr450 like a madman. Just a well built product.

 

[Butta]

Wow, for a 2010. Sad

Yep.....prior to the decision to trade it in, I had it listed on here and locally for $6750 OBO....thinking I'd get thrown some low ball offers and be able to get near $6k for it....I received zero interest locally, and only one serious interest on here, but I guess the distance issue made it unfavorable for him.

I figured I'd have the phone ringing off the hook, a one year old sled for nearly 50% retail.....with mods!! Nope....sad, definitely sad. Wait 'til next year, when the warranties on the majority of the IQ's will be over....I bet you could pick one up for $3-4k......

 

[thebirdman]

Very sad! I was looking through our local classifieds and there were 2 2010's for under $5,000!!! (one for 4,600 the other for 4,900) I can't believe they are going for that cheap!

 

[milehighassassin]

Very sad! I was looking through our local classifieds and there were 2 2010's for under $5,000!!! (one for 4,600 the other for 4,900) I can't believe they are going for that cheap!

Buy one and throw the "fix" in it or a different brand of tighter fitting pistons.


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[Butta]

Buy one and throw the "fix" in it or a different brand of tighter fitting pistons.


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Be my guest!!! After buying it for $5k, and throwing in another $600 in parts, you still have a sled that's worth no more than $5k....and I bet next year it will be worth even less. Polaris should buy all these back for msrp...

 

[milehighassassin]

Do you buy sleds for an investment? I don't. I love the IQ chassis. The motor has shown to be the weak point.

The point I am making is that if you can buy one of these sleds for cheap and then throw a fix on it, it will be a great sled. I love mine and have had no issues. I am changing the pistons, trying to be pro active.

I had a 2005 REV that was known to lose pistons as well. The one I had never lost the motor from piston failure, because they got changed every 1000 miles. Overkill maybe but cheaper than replacing a motor or crank.


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[augerin]

If I didn't own one of the POS's and were in the market I would definatly think about picking one up cheeeeeeep and putting the "Fix" in it. The chassis is tons of fun. Tough to be the guy that spent full boat though