Thing about a UTV is they can either be treated kindly and last a long time (if they are any good to begin with) or be driven like holy hell and abused to no end. A previously abused one might be something to avoid. Any chance on getting a phone number of the previous owner? He might give an indication of its former life.
I really like my two Polaris Ranger 900's but as I have stated before I kind of baby them. If the water is over about 10" deep in my creek crossing, I simply wait for the creek to go down. I know some the guys that will drive througuh water as deep as the machine will go through. That is fine if that is what they bought it for - their machine, their money, their usage. But if I were to buy a used one, I want one that comes from someone like me, not someonen who pushes the machine to mechanical limits.
Now when I pass them down to farm use they get used harder, but any serious abuser of equipment around our place quickly finds themselves out of a job. I like stuff to last. So the machines simply do not get driven to hell.
Point is, when buying used, its previous life has a lot to do with how much life is left in the machine. I really like our Polaris and will buy another in a couple years. But my experience does not reflect reliability of a machine run in excessively demanding circumstances.
Last edited by snrub; 01/14/19 09:07 AM.
