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Polaris vs Honda

nwhawk

nwhawk

Member
Kind of debating upgrading our side-by-side and wondering what everyone's thoughts are on Polaris versus Honda in this arena... we have a Ranger right now and have no beef with it and Polaris is obviously the better known unit but at the classic Honda had a pioneer there that looked really nice. All opinions are appreciated thanks and advance!
 
I have a ranger. My Inlaws have owned maybe 15 over the last decade. Mediocre quality at best. And remember.... I own one. A lot of parts on them r cheap junk. Major failures on many occasions (tranny, engine, junk tires stock, cheap accessories for huge $, etc, etc). For the $ I scratch my head at the quality & reliability of Polaris for the extemely high cost. I also own gators. Hands down, not even close, not in the same galaxy for comparison.... I'd go HONDA over Polaris. 1000x over. I'd say gators r "in the middle" for quality, value & reliability between the 3. To be more specific- I'd buy the Honda pioneer 1000. I'd never buy another Polaris. No way. Pry road 20-30 of em over the years and seen the problems, quality issues and poor value for the big cost. Honda over Polaris any day, no question period.
*vast experience with tons of models & years.... Never have driven or experienced Yamaha, arctic cat & some others that could be good?? Dunno.
 
Sligh1 said:
I have a ranger. My Inlaws have owned maybe 15 over the last decade. Mediocre quality at best. And remember.... I own one. A lot of parts on them r cheap junk. Major failures on many occasions (tranny, engine, junk tires stock, cheap accessories for huge $, etc, etc). For the $ I scratch my head at the quality & reliability of Polaris for the extemely high cost. I also own gators. Hands down, not even close, not in the same galaxy for comparison.... I'd go HONDA over Polaris. 1000x over. I'd say gators r "in the middle" for quality, value & reliability between the 3. To be more specific- I'd buy the Honda pioneer 1000. I'd never buy another Polaris. No way. Pry road 20-30 of em over the years and seen the problems, quality issues and poor value for the big cost. Honda over Polaris any day, no question period. *vast experience with tons of models & years.... Never have driven or experienced Yamaha, arctic cat & some others that could be good?? Dunno.
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Love em and hate em I would have to agree.
 
We run a couple of polaris rangers.. never had any problems with them.. Probably boils down to the machine you get i guess i know quite a few people that run polaris never been on a honda but have been on the gators and imo they are giant turds and i would never own one
 
We use them extensively for work. They get abused. We moved away from Polaris for reasons mentioned above. All new units being purchased are Bobcat. So far so good, but the oldest one is only 2-3 years old.
 
Just going through the buying process now for my work. Tested both but in smaller versions like the 500's-800's You can tell/feel the Hondas are built better. What it came down to for what we will be using it for at work was that the ergonomics of the ranger are still far better imo. I know in the smaller units for Honda, you still have to shift with rocker toggles in the steering wheel. We absolutely hated that for what we do. I did hear that the 1000 can be automatic but that was too far out of our $$ range that we never even tested it out. The rangers are belt driven so if you are ever under load it was recommended to be in low gear and possibly 4wd to save on the stress of the belts and if you do that belts will last for quite some time. For Honda they are gear driven which is prob far better and beefier. Rangers are quicker and turn nicer, again imo. We ended up going with ranger. I guess if I was buying for a heavy duty chore/farm maint. machine that does a lot of hauling/towing I would def go Honda, if I wanted to be more versatile I'd go ranger.

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One thing to add... If a guy did get the Polaris, I would opt for the 4 year extended warranty. I think it brought mine to 5 years total. I got it added & had several quotes on adding it, I believe I paid AROUND $600 for 4 more years and very very glad I did. Doesn't fix the problem that the units are not great quality BUT it does help that I don't generally have to pay for a major repair. In the vast units we've run, I've seen newer units have motors, tranny, belts, electric, you name it go out. warranty is a little piece of mind BUT quality is better than a warranty in the end.
 
Rehashing this because I am buying soon.... anyone have a Kawasaki Mule? I am intrigued, especially by their standard warranty which is 3 years. That's a full 2 years longer than any of the others I've seen. I am looking specifically at the Kawaskai Mule Pro-FX EPS LE. (Think I could get a screaming deal thru a buddy)

Checked out the gators too, that may be an option. checked out the bobcats closer at work. (They are 90% Polaris parts with 10% beefier stuff by Bobcat). Will go check out the Hondas soon.
 
Yamaha is good too!

I've run a Yamaha Rhino for 10 years on my farm near Albia and other than the fuel filter needing regular replacing had no issues. The new ones must be much better in terms of the latest side/side features! Would buy again.
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
Rehashing this because I am buying soon.... anyone have a Kawasaki Mule? I am intrigued, especially by their standard warranty which is 3 years. That's a full 2 years longer than any of the others I've seen. I am looking specifically at the Kawaskai Mule Pro-FX EPS LE. (Think I could get a screaming deal thru a buddy)

Checked out the gators too, that may be an option. checked out the bobcats closer at work. (They are 90% Polaris parts with 10% beefier stuff by Bobcat). Will go check out the Hondas soon.
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I had a 2008 mule. Gaser. Is the one u looking at high hp and high speed? I ask because mine was a sissie-mobile. Bad, whimpy. I also had a carbureted model which sucked!!! From now on- no way I'd buy anything carbureted & for me, it has to be 800cc++++ because I go through lot of stuff and drive a long ways around blocks with em so need fast. I like the new Honda 1000 with the 4 seats where back seats fold into a bed but they r expensive. But vs other similar models- not a ton more. Have the gators but I don't think I'll ever buy another gator again. Same with rangers- have one & driven tons of em but never again. Yamaha above sounds interesting.
All I'll say is do ur homework, pay a "little more" for quality & a few accessories cause having a slow, underpowered unit that is cheaper on quality so it breaks often sucks!!! Which, to be honest & fair- ranger has been my worst for consistent cheap parts & breaks but the gators are not too far behind for problems. I'm steering clear of both. Honda with winch, windshield, roof & under carriage protection & 8-12 ply tires is likely my solution. (Oh, have fun with the factory 4 ply tires in Iowa- 1st day they will be flat guaranteed!!! Look at the tires on anything- if they say 4 ply- plan on junking them.). Good luck on anything u all go with. Several good options.
 
Sligh1 said:
I had a 2008 mule. Gaser. Is the one u looking at high hp and high speed? I ask because mine was a sissie-mobile. Bad, whimpy. I also had a carbureted model which sucked!!! From now on- no way I'd buy anything carbureted & for me, it has to be 800cc++++ because I go through lot of stuff and drive a long ways around blocks with em so need fast. I like the new Honda 1000 with the 4 seats where back seats fold into a bed but they r expensive. But vs other similar models- not a ton more. Have the gators but I don't think I'll ever buy another gator again. Same with rangers- have one & driven tons of em but never again. Yamaha above sounds interesting.
All I'll say is do ur homework, pay a "little more" for quality & a few accessories cause having a slow, underpowered unit that is cheaper on quality so it breaks often sucks!!! Which, to be honest & fair- ranger has been my worst for consistent cheap parts & breaks but the gators are not too far behind for problems. I'm steering clear of both. Honda with winch, windshield, roof & under carriage protection & 8-12 ply tires is likely my solution. (Oh, have fun with the factory 4 ply tires in Iowa- 1st day they will be flat guaranteed!!! Look at the tires on anything- if they say 4 ply- plan on junking them.). Good luck on anything u all go with. Several good options.
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This was what I would be considering, again mainly because of the warranty and buddy hookup. Like the bed is a lot bigger than the polaris too. https://www.kawasaki.com/Products/2016-Mule-PRO-FX-EPS-LE
 
If your looking at other options and am looking for a workhorse, I'd recommend a diesel Kubota RTV. Awesome 3 cylinder engine with a beefie transmission and hydraulic dump bed. Not fast, but the best workhorse out there in my opinion.
 
I'm biased but we had a 2005 Polaris Sportsman that we put over 17,000 miles on. Was only in the shop twice for a fuel filter/carb problem, we sold it to a friend in 2013 and bought a 2012 Polaris Ranger. I can tell you we didn't run that sportsman easy one bit. Honestly like that Sportsman better than the ranger which we've only put about 1,500 miles on and it's broken down a few times.
 
I've owned an Arctic Cat prowler for going on 4 years. Great machine! I do all of the scheduled maintenance so it's never been to the shop. It's only a 650cc but I've never wished it had more power. It governs out at 54mph so it's not the fastest on the market but can still get you from a to b pretty quick. If I ever get a new one it will be Arctic cat.
 
Love my Polaris Ranger 800 :D No complaints!

Except I did run a stump through the floorboard before having a half hour on the machine.
 
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