[ATV.com]

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Tell us which brand you think makes the most reliable ATVs

No matter how good of a deal you think you’re getting, buying an ATV is a major purchase. While a plush suspension and powerful engine are important buying decisions, perhaps the greatest concern for an ATV buyer is reliability. So, which ATV manufacturer is the most reliable?

We figured nobody was more qualified to answer this question than you, the reader and ATV enthusiast.

Read more about Which ATV Manufacturer is the Most Reliable? at ATV.com.

 

[mrbb]

based on HOW so many guys treat atv's today, I don;t think reliable is top of the reasons they buy em any more, they want performance and gadgets more now if you as me!
I see so many NEW atv's modified and used as swimming machines , to back me up?? and gadgets, that;s just in ALL vehicles today, people are hooked on gadgets it seems world wide, push button for everything?? ??

 

[Larryw]

Stock would be Yamaha and Honda in a tie for first...

 

[_Wilson_]

I agree with Mrbb , people/idiots , (yes I'm going to be blunt) want machines that think for them, give me an old school honda atv, I'd like to think I'm smarter than the machine I'm operating ...... Imo Gadgets are fine as long as you can program or repare them when they act up, i think if a person owns a rolling puter sheesh at least have some skill at repairing, them yourself............

 

[retro]

I'm going to be very blunt too. None of the manufacturers produce a reliable ATV nowadays. So please explain to me how in the world can one manufacturer be any more reliable than another, when reliability is non-existent characteristic among them all? In order to rediscover reliability in an ATV, one must return to models produced during the first decade of their existance! This question is silly and irrelevant. Why?

 

[12Flat]

When I was in the market for a ATV, I went with a new Rancher foot shift. Simple. About as reliable as your going to get. One year warranty which is better than most and the price was about as low as I was going to get at $5580. Now it did have power steering but I'm glad it has that.

Looked at used but everybody wants almost retail for a 1-2 year old machine with hundreds of miles. Nope. Bought new.

 

[Macarena Man]

Belts are for holding your pants up !

 

[fishfiles]

I agree that there are no reliable atv's built today that are made to last , times have changed and we live in a disposable world and they don't want them to last by design , parts and service makes more money than sales , then they hope you purchase a new one after a few years --------- I think working on them yourself will soon become a thing of the past , with new engine TIER regulations coming around they will soon go to a emissions controller which will require software to diagnose and repair , I have been told by the local dealer that in 2018 TIER 5 starts and any lawnmower over 30 hp will require such a system , just a matter of time till it trickles down to atv's --------- on the diesel engines in equipment now under the TIER 4 , I can know that the injector is bad , I can buy one and put it into the engine but it won't run , you need the software to take out the serial number of the old injector and put in the serial number of the new injector and enable it before it will fire

 

[mac102004]

I heard that 3 people have died riding polaris ATV/UTV's while riding them because they caught fire. Pretty sure they should be on the bottom of the list lol

My 2016 Can-am is tore the splines off the front output shaft due to assembly error, motor has to come out with about 1000kms on the machine, 60 hours. My 2015 Honda has needed nothing but a rider with 2500kms and over 200 hours of use.

IMO most to least reliable is as follows, and only from my own experience.

Honda
Yamaha
Suzuki
Can-am
Kawasaki
Arctic Cat
Polaris

As far as emissions equipment on ATV's go.....look at the new Honda's they have O2 sensors now and catalytic converters built into the muffler.....

I find it amusing that "honda people" are claiming that none of the mfg's are more reliable than another. Considering that reliability has been, and still is the only thing Honda has going for them. Why on earth would anyone buy a new Honda over another brand ATV with so much more to offer, if they were not more reliable?

 

[Jeepwm69]

--------- I think working on them yourself will soon become a thing of the past , with new engine TIER regulations coming around they will soon go to a emissions controller which will require software to diagnose and repair , I have been told by the local dealer that in 2018 TIER 5 starts and any lawnmower over 30 hp will require such a system , just a matter of time till it trickles down to atv's --------- on the diesel engines in equipment now under the TIER 4 , I can know that the injector is bad , I can buy one and put it into the engine but it won't run , you need the software to take out the serial number of the old injector and put in the serial number of the new injector and enable it before it will fire

Saw the usual purse slinging on a Jeep board today (of course, I went in swinging hard with my opinionated butt) about new Jeeps vs old Jeeps, and while I think the new "Jeeps" are...well, they're not Jeeps, I do acknowledge that most of the changes were mandated by our nanny state government. When the last of the CJ's rolled off the line, people around here were taking them straight to the hunting club, where they sat out in the weather, and a lot of the time didn't even have a top at all on them. They just sat in the rain. They were only used working and hunting, and were tools, not status symbols, or "look how outdoorsy I am with my light bars and big tires". They were tools.

The brand now caters to soccer moms and posers who never leave the pavement, not hunters and ranchers. They are $$$ and include a crapload of creature comforts that are unnecessary and, to be frank, for pansies. The new "Jeeps" are very capable off road, but so are lots of vehicles. For decades Jeep was synonymous with utilitarian, simple, rugged, no frills off road vehicles. That part of the brand is dead and gone. All that remains is the name.

Sound familiar?

Society has changed. We are a nation of soft, entitled girly men who care more about image that substance. That, coupled with our nanny state government mandating everything from emissions to MPG to safety features, vehicles of the future will be more complicated, MUCH more expensive, will be less easily repaired, and if the John Deere software fiasco is any indicator, eventually it will not be possible for a shadetree guy to fix his own stuff.

I have THREE of the last of the carb'd, air cooled, footshift Hondas. They are simple, but not as simple as I'd like. I'll be able to keep them running until I'm too old to ride them. I would have loved one without a computer, and will probably pick up an old 300 at some point for that reason, but these 500's are my wheelers, and I won't be "updating" them to newer models, because these serve my uses perfectly, and I know I can fix everything on them.

Ironically I have three CJ's too. Same thing. Last of the carb'd simple, computer-less Jeeps.

 

[Macarena Man]

Sounds like your Jeep adventures are a way of life ? (smiles)

 

[philgood0316]

Honda, I have had most from Suzuki, Kawasaki, Polaris, and Honda. The only one that just keeps on going with no issues was and is my Honda.

Polaris don't even use seals on wheel bearings, they depend on the sealed wheel bearing only......Horrible design, Not Honda they always design some redundancy into almost everything.

 

[Jeepwm69]

Sounds like your Jeep adventures are a way of life ? (smiles)

Yep, nothing like being obsessed with vehicles that rust just from looking at them funny.

Jeeps are the opposite of a Honda. Poor engineering, crappy quality control, but they're 'Merica, and I was bitten by the Jeep bug at about 8-9 years old, and never got over it.

 

[Deansdad]

Polaris is the most reliable fire-starter

 

[taxman]

Even Polaris owners who would be more loyal to their brand steered me away from their ATV's. They admitted to me that that Polaris ATV's need far more maintenance than others.

A nice looking ATV without a doubt, but they spend more time in the shop than on the trail.