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Hummmm

1K views 7 replies 8 participants last post by  ThorsHammer 
#1 ·
Good morning all ! I'm new to this forum and kinda new to Polaris ATV's.
I rode a 2002 Sportsman 500 last summer on orv trails and dirt roads. I put about 150 miles on it. I kinda like that thing so much that I now have to buy my own!! Being a ex MX racer I know what good suspension is! and this is what sold me on the Polaris ATV!!
Any how Im looking at a 2000 Sportsman 500 with a plow and winch for around $3K. it has 1750 miles. to me this seems like a good deal.
what (Besides the normal wear & tear) should I look for?

Thanks for input!

HDHP
 
#2 ·
Sound a little high for a 14 year old machine.
 
#4 ·
Welcome to michigan, where every idiot thinks there beat up atv is worth it's weight in gold. If there is nothing wrong and its been taken care of its not a horrible deal for our area.

This is what made me decide to buy new, most people had their 1-3 year old 500's up for sale asking 5500 - 6k lol and I paid 5800 otd brand new.
 
#5 ·
#7 ·
Don't know where in Mi you are, but do yourself a favor before diving into that one, sounds high priced for what it is. Go on Searchtempest.com and type in your location and radius your willing to drive; it will pull up all the craigslist ads in that area. Then in the search bar type in the make/model your looking for "Polaris sportsman" and then do some serious comparison shopping.

There will be better deals out there than what your looking at now.
 
#8 ·
first and foremost when looking at used machines you need to find out what the hours are and compare that to the mileage to get your average mph. based on the year, and the mileage, and in combination with the plow package. my bet is that it was primarily used for plowing season. you can confirm this by finding out the average MPH. Divide the miles by the hours and wala! if the Average is low (<5 mph) you're looking at a machine that had a hard life of plowing (or technical riding with the potential for lots of mud depending on your location) but if the average is high >12mph it was more than likely a dune cruiser/fire road cruiser and the wear and tear would be reduced when compared to the lower average MPH machines. anything between 5-12 mph is going to be your typical jack of all trades riders, hunters, etc.. and is really the money spot to aim for. they will not have had the hard fast riding, or the slow beat on the machine riding as much as the machines with higher, or lower mph averages.

After that condition of the machine, etc.

Like the other have said it seems high for a 14 yr old machine. but regional pricing can cause some areas to be higher priced than others.

In this case regardless of the price, it's a 14 yr old machine and would need a good overhaul when doing your post purchase maintenance (which should be done on all used machines regardless of what the previous own says they did to it) so all new fluids, new fuel lines & Filter, new air filter, wouldn't hurt to get a new battery. Confirmation that the electrical, heat shielding, and vents are in good shape (replace if brittle, cracked, or worn). And for piece of mind I'd probably go through and replace the suspension bushings, ball joints, and tie rod ends. Better safe than sorry if you ask me.
 
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