Utv purchase..need advise and experience with this brand

[hiccup]

Unfortunately I believe they are Chinese made..but so is my great shifting mt-82 haha..Anyways have a chance to pick up a 2015 CubCadet Challenger 500 for a bit over $4,000.
The utv has a few hundred hours and over 700 miles. Story is the original owner put most of the use time on it and sold it to get a four seat challenger 700. Second owner has had it for less than year and finds it too noisy(exhuast and road). They are golf cart folks. Current owner claims its like new and is not moving on the price. I'm going to check it out in the next few days because they're out of town right now but still running the ad.
From what I understand the utv is same as a hisun ,mossimo and Yamaha. I know its a "get what you pay for" thing but at a few years old and half the cost of new im very interested .
Does anyone have experience with this particular model or know anyone who has owned one.?Lots of info on web but most is negative. Im not wanting a fast sport utv. Just something to help me get around the back acreage. Can they really all be bad and sold year after year?

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[hiccup]

I know its only been a day but is there any s550 owners with "any" utv/side-by-side experience..I'm up for considering a better brand at much more money..My mobility isnt that great out at the farm either and cant get the wife into four wheelers because of the autoclutch foot shifter thing. Thx

 

[CompOface]

We have a large variety of UTV's at our jobs under construction due to the size of our sites and length of the construction phase. We typically get Club Car 4 and 2 door diesel driven... they suck! I mean they do what they are designed to do, they haul a good amount of weight (although we really only use them for personnel transportation) but they are load as hell and slow. Great for a lot of things, but do not expect to have a pleasant conversation roaming the back acreage unless you are at a crawl. The diesels are work machines and not much more. We have a lot of diesel on site so we wouldn't mess with gas driven (although I keep trying!).

Our contractors use a mixed bag, I see Bobcat's and John Deere Gators often. Gas motor if you want to talk, some of those gassers are much more tolerable.

As far as durability and reliability I am not the guy to weigh in. We beat the crap out of these and if there are issues the rental company comes and fixes or swaps them out. We haven't had many issues all in all, can't speak for our contractors.

There are plenty of 4x4 ATV's with CVT's, no clutch, no foot gear selector. I had an Polaris 500 Sportsman, beast of a quad, NEVER got stuck (and I tried), comfortable as hell, reliable, quiet, and did I say comfortable... that IRS was sweet!

My advice, go test drive as many as you can before you pull the trigger. Wish I could be of more help.

 

[hiccup]

Mark . Thanks for chiming in on the subject. Looked at several online reviews and noise and lack of power is common. Heck I had no idea four wheelers were available without shifting through the gears lol..We've had an old Suzuki ozark for years but its similar to the old three wheelers of way back but thats it. Got to admit once we come up on our fiftys it becomes difficult to walk the property all day. Here in the last few days I've been focused on the Polaris rangers. Not too many negatives to be found on them just gotta spend money I never thought I would for a utv..

 

[CompOface]

I've never ran into a Polaris Ranger, certainly never at a job site... but that might mean they are good machines haha! You might want to look at the trail dedicated side-by-sides as well if you want a little more comfort, I don't think they haul much though if that is a priority. I just don't have a lot of hands on experience with the trail dedicated side-by-sides, personally they are too big for me. I like being able to throw my weight around on a quad and really push the speeds up on trails... hence my 700XX which is just a trail monster. Honda made a race quad and threw IRS at it... its a rare bird but what a beast even bone stock! Then again I'm 31 and I still have a bunch of friends who ride. I get wanting to have a nice relaxing ride around the property if you have land to enjoy, I think you are looking in the right direction if you have the budget for it. Let me know what you settle on and good luck with the search!

That being said, there are numerous models out there in the side-by-side world that are more trail oriented if you want to shop around, they do get pricey though. I actually ran into a guy pumping gas about a month ago who bought a homemade one for his 5 year old, damn thing had a stick shift, it really was a cool machine. I wouldn't give it to a 5 yr old... my 5 yr old self would have smashed the hell out of it but hey it's not my kid so who am I to judge right? For what its worth I had great luck with my Polaris quad, and honestly I ride my off-road stuff very hard (well maintained but I get after it when I get to ride, plus my machine can pick the front wheels up in 4th gear so why not!)

 

[Strokerswild]

I always had great luck with my Polaris ATVs....and they got used and abused.

 

[Weasel1]

We have had a Kawasaki Mule for three years here on our ranch. We fuse it every day and service it annually. It is the two seater with a dump bed. The thing is a little tank. No problems with it.

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