Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's Can Am or Polaris for my son

Time to bump my son up in size on an ATV. Been looking @ the Polaris Phoenix 200 and the Can Am DS 250. Curious if anyone has an opinion on these two particular models?

I have always had extremely good luck with Polaris. Have never had a problem with all the ones I owned over the years.

Thanks! I have a Ranger that I've been completely happy with so I am leaning towards the Polaris myself. Plus they're made here in the states ... right? CanAm is a Canadian company and looks to be a well made machine also. Price on CanAm is a touch higher too I believe. The only major differences between the 2 machines that I see is that the Can Am is chain driven and has rear disc brakes while the Polaris is shaft driven with sealed rear drum brakes. Oh, and the Can Am is electric start only with no back up while the Polaris offers electric start with a kick start as a secondary. Just thought I'd mention all this to maybe get some more thoughts or opinions on the 2 quads.

I have Yamaha's but if I were to choose between the two you mentioned I would go with the Polaris. The one thing you should make sure of is if the one you choose has independent suspension especially in the rear. Without the suspension mentioned they will beat you to death even a youngster. You might have to step up in size to get this though. I do love my Yamaha 450 though.

You don't say what size your son is or how old he is. I'd buy him the biggest (though low sitting machine) that he can easily reach the grips and the pedals. I like Yamaha but they sit kind of high, I'd also look at the Kawasaki 300. If you can find the older model that shifted they are a tough little machine. Different manufacturers have different size machines and that affects the center of gravity. For kids I really think the lower center of gravity machines are critical. Don't tip over as easily. Of course that is depending on the kind of trails you ride.

I had a Polaris although slightly bigger than the 250. It was reliable and gave good service on the farm.

I tend to buy a machine that my local dealer sells and services so I go with Kawasaki or Polaris and of the two I like the Polaris.

I'd get him a bicycle before I got him a Polaris.

They're both good companies, good equipment. I've been buying Polaris stuff myself, but partly because of the local dealer. I'd recommend you visit both of the dealers and see who you're comfortable with before you pick the machine.

This! (or at least whichever one is made in Japan.)

just buy him a SxS........

maybe he'll let you borrow it.........

Seems quads in my parts have gone the way of the dinosaur..

Polaris it is folks! Visited several dealers on Saturday and found a leftover 2014 @ a discounted price compared to the 2015's. My boy is anxious to get it. We are going back this Saturday to get it and bring it home. This machine will serve him much better than his current one.

Good deal! I've NEVER regretted buying a Polaris.

Prayers sent to you son.

Tzone why don't you like the Polaris? I have it narrowed down to either can am L or Polaris 570. Should be picking one up in the next month or two.

Not tzone, but I can answer that question from my viewpoint and experience. Polaris ATVs have simply never made the grade when compared to the rest. I say that without prejudice as I have run and ridden their snowmachines for tens of thousands of miles and, with the exception of the 550 engine, have been very pleased with them. I have just never seen a Polaris ATV that held up by comparison to Hondas, Yamahas, Suzukis, and Kawasakis, the order being placed on the quantity of machines I've run or observed. I do think Polaris ATVs are better now than they were however; I don't necessarily say the same about all the other brands. (FWIW, my present ATV is a 450 Yamaha, an '11 model with 11,000 miles on it. If anything that thing is overengineered. The old Honda in the yard - still running- has at least 30,000 miles on it. The engine has only been "open" a couple times....to change the spark plug. )

Klick answered it pretty well but I'll add this. It's not Polaris I don't like, it's their 4-wheelers. They stink. I've had several, and they both left me stranded. All the polaris' I ir my family have had needed what is call major repair and the ALL had electrical issues. They may be better now but I won't know because they're too expensive to get burned on again.

Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and can am are a better product. The only maintenance I've done to my 2000 foreman is oil and filters. The Yamaha grizzly is going to be my next wheeler this fall.

Snowmobiles and motorcycles are a different story. They're pretty bad ass.

As long as you don't buy the RMK with the 800, that motor is a total pos. I've got a friend that took out a brand new 2016 AXYS RMK with the 800 HO and it blew up with less than 100 miles on it.

Polaris' strengths are not in their depth of R&D. Plenty of good ideas though.

Every company in the rec-veh market who fails to adequately cover R&D has had issues.

Polaris sells alot of the 'Razor's' around here........

But will stick to my Rhino 700..

I like the Yamaha grizzly and it would be my first choice but they have priced themselves out of the market. A new 700 with no eps is 8k with around 45hp while the Polaris and can am are just above and below 6k with the same 45hp. I have no doubt that the grizzly will out last both but that 2k difference would be the down payment on my sled this winter. Also only local dealer is can am skidoo everyone else is an hour away.

I'd find a new dealer. You can get them a lot cheaper than that.

Polaris all the way...I have owned them all. I have a 2014 400 Ranger with 80 Hrs never had a screw turned..those are a rough 80 Hrs in the hills of southeast KY..Pulling my 260 lbs and my sons 240 lbs. I Have never had a major problem with one. My son picked up a 2014 500 up a couple of weeks ago that had been sunk. We tore it down and rebuilt the top end and had it running in 4 Hrs..New piston and rings and gaskets. Parts were cheap and in stock. Motor was super easy to work on. Thing runs like new.

Having to rebuild a 2014 Polaris sounds about right.

What do you plan to do with it after it's broke in?

Our '11 450 Grizz has only 1200 hours so far and it runs like new…..probably last forever if I'd quit driving it when it's -25º; I imagine that gets a bit hard on it.

all of us that ride together started out with a mixture of bikes.suzuki,yamaha,honda,kawasaki,and polaris. now we are all riding polaris atv's except for one honda and he's looking at a rzr now.we are pretty tough on them all. one of the guys wrecked his polaris rzr and just put it on a brand new frame. we had more problems with honda atv's than all the others combined.if you run the crap out of any of them you are going to have to fix stuff.polaris has by far the best ride because they are heavier then most.

They do have the best ride there's no question about that.

I've always balanced the great ride against a great walk and don't have trouble saying "no".

only time my polaris made me walk out was when a guy hunting on the property next to my stole my key out of the switch. he can't stand my killing more nice bucks then him.

most polaris haters are stuck in the past .10-12 years ago they had lots of problems with them. polaris is so far ahead on technology when it come to atv's. the rest of the companies are just following there lead.

Not flaming, but your experience seems to be other than the norm. Quite a few newer (less than 3 years old) Rangers in our camp, and their reliability record, or lack thereof, seems no different to the older ones. From cooling fan modules, to throttle position sensors, to plastic front diff pinion housings, to blown struts etc etc.

When Polaris ATVs begin to show up in Alaska's villages (where ATVs are the local 'cars'), and become something more than lawn ornaments, then I'll believe that Polaris has turned the corner on the issues that have plagued their past. No one can appreciate a good ride more than those who bang and bump over tussocked tundra. If 'ride' was the end-all, Polaris would certainly have 'it'.

Lot's of rec-vehicles have as many miles (or more) riding on trailers as they do under their own power, which tends to disguise something.

So what are you guys riding in your villages? Yamaha and Honda?

Honda still reigns in many places, though others are making inroads (since Honda has been chasing the reliability they were once known for in their quads; they still make a good rig and seem to be getting 'it' back.) Can-Ams get tried (probably because Ski-Doo snow-gos are becoming more popular), but they never seem to last long enough to catch on. Yamaha is quite common in some places and they are building a decent following based on their best attribute: reliability.

I agree with Klik, the Yamaha's are right up there with the Honda's when it comes to reliability. I would have no problem owning either one, actually I own both, a Foreman and a Rhino.

I've never been left stranded in the backcountry by either one.

Have an old Rino and they are stout. Noisy too.

I like the idea of the RZR 570, smaller motor, plenty of power (for what I want), a little narrower on the trails. Hard to get past the reliability talk though. the idea would be to get pretty far from the truck.

Sycamore

Probably rebuild it.

Me either.

The problem with them is they will get you far from the truck. They just won't get you back to it.

Polaris are very popular around my area in N. La.

Polaris obviously does very well with their ATVs as they sell a lot of them. They also have a large share of the snow machine market in Alaska - probably a bigger share of the rural market than anything else, though that seems to be on the decline. But their ATVs just don't seem to be as durable or reliable as many others when put to the test in our conditions.

I would take a Polaris sled over any if the others.

Most people in this area seem to prefer Polaris to the other brands. I have a Kubota diesel used for work mostly feeding horses. I like mine because of its load caring capacity, cab and air conditioning in the hot summers.

I'm the opposite on the Polaris sleds I would take the atv over them. I like the reliability of the 4 strokes other manufacturers are making. Seems like all 800cc sleds have a tendency to need lots of rebuilding but they sure are fast!

There is no question that EPA/CARB regs have created challenges for the 2 stroke engines (of every make). That said, it's pretty hard to say that Polaris isn't in the game considering that their machines too 60% of the top 10 places in the 2000-mile Iron dog snow machine race while Ski-Doo took the other 40%….and these all 600cc machines in both brands.

But even the older fan-cooled engines would often outlast the chassis of many machines used in rugged conditions.

I see many an older fan cooled trail/utility sled being ridden in the summer months north of here.

Makes it easier to get around in the swamps and tundra but can be hell on hifax if you don't keep them lubed.

The newer (2011 on up) Polaris mtn sleds are nice machines but their 800 motor just plain sucks. I know a guy in Anchorage that took a brand new 2016 AXYS RMK Assault 155 with the new 800 HO motor out for a test ride, he never made it to the mtns. That supposed awesome new motor blew on the way out.