Thinking of getting a used UTV

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Well, I sold my dirt bike for $1000 and wanted to get a 4x4 quad. I figured I would get a nice one for around $3 or $4k. Nope anything in that price range is 10 years old and and kinda rough. So I thought how much could a new one be. Well that answer was over $7k. Well I thought dang maybe I should just get a used UTV. Well $12k doesn't buy much there either. The moral of the story is save up and buy a new one. The basic Kawasaki Mule with 4x4 is only around 10k. It comes with a 3 year warranty and no one else's headaches. On a plus side people may soon realize they can't eat them. Personally mine is still a dream.
 
It depends if you want to do much back country driving or working. The mules in my neck of the woods are OK for flat land and farm chores.
Beware the hard used polaris UTV they were a major money maker at the shops I have worked at. Buy it for 10K and then spend another 3 or 4 thousand on it.
Same for most of the china brands.....looks like the real deal but they are not. Worked on a lot of them with less than a thousand miles on them when they broke or blew a head gasket.
If you can find a older adult that is selling their UTV it can be a good deal. I like to stick with honda, yamaha, polaris. Can Am takes a computer and special tools for everything almost and arctic cat is it's own problem and they outsource a lot of their parts. A good running Kymco is OK as well. Make sure it shifts smoothly and stays in forward and reverse (here they can get a broken transmission from plowing snow) but bear in mind they are made in tiawan which may not be exporting parts for a while.....
 
montanabill said:
It depends if you want to do much back country driving or working. The mules in my neck of the woods are OK for flat land and farm chores.
Beware the hard used polaris UTV they were a major money maker at the shops I have worked at. Buy it for 10K and then spend another 3 or 4 thousand on it.
Same for most of the china brands.....looks like the real deal but they are not. Worked on a lot of them with less than a thousand miles on them when they broke or blew a head gasket.
If you can find a older adult that is selling their UTV it can be a good deal. I like to stick with honda, yamaha, polaris. Can Am takes a computer and special tools for everything almost and arctic cat is it's own problem and they outsource a lot of their parts. A good running Kymco is OK as well. Make sure it shifts smoothly and stays in forward and reverse (here they can get a broken transmission from plowing snow) but bear in mind they are made in tiawan which may not be exporting parts for a while.....
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Yep agreed on staying away from Polaris.........but surprisingly, they sell well new. I guess they have their marketing worked out......

We have two JD Gators - both are diesel 4x4. They have lasted well, but they are not perfect. They have a very low engine mid-mount (so they are easy to high-centre) and they have a low belt system and air intake which makes the belt slip when going through wet ground and they are too easy to drown crossing creeks.
 
I know that a lot of people enjoy their UTV's but from their introduction years ago, and their price, I believe an older Jeep, or even a GEO Tracker or Suzuki Sidekick would be a more affordable option, plus they would have a heater and possibly A/C not to mention doors and windows to keep the dust and weather out. Trackers/Sidekicks are not as common and could be higher priced due to demand but if you consider either of these options you just might get lucky and find a decent one at a fair price.
And, I know that many people prefer UTV's, or side by sides, for playing but once you start going wild the factory parts break and you will need to upgrade the suspension and probably the transmission. If it is just for casual rides or "farm" work they will survive longer and need less repairs.

@montanabill I believe his advice to look for an older person selling is a good option, odds are it was taken care of, unless the grandkids were allowed to play unsupervised. =-)
 
We bought a brand new Polaris right before Covid for a little under 10k
It was worth it, so far so good. People don't generally sell good used ones. So unless you are really good at fixing equipment and like doing it ( we do not) I would not. Nobody sells these things in good shape, they drive the crap out of them. At least around here. We looked for a few years to try and find a good used one, but anything decent only cost a few grand less than new. Not worth it
 
Another option that most people miss is a Japanese or Korean mini pickup?

Where I worked at the diatomaceous earth factory, we always had four or five. Mitsubishi, Suzuki, but mostly diahatsu. They are very robust, low cost to operate, and have enclosed cab with heater. And the cab over design is very well balanced so you rarely need 4x4. But it's there and works very well.

My buddy was 6' 5" and wouldn't fit behind the wheel of the older rigs. But the couple of newer ones we had were comfortable for him.

Those machines got rode hard and put away wet 24/7. They were frequently loaded down beyond their 750 lb payload limit. And break downs were very rare. When they did need repair, it was remarkable how easy it was accessible and the engineer designed was excellent. Although many parts were not available "next day"...
 
I have a gasoline powered, Kawasaki 4010 Trans. It's not a perfect machine, but works well for what I ask it to do.

I like the 4010 trans series, as you can either run it with two bench seats for up to five (six if they are small) and a fairly decent box or you can fold up the rear seat and expand the box and cargo area. It has 2wd, 4 hi and 4 lo. Now, they are not speed demons in any sense, I think top speed in them is like 26 mph, but they have excellent torque and traction. I've used my several times to skid black locust logs of 20 feet long out of our property.

One misconception people have is that a side by side should be able be a work horse and an off road racer. It's not going to happen. You'll need to decide which is more important to you, the utility or the sport side of things. A utility utv is not going to be fast, it's not going to have huge ground clearance or massive suspension to handle the jumps of off roading and back country driving. A sport utv is not going to be built to haul your tools, it's not going to be built to work, it's for fun.

Another thing to remember is as @sonya123 said, people use the hell out of these things. If you aren't versed or wanting to work on them, you're better off buying new. I bought mine from Iron Planet, it was an ex- Sunbelt Rental machine. I spent quite a few evenings working on it when I purchased it, just to get it to run reliably, but, I own a repair shop and am pretty handy with machinery, so my time and experience saved me several thousand dollars.
 
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At one time I went shopping for a farm type UTV... All the dealers around only had the go fast bounce high trail machines.. I went to 2 John Deere and 1 Kubota dealer telling them I wanted a side by side, 4x4, with a cargo area for old person farm use.. As if they had rehearsed it together they told me ..this is what we have to sell, you won't find what you think you want.. Of course my answer was ..want to bet...

The 2 nd Kubota dealer in the area was a Mennonite family business.. When I explained what I wanted, all they said was ...follow me... So I have bled green all my life, but ended up buying a 3 year old, new, Kubota.. It was named ..PEPE my little mule.. This being the get away vehicle from the old Mike Douglas movie ..Romancing the Stone.. PEPE was a wonderful time and energy saver on the farm.. It even went on several successful bear hunts with me.. Given the need, I would buy one like it again in a minute.. My 5 cents of experience...
 
zoomzoom said:
Which Kubota RTV did you get? I have the 900 model.
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I had the RTV 400... Single cylinder, air cooled, gas powered, cheaper model.. It came in Real Tree camo... The cab enclosure came in several individual kits and pieces.. I only put on the roof.. For its size and available power it was a tough little brute... Rode a little rough, but would seat 2 good size adults and 2 rifles easily..
 
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