ATV Florida Forum

My close friend bought his son a NEW Polaris Phoenix for Christmas this past year. The unit seemed like a nice ride for the boy, automatic & great power & looks. Well the good part only lasted until the end of March. We were at a local sand pit when the thing stopped going forward & made a loud grinding noise, but it would go in reverse. My buddy took the machine to the local Plant City Polaris dealer(no direct names yet). Well it has now almost been 4 months & the dealer keeps saying the part is on backorder, "since it is such a new machine they dont have any problems so they dont have the parts yet" end quote. I still see them on dealer floors so that tells me they are still assembling them somewhere. The service manager went as far as to try to accuse the kid of putting his foot against the shifter & forcing it into gear while holding the throttle. BULLSH*T!!!!! I was right behind the boy when this POS let loose, we were riding in the sand near USF. These units are garbage & I personally would never use this dealer or polaris. The unit is in like new shape & they wont even offer a replacement, but the dealer is offering $1800 on a trade in as it sits. The guy just paid $3000.00 for it at Christmas & I know for a fact it has less than 30hrs total ride time. The question I have is this, when or if he ever gets it back, since the 6 month warranty was not expired when he took it in, but 4 months later it is, what do you do when the POS tranny goes out again. I think the dealer should get ahold of the national sales rep & make good by replacement or 80% refund. My friend wont accept the trade because who the heck wants another lemon. >:(

Well, I thought everyone knew that polaris was junk anyways... Honestly.. I will never own a polaris.

   Well we all have our opinions...............we have 3 polaris products and have NO complaints..................we allow the suzuki LTZ400 to stay with the others anyways.......LOL

I have a Phoenix and I am pleased with it so far..there are a few minor and i do mean minor things with it but it is still under warranty...if your friend is really having a bad problem with this dealer and product why not get a hold of some one at polaris themselves.. Go to the website and start from there... Sorry about your friends mishap

Still has not received the quad yet. That will make at least 5 Ocala trips cancelled this summer for him & his kids. Lets remember this is his sons quad & it has been in the shop since 1 month before school let out for summer & it starts back up next week >:(!!!! Plant City Polaris is a big JOKE!!! I will personally never buy as much as a spark plug from these guys. I didnt mean to offend other owners, this was mainly about the way this "dealership" has handled a product that they sold. Polaris reps wont do anything about this & neither will the dealer. He wont trade it to the dealer because what if the next Polaris breaks, do you wait another 4 months??? ??? I already know that the quad is gonna be sold as soon as it is returned ....if ever. He will be getting a new Suzuki z250. No more Taiwanese garbage.

If you can, take it to Nature Coast in Crystal River, just north of you. A friend of mine had a problem with his, and they took care of him right away.

  Nature Coast is great , thats where we purchased Polaris Phoenix and Suzuki Z400

I have talked to several people that has had great service and sales from this dealership.

Its been 4 months now & "the part is on backorder & nothing we can do" is still the same B.S. they keep saying. ALL FUTURE POLARIS BUYERS BE AWARE OF THIS DEALER!!!!! THIS MACHINE WAS BOUGHT THERE & THIS IS HOW THEY SERVE THEIR CUSTOMERS!!!!! >:(  It really sucks when you spend $3,000.00 on a toy that has literally been at their shop longer than the kid was able to ride it!!!! Plant City Polaris you need to close your doors, sales is not all that counts in your business. When you sell something you need to stand behind it with QUALITY service, but it is clear this shop is seriousley lacking in Quality Customer Service. Especially blaming the kid by saying he must have used his foot to jam the gears while driving, how absurd is that lame azz explanation. I challenge anybody out there to hold your right foot on the shifter up on the right side of the tank & drive. The service manager needs to blame the company who put this thing together, not the owner.

Well all machines have their lemons, If it were my bike in there I would find out what parts they are waiting on and get part numbers and check around myself to see if this is in fact the truth or maybe go get it and take it to someone else, there is nothing that says you MUST let them fix your machine, box it up and take it somewhere else........KEN

Get it outta there and take it elsewhere.

Thats what I keep telling him, but for some odd reason he wont. His wife has been there & they wouldnt even talk to her, actually asked her to leave. These guys are a classless operation & I hope this post hurts their wallets like they hurt the kid who spent all summer riding his bike or skateboard, while all his friends were in O.N.F.!!!!!!!! I hear they are now offering to extend the warranty a couple months.....wow thats generous.

Hey Green - I went on my first long trail run with the Phoenix and it held up real well , went through mud and over terrain almost flawlessly - did 36 miles and did not have to refuel. I got my bike at nature coast in crystal river and they are awesome - secondly call the sherriff and have them go with you and get the bike out of there and bring it somewhere else , they cannot keep property that does not belong to them - I also have my opinion of what happened  but I will keep that to myself as 2 places stated to me that no one has complained about the bike -   I always say that there are 3 sides to every story

Sorry, space, there is only one story & I was right behind him when the tranny went out, loud grinding noise. It would only operate in reverse. I have no reason to make up a story, it is not my quad nor my son, just my best friend's. I just happen to be a member on the site so I posted it mainly because his son & my son are friends & we ride the ONF at least 1-2 times a month together. Just hope that your Phoenix doesnt develop this problem.

The Phoenix is finally ready, only 5 months for a fix. Now thats service!!!!! >:(

 :ThumbsUp.gif

You would think after he waited 5 months for these guys to get off their a@@, they would at least clean the unit as clean as it was when it was dropped off, it was covered in dust and oh yeah, the extra warranty was never mentioned. THIS IS ONE LOW CLASS OPERATION. YOU BETTER BE ONE OF THE GOOD OLE BOYS FROM P.C. WEARING CAMO IF YOU SHOP HERE, or you may be waiting 5 months also. Of course this is all my opinion based on observations of how this POS Phoenix bought from there was taken care of after it broke.

Try this today to see if you can get any progress or atleast find out it the dealer is giving you a straight answer.

Call up the dealer in question and again, ask on the status of the Phoenix. If you get the same answer, tell him that you want the name and contact phone number for the Polaris factory rep for the area.

Contact the factory rep direct. If that does not work, I would contact Polaris direct.

Teej

Teej, thanks for the interest, but this was finally fixed last August, 5 months & a full summer off school for the kid without a quad. They did offer a full 6 month warranty on the drive train, but 5 months was way too long for any repair, and Polaris wouldnt do sh*t either, they left it "up to the dealers discretion". Everyone think about this when you are looking at the Phoenix or thinking about going to the Polaris dealer in Plant City. Oh and thanks for the bump, i am sure this dealer appreciates it. ;)

my tailblazer 250 lasted me all of 2 months and took a crap, the dealer kept it for like 2 months and i went and got it back sold it for 500 bucks and said be done. my moms b/f suprised me a sportsman 500, that thing lasted me about 7 months before everything just started falling apart....... polaris IMO = sh*t

No problems at all with my Trailblazer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are lemons sometimes in ALL types of products....................even people .................LOL

Nothing personal susieblazer. This is "THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY". You own a Polaris & good for you, it seems to be a consensus that they are made cheap & dont last, these opinions are from owners like yourself. Remember most of them are made in Taiwan like several "no name" brands out there, just different plastic. Glad to hear your Polaris is doing good, if it does fail you, just dont take it to these clowns listed above or you WILL feel the same way as expressed in this post. So dont be so sour, like the lemons you speak of, & negative towards the people posting their opinions & FACTS about how their Polaris worked for them. You seem to have issues, so please refrain from throwing insults at people telling the truth about a product you had nothing to do with manufacturing.

  We all have the products we like and all have opinions....no need to get testy .......and others don't hide in their profile info............... :o

Hiding ???    Thank you for keeping this thread alive the POLARIS & the dealer in P.C. appreciates it also.

   Enough!! back off  :box.gif  Just because someone has trouble with something doesn't mean everyone else does too.............It's too bad that these things happen but there is that risk in any product and in any "brand" of ATV..........Have many friends who are satisfied with their Polaris, Hondas, Suzukis, Yamahas.....Utility and Sport....and at the first sign of bad service at a dealer..........take it elsewhere!

My 99' Kawasaki has had two factory recalls on it. Besides that, while stuck in the mud, the fan apparently got mud in the motor and burned up. [that was expensive] Later,the rear axile also had water get inside somewhere. Within a year, my quad was squeaking whenever it first started going. Then it took longer to get it rolling, until one day it was seezed up.  The rear end was taken apart and it was rusted to the point it would not go. The rust had to be hand sanded completely off and it runs fine. You would think that a quad would be sealed better against the elements.

Anyway, I do not consider my Kawaskai junk. In fact, I love my Kawasaki. I was on another ATV site that has forum sections for all the named ATV manufactures. Scrolling through, they all have unhappy customers.

I recently talked to two quad racers that race on the circuit. They both race Yamahas. They started on Hondas, but said they spent too much time repairing the Hondas and now race only Yamahas. However; there are other racers that love their Hondas and that is all they will race.

Like posted, all makes have problems. But in this case, it does seem that the individual dealer may not have been taking care of his customers as he should. 5 months to get a bike repaired seems excessive. That doesn't mean that Polaris sucks. Hopefully if it is taken care of and ridden properly, it will last this kid. I hear that one of the best Polaris dealers to deal with is in Crystal River. I have never been there, but the dealer there has an awesome customer service reputation.


As the author of this thread, you can lock it so noone else can post on it, or you can even delete it if you choose.

Teej

No problems from me. I just posted how it happened, it was the dealer & the Factory. POLARIS could not supply the parts to the dealer for 4-5 months, How would any of you feel if you & your 11 yr old spent the WHOLE summer waiting for a part. It broke in April, he got it back after school started back up & the machine was less than 4 months old!!!  I see no need to lock the thread, I feel that people should control themselves a bit & not start jabbing others because they own a Polaris or use it for their screen name.  I am glad that every Polaris owner has had some good experiences, this is the Good The Bad & The Ugly. I did mention that they extended the warranty, that was the only good part, all the rest was ugly & then the hijacking started. Good day to all.

Just to keep this alive,...I have been very happy with my Polaris Sportsman 800...so far...The sales team at Grant motorsports were great...the first service was so-so...took longer than promised and had to wait for a replacement tire..(defective Swamp Fox, not Polaris)...I'm hoping the Polaris problems I hear about are on the older models, and people that beat them up....

The only complaint I have so far, (and I heard this before I bought a Sportsman,) is that the radiator is easily cloged wiith mud, and the bike will over heat if you don't flush it out....which is a good trick if you are away from campor anywhere with a hose....running through a ditch just won't do it....

Otherwise a great bike so far, but it is heavy if you do get it stuck...and Grant Motorsports came through in the end and took care of me...