Buying a utility ATV can be stressful and confusing unless you know what you want and how much you can afford in advance. For ATV camping I recommend a four-wheel drive utility ATV with front and rear racks for loading your gear. There are several two-wheel drive utility ATVs that are very capable, I just prefer the extra capability of four-wheel drive (it’s a guy thing).
So how do you determine what size and brand ATV you want. Talk to your friends that ride, look at ATV forums (ATVQuadSquad and ATV Nation are my favorites) and ATV reviews. If you are an adult and new to the sport I would recommend a 500cc – 550cc engine size to start off with. I ride with several people riding this size and they go everywhere I go.
As for the brand, any of the top seven manufacturers (Arctic Cat, Can AM, Honda, Kawasaki, Polaris, Suzuki, & Yamaha) make quality machines you just want to make sure you can get parts and service locally. Doesn’t matter how nice the ATV is, if you can’t get parts and service locally, it could end up costing a lot more than you thought.
If you are buying new, all of the top seven manufacturers offer about the same warranties and all have decent reliability and performance. What ever brand you select just make sure you can get parts and good service locally. Also make sure you check out your local dealers reputation when it comes to servicing ATVs.
If you are buying a used ATV, you can find some pretty good deals if you do your homework. Some good sources are Craigslist and eBay. Another source for good used ATVs is a Repossession Auction. Once you find a used ATV that interests you, check the Kelly Blue Book and NADA Blue Book values to see if the asking price is in the ball park.
If the used ATV you are interested comes with some ATV accessories, ATV winch, rack bags, tires, etc., make sure you take those in to account when evaluating the price. Don’t be afraid to asked questions about the history of the ATV especially the service history. If you know someone that is knowledgeable about ATVs have them go with you to look at it, they may see something you don’t.
So get yourself an ATV and give ATV camping a try. Remember to always wear a helmet, stay on the trail and TreadLightly! Don’t forget ATV Insurance.
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Great article!
I would like to touch on buying a used ATV over Craigslist or other similar websites. There are a lot of scammers that post things for sale on CL, for prices that are too good to be true. If you see a 2 year old ATV with low mileage for thousands less than other comparable ATV’s, it’s most likely a scam.
A sure tip that the ad is a scam is that there is no contact number, just an email address (99.9% of the time it’s a webmail address like hotmail, gmail, or yahoo mail). Once you email the seller, you get a reply (usually in a couple of days) that states they just encountered some life changing event (divorce, death in the family, deployment to the middle-east, etc…) and they need money very quickly. The ATV will be in a different town, and is ready for you to buy it. They will offer to use an ‘escrow’ account of their choosing. There will never be any phone contact, nor will you be able to physically view the ATV. The scam happens once your money goes into their ‘escrow’ account, it’s gone and they are too.
Understand that there are a lot of great deals on Craigslist, but there is homework that needs to be done when making any large purchase. Talk to the seller on the phone. Make a point to go see the ATV, and have cash in hand. Ask if you can bring a mechanic with to inspect the ATV before you buy. Be very wary of ‘email only’ transactions.
Buying an ATV should be a wonderful experience, so take your time and happy hunting!
Great Post!…
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