Just starting to look around for some good used 4 wheelers. What types of things do I need to look for or look out for?

If it has or has had a snorkle kit on it run away.

X2

x3 on the snorkel thing.

"liquid" gasket around the head or cylinder base.
Stress Cracks Near the Floor Boards/ Pegs
Stress Cracks near A-Arm and Shock Mounts
Anything electrical wired in after the factory stuff can get scary.

Give it a good once over to see what has been wrenched on... Paint flaking off from Bolt and Nut heads and rounded threads etc.. If you are looking at something fairly late model, modern ATVs are really designed to be very low maint so be weary of something that has had a lot of wrenches thrown at it.

if it has the original tires , there cond can say a lot , inspect for frame damage or repairs to same , then pull the dipstick and inspect the level and condition of the oil , then go ride it

A snorkle can be a bad sign, unless it was put on as a visual enhancment. Have a dealer of the model check it out or bring it to me.

mike do you work on 4 wheelers? I need a couple of minor things done to mine, just dont have the time to do it. And your pretty close to me..

How about checking if it was stolen?

I look for discoloration of aluminum parts like differential, brake housing, motor and some mufflers. Can indicate mudding and not cleaning up after use.

honda rancher..can't kill em..stand it up on the back rack and look and see how its been treated..smell the oil stick for burnt oil that hadnt been changed..watch for smoke..etc

I have worked on a few, mostly hondas. If you need polaris worked om, I have a guy in Rowlett that specializes on them.

Another thing to look at is the air box. If its got signs of mud or water theres a good chance its been drowned. Some quads will recover from it and some dont.

jack up each wheel and wiggle it and see how much play is in the bearing. polaris's are hard on bearing and polaris dealers are proud of them.

I got 2000 Kawasaki 400. I can pull start it and it has never not started even with a rats nest in the airbox

Here I have owned ever brand and way too many models according to my wife.

Polaris - okie dokie but parts are high and not as easy to work for the home mechanic. My RZR Polaris and I are battling over the tilt steering. The knob has broken off 4 times in 2 years and the first time was when the dealer pulled it around to load it on my trailer. I am not buying another I will weld the sob in place for I spend another 80 bucks.

Kawasaki - Motors are bullet proof not as easy to work on as a Yamaha. Parts in the middle on cost

Honda- - Same as above. Carbs can be trickie @ times esp if you let them sit. Parts are high

Yamaha= Parts are cheap and easy to work on. One thing gets under my crawl about Yamaha's is the half shafts and rear bearings. Owned 2 Grizzly's I replaced the half shafts multiple times on the rear both. My Bear it was always the front and front diff

What about the Arctic cat brand? There seems to be some pretty good deals on these but not sure about their reliability.

Arctic Cat engines are made by Suzuki, but have never had an ATV by either company.