I am going to have about $5000 out the door for an ATV. What are your suggestions?

i would recommend any polaris atv over anything else! i have used several other makers, but for me it is polaris all the way! if you could any sportsman atv, but they will run higher than that! but for $5000 their magnum models.

My Polaris 1993 Trail Boss 250 is still going strong. It smokes to high heaven and is very loud, but I'm not replacing it for just those reasons. It's hauled a lot of dear, and I might even get a bit choked up when it's ridden it's last mile.

Oops that should have been "deer" not "dear". Better correct that before my wife sees that post.

I am partial to Honda's myself. Not sure why. I am on my second one now and just never had have any problems. The only reason I still don't have my first one is because I wanted four wheel drive.

Probably, your going to get answers like Yamaha's are the best or Honda's are the best or Polaris are the best and so on. At the end of the day you still may not know which one to get.

I think what you should do is decide:

1. How big of an engine do you need?
2. Do you want 2 wheel drive or 4 wheel drive?
3. Two stroke or four stroke?
4. Chain drive or drive shaft?
and so on.

Once you have answered those questions, then you have narrowed down the field and can start comparing specs, prices, warranties, etc.

Consider how far you have to drive to a dealer to get parts if you should need them.

I'm sure there are some ATV's that are just dogs, but I bet most of the major brands are going to be OK. The main thing is how you treat it and how you maintain it. Ride it correctly, clean it up, maintain it and it should last you a long time.

I had a Honda fourtrax 350 4x4 for 18 years that I replaced last June with a Honda 420FM, it has 2wd & 4wd which is quite handy. It was a little over five grand out the door. You're going to get many answers like DCS said. What are you going to be doing with the atv?

Ride Red.
Honda all the way.
I abuse a 2005 TRX650FA Rincon every other weekend and after 4 years I have not had any major problems. Knock on wood.

arctic cat all the way...i love my trv

I have had them all, my last 2 have been yamaha, My current is a 450 Kodiak 2005 with 350+ hours, no problems at all. Polaris are a little bit on the heavy side to me, but everyone has there own opinions.

DCS made a good coment, take everything into consideration and look at the merits of each brand.

Honda, baby.

I have a Honda right now and love it! I had a few issues with it in the begining but it appears that they got it corrected now. Honda is all I have ever owned, but I am considering a Yamaha next time. My only issue with Honda is thier absolutly rediculous customer service, but I wont get into that right now.

In my opinion I would go with a Honda or Yamaha! They are the best machines out there right now!!

I bought my polaris 300 awd for 4100 out the door, that would leave money left over for some accesories. It has plenty enough power to haul me, my brother, and a deer up any hill on my property. Hasn't given me any trouble I have had it for about a year and a half, and have over 1000 miles on it.

Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki....

I have the Arctic Cat 650 H1 LE ad this thing will do anything. Highest ground clearence, high low end torque, 2wd, 3wd, 4wd, all wheel indep suspension. This thing is a rocket.

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Another big decision is Arctic Cat is made by hard working Americans like you and me and it's headquarters is in Thief River Falls, MN.

What ever happened to BUY AMERICAN!

I own 2 Polaris, a 94' 400 2 stroke and a 2000' 4 stroke 500 Sportsman. I work them hard, they run great.

I would buy a Yamaha big bear. Thats the closet you are going to get for you money. You dont need but 400cc, you dont need it but 4x4 is nice.
Next honda, then suzuki
Artic suc and polarsuc's go back into the shop to much. For dependabality Yamaha and Honda

i'm just glad dodge dosen't make a 4-wheeler

I've got both a polaris and honda and both are great for certain things.

My polaris is the MV7, it's got front and rear winches, an absolute workhorse that's never let me down. It's HEAVY but I've driven it through stuff where my buddies atv's got stuck and this thing kept chugging along, it's never been stuck. It can haul just about anything and has a VERY smooth ride, just like the other polaris' I've owned.

My honda is a 250 recon, this one is fun to play around with but that's about it. Can't really haul/pull much and has a very stiff ride. I've never really gotten it stuck, high centered yes...It's given me some problems with the solenoid and the elec. shift. For the price though you can't beat it for a atv to just have fun with.

Go buy a used Jeep! Street licensed, can have a cab with heat and air, warm in the winter, cool in the summer. Properly equipped will go anywhere you need to go even down the highway. If you cannot get there in a Jeep you can walk or you didn't need to go there to begin with. You can plow with it on Saturday afternoon and make a beer run when you are finished. Put a blade on the front and you can do light road work. Lets see one of these pizz ant ATVs that have heat and air with a 12000 pound winch on it do what a Jeep can.

I have both dogcatcher; and honestly the 4 wheeler is collecting dust! My back also thanks me.

Get a Honda rancher 400 4x4. You can get it new for a little over 5 grand out the door.

I recently purchased my first ATV, I am 62 years old. I talked to numerous multi-line dealerships, independent ATV repair shops, guys that ran them hard and put them up wet. The brands that were always the top two choices were Honda & Yamaha. My choice would have been the Yamaha Big Bear because of the manual shift & the independent suspension but because I have a heart condition my wife said she wanted one with the auto transmission. She said she wanted to be able to get help or at least tie a rope on me and drag me out. She felt that with the manual transmission she might not be able to do that under such stressful conditions. I am glad we bought the auto trans. I purchased a used low hour Yamaha 660 Grizzly and we love it, large enough for both of us to ride together and not worry about tipping it over. About 2 weeks ago I hooked the atv up to my 5x10 trailer, put 250 lbs of corn on it, a feeder, a 2 man ladder stand and 2 women (weight=don't ask). I put the 14 year old granddaughter on the atv with me and towed everthing for about 3/4 mile down a muddy road with deep tractor ruts in it. Atv showed no signs of being in a strain. I think the Yamaha is a good choice but so would the Honda. There is a major difference (better) in the ride of an independent suspension atv and that of a solid axle atv plus more ground clearence with the independent suspension.