Buying a Used 4 Wheeler

I was trying to find another 4 wheeler thread to piggy back this off of but nothing seemed to fit.

I'm looking at used wheelers, something to use for ice fishing in the winter and just general light duty chores around the acreage in the summer. Maybe zip around some trails with the kids, nothing crazy.

I'm pretty partial to Can-Am and Yamaha - specifically been eyeing the Outlander 450 or Kodiak 450.

What would you guys consider a lot of miles for a used machine? I found a 2018 Outlander with ~500 miles that looks decent, but 500 miles seems high for a 2-year old machine, no? I realize its like all things...the maintenance/care means more than the miles...but Im just curious what your guys' input on miles is. I have a very good idea of miles/use on snowmobiles but no real experience with 4 wheelers.

The Outlander 450 and Kodiak 450's can both be had by me for right around the $6k mark (actually found the Outlander 450 for $5799 OTD) so its almost kind of hard to justify used....but I'm the type of guy always looking to save a buck, so hoping I can find one used at or below $4k.

The one I did find Im interested in the guy still owes money on it too...Ive never bought a machine that had a loan on it so Im a little skeptical of how thats handled. He told me he writes me up a Bill of Sale, then after I pay him he pays off the machine, gets the title, then signs the title to me and mails it to me. Sounds simple....but whats to say he takes the money and pays it off? If he doesn't sure he defaults on the loan but am I up the creek then too? Having an ATV that a bank technically owns?

 

500 miles in 2 years or 10, I’d rather have the newer machine. As far as title if it’s a local bank go with him and get the title when paid off. Out of state bank, tough call.

 

Honda’s are hard to beat.

 

Its out of state. Yeah I cant help but feel like I'm basically just trusting him to actually use the money to pay off the loan then send me the title. Not much I can do if he decided to just pocket the money. The bank would obviously default on HIM, not me...but ultimately Im just wondering if that could lead to the machine being unregisterable for me?

 

The 500 miles wouldn't bother me...its more about how it was ridden and maintained...and if the price is right considering.
No way am I paying an individual without getting the title and the machine all in the same transaction...if it were a reputable local dealer it would be a different story...they usually send you the title later on, pretty normal business practice...at least in Ohio.
I like the 450 Yammies...no experience on the Can-Ams, no dealers close by so there really aren't many around.

 

It’s called collateral, bank wants to repo they don’t care about the small details. He signed a note on that machine, technically the bank owns it until paid in full doesn’t matter who has possession of it.

 

No title, no sale. That's how stolen quads get sold.

 

Might be too far of a drive but I have an outlander 450 with 7 miles on it for sale

 

You pay the bank directly and the title is yours. The four wheeler should be on your trailer and you and the bank can confirm serial/ vin when they sign the title over to you. If he is honest he shouldn’t have a problem with that.

 

Buying an ATV with a loan on it, and giving money to the seller and not the bank has nightmare written all over it... So many ATVs out there for sale without that problem... I'd keep looking

 

500 miles is nothing if it’s been properly maintained and it shouldn’t need much in that time. I sold a couple Outlander 400’s with about 5k on them and they were like new. That was a dozen years ago or so and they should only be getting better. I wouldn’t buy without title in hand though unless I paid the bank directly.

 

It has occurred to me that the older the machine, the more reliable it will tend to be. Trick is finding an older model that hasn't been all used up.

 

NOOOOoooo!
Worst riding solid axle machine Ever!

Unless they recently changed the name again back to kodiak from grizzly.

 

There are lots of older less expensive machines out there. Try to find an older fella that has a clean, low mileage, title in hand.
A friend of mine just bought a left over 19 polaris 450 for $3999 new.
Its actually a 500cc efi.

 

I'm a big fan of the 350 rancher and the 2007-2012 Rincon. Both machines do their jobs well.

Look at the ranches out west for what they use to tend fence lines. Mostly 350 rancher models, manual shift. Bare bones.

 

Kinda seems like a blanket statement. The IRS ones ride great. Seems to ride as good as our sportsman, which must people say had the best ride. Are you talking about the solid rear axle ones?

Granted ours is brand new, but our 2019 450 Kodiak rides great. Then again the 2018's were fully redone minus the base engine and transmission.


I went thru used and new quads for my mom. I think the yamahas really have the best of everything. I still like the Polaris machines, but

That $3800 for a new 19 Polaris 450 couldn't have been with tax title etc. I looked at some around here for my mom and they were all more $ than what the yamaha that we got was after all was said and done. The deal we got on the Kodiak 450 was $500 better than any deal in this state, as well as from the up of Michigan, northern Illinois and Minneapolis area.


I will say that the manual shift models are probably the most reliable, although we've never had to change a belt on the cvt on our 04 sportsman.

I wouldn't buy any used quad that had a lien. Not unless you could walk into the bank with the owner and handle it all at once.

 

Apparently they recently changed the name back to kodiak from grizzly.
?
Mine was the solid axle 2003.
I agree the independent grizzly 450 was much improved.

 

Blstr88 since you've got no sales tax, you should be able to get a new Kodiak 450 for 6k. If you look, you might be able to find a leftover 19 like we did. That saved a few hundred, also we liked the dark green vs the army green better anyway.

I'm sure you saw my thread on it, right?

 

There's both. But they no longer offer a grizzly 450.

 

Sorry
So i just txt'd my buddy. I'm mistaken.
It was 3999. Yes. Before taxes...

I edited my post above