One of the first discussions in any purchase, bow, tractor, truck, atv/utv has to be dealer. I've been around mechanical toys/tools all my life and have been making decisions based on the support of a dealer. I don't plan on things breaking but if/when they do, I want reliable support NOW!!!! Always had international tractors and New Holland equipment as the dealer was fantastic. Driven GM trucks with great dealer support. Had Honda atv's for years also with a great dealer. Now the dealerships are all owned by big corporations around here, (one John Deere company owns all ,except one, dealerships in the state) I drive 2 hours to buy and have my Honda Pioneer serviced because the dealer is that much cheaper and better. A good friend that has worked in the big three auto dealerships along with a couple of the foreign ones too, told me, that maybe he's just getting old and cranky but when it comes to buying a new truck, buy the one that the color best matches your boat because they're all junk and you might as well get one that at least looks good before it breaks!
Ha. I live so far out in the sticks and away from any fairly major city that the nearest dealers of anything substantial are roughly an hour away. The exception is one Ford dealer that I don't really care for that's about 15 miles from me. I like Case IH equipment, nearest dealer is 45 miles, also deal Kubota. Used to be a Kawasaki dealer in that town but they quit handling Kawasaki for some reason. Next decent ATV dealer from that direction from me is 70 miles, my old suzuki dealer. If I draw a circle around me from that dealer it'd probably intersect about three or four other ATV dealers in MO and KS. So my options are limited. I've never dealt with the Kawasaki dealer I've been talking to on the Mule, I don't know their reputation for service or anything but they've been in business for a long long time. My four wheeler was running okay yesterday. Maybe water in the gas tank. It's making me think about holding off on the Mule purchase for a while. I'm heading into planting season and busy with farm improvements of all kinds and those expenses. My credit is good but I'm not sure it's wise to chip away at it right now. Still on the fence at the moment. I've been too busy since it's drying up here to get around and test drive anything. I don't really want to go driving stuff until I know I'm ready to commit because I know if I drive something I really like, it'll probably come home with me, lol.
I've been following this thread. I've practically drooled over the Can Am Commander 1000 Limited for a few years now. If I were to ever get a UTV that's the one I would want. With an MSRP of over $20,000 I probably wouldn't end up with it, but I'd want it. For now, my old Yamaha Grizzly 660 is still a good running beast of a four wheeler.
It's amazing how prices have skyrocketed over the years. Back when I was a kid in the 80's (born in '75) new pickups were $10K ish, mom and dad bought me a new Kawasaki 185 four wheeler for like $2500 (I don't recall for certain), candy bars were like .40, gas was like $1.10.... Now we have $90,000 pickups, $5K- $30,000 Atv's, $2-$3 fuel, $1.50+ bottle of soda...
My all time favorite head-scratcher is how we have ended up at a point where we spend almost as much per gallon for bottled water as we do for gasoline. Can you imagine what our grandfathers would think of that?
Ha, yep. I didn't touch medical costs either. I have health insurance, had to have my pinky x rayed a while back and got a bill for $600 after insurance paid on it....Insurance cost per month...when I first took out my insurance it was like $50/month now it's over $350 and still considered "cheap" compared to most.
Time sure does give you an amazing perspective! When I built my house my property taxes were $850 a year. This past year I had to pay $7800!!!!! My father had a local banker come to him to buy the neighboring farm that had gone bankrupt and he turned it down because he didn't want to go to deep into debt. It had 2 houses and 200 acres of land and the bank offered it to him for $45,000. It just sold last year, without both houses, for $850,000! So my wife and I have worked hard and now own everything we have. What a great feeling. Not tied to the bank anymore. Unfortunately, the government allows us to live here in our small town where we have an elementary school and send the high school kids to a regional school and a volunteer fire department and still demanded $7800 for the privilege of living here! So, I get up every morning and go to work. Come home at night and hop on my bicycle for a ride and then on my Honda Pioneer and ride around the farm, then some evenings I grab a bow and shoot a while and remember that "LIFE IS GOOD.....VERY GOOD!"
