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| Arctic Cat | Bombardier | Honda | Jinan Qingqi | Kawasaki | KTM | Polaris | Suzuki | Yamaha |16 Tips for Buying (or Selling) a Used ATV
1. Have a friend or the owner help you raise the ATV up and stand it on the rear grab bar. This will allow you to inspect the undercarriage for any serious dents or damage.
2. Look closely at the frame, especially the shock mounts, A-arm mounts and intersections of frame components for any signs of rust. This is normally a sign of a stress crack and would require welding and repainting.
3. On 4x4 ATVs, inspect the CV joint boots. They should be in excellent condition. Any crack or tears will allow water and dirt to enter and cause costly repairs.
4. Also on 4x4 ATVs, if possible remove the front and rear differential inspection plugs. If the gear lube looks like chocolate milk the oil is contaminated with water and there could be damage to the bearings.
5. Check the engine oil to see whether it looks contaminated.
6. Shine a flashlight into the gas tank and look for rust. Yes, a gas tank can rush, and rust can cause carb problems.
7. Raise the ATV and support the front of it with jack stands. Then try to move each front wheel in and out from top to bottom and side to side to check for worn wheel bearings and ball joints. Do the same for the rear.
8. With the ATV on the ground, move the handlebars back and forth. This will identify worn tie rod ends.
9. Remove the seat and take the air box lid off. This is often overlooked. An air box can collect water and damage an engine. A clean air box and filter is a good sign.
10. Check all head lights, tail lights, the engine shut off switch and key switch.
11. Check the hand, foot and parking brakes. Do they operate smoothly or stick? Check for damaged or cracked cables.
12. Check the exhaust. Has the spark arrestor been removed? Almost every state and national forest requires that you have one. You don't want to get to a forest and then find out you can't ride because you don't have a spark arrestor.
13. Check for worn out tires or tires full of plugs. It's not really a problem, but worn tires or plugs should be a negotiating point on price. And the tires should be replaced with new ones. If you have never taken a tire off a wheel, don't do it. They are extremely hard to remove. It's much easier to remove a car tire from a wheel than an ATV tire.
14. Look closely at the front or rear sprockets. Each point should be uniform. If they are worn more on one side or have a hooked appearance, a new chain and sprocket set is in order.
15. After you buy a used machine, it's a good idea to change all the fluids so that you know you have fresh oil, etc.
16. Ride the machine.
It's best to buy a used ATV from a dealer or locally. But they can be hard to find, so many people turn to the Internet. There are legitimate buyers and sellers on the Internet, but, unfortunately, there are also scammers trying to rip you off.
Here's a look at a couple of scams we've heard about at the ATVA that seem to be growing in popularity.
As always, the rule is simple: Buyer (or seller) beware. If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Buying: One scam involves ATVs posted to classified and auction sites at too-good-to-be-true prices.
In this scam, the seller often claims to be living in Europe, while the quad is in the United States. The seller then asks for payment to be deposited with an on-line escrow company while the ATV is shipped.
Ideally, the escrow company would hold the funds until the buyer has received the machine and approved the transfer.
The problem is the on-line escrow company is part of the scam. Once money is deposited—often by Western Union or other wire service at the behest of the seller—the seller and the escrow company vanish, leaving the buyer with nothing.
Selling: You list your ATV for sale on the Internet. A buyer offers to pay you the full asking price, with a generous amount over that to cover the cost of shipping it to Europe, Africa or another overseas location. The buyer demands that the quad be shipped immediately, but in exchange, he agrees to pay the full amount up front with a cashier's check.
The problem is that the cashier's check turns out to be a forgery. And there’s probably no way for you to know that until the quad is already long gone.
Your local bank may tell you that it will put a hold of about five days on funds from a foreign check. But even if you wait until the end of that period before shipping the ATV, that doesn’t mean the check is good. In fact, it can take weeks for a foreign check to clear, and when it bounces, you lose.
The bottom line here is simple: Be careful when you’re selling your quad to anyone—and especially careful with an overseas purchase that sounds too good to be true.
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