• Don't miss out on all the fun! Register on our forums to post and have added features! Membership levels include a FREE membership tier.

Buyer Beware (Arnie Ranta Motorsports)

0
Hey guys i don't come to forums to ever trash people and their business's, and i will not do that in this case either. In Oct. i had placed a down payment on a 2010 Skidoo Summit 163 800r. Sled looked great in pics and they both assured me it was in excellent condition. Ive been busy working so i finally was able to go get it this weekend. I called a BRP dealer and gave them the VIN to find out more on this sled and how many miles it had on it, ive heard about arnie rolling the miles back by replacing the odometer. Didnt appear to be the case with this sled but they said it was actually their demo sled and was rode hard and arnie about it from them. Long story short i drove 5 hrs to the twin cites and got to arnies, both him and kristi were very nice and the sled looked great. Being a mechanic and buying farm equipment all the time, i tore everything off of it and got my light and went through it. Found the A-Frame from the steering colum to the shock towers were both sheered off. The bulkhead had a dent in it from where the y-pipe hit it, and on the very front of the bulk head i could see where it appeared as though a rock hit it and may have been the culprit here. I questioned him about it and he said he honestly never saw the broke frame. He gave me 3 options, give me the parts to fix it and take more $ off of the sled, 2 look at another summit he had or 3 give me my deposit back. So being the way i am i just took my money and he was very apologetic about it and paid for some of my fuel to come up there. All in all i will say this is why you must look stuff over before you buy it from anyone. Arnie was very nice to me and that is why im not going to bash his business but knowing what i know about him from my experience and talking with BRP dealers......I came up with the same consensus that they told me, he buys crap sleds and makes them look good. The choice is yours lol. will post pics later

PS if your going to buy a sled from him make sure its not a blue 2010 Summit 163, its been wrecked lol :/
 
D

duc848

Well-known member
Dec 3, 2007
357
90
28
Brooklyn, New York
You say you didn't come on here to bash him but your title for the post is Buyer Beware. Isn't that bashing him already before anyone even opens the thread? I'm confused.
 
S

swrev

Well-known member
Jun 26, 2008
952
349
63
Lewistown, MT
Also confused, sounds like the problem was taken care of w/out any issues. Had other parts been changed to cover the broken pieces? What makes you think that the sled was being misrepresented? You said it looked great when you picked it up. It's possible that they missed it also. I just noticed we bent a support on one of my sleds. Wouldn't have noticed w/out looking for issues.
 
E

EagleRiverDee

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2009
447
391
63
Eagle River, Alaska
I think "Buyer Beware" is good advice in ANY situation where you're not buying new. Sometimes people lie, sometimes they just don't know, but you are the one that will be stuck with a lemon if you buy it so I think it's good to know that even if you're working with a dealer you should be checking the sled thoroughly before taking ownership.

I do think it speaks well of this dealership that they offered several options, including parts or money back, to make the deal right.
 
0
Yes parts had been replaced, front plastic belly pan, bumper, exhaust pipe since it probably got damaged when it hit a rock. Im saying buyer beware because this sled was wrecked, im not bashing him, im just letting people know about this one if they are looking. My advice to people is look things over before you buy anything used from anyone. I saved myself a big headache by looking this over.

He had numerous good looking Etecs there but i didnt have the cash to buy one of them.

He and Kristi also both told me numerous times that these sleds are gone through with a fine tooth comb and this sled was immaculate, i found these problems in less than 2 mins.

He didnt have to refund my $ or give me alittle for fuel, i think that was very nice of him.
 
H
Nov 9, 2001
4,253
1,815
113
55
Lincoln Nebraska
You say you didn't come on here to bash him but your title for the post is Buyer Beware. Isn't that bashing him already before anyone even opens the thread? I'm confused.

I think this thread should be a kudos to the seller. Heck he gave you your money back and paid for some fuel. Sounds like a stand up seller to me. After all it is a used sled and YOU as a buyer should do your due deligence to check it out. Fortunately for you the guy went beyond what he had to to keep you happy.
 
0
Also confused, sounds like the problem was taken care of w/out any issues. Had other parts been changed to cover the broken pieces? What makes you think that the sled was being misrepresented? You said it looked great when you picked it up. It's possible that they missed it also. I just noticed we bent a support on one of my sleds. Wouldn't have noticed w/out looking for issues.


I never brought it home because i found these problems. I was hopeing to make people aware of the fact they need to look things over before they buy them. I noticed that the blue hood peice was broke and he said he never noticed that, well it wouldnt stay on and he was in there to put a new pipe on, if you put a new pipe on how did you miss not only 1 broke support but 2 that dont even line up?
 
0
I think this thread should be a kudos to the seller. Heck he gave you your money back and paid for some fuel. Sounds like a stand up seller to me. After all it is a used sled and YOU as a buyer should do your due deligence to check it out. Fortunately for you the guy went beyond what he had to to keep you happy.

That is why I did my homework on it, and thats why I checked it out close to find this stuff. I never said anything about him being a bad person. It was very nice of him to give my $ back.
 
S

swrev

Well-known member
Jun 26, 2008
952
349
63
Lewistown, MT
Thought you had taken the sled home--didn't read close enough. Some parts being changed to cover an accident does change things. Glad to hear they took care of the problem though, hopefully you would have gotten the same treatment if you'd taken it home and than noticed.
 

Sxrlar

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Nov 26, 2007
1,157
311
83
56
Wisconsin
Thanks for the heads up, my buddy was going to look at a sled he has. I think he buys used rental sleds also, on craigslist it looked like he had a whole fleet of 600 144 RMK's.
 

plumnuts

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Nov 27, 2007
1,734
654
113
Right side of Washington
wow sounds like the dealer was more than fair...crap happens. One time I was adding to my Mustang heard and was looking at a 97 GT... everything looked right... except the dash... CarFaxed it... speedo was rolled... dealer pulled the car and would not sell it at any price... said they would go after the person that traded it in as they had committed a crime... they probably took it to an auction and sold it as an exempt speedometer (miles unknown)
 
Last edited:

snowmanx

Well-known member
Premium Member
Aug 13, 2001
2,163
442
83
54
Polson, Montana
I think this thread should be a kudos to the seller. Heck he gave you your money back and paid for some fuel. Sounds like a stand up seller to me. After all it is a used sled and YOU as a buyer should do your due deligence to check it out. Fortunately for you the guy went beyond what he had to to keep you happy.

Agreed, sounds like he took care of you and give your resonable options to rectify the situation. Certainly could have been missed.
 

Borderstaff

Active member
Lifetime Membership
Dec 2, 2007
256
32
28
St. Paul MN
I bought an 06 M7 from Arnie years ago. The sled had a few small problems (missing bogie, torn snowflap and missing hood screens). Arnie replaced the parts w/new and stored the sled for 3 months after I put my deposit down saving me some space. All in all I found it a good deal and would buy from him again. But, yes, you have to look the sleds over. I passed on the other 2 M7's due to more dings and dents - but all 3 were cleaner that any others I'd looked at elsewhere.
 
3
Jun 26, 2012
1
0
1
Bought 2 Sleds from Arnie

I have bought two sleds from Arnie and let me first say the sleds have been excellent, I have had no issues. The sleds looked like brand new and I have put about 2000 miles on each. He is easy to work with and his prices were as low as I have found.

That said, both sleds I bought from him had roughly 500 miles on the odometer and were rental sleds. I still can't see how a resort can go a whole season and only rack up 500 miles. They probably put near that on a sled in a couple of weeks.

In the final analysis, I would probably go back to him again since the prices are so low and I am buying 4 strokes that will run for thousands of miles....so whether the actual miles are 500 or 3000, they are worth the price he is asking.
 

Leaf27

Well-known member
Premium Member
Oct 24, 2008
1,227
694
113
Glad I stopped in and read this thread, cause I was like "another bad business being exposed" but turns out he help with your fuel and gave your depo back. Just glad no one was ripped off.
 
T
Feb 20, 2012
18
2
3
I put money down on a sled from him the odometer read 720 miles. My friend had heard he turned back mileage so I ran the vin number and called the rental place it was used and it turned out it had 4700 miles on it. He returned my deposit no questions asked. I did notice alot of his sleds were torn apart though not sure why. Just do your homework when buying from him or anyone. Like the previous post most rental sleds will have over 3 to 4 miles very easy to run the vin most places will have a history of the miles.
 
Premium Features