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Bad Experince With Mt. Hood Polaris Boring Oregon

S
Jan 4, 2018
2
0
1
Hello,

We bought a Polaris 700 RMK from this dealer and would like to describe our disappointment with the dealer and the way we were treated as a customer. We bought the snowmobile in 2008. We later learned after we bought the snowmobile they had a shelf collapse at the dealership, and some snowmobiles were damaged. We looked into it a little more and also learned they pieced some of the sleds back together to save money and did not tell the people who bought them. We always wondered if ours was involved in that incident. If we would have known of this incident before we bought the snowmobile we would have not purchased from this dealer.
We recently had the sled in at a certified Polaris dealer in Portland for some clutch work. When they were diagnosing the problem they asked if the sled has ever been totaled. Our response was no it’s never been wrecked and it's been well taken care off as it still looks brand new. They informed us that the sled has indeed been totaled and took us out to show us the welds underneath on the frame of the snowmobile and the excessive amount of silicone used to cover up damage. We had the twin to it in the trailer and were shown what the welds should look like then showed us the welds and excessive silicone on the sled they said was totaled before.
We were amazed about this information and we started talking about the shelf collapse and were informed that it could have been involved since the sled has been totaled and a sloppy weld on top of the factory weld and an excessive amount of reapplied silicone. We were informed all the welds were done by a robotic welder at the factory, these new welds were not. We politely called Mt. Hood Polaris and wanted to talk to the owner. The owner very rudely told us to get a lawyer and hung up. The dealer we were at was shocked at how we were treated as they were present when the call was made. If they have nothing to hide why would they tell us to lawyer up? Or if the sled was not involved in the collapse why did they sell us a damaged sled from the factory at a brand new price? Our question was why did Mt. Hood Polaris sell us a sled for full price that was supposed to be brand new but already totaled and unsafe to ride. Over the years one of our family members could have been hurt or killed due to the frame not properly being fixed. We have not received an answer from Mt. Hood Polaris.
This was not something you would look for on a brand new sled but if you buy from Mt. Hood Polaris you will want to check every little thing or the better option would be to give an honest dealer the business. We are sending a letter to corporate to inform them about this incident that should have never happened if Mt. Hood Polaris would have done the appropriate thing and sent the sled back and not have sold it. We are not asking anything in return from Polaris just wanting others to know of this issue we had with this Mt. Hood Polaris. Below are some attached images of the damaged sled.


Thanks

Pic 1.jpg Pic.jpg Pic 3.jpg
 

BeartoothBaron

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Nov 2, 2017
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It's hard to tell if it's dangerous or not based on the description, but if it is you'd definitely have a legal case. Beyond that, I'm not sure what the laws are on such things; I know if an auto dealer has a car that's damaged sufficiently to be totaled and fixes it under the table, they're in deep doo-doo, but not sure how that applies to off-highway vehicles. Obviously they should have disclosed the damage just as a good business practice, and it's good to get the word out. Just hope you're able to get a proper recompense out of it, hopefully without needing a lawyer, but it sounds like that might be the only thing that gets you anywhere.
 

LoudHandle

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Apr 21, 2011
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I'm doubtful your sled was one of the damaged ones

I see no evidence of a shelf collapsing on your sled. The welds shown would not have failed from a shelf collapse, and there is nothing bent nor any hammer and dolly marks from straightening it, if it had been bent.

Polaris has never been able to weld in a aesthetically pleasing fashion, ever, robots or not.

I've bought new parts straight from Polaris that look far worse than your sled does. Every cooler I've ever owned has at least two or three spots that leaked when they pressure tested them and has multiple wads of ugly weld from the factory trying to seal it up.

So trying to prove that the dealer did indeed rebuilt it, without an employee or two that worked there at the time and was directed to reconstruct the sled, the odds are against you.

While the fit and finish of a lot of their products are less than desirable, they are still the best choice of the 3 1/2 Manufactures.

The law will also not help you from being treated like a second rate citizen by any Azzhole, much less the owner of a stealership / dealership.


Sorry for your experience; but I'm thinking the minimum wage mechanic at the other dealership is young enough to have made assumptions that should not have been made, or at least vocalized to you without conferring with his employer first.
 
Last edited:

assaulted-one

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Sep 20, 2013
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I used to work at Polaris welding bulkheads and coolers and not every weld put on by a robot is perfect, I would weld behind the robot and fix what ever holes the robot would blow in parts. A robot can't weld perfect every time because of how much parts vary. Not saying yours doesn't have some history, but there are a lot sleds out there that have some re-welding done to some of the robot welds from day one.
 
J

Jaynelson

Well-known member
Nov 26, 2007
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Nelson BC
This sounds like a pretty far stretch based on those pics. As stated, fit/finish and welds on recreational equipment are not perfect, nor necessarily consistent. Plus there’s a time thing in play here. Sounds like sled has been operating fine for 10 years, which is more than you can say for most sleds....so if the machine had some repairs done by Polaris or anyone else, safe to say those repairs were completed to an adequate/safe standard and have done the job. At this point in time, the sled is worth the same $$ with or without that going on, so you’re not out any money. I wouldn’t spend a lot of time/effort on that ...and blasting the store might be totally off base. JMO
 
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