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850 Patriot Owners- Poll Failure or Not

Has Your 850 Failed. Vote multiple times if you have multiple 850s

  • No

    Votes: 341 81.2%
  • Yes, Top End

    Votes: 18 4.3%
  • Yes, Bottom End

    Votes: 61 14.5%

  • Total voters
    420

DITCHBANGER

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Nov 26, 2007
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What do you mean the poll wasn't as bad as I had hoped for? Are you running for president next year as a democratic candidate? You spew more utter made up BS about me that I ever though possible, congrats douchebag!

I actually would find that poll deeply troubling if I owned a 19 850. That coupled with what the best Polaris engine guy on the planet reported has been more than evidence demonstrating Polaris blew it on another first year motor, after bragging it up as the most durable ever...

Looks like they have responded and made a bunch of changes. So big relief when you lose your motor next season because, you should get an updated one under warranty. At that point all is well unless it strands you, has to be towed, or dies in a bad spot trying to kill you... Still, the warranty and major changes, which further contribute to a guilty plea by Polaris themselves, will make you whole. So good on Polaris for doing the right thing.... hopefully.

You STILL do not get it. The point of my coming here and telling the truth is the WARN potential buyers. Those of us speaking out ride other brands because we were burned by Polaris, yes it actually happens.(Not in Idaho) I actually think it is sad Polaris lost so many motors, and only fool would speculate that the others lost anywhere near as many. It is hardly a contest if you could just be honest. Which I guess brings it back full circle to my assessment of you in the first paragraph DB...

For me I didnt care what anybody said except indydan, even with your warnings, what I wanted to see was Polaris to do some changes. Which they did (sure indydan was an influence) so even with the bad press me and my buddy still snowchecked a 2020 850 polaris,my 1st poo ever. Totally confident the changes made to the engine will benefit longevity.
 

Big10inch

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For me I didnt care what anybody said except indydan, even with your warnings, what I wanted to see was Polaris to do some changes. Which they did (sure indydan was an influence) so even with the bad press me and my buddy still snowchecked a 2020 850 polaris,my 1st poo ever. Totally confident the changes made to the engine will benefit longevity.

I am glad you are "totally confident"... The only pitfall being you are totally confident in a bunch that screwed up on the 2019s even after tons of testing and bragging about reliability.

I am with you though, I think the 2020 850 will probably be a great sled, the sled it should have been last year. If Polaris can truely build one that lasts two seasons for me, like I have always said, even I may be back on board.

If nothing else they should have cured the bottom end issues, which is good for long term reliability. The cylinder finish still concerns me and I believe Indy Dan when he says that finish is what causes some to run great and others not so much. With a solid bottom end going to updated ID top end finishes might be a cost effective way to get a great running motor with Dans warranty.

Hooray for progress though! Good Luck with the new sleds.
 
M
Feb 7, 2009
1,142
606
113
37
Wabush, Labrador
As long as they keep taking care of owners problems, it isn't really a safety issue, like burning Doo's... They will get through it fine. They survived the 900 and 800 Dragon without recalls. Plenty of Timbres out there fool enough to do it again.:juggle:

2011 and 2012 800 etec engines had piston recalls, while the repair was completed they also inspected the bottom end for something.. I honestly can't remember what the exact issue might have been.

My 2011 800 etec went down after the 1 year warranty was up and they sent me a new crate engine.

Polaris could recall the engines.. but that would mean they would need to look at/repair all of the engines, not just the ones that are failing.
 
E
Aug 20, 2011
453
99
28
Soo/Menominee MI
This has been an interesting read lol, but all things said and done the numbers dont suprise me with this poll. I know of 3 sleds That have had 0 issues, on the snow this year. But yet the biggest part that doesnt impress me and explains the whole situation, is the fact that my fourth year 800ho blew up for its second time, and took until I pitched a huge fit with polaris and got on my dealers case bad about all the issues ive had with it to fully correct the issues. That said they did end up giving me 750 bucks in polaris funny money to use at my dealer, and i did end up ordering some avy gear and an extra a arm. They actually called me after i got done with my trip to wyoming to make sure the sled was back up and running, did make a decent impression on me. That said, it just goes to show polaris will put a **** product out if it makes them money. The funny thing is, if they havent lost money on my sled, they had to at least broken even at this point, but i do suspect they lost money though. hopefully they continue to lose money on my sleds until they build a better product.
 

Timbre

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Premium Member
Nov 1, 2008
2,812
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Southwestern Idaho
WOW! Leave for a few days and lookie what happens . . .

Kiliki, who loves his ARCTIC CAT, makes a return to troll the POLARIS FORUM and sneak around in the background to give his “opinions” in the form of a long list of negative ratings on posts in threads he doesn’t even participate in. Kind of like a puppy peeing on the furniture while it’s owners are away. He is a funny dude, that one! :)

Big Inch goes on another rant. Now there’s a SHOCKER!! Hahaha!

@Big 1 inch . . .
Your argument has completely collapsed, so you now break out the nasty names and start throwing them around . . . . just as predictably as the last times you have resorted to this, when your illogical arguments failed! (the avalanche safety, riding area closures, and loud can topics, come to mind)

Your “point of coming here and telling the truth”, was for no other reason than to regurgitate your hatred for Polaris by trolling the POLARIS SECTION of the forum, and knock them at every opportunity you had. I don't think there is any doubt in the minds of those who have suffered through your mind-numbing rants and other mindless drivel throughout this thread, that your hatred for Polaris is real. Those roots of hatred have grown into quite a bumper crop for you. In addition to that, your inability to practice self-control while marinating in that large pool of hatred, has also been quite evident. Everyone gets that, and I doubt there's anyone who cares. You ride an ARCTIC CAT, yet you have felt compelled to spend countless hours posting in the POLARIS SECTION, that discusses a brand and model of sled . . . YOU DON’T EVEN OWN OR RIDE. These are the actions of a TROLL!! That’s messed up Bro!! No wonder you have been banned from the snow west forum MULTIPLE TIMES, only to return under a different user name and carry on with your mission of hatred and fear-mongering.

Your “facts” are based on an “internet poll”, and what you “read and hear”, . . . with absolutely NO PERSONAL EXPERIENCE!! That is a shaky foundation!! The Mueller “Russia investigation” is a shining example of how far things can get off track when started with, and/or are based on the wrong “facts”. Your house of cards was built on a foundation of pseudo facts and fuzzy math, and has collapsed quite quickly. For months now, you have been on a mission to get even with polaris because you feel you were wronged by them many years ago. So based on that shaky foundation, you have attempted to hurt them by "warning potential buyers" of buying this brand. This has completely fallen flat, gotten you off track and out into the weeds for many months, resulting only in your socks getting loaded with cheatgrass. No one with even average intelligence or basic investigative skills is going to listen to, or put any credibility in such nonsense. . . especially when it is coming from the mis-informed mouth of one who does not own or ride an axys 850, . . . which just happens to be the subject of conversation in this thread . . . which just happens to be located in the POLARIS SECTION!!!

Almost all Elite Riders choose the Polaris Axys platform because it works . . . . period. It is the best Mountain sled on the market today! Putting the 850 engine in that platform was a game-changer and will continue to be going forward. Some don’t agree and choose to ride other brands. That’s ok, and is actually great for competition! Yes, Polaris has made a few (not “a bunch”) of changes for 2020 to improve on the 2019 model year. They, and ALL manufacturers make it a point to do this EVERY YEAR . . no surprises or admissions of guilt here! Improving a product each year is just good business for ANY company . . no matter what they build or sell! Arctic Cat will be doing this as well since they have had engine failures and other issues. Just check out their “engine failure” thread. Ski doo has had some issues resulting in engine failures, so every brand has had issues. Has Polaris had more? We don’t know. Until there is side by side comparison data for each brand from a reliable source, that question will never have a definitive answer.

You mentioned “the best Polaris engine guy on the planet”. I am not sure who that might be, but a wise person once told me “Beware of the person who sounds the alarm of a potential problem, who also has the solution that they can sell you to fix it”. They often also sell their product or service as a “preventative”. It’s called marketing, and most companies do it in some form or another. Here’s how it works. The “whistleblower” first does some major fear-mongering (usually on social media) to get mis-informed and/or under-educated people worked up. During this process, they hope to get some “activist parrots” on board who don’t have the intelligence, resources, or motivation to do their own research. These are usually people with BIG LOUD MOUTHS, with diarrhea of the mouth and constipation of the brain, who will just follow this Pied Piper and repeat what he says. They march along LOUDLY trumpeting his cause in an attempt to get other gullible sheep to join in, who also don’t think for themselves. Once this is set in motion, the whistleblower can sit back and reap the profits from fixing something that may or may not have been a problem in the first place. It’s a devious, yet brilliant game, and most under-educated consumers fall for it. If you want to see how the “activism cycle of nonsense” works, and the results of it, just read the news!! You might also want to check out the Story of Chicken Little :)

You stated . . . “I actually would find that poll deeply troubling if I owned a 19 850”. Well guess what . . . YOU DON’T, so you shouldn’t be “deeply troubled”, right? Sooooo MOVE ALONG! You have no purpose here!

You love your Arctic Cat, and that's a good thing, so you're good to go there too, right? Sooooo go BACK TO YOUR CAT SECTION . . . and spread the love amongst those who are of the same mindset!!!

Bottom line . . . . JUST GO AWAY!!!
 

Big10inch

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Oh my gosh, Dr Butthurt is in the house!

Sorry son but this is a free, public, internet forum. Don't like what you read, stop reading it. Your idiotic replies and calls for people to stay out because we hurt your feelings is freaking hillarious...

I also find pretty much all of your claims highly hypocritical since you too have ventured into parts of the forum that shouldn't concern you, per your view of the rules for the Polaris section...

Maybe time for you to just give it up and deal...

The simple fact here is that Polaris $hit blows up more than the rest.
 

edgey

Well-known member
Premium Member
Jul 9, 2001
1,050
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The poll is worthless with out seeing who posted on it. How many fake votes are there? I have talked to 3 dealers in my area they only had on go down between the three. I have 5 850's in my riding circle none have gone down. I know some have lost motors but reality is not as bad as the poll would suggest.
 

06redrevx

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Dec 3, 2008
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Bottom line is that most, if not all failures were related to assembly line issues and have been aggressively addressed by Polaris.
I'm confident 2020 will be an extremely solid sled and put lots of smiles on peoples faces
 

damx

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2 out of the 22 sold at my local deal went down from a check valve being plugged. Polaris added a extra year warranty for a total of 5 years and gave a $716 coupon for online order.
 

DITCHBANGER

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Nov 26, 2007
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Have to admit I was surprised when Polaris was giving out an extra yr warranty and Polaris cash, cant remember any other brand ever doing that.
 
M
Feb 7, 2009
1,142
606
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37
Wabush, Labrador
2 out of the 22 sold at my local deal went down from a check valve being plugged. Polaris added a extra year warranty for a total of 5 years and gave a $716 coupon for online order.

That's the kind of thing that grabs my attention. Good on them. I hope it wasn't like BRP and just random people getting the benefit.. :juggle:
 

NHRoadking

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In our group, the rear shock broke on one of the guy's new Polaris 840. Dealer took one off a stock sled to get him going.

Few weeks later, the engine blew on the same Polaris 840. They had him up and running with a new engine in less than 2 weeks.

Polaris came through each time, but the dealer made a difference too.

Warranties are great, but the dealer makes the difference when things go bad.
 

05rmksteve

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Sep 5, 2008
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You mentioned “the best Polaris engine guy on the planet”. I am not sure who that might be, but a wise person once told me “Beware of the person who sounds the alarm of a potential problem, who also has the solution that they can sell you to fix it”. They often also sell their product or service as a “preventative”. It’s called marketing, and most companies do it in some form or another. Here’s how it works. The “whistleblower” first does some major fear-mongering (usually on social media) to get mis-informed and/or under-educated people worked up. During this process, they hope to get some “activist parrots” on board who don’t have the intelligence, resources, or motivation to do their own research. These are usually people with BIG LOUD MOUTHS, with diarrhea of the mouth and constipation of the brain, who will just follow this Pied Piper and repeat what he says. They march along LOUDLY trumpeting his cause in an attempt to get other gullible sheep to join in, who also don’t think for themselves. Once this is set in motion, the whistleblower can sit back and reap the profits from fixing something that may or may not have been a problem in the first place. It’s a devious, yet brilliant game, and most under-educated consumers fall for it. If you want to see how the “activism cycle of nonsense” works, and the results of it, just read the news!! You might also want to check out the Story of Chicken Little :)
So your saying Polaris is mis-informed/or under-educated activist parrots who dont have the intelligence, resources or motivation to do their own research since they copied this engine builders fix and are now installing it in the 2020 850 motors. Oh and they also bought another shops "fix" for their failing drive shaft and another engine builders "fix" for the failing big block 800 crank shaft and so on.....
 
Last edited:
G
Oct 5, 2014
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55
I have never posted here before. I became a member to take in the valuable information that this site is able to produce.

19 xc 850 129”
3500 miles motor is still very strong.
Only problem I encountered was that I fouled my plugs on two separate occasions, pretty much my fault, started it and didn’t let it warm up and shut it off and then wouldn’t restart. My miles are not off trail so the majority of them are not under full throttle operation but I do a fair amount of drag racing on ice and hardback and with proper traction products the motor receives a good amount of load. I have been running a tune that is leaner than stock for about half of the miles.
I have no complaints about this motor and I also snow checked a 20.
 

Timbre

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Nov 1, 2008
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So your saying Polaris is mis-informed/or under-educated activist parrots who dont have the intelligence, resources or motivation to do their own research since they copied this engine builders fix and are now installing it in the 2020 850 motors. Oh and they also bought another shops "fix" for their failing drive shaft and another engine builders "fix" for the failing big block 800 crank shaft and so on.....

NO! Not at all. You twisted it up a bit.
I said the mis-informed and/or under-educated people are the ones doing the parroting of what the fear monger is putting out. They are the ones who don’t have the intelligence, resources, or motivation to do their own research. These are the gullible ones the fear monger hopes to get on board to trumpet his or her cause. It fits their narrative, so they just blindly spread it.

Looks like you got a “thanks” from a couple of the trolls that ride ARCTIC CAT on that one too :)

To sum it up . . . .

The brand haters and others predicted a mass failure and recall of the 850 engine. THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN!

Chicken Little said the sky was falling. THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN EITHER!
 

summ8rmk

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Recalls only happen when human safety is a concern. An engine blowing up in the back country is not a human safety concern for a manufacturer, and rightfully so.
I own and ride multiple brands including Polaris, do i have permission to state pros and cons of Polaris if my main ride is not a Pro RMK?
Am I only allowed to state the positive in this thread because it is not my main ride?

My main ride is An M, does that mean i am only allowed to post the negatives in the Cat section?

On this forum, I think we should have freedom to share facts about any product and sharing ones opinion shouldn't be banned. We all have the right to disagree, in fact disagreement makes the world a better place in the end......

Polaris
 

Big10inch

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Recalls only happen when human safety is a concern. An engine blowing up in the back country is not a human safety concern for a manufacturer, and rightfully so.
I own and ride multiple brands including Polaris, do i have permission to state pros and cons of Polaris if my main ride is not a Pro RMK?
Am I only allowed to state the positive in this thread because it is not my main ride?

My main ride is An M, does that mean i am only allowed to post the negatives in the Cat section?

On this forum, I think we should have freedom to share facts about any product and sharing ones opinion shouldn't be banned. We all have the right to disagree, in fact disagreement makes the world a better place in the end......

Polaris

Oh stop with the common sense posts... Like mama timbre said, if you don't have anything nice to say about Polaris, don't say it here....LOL

Maybe I should go through the Cat section where he came over and trolled just to troll... Freakin hypocrite...

Just to re-cap... Lots of '19 850's failed. To the point that the manufacturer had to implement changes for 2020 and published the changes. It is an admission that there were in fact defects in the '19 design. The manufacturer admits there were problems and went out of their way to correct them and care for customers, a distinct change from past polaris actions on sleds like the 900 and 800 dragons where they just hung customers out to dry.

Happy to see the changes, happy to see a change of heart from corporate as well. Still does not change the fact that lots of new Polaris sleds went down this season... even if it didn't happen in Idaho LOL

I LOVE the level of denial timbre has committed to. No matter what kind of names he comes up with to call me, his position makes him look the fool before he even starts trying to take it to us who disagree with his opinion. He looks pretty foolish doing that too!

Such fun this internet thing!
 

NHRoadking

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Apr 23, 2012
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I have never posted here before. I became a member to take in the valuable information that this site is able to produce.

19 xc 850 129”
3500 miles motor is still very strong.
Only problem I encountered was that I fouled my plugs on two separate occasions, pretty much my fault, started it and didn’t let it warm up and shut it off and then wouldn’t restart. My miles are not off trail so the majority of them are not under full throttle operation but I do a fair amount of drag racing on ice and hardback and with proper traction products the motor receives a good amount of load. I have been running a tune that is leaner than stock for about half of the miles.
I have no complaints about this motor and I also snow checked a 20.


Welcome!

How is it your fault that the sled would not restart? Don't you think it should be able to restart without you letting it warm up before you shut it down and restart it? That isn't rider-error, that's a sled issue.

Didn't Polaris come up with a fix for that issue?
 

Timbre

Well-known member
Premium Member
Nov 1, 2008
2,812
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113
Southwestern Idaho
I have never posted here before. I became a member to take in the valuable information that this site is able to produce.

19 xc 850 129”
3500 miles motor is still very strong.
Only problem I encountered was that I fouled my plugs on two separate occasions, pretty much my fault, started it and didn’t let it warm up and shut it off and then wouldn’t restart. My miles are not off trail so the majority of them are not under full throttle operation but I do a fair amount of drag racing on ice and hardback and with proper traction products the motor receives a good amount of load. I have been running a tune that is leaner than stock for about half of the miles.
I have no complaints about this motor and I also snow checked a 20.

There was a re-flash Polaris put out that was for the fouled plugs issues. From the feedback i received, it did help with that. You definitely should be able to start and shut off your sled without it fouling plugs. Sounds like you might have the issue solved if you are running a leaner tune in yours though.

Cheers to even MORE fun on your new 2020. This sled should be a ripper again :)
 
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