A Arm fell apart, Polaris won't cover

snowracer21 · Aug 12, 2013

This is stemming from an April incident, it's now August.:mmph:

Back in April, I was coming down a hill and caught a bump (NOT A STUMP/ROCK ETC) the A Arm came apart, breaking the shock. It was an obvious glue failure.

I took the sled to the dealership and they had another '13 pro there getting warranty work done for the same problem.

Fast forward to June; Polaris finally got around to looking at the problem and decided to deny my warranty due to "forces greater than the sled was designed for". I'm glad I can watch commercials of Burandt jumping the sled, but a small bump will cause my front end to implode.
I told them I would not take no for an answer and I wanted my sled fixed under warranty, as it should not have broke.

They re opened the case, and today, I received a still not covered under warranty due to forces greater than the sled was designed for.

Obviously if I hit a stump or other object there would be a large dent in the A Arm? There is NOTHING.

What do I do? Can I look into having the dealer buy the sled back, under the lemon law? Between drive shaft issues, 2 blown belts and now this? I'm pretty upset to say the least.

Wood · Aug 12, 2013

So did the other sled with the same issue get covered?

Seems strange Polaris wouldn't cover it...I don't think a couple belts, the D-shaft issue and an a-arm failure would qualify your sled as a 'lemon'. I've had more issues in one day.....that's sledding, but I can appreciate your frustration.

At this point, I'd get the dealer to sell me the parts for cost or try to find what is needed on Ebay, fix it myself and chalk it up as a lesson learned.

Good luck.

bdoe22 · Aug 12, 2013

i had the glue let loose on one of my lowers this past winter....luckily i noticed it in the garage the night before we left for cooke, i was able to "borrow" one from a friend until i got back from the trip and the local dealer covered it no questions asked....they did have to order the arm, but it was free and so was the labor to swap it out. im not sure why they would be denying the claim unless the terminology in "you hit a bump" raised a question in their eyes.....

chriswelters · Aug 12, 2013

Find a new dealer willing to help you out. Other wise there are nice looking direct replacement a arms on here from a vendor.

Should be covered under warranty!

cascadesnowjunky · Aug 12, 2013

100% agree find a new dealer.......... If the story you are telling is accurate.

snowracer21 · Aug 12, 2013

it's not the dealer though, it actually went to Polaris and they denied it. All the dealer did was send pictures of the broken part.

And yeah, I'm not making any of it up, if I hit a stump or something I wouldn't even take it to the dealership, I'd just replace the parts, but this is def a manufactures defect. I'm extremely upset with Polaris that they won't cover the part, and now..I have to wonder all winter if the other side will come apart as well.

chriswelters · Aug 12, 2013

if all else fails timbersled has the replacement a arms for $450

http://snowestonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=349164

goridedoo · Aug 12, 2013

I would tell them what happened again and then tell them if they don't replace it you are switching to cat and aren't ever gonna spend another dime on anything polaris and that you will be sure to let all of your sledding buddies how poorly they treat their customers... and if that doesn't work well thats just tough luck I guess

AndrettiDog · Aug 12, 2013

I'm not defending Polaris at all, but I know manufacturer's are really getting tight with warranty work because more and more people are modding sleds and then taking them in for warranty. It sounds like that is not the case for you but you need to find the dealer that will fight Polaris for your cause. If they are giving up for the sake of not wanting to convince Polaris, they are not the right dealer. Especially when they have two sleds in at the same time for the same problem.

rmscustom · Aug 12, 2013

Yep^^^ Good dealers take care of good customers.

m1kflyingtiger · Aug 12, 2013

I would ask to see the report the dealer sent in. I had a claim that the dealer sent in in april about toasting a top end because of some miss packaged injectors. ( '12 injectors in a '11 sled, I still had the original package and the dealer "reflashed to match" the new injectors which isn't possible...) The description they sent to Polaris was "Customer bought injectors. Customer installed injectors. We reflashed per Customers request. Sled came back with a blown top end." Polaris responded in 5 days with "Denied. We do not warrantee anything not done in a certified dealership."

That is now on file with polaris and will come up in their system if submitted through another dealership.

I think as far as a warantee claim goes your hosed because you admitted to hitting a bump and in court you couldnt prove the forces, or lack their of, in said bump that you hit. I would ask the dealer to cover the parts or split the cost with you and keep your buisness, or find another dealer. If you find a good dealer to switch to, tell him what happened and see if he can cut you a deal on the new a-arm. most likely he will because he know that you will continue to always shop at his dealership.

BTW Marita Sea & Ski / Alaska Powersports in Anchorage, AK has already lost $22,345 in sled and parts sales since this happened in April...I really hope they see this

ksright · Aug 12, 2013

I had the same issues twice last year and the same result through the dealer. First time I did hit a tree though and bent the upper. I replaced that and after riding for a couple weeks I noticed the glue had came apart on the lower a arm on the side that I hit the tree. Tried to get that replaced and polaris said no to it. I thought first time maybe shame on me, maybe that first impact in some way weakened the glue, but I kept watching it. Second time, literally riding down a bumpy trail, I hit a bump and see the ski go in a direction it should not. Stop and work the ski and a arm around and find that the glue came apart on the other side too. Luckily for me both times I saw it right away and didn't collapse the whole suspension. Had a buddy riding another 13 pro do the same thing. He went aftermarket and now I don't go anywhere without a full backup of the front suspension.

philsummers21 · Aug 12, 2013

ksright said:
I had the same issues twice last year and the same result through the dealer. First time I did hit a tree though and bent the upper. I replaced that and after riding for a couple weeks I noticed the glue had came apart on the lower a arm on the side that I hit the tree. Tried to get that replaced and polaris said no to it. I thought first time maybe shame on me, maybe that first impact in some way weakened the glue, but I kept watching it. Second time, literally riding down a bumpy trail, I hit a bump and see the ski go in a direction it should not. Stop and work the ski and a arm around and find that the glue came apart on the other side too. Luckily for me both times I saw it right away and didn't collapse the whole suspension. Had a buddy riding another 13 pro do the same thing. He went aftermarket and now I don't go anywhere without a full backup of the front suspension.

Save yourself time and money. Order a set of aftermarket arms. 4 lowers and an upper last year i finally gave up and bought ZBroz. Havent had a problem since. Stock a arms are junk

mike_s · Aug 12, 2013

Someone explain to me why you pay that much money for something that you have to change parts off of before you can even trust it to ride off the trailer without breaking something.....? I dont get it. I built my sled for under 3K, it toasts stock 800's, goes everywhere a pro goes, doesent eat pistons, break a arms, destroy drive belts, or otherwise leave me stranded. I just dont get it. Oh, and the best part, i can rebuild the entire engine (crank and all) for about half of what the new ones cost to do just the top end. Just dont get it.

m1kflyingtiger · Aug 12, 2013

Because some of us don't have the tooling, resources, or time to build a sled...That and it handles SO good!

And I would hope that a full mod Polaris Ultra 860 would toast stock 800's. Actually being as it's an improved 800 that would be my absolute LOWEST expectation of it.

rmscustom · Aug 12, 2013

mike_s said:
Someone explain to me why you pay that much money for something that you have to change parts off of before you can even trust it to ride off the trailer without breaking something.....? I dont get it. I built my sled for under 3K, it toasts stock 800's, goes everywhere a pro goes, doesent eat pistons, break a arms, destroy drive belts, or otherwise leave me stranded. I just dont get it. Oh, and the best part, i can rebuild the entire engine (crank and all) for about half of what the new ones cost to do just the top end. Just dont get it.

Mods, please move to the Who is drunk posting? thread in Fouled plug. Thank you. lol

snowracer21 · Aug 12, 2013

it pissed me off because Polaris sends me extended warranty things in the mail all the time.

WHY THE F**K WOULD I BUY AN EXTENDED WARRANTY IF YOU DON'T HONOR YOUR FACTORY WARRANTY!?

Oh, and, I wish I could trade it in on a doo or cat, the problem is, the Pro fits my riding style SO much better than the doo or cat.

I think I'll be buying those Timberland A arms... I enjoy jumping my sled (ex snocross racer).. the thing is, the sled is BUILT to withstand aggressive riding, it shouldn't break apart on a small bump. oh well.

I'm gonna void the warranty anyways because it's getting a BD turbo set up this fall

snowracer21 · Aug 12, 2013

needless to say, I'm an honest person, if I smoked a tree,stump,rock,pipe etc, i'd fix the **** myself because it should break..but, the whole piece came apart where they are having problems... it appears the glue was weak, and finally gave way under normal forces.

ACMtnCat · Aug 12, 2013

It's JUNK but it handles sooo good!:face-icon-small-con

NO, it's freak'n JUNK!

Devilmanak · Aug 12, 2013

Half of warranty is the dealer. I know of situations where claims have taken months more than they should have because the dealer (employee) didn't know how to do their job, to push a warranty through.
The lower arms coming loose are a standard issue, I know a guy who tapped a tree and had one come apart. An a-arm darned well better bend or destroy a bulkhead before coming apart.

A Arm fell apart, Polaris won't cover

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