Pre Season Maintenance - Dealer or DIY?

phillybean · Nov 8, 2013

Just wondering what everyone does for the preseason, do you take it to the dealer or do it yourself.

If you do it yourself, is your warranty still valid? Has anyone had any issues?

jwentzer · Nov 9, 2013

No dealer

I do everything by myself unless it is a electrical gremlin. Even then with the help of SnoWest, I could probably get it figured out without the help of the stealership. Other than that, all preventative maintenance, clutches, new pistons/rings, new cylinders (Indy Dan), 36" a-arms, shocks, turbo maintenance, grease suspension...etc is all done in my garage. It isn't that I'm against taking certain things to a stealer, it is hard to find a reputable dealer to do the work and to do the work correctly.

I don't have warranty either as turbo's void the warranty. Sometimes I end up spending extra money to do preventative maintenance to prevent failures and downtime. I did that this summer with Indy Dan cylinders (skirts welded) and new pistons/rings. I was down on compression already at 6XX miles and it was time to be pro-active with the Polaris motor.

Plus, it's a good excuse to spend time in the garage and have a few cold beers!

OldPhardt · Nov 9, 2013

I've found that getting good work done at a dealer is pretty much a hit 'n miss affair...mostly miss in my case. On 2 of the last 3 sleds I bought, the setup was BAAAADDDD. I think they just connected the battery, maybe started it up once and declared it ready to go.

I always have a shop manual included in the deal. I've also got a very good lift, a heated shop and a well-stocked beer frig.....no reason not to do it.

pulltype_polaris · Nov 9, 2013

I like to most of the maintenance myself but asked dealer about warranty hassles. They said once a year bring it in even if its just to clean exhaust valves just there's record of bringing it in.

LoudHandle · Nov 9, 2013

I do it all myself, I don't waste my $ on any warranty as it is always a hassle. Of course I live about 300 miles from the closest dealer anyway so that makes it even more of a hassle. I've never trusted a minimum wage mechanic to care as much as I do about my stuff. I'm very mechanically inclined and can usually tell when something is not right before it becomes an issue, and fix it. Just my 2 cents.

RockyMtn.Kris · Nov 10, 2013

OldPhardt said:
I've found that getting good work done at a dealer is pretty much a hit 'n miss affair...mostly miss in my case. On 2 of the last 3 sleds I bought, the setup was BAAAADDDD. I think they just connected the battery, maybe started it up once and declared it ready to go.

I always have a shop manual included in the deal. I've also got a very good lift, a heated shop and a well-stocked beer frig.....no reason not to do it.[/QUOTE]

yep

St0rm77 · Nov 10, 2013

DIY all the way..... the polaris dealer up here looked at me like i was crazy when i told them i had boosted my assault...' you can't boost a 2 stroke!'
from that point on, all things done to sled occur in the shed or garage!

Trenchmaster · Nov 10, 2013

I voted some to the dealer, but it's only going there if I can't figure it out myself.

petermk · Nov 10, 2013

either way

I used to be a person to do everything myself, run aftermarket parts, anything I could do for a little extra performance. I'm not against this by any means. Nothing beats more power. I did however come across a couple of bad experiences with dealers that were less willing to help me in certain situations. When I bought my pro in '12, I decided that if I was going to have a reliable daily riding sled with minimal tuning I would maybe be better off giving the dealer a little bit of service work to keep a friendly relationship. I by no means am an expert at anything, but I worked on cars at a GM dealer for several years before graduating college, and it was quite apparent that the customers that came in for the complete B.S. service work ie. 30,000 mile service, got the best customer service when it came to warranty. I have not watched the sled dealers, and I have been forced to change dealers this year due to change of ownership, but I am willing to bet this is the way it goes with any service business. I figured if they had filed all of my service records, there could be no arguments about who's fault any problems were. Anyway, I usually feel like "that guy" when I take my sled in to get serviced when there is nothing wrong with it, but I'm hoping when something does go wrong, and we all know something will go wrong, that they will treat me decent, and help me out if need be. my 2 cents

4Z · Nov 10, 2013

5% dealer
50% DIY
45% FTX

mickyd32 · Nov 10, 2013

I took mine to the dealer for warranty check up

My dealer has always treated me well and looked after me, they managed to get all my shocks done on warranty even though polaris didn't want to cover them

That being said I still go through the whole thing myself for my own analysis

BJorgy17 · Nov 10, 2013

DIY

Always do everything ourselves. Dealer is a cash grab for the rates they charge for stuff that takes an hour to do in the shop. Only once taken a sled to the dealer for something (warranty on 12 600 oil lines)

FatDogX · Nov 11, 2013

Go out in the shop, turn the TV on, grab a beer or drink.....or two or however many it takes, call a buddy.....or two to come over, start talking about how cool your sleds are, have another beer or drink, talk a chit, get some tools out, talk about riding plans, pause because of a hot chick on TV, talk about the hot chick, sit on your sled and make brrraaaap noises, have another drink, o and get busy with some maintenance at some point!!!

But yes, don't waste your $$$$ at the dealer unless you absolutely have too! Call friends, look up the information and answer here or anywhere and get busy "knowing" your sled!

89sandman · Nov 11, 2013

i guess it depends on you and your dealer. do you have the skills to work on it, do you want to work on it? i've seen plenty of people cost themselves a lot of money trying to do things they had no clue how to do.

dealer work in small engines always seems to be hit or miss. the guy working on your sled may have been flipping burgers yesterday. talk to them and find out what kind of experience their mechanics have.

i have a lot of customers bring their cars for me to work on who could do the work themselves. they either don't have the time or just simply don't want to do it.

AndrettiDog · Nov 11, 2013

Seems like most dealers have some young kids wrenching because it doesn't pay much. Not what I want. I think you learn a lot (sometimes the hard way) doing your own work. I didn't know much about sleds when I started but I can do about 90% of any work on my sled now. It helps that I have a buddy who is one of the best sled mechanics I know as a reference.

akpowderhound · Nov 12, 2013

in the past, I have never used a dealer for any service to my sleds just for the reasons explained above.
I have a great dealer and a 4 year warranty. So I intend on using a program I paid for.
If I didnt have good trust in my dealer I wouldnt buy into a warranty though and stick to wrenching myself. With me scenario, time is $$$ and I trust my dealer!

4Z · Nov 12, 2013

AndrettiDog said:
Seems like most dealers have some young kids wrenching because it doesn't pay much. Not what I want. I think you learn a lot (sometimes the hard way) doing your own work. I didn't know much about sleds when I started but I can do about 90% of any work on my sled now. It helps that I have a buddy who is one of the best sled mechanics I know as a reference.

True that!
I have wrenched on my sleds since '92. But with my time being the commodity now, very happy now to have someone that I can trust to take sleds to.

In regards to maintenance on our sleds, would like to borrow a saying from a good pal of mine: "...the sled can have my money or my time, but not both".

Nothing personal against the dealers in general, but you nailed it.... just a fact. Now this may be a stereotype in regards to the mechs at dealer, it is just meant as a generalization. Sure there are dealers out there that rock some great wrenches.

tuneman · Nov 14, 2013

I'm a mechanical engineer during the work week. So, naturally, every toy I own get's taken apart, fixed, and reassembled by me. Been taking apart stuff since I could hold a screwdriver.

danduvall · Nov 15, 2013

I maintain it, I ride it, I break it, I fix it,

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

tdblakes · Nov 16, 2013

A dealer mechanic won't be much help when you're troubleshooting 20 miles deep in the backcountry. Everyone should have some level of knowledge on how their machine works and how to fix it, even if it's only to get home. DIY and learn how to fix things yourself. It's a big $ saver too.

Pre Season Maintenance - Dealer or DIY?

Does the dealer service your sled or do you?

Dealer does everything

Do it yourself for everything

Some to the dealer and do somethings yourself

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