SunrayAg said:
Kawasaki
Honda
CanAm
Yamaha
John Deere
Polaris
Kawasaki is the only brand I have bought twice.
Polaris is the only brand I will never buy again.
This is pretty much the ranking when I did a bunch of research when I bought mine (minor changes toward the bottom, but polaris still stays in last place). I ended up with a Mule PRO FXT, don't regret my decision one bit.
Not a fan of the Kubota's - and I'm a Kubota guy on most everything else. Big, heavy, slow and not really designed for things outside of farm use. They do have a newer model that is more sporty, but I don't know much about it and won't speak good or bad on it.
Everybody I know with a Polaris except Hoyt on this board has had issues - whether it is electrical issues when a non-sealed part of the engine gets wet or issues with premature rusting. And Polaris doesn't have much of a warranty - that tells me a lot, and frankly was one of the big reasons why I ended up with Kawasaki. 3 year factory warranty, and they stand by it - I just had to have my ECU replaced due to a weird glitch in the programming. Complete fluke, but they didn't bat an eye when my dealer sent in the request for warranty replacement. Zero out of pocket for me out the door.
I also really like the doors on my mule - it is amazing how much cleaner you stay in the cab when you have even half doors to keep mud and water out. The ability to configure from a 3 seater to a 6 seater without changing the wheel base is also really great, and it can be done in about 1 minute. A real engine also is nice - Kawasaki uses a Cherry (chinese manufacture, about 10 million of them in circulation) 3 cylinder fuel injected engine. Way smoother and quieter than the 2 cylinder jobs Polaris and the others use.
Cons are that I had to have a lift installed right off the bat just to get some decent ground clearance - Kawasaki missed the mark on that IMO. The air intake is also way too low, but even as low as it is and the muck and water I've had to drive through on occasion, no issues. Would bet future designs have a higher intake.