Geo Tracker instead of UTV?

[davrow]

I need to replace my Yamaha Rhino. One thing I want is quiet, so I've considered the Polaris Ranger EV. I can get a Polaris with the Voltronix Lithium conversion (used) for 15 grand: Polaris

Or, I can get a Geo Tracker (148,000 miles of used) for $4,500.

Upsides, Geo Tracker has air conditioning and is fully enclosed.
Downsides, not as quiet as an EV, but still quieter than most UTVs and side-by-sides. Also lots older and parts could be a concern.

I won't use any of them hard, just carrying brush and tools. I just need the 4x4 for my dirt trails to get up the hill to do minor yard maintenance.

So what do you think, or ?

 

[dieselcrawler]

I can't stomach the thought of the cost of a SxS, when it's not even technically road legal (not that it stops swarms of them from flying by my house nearly every day year round)

I would go for a tracker in a heartbeat, or older 4x4 S10 truck, reg cab short bed, for a farm truck. Good set of really knobby tires and they will go alot of places. And have heat and AC!

 

[comancheflight]

My neighbor has a new decked out turbo RZR and gave me the fever... well over 20K for his..dieselcrawler got me thinking, I had a Jeep wrangler and the wife loved it...maybe I'll look for another one to rebuild.
And they hold their value big time...

 

[BoylermanCT]

I would agree with the Tracker or a Jeep Wrangler or small pickup. UTV's are way overpriced in my book.

 

[3930dave]

I need to replace my Yamaha Rhino. One thing I want is quiet, so I've considered the Polaris Ranger EV. I can get a Polaris with the Voltronix Lithium conversion (used) for 15 grand: Polaris

Or, I can get a Geo Tracker (148,000 miles of used) for $4,500.

Upsides, Geo Tracker has air conditioning and is fully enclosed.
Downsides, not as quiet as an EV, but still quieter than most UTVs and side-by-sides. Also lots older and parts could be a concern.

I won't use any of them hard, just carrying brush and tools. I just need the 4x4 for my dirt trails to get up the hill to do minor yard maintenance.

So what do you think, View attachment 511536 or View attachment 511537?

I'd go for the Tracker, for best $ value, and ability to be made fully road-legal if desired. Fully heated at the flip of a stock switch is more than Nice To Have up here. Reasonably capable stock, off-road. Saw one in BC last year, with a nice hydraulic winch on the front, and seriously gnarly tires on it - set up to work in the bush.

I use rockauto.com a lot, to check parts availability on vehicles I'm considering. Sometimes vehicles will surprise you as to what is hard to get parts for - up here relatively recent Wranglers can be a challenge (Mopar only), and when some vehicles are Canada only, that can be a PITA. (Ex. we had the GMC Jimmy quite a bit longer than it was in the USA..... so those late production Jimmys up here can be more funky to get the right parts for than you'd expect).

Rgds, D.

 

[davrow]

Okay, I'll go look at the Tracker (heat and A/C really are nice to have). :thumbsup:

For parts, at this time, parts cars are readily available for now, so major parts (like a replacement engine) are not bad, price-wise.

 

[BATTY54]

Even a Subaru wagon could fit the bill, 4 wheel also and plenty of them around.

 

[DieselBound]

Suzuki Samurai? Or a Mini Truck. I looked hard at Mini Trucks and almost went this route.

EV wouldn't cut it for me. I needed something that could really work (and I didn't have to worry about the wife recharging!). Ended up with a very loud Polaris Brutus (diesel; no doors, no heat and no AC [it's the PNW- not a big deal for me]); got it for a decent price; payload is 1k lbs, can tow 2k lbs. I WORK stuff hard. I also have diesel fuel storage: don't store more than about 5 gallons of gasoline for the lawn tractor and saws.

 

[t320pilot]

It's all about the right tool for each job. I own a 1988 Suzuki samurai, 2010 Polaris EV, and a 2017 mule pro fxt. If you don't need a dump bed then a samurai /geo will do just about everything and still fit in the same tight trails that a sxs will go.
If my budget would only allow one of the three it would definitely be the samurai. With that being said, I don't have any kids so I buy toys and tools for the jobs and chores on my acreage as needed.

The price the OP posted on the geo seems a little high compared to what I've seen lately.

 

[davrow]

The price the OP posted on the geo seems a little high compared to what I've seen lately.

Prices vary a lot, from $600 (no engine) to $6,900 (asking too much).

But this is an automatic with a hi-lo transfer case. Much harder to find than a manual trans, so that is the price premium.