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Valley ATV Club

Dealer can make a difference


mikeexplorer

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As some of you know after purchasing my new quad I kept the old one mainly because the dealer was not interested in a trade. Between over 14,000 miles and the fact the frame is welded is quite understandable :grin: So I kept it as a beater and a plowing machine, using the new one as a trail rider and a spare if needed. Back in May during the Loft Scrabble run I got a bit into the spirit of things in the mud pit and managed to get water and mud past the air filter after hitting a rut in the pit.

 

A few months later the engine started burning oil. Not too bad at first but as time went on it got worse. Finally back in October it got so bad it was using a quart of oil for every 20 miles ridden. Compression also went very low as the quad also lost engine braking. The time came to make a decision, either scrap the quad or fix the oil burning. I called Cube Auto and explained what was going on. He felt it only needed a top end rings and piston (accounting for the high miles) I was given an estimate of $500-$550 to do this work. So I waited a bit to rake some money in and then after pondering the idea, decided to go for it. I figured for that amount it would be worthwhile to repair it and keep it as a beater and a plowing machine. This will save some wear on the new machine for awhile.

 

I took it in on November 20th. He told me he was really busy with work since it was near hunting season and sled season is coming up. Plus he inherited all the work from Rusty Palmers as they gave up the Arctic Cat line. I told him no problem since I do have the new machine. I told him to take it apart first and see if that is all it needs since if there was more engine work to be done that it would not be worth it if this was going to cost like $1,000

 

Got a call last week. He called it a mix of good and bad news. First the compression was bad, so bad he could turn it like it had no spark plug. That was known so no big deal. (yeah I toasted the rings for sure) He did say the piston was still good to his surprise but the taper of the cylinder wall was out of spec so there is no choice but to bore it out and install an oversized piston and ring set.

 

Ok no big deal as the price of a piston was figured into the quote. He did find that the timing chain was stretched out to the max and would have to be replaced which was "not cheap" He did also find the valve seats are worn out, but the valves themselves are fine. He removed them and lapped them clean. To get to the timing chain, he removed the clutches rather then splitting the case.

 

The "good news" part is he found the internal bearings, crankshaft and primary clutch shoes were all in good condition. (primary clutch shoes have some wear, but well within spec) he attributed this to the fact I use synthetic oil all the time and I use the genuine stuff even though it is more money.

 

By tearing into this side of the machine this also means all the gaskets and seals have to be replaced. The belt for over 8,000 miles on it is also in good shape. The secondary clutch is also good. (I clean that usually once a year)

 

So what it came down to is to fix the engine properly (he does not like to fix stuff half-assed) he told me the PARTS alone will run $500-$550, ugh! So clearly this will cost well above the original estimate and is clearly not worth it.

 

Then he tells me, since I have been a good customer (buying two quads, plus parts and stuff) he discussed it with Dave (the other guy there who works on machines) they are going to do this whole job for the ORIGINAL estimate of $550! :thx: So basically what he told me is he is doing this at no labor cost! Tell me another dealer who would do that for anyone! :yahoo: Of course since he is doing me this huge favor they are only working on my machine between jobs. So the estimate for it to be done will be another 2-3 weeks. Hell for what he is doing for me, he can take his time!

 

So when I get this back, I will have a rebuilt engine. He did say he has to keep the "high mileage king" going, they have never worked on a quad with that many miles, hell they don't even see sleds with that many miles on them :grin: He looked over the whole machine and for what I put this thing through, the machine is still in decent condition. (which is why I work on them, I like to keep up on things to avoid breakdowns)

 

So yeah you can say this is also a plug for Cube Auto (one of our club sponsors) and you know what they deserve a good plug for doing this.

 

Yeah, I can certainly say I recommend Cube Auto if your ever thinking of buying a Cat :cheers:

 

Mike

 

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I have always heard good things about Cub. Mostly that they are honest, fair and stand behind their work. That's not often found in todays work force. Thanks for sharing that Mike. We don't hear enough good things and this is a breath of fresh air.

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He has always done me good work and the labor costs have always been reasonable. If you remember two years ago at the club picnic my machine started acting weird where it would act like I was not giving it throttle and I was putting up the hills on the trails. The chef was busting that he would have to push me up all the hills.

 

I took it in and he thought it was the secondary clutch sticking so he worked on it. Very next ride it did the same thing. He had me bring it back and he investigated it for a week and found it was actually the diaphragm in the carb that was bad. He not only fixed that and cleaned it out, he repaired my starter since it was acting up and only charged me $40 in labor because he felt bad that he didn't fix it the first time.

 

He also keeps a lot of parts in stock where most dealers will have to order everything.

 

Usually on forum boards all you hear is the bad stuff about dealers and machines and such. Very few will post when they have a good experience with a dealer or a machine.

 

I did check around when I was thinking of buying the new machine, but I already knew I was buying from Cube no matter what. In the end his price and service was better then any other dealer I talked with.

 

Mike

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