Shoddy panel fitment, painted seats ripping at the seams, drive belt howl, driveshafts breaking, brakes failing, unintended acceleration, faulty steering, and on and on and on... now they have a recall for faulty steering racks and another for roll bars that can fail. This thing has the build quality of a ride-on lawnmower and owners are fuming because they've been told to stop driving them weeks ago. To add insult to injury, this vehicle doesn't qualify for "Lemon Law" protections.
http://www.slingshotforums.com/forum/polaris-slingshot-problems-and-issues.51/ (http://www.slingshotforums.com/forum/polaris-slingshot-problems-and-issues.51/)
Quote from: Rockraven on January 27, 2015, 12:11:21 PM
Shoddy panel fitment, painted seats ripping at the seams, drive belt howl, driveshafts breaking, brakes failing, unintended acceleration, faulty steering, and on and on and on... now they have a recall for faulty steering racks and another for roll bars that can fail. This thing has the build quality of a ride-on lawnmower and owners are fuming because they've been told to stop driving them weeks ago. To add insult to injury, this vehicle doesn't qualify for "Lemon Law" protections.
http://www.slingshotforums.com/forum/polaris-slingshot-problems-and-issues.51/ (http://www.slingshotforums.com/forum/polaris-slingshot-problems-and-issues.51/)
Actually, riding lawnmowers are built better since none of them usually have failures of any kind.
Quote from: SVT666 on January 27, 2015, 12:20:50 PM
Actually, riding lawnmowers are built better since none of them usually have failures of any kind.
That was more to do with steering slop, materials, fit and finish, etc. Motorcycles are also usually well built with great fit/finish. The Slingshot is comically bad.
I could just tell by looking at it this thing was a POS. Polaris just set back the "4 wheel motorcycle" another 100 years in the US.
Surprising news.
Once I saw they were using a 4 cylinder GM mill I figured they were sparing no expense.
On a related note, I sat on a new 2016 Can Am F3 this past weekend. Incredible detail/fit/finish. It's like a 3-wheeled Ferrari. There's no excuse for the Polaris to be this bad.
Quote from: FlatBlackCaddy on January 27, 2015, 12:46:04 PM
Surprising news.
Once I saw they were using a 4 cylinder GM mill I figured they were sparing no expense.
:cry:
Funny, my friend's shop has one of these around because they do a lot of work on that engine (aftermarket stuff). He seemed to love it when he drove it. This is the guy who races his MX-5. I usually trust his opinion, but he admittedly doesn't pay too much attention to build quality.
Quote from: Raza on January 28, 2015, 09:28:54 PM
I usually trust his opinion, but he admittedly doesn't pay too much attention to build quality.
FWIW apparently neither does Polaris
Quote from: Raza on January 28, 2015, 09:28:54 PM
Funny, my friend's shop has one of these around because they do a lot of work on that engine (aftermarket stuff). He seemed to love it when he drove it. This is the guy who races his MX-5. I usually trust his opinion, but he admittedly doesn't pay too much attention to build quality.
Oh, no doubt it's a blast to drive... when shit's not falling off it.
I watched the video of Matt Farah driving it, and that killed my enthusiasm. Stupid slow steering. It looked so lethargic trying to hustle that through corners.
Lol...
http://www.slingshotforums.com/threads/bunch-of-haters.3034/ (http://www.slingshotforums.com/threads/bunch-of-haters.3034/)
Quote from: Rockraven on January 30, 2015, 10:30:58 AM
Lol...
http://www.slingshotforums.com/threads/bunch-of-haters.3034/ (http://www.slingshotforums.com/threads/bunch-of-haters.3034/)
:muffin:
Must have done a ton of googling to find this one little thread. LOL
I'll challenge any Slingshot owner to a race + attention/comments/peacock competition.
I read the thread, sadly most of them seem to agree.
This "car" was nothing more than another way to milk some money out of the fools that pay 20K for a side by side 4 wheeler.
It was never meant to litter racetracks across the country piloted by automotive driving enthusiasts or track whores. It was a product designed to make money, and I'm sure it will do a very good job of that. Polaris will rake in massive amounts of money selling this thing until people grow tired and find something else to decorate their garage with.
Lol, some of them think all the problems/flaws are normal for a first year vehicle and are vehemently defending the Slingshot. Also, us "haters" have never bought a new car in its first production year before, so we have no clue what we're talking about. :lol:
QuoteThey are simply frustrated by the fact that the SS is turning heads while their vehicles go completely unnoticed.
What a sad, sad, sad reason to buy a vehicle. Im not even gonna rip on em, I feel sorry for this guy.
You guys are bunch of haters! :rage:
Well, I was being civil, but apparently I'm a troll for bringing up the fact that the Slingshot is a piece of shit.
You guys are haters. Everything you're saying is true, but you're still haters.
Quote from: hotrodalex on January 30, 2015, 10:45:42 AM
Must have done a ton of googling to find this one little thread. LOL
I'll challenge any Slingshot owner to a race + attention/comments/peacock competition.
And yet they didn't find the thread where the majority of us were drooling over it before the poor quality came to light.
Can we get Cougs over there?
Quote from: 68_427 on January 31, 2015, 06:30:46 AM
Can we get Cougs over there?
He's not for hire
He chooses the jobs he wants and does it for the internetry
Quote from: 12,000 RPM on January 31, 2015, 11:31:30 AM
He's not for hire
He chooses the jobs he wants and does it for the internetry
This would be a good pelt on his wall though
Quote from: 68_427 on January 31, 2015, 06:30:46 AM
Can we get Cougs over there?
He'd put longer connecting rods in it.
Longer timing chain too
Bahaha, the confirmation bias is strong in that forum. Poor guys.
Sadly, most of them know they bought a piece of crap.
I wonder how many of them happen to own razr or some other sort of side by side 4 wheeler. I'm pretty sure that was the target market all along.
Bwaaaaahahahaha....
Shame about the quality issues. Hopefully they can get things straightened out. While most of the reviews I've read/seen/heard haven't been gushing/glowing, the general consensus is that it's a fun vehicle and good first effort. Especially considering it's less than half the price of anything similar (Morgan, Atom, etc...).
Couldn't find the original thread to post this in, but I stumbled across this video comparing the Slingshot to the Morgan and Can-Am Spyder F3 today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuXWHGEBPT0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuXWHGEBPT0)
I think my favorite bit was when talking about how the Spyder is less like a car than the other two (which the reviewers didn't like calling "motorcycles"), but that it was also a very different experience from a motorcycle. One editor decided to liken it to... not an ATV, not a snowmobile (which is what I would liken it to), but a small racing sailboat (?!).
Quote from: 12,000 RPM on January 29, 2015, 06:06:29 AM
FWIW apparently neither does Polaris
Polaris makes high quality snowmobiles. Whatever problems there are with the slingshot; it doesn't seem to be a company wide problem. It may just be the results of them diverging too far from their core business.
Quote from: Soup DeVille on January 31, 2015, 03:00:40 PM
Polaris makes high quality snowmobiles. Whatever problems there are with the slingshot; it doesn't seem to be a company wide problem. It may just be the results of them diverging too far from their core business.
Or cost cutting to meet the highest price they think they can sell this for.
Toys are ridiculously expensive, this included. When I compare the parts and labor needed, this should be priced under a Versa. :lol:
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on February 02, 2015, 09:57:17 AM
Toys are ridiculously expensive, this included. When I compare the parts and labor needed, this should be priced under a Versa. :lol:
Only if the quality is as bad as they say. If it was a quality product, it's priced about right.
Quote from: SVT666 on February 02, 2015, 11:02:47 AM
Only if the quality is as bad as they say. If it was a quality product, it's priced about right.
Sorry, when someone can buy a fully engineered car for $15k this makes no sense. Polaris is BRZ priced but far less product.
Far less volume, too.
And it's a lot more product than other vehicles in the ATV-world, meaning it's going to be priced above them. And 95% of those cost more than a Versa.
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on February 02, 2015, 11:50:51 AM
Sorry, when someone can buy a fully engineered car for $15k this makes no sense. Polaris is BRZ priced but far less product.
Engineering and tooling costs are spread over less units with the Slingshot. Also, can a Versa handle like a track car?
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on February 02, 2015, 11:50:51 AM
Sorry, when someone can buy a fully engineered car for $15k this makes no sense. Polaris is BRZ priced but far less product.
Economies of scale... There's a lot of money tied up in design and tooling (NRE) that gets absorbed in the product price. The more you sell, the less that NRE is per unit. Your typical 15k car will sell hundreds of thousands of units. Your average recreational vehicle will sell maybe tens of thousands over its life. And it doesn't cost an order of magnitude less to develop a toy like this.
Quote from: MX793 on February 02, 2015, 01:16:26 PM
And it doesn't cost an order of magnitude less to develop a toy like this.
What? That's why they are making money, they don't have to adhere to all the car rules.
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on February 02, 2015, 06:40:39 PM
What? That's why they are making money, they don't have to adhere to all the car rules.
Yep
Maybe Polaris is strapped for cash but this thing is not much more complicated than a motorcycle and they make all new ones of those for as cheap as $4K new. Polaris didn't even develop the engine for this. They have other vehicles that are more complex and less expensive that aren't POS. Theres no excuse
Of course they're making money, cuz it's priced to make money. Any lower and it probably wouldn't be worth it for them.
Its a 2000 dollar tube frame with probably the cheapest 4 cylinder motor on the market, all wrapped in about 1300 dollars worth of plastic.
Im sure polaris is making obscene amounts of money off of each of these.
That is far too simplistic.
Roll your eyes all you want, it isn't that simplistic.
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on February 02, 2015, 06:40:39 PM
What? That's why they are making money, they don't have to adhere to all the car rules.
I'm sure it costs less to develop (no crash testing, for example), but it's probably on the order of 1/2 to 1/4 rather than 1/10 or 1/20, but they will sell maybe 1/20 as many units as your typical economy car.
Quote from: FlatBlackCaddy on February 02, 2015, 08:04:17 PM
Its a 2000 dollar tube frame with probably the cheapest 4 cylinder motor on the market, all wrapped in about 1300 dollars worth of plastic.
Im sure polaris is making obscene amounts of money off of each of these.
+1
You forgot that their "engineers" had to figure out how to make a half-car, which probably burned a lot of dough making prototypes that were absolute garbage.
Quote from: MX793 on February 03, 2015, 05:42:35 AM
I'm sure it costs less to develop (no crash testing, for example), but it's probably on the order of 1/2 to 1/4 rather than 1/10 or 1/20, but they will sell maybe 1/20 as many units as your typical economy car.
But the manufacturing is way way less too.
Used ATVs cost more than cheap used cars. Motorcycles too. I get it. Supply and demand, "gotta have it" factor, etc....
The "value" just isn't there in toys. I mean tell me a brand-new $25k car is worth "the same" as this brand-new $25k thing.
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on February 03, 2015, 05:48:04 AM
But the manufacturing is way way less too.
Used ATVs cost more than cheap used cars. Motorcycles too. I get it. Supply and demand, "gotta have it" factor, etc....
The "value" just isn't there in toys. I mean tell me a brand-new $25k car is worth "the same" as this brand-new $25k thing.
Material cost, maybe. Labor is likely higher since I doubt they have the same level of automation. Show me a largely hand-assembled car that costs <20k.
How much does it cost to get a fully assembled FFR Cobra? Hint: it's more than double the price of this.
Quote from: MX793 on February 03, 2015, 05:51:00 AM
Material cost, maybe. Labor is likely higher since I doubt they have the same level of automation. Show me a largely hand-assembled car that costs <20k.
How much does it cost to get a fully assembled FFR Cobra? Hint: it's more than double the price of this.
And it's like triple/quadruple the car. :lol:
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on February 03, 2015, 06:22:00 AM
And it's like triple/quadruple the car. :lol:
Welded steel tube frame, plastic/fiberglass tub... The kit alone is $20k without paint, wheels, and power train. Or the labor to put it together. Oh, and no factory warranty.
"I got a free Slingshot shirt when I bought mine. Went to put it on and there was a hole in it.
Quality control looks to be a little off with the clothing too."
:lol:
Their main (only) defense over there is that cars get recalled all the time. What they fail (refuse) to realize is that new cars typically have one or two minor flaws or recall issues... like the transmission issue on my Focus (fixed). No singular modern car has ever had the sheer number of issues the Slingshot has.
Quote from: FlatBlackCaddy on February 02, 2015, 08:04:17 PM
Im sure polaris is making obscene amounts of money off of each of these.
As a whole, Polaris has a 10% profit margin.
Quote from: hotrodalex on February 03, 2015, 08:04:28 PM
As a whole, Polaris has a 10% profit margin.
As a whole, well that's nice.
Cuz I'm sure they aren't making alot on a 20+K for wheeler with a bargain basement 4 banger vs all the 6-10K dollar four wheelers that make up the bulk of their atv sales. Yup, 10% all around.
Actually, you can spend 15-20 grand on one of their ATVs easily.
Quote from: Soup DeVille on February 04, 2015, 08:06:38 AM
Actually, you can spend 15-20 grand on one of their ATVs easily.
You mean a side by side? I'm sure most of their 4 wheelers(traditional style) sold are around 8-10K
On the other hand, their cheaper models are their bread and butter and have little R&D, probably more sales to spread out fixed costs, etc. As a brand new model that's quite a bit different than their other stuff, I doubt their profit margin is huge.