- #1
Thread Owner
We purchased a new 2024 1500 XD Crew NorthStar Ultimate earlier this year. We were very happy with it, enjoying it on the trails and doing work on our farm ground we rent out. That is, until we received a letter from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources telling us to that our new machine did not meet the definition of a UTV per WI statues. And, that we were supposed to remove the farm sticker, WI trail sticker, and the license plate from the Ranger; telling us we could no longer use it on WI trails nor WI roads approved for UTV usage. We could use in on our private property but could not use WI roads or WI trails to get there.
It appears there are 5 conditions for a unit to be defined as a UTV per WI Statues, of which our unit only met four. The condition our unit did not meet was dry weight being 3000 lbs. or less. Polaris lists their 20204 Crew XD NorthStar Ultimate at 3323 lbs. dry weight.
I spoke to our dealer about this, as we certainly want to use our machine on the trails and roads. They were aware of the situation and said that the Polaris rep had told them that a bill was passed and only waiting for the Governor's signature which they expected to occur in November. We decided to keep the unit at least until November to see if the bill was signed.
I also did my due diligence in checking out the story with our member of the Assembly and our state Senator, only to find out that the bill had not passed and hadn't even come out of the legislative committee, let alone being put up for a vote in the Assembly and the Senate.
We followed the legislative process and were very happy to see the bill that was supposed to modify the weight requirement out of committee and passed by both the Assembly and the Senate. That is until I reviewed the bill only to find out that the change in weight was not in the UTV definition, but in the operating weight was upped to 3500 lbs. The WI DNR definition of a UTV remained the same, dry weight of 3000 max.
Prior to this, I checked on trading in our 1000-mile 2024 on a 2-seater and was told it'd cost us about $7K extra. This is the second time I've been sold a UTV from them that was illegal on the trails. The first time was a new one that they had modified before putting it on the floor (which really looked awesome). That one was too wide (as a then newbie to the sport I had no idea) to be allowed on the trails. The dealer removed the suspension replacing it with one that was legal on the trails.
With the XD Crew Ultimate, I don't know what I'm going to do. We really like having the back seat, not only for passengers, but hauling other stuff I don't want to put in the box. Not to mention, we were sold a unit we can't legally use on the trails, and they want $7K to go to 2-seater which would have cost less new.
Needless to say, very frustrated and unhappy. If we have to ditch this one, which it looks like we'll have to do, and we have to pony up $7K, we'll probably consider all other options including other than Polaris. Up till now, we've only had Polaris machines.
Anybody else from WI receive the same letter and having the same issue?
Jim
It appears there are 5 conditions for a unit to be defined as a UTV per WI Statues, of which our unit only met four. The condition our unit did not meet was dry weight being 3000 lbs. or less. Polaris lists their 20204 Crew XD NorthStar Ultimate at 3323 lbs. dry weight.
I spoke to our dealer about this, as we certainly want to use our machine on the trails and roads. They were aware of the situation and said that the Polaris rep had told them that a bill was passed and only waiting for the Governor's signature which they expected to occur in November. We decided to keep the unit at least until November to see if the bill was signed.
I also did my due diligence in checking out the story with our member of the Assembly and our state Senator, only to find out that the bill had not passed and hadn't even come out of the legislative committee, let alone being put up for a vote in the Assembly and the Senate.
We followed the legislative process and were very happy to see the bill that was supposed to modify the weight requirement out of committee and passed by both the Assembly and the Senate. That is until I reviewed the bill only to find out that the change in weight was not in the UTV definition, but in the operating weight was upped to 3500 lbs. The WI DNR definition of a UTV remained the same, dry weight of 3000 max.
Prior to this, I checked on trading in our 1000-mile 2024 on a 2-seater and was told it'd cost us about $7K extra. This is the second time I've been sold a UTV from them that was illegal on the trails. The first time was a new one that they had modified before putting it on the floor (which really looked awesome). That one was too wide (as a then newbie to the sport I had no idea) to be allowed on the trails. The dealer removed the suspension replacing it with one that was legal on the trails.
With the XD Crew Ultimate, I don't know what I'm going to do. We really like having the back seat, not only for passengers, but hauling other stuff I don't want to put in the box. Not to mention, we were sold a unit we can't legally use on the trails, and they want $7K to go to 2-seater which would have cost less new.
Needless to say, very frustrated and unhappy. If we have to ditch this one, which it looks like we'll have to do, and we have to pony up $7K, we'll probably consider all other options including other than Polaris. Up till now, we've only had Polaris machines.
Anybody else from WI receive the same letter and having the same issue?
Jim
