Polaris has CHANGED THE GAME with the Ranger XD 1500. Work or play, this might be the BEST side-by-side on sale today. Think we’re wrong? Let us know in the comments!
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For more stories, reviews, and first-looks check out https://www.utvdriver.com/
Favorite Gear:
Packtalk Edge ORV: Code 'octane' for 10% off https://cardosystems.rfrl.co/z8qy5
UTV Driver Videos:
UTV Reviews:
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5 Things We LOVE and HATE:
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Everything You Need to Know:
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SportsTranscript
00:00The simple truth is that the 2024 Polaris Ranger XD 1500 is the best side-by-side ever made.
00:07You're thinking, sure, they would say that. You're about to jump into the comments and
00:11tell us we're shills that your Hank Dozer 1250 XL RS Super TR 2000 is actually the best.
00:18Go ahead, we won't stop you. Now that you're done commenting, we're sticking to our guns,
00:23and we've come to Virginia to tell you why. Let's break this down by thinking about the
00:27three questions you should be asking yourself when you go to buy a side-by-side.
00:31The first question you got to ask yourself is, what do you need it for? If you're most
00:35side-by-side buyers, the answer is work. You need it to haul tools, trash, mulch,
00:39whatever from over there to over there. Now you were thinking you could do that with a truck,
00:44but you don't want to burden your pretty F-150 with the indignities of real work,
00:49and you're sick of paying taxes, registration, and insurance on some wheezing old beater you're
00:55going to take to the dump twice a week. Or you just want something smaller than a truck that'll
00:59fit through a narrower gate, use less fuel, ask for less maintenance but still has AC and a halfway
01:05decent stereo. Enter the Ranger XD 1500. In there, you get electric windows, HVAC, a proper stereo,
01:14seating for three, a power dump bed, and enough leg room for Joey the giraffe. Added to all of
01:19that, you get a 1,500-pound bed capacity, a 4,500-pound winch, 3,500 pounds of towing capacity,
01:28and a bed that's actually big enough to make use of all that. And yeah, 1,500 pounds, that is
01:33three-quarters of a ton. We are talking the territory of the Ford F-250 and the Ram 2500.
01:40So that takes care of what you need it for, but the second question is harder and it hits you
01:44right in the feels. What do you want? Look, we'd all love a 400-horsepower side-by-side with
01:50heated leather seats, 1,500-watt Bang & Olufsen stereo, navigation, the capacity to tow 15,000
01:58pounds and haul a ton and only pay $15,000 for it. I'd also like $2 million in a jetpack.
02:05My point is, that doesn't exist. But the Polaris Ranger XD 1500 very much exists and it's as close
02:11as you're going to get to that in a single package. Not only will this rig haul and tow enough to do
02:16basically any job you can think of, it will swaddle you in luxury while you're doing it,
02:20and it's built like a brick outhouse. That build quality is important because the side-by-side
02:26world is famous for build quality you wouldn't tolerate in a chicken coop, let alone a machine
02:31you just spent more than $30,000 on. The Ranger XD 1500 is the exception to that rule, and here's
02:37a great example. This windshield flips open. Now you've got a breeze coming in and plenty of
02:42ventilation, but if it gets hot or rainy, you can close it up and this windshield seals to the frame
02:49and you don't get any air, dust, or water intrusion. Now plenty of machines have flip-up windshields,
02:55but none of them have one that's this good. Another example is all of the switch gear.
02:59These buttons all feel great. They feel like they belong in a rig this expensive. Where other
03:05machines expect you to be happy with floppy rocker switches mounted in a dashboard that
03:10wouldn't pass muster on a power wheels, these actually feel well executed and high quality.
03:15We recently took the Ranger XD 1500 to the windswept beaches of Portsmouth Island, North
03:20Carolina, and only when we had the windshield all the way open did we actually get any sand inside,
03:26and thanks to the fact that it's got a steel belt transmission and a silky smooth three-cylinder
03:31power plant, it was quiet in there. You could hear yourself think or have a conversation without
03:35having to yell. That made it easy to live with even in pretty trying conditions, and more importantly,
03:41it pointedly outperformed the other two machines we brought with us. So that's why you want it,
03:46but all of that leads us to the final question. What does it cost? The 2024 Polaris Ranger XD
03:521500 Northstar Edition Premium retails for $39,999 in three-seat trim. If you want the
04:01three-seater in ultimate, it's $44,999. Those numbers at first blush are shocking. I mean,
04:09you can get a really nice used pickup for that kind of money. And we can once again hear all of
04:14you piling into the comment section to tell us why we're wrong and list a bunch of other things you
04:19can get for $45,000. As ridiculous as it feels to do this, allow us to retort. If you want anything
04:26other than the most shockingly bare-bones utility UTV, you're gonna have to get used to the fact
04:32that it will cost you more than $30,000. The reality is, that's where the market is. You're
04:38not gonna change that any more than you can keep flies off a dead cat. The list of alternatives to
04:43the Ranger XD 1500 is as long as my arm, and it includes the Can-Am Defender, the Kawasaki Ridge,
04:50the John Deere XUV lineup, and yes, its little sibling, the Polaris Ranger XP1000. They're all
04:56available with HVAC, electric windows, stereos, touchscreen infotainment, and a long list of
05:04bells and whistles and bobbles and bolt-ons. All of those machines land right around the $35,000
05:10once you spec them up with all the niceties that the XD 1500 comes with. But in all of those cases,
05:15you're gonna have to put up with spending that much money on a machine for the build quality
05:19of that van. Sure, they've all got HVAC and a stereo, but will the interior panels stay in
05:24place? What about the plastic body fasteners? Will the suspension squeak like the bed springs
05:29in a freshman dorm? Probably. And some of them, like the XD 1500, might have a flip-out glass
05:35windshield, but does it stay sealed after a day? Will it keep out a summer afternoon deluge? Like
05:40as not, your knees are getting wet. And then there's the drivetrain. In the other machines,
05:44you'll make do with, at best, 90-odd horsepower and a rubber belt CVT. Rubber belts are famous
05:50for heat fatigue under hard use, and whether you like it or not, you're gonna be replacing them.
05:54In almost every other utility machine, even the ones they tell you are quiet, you're gonna deal
05:58with a ton of wind, engine, and chassis noise. Some are worse than others, but the point remains
06:04that after hours on end, it gets really old. The Ranger XD 1500 does away with all of that.
06:10Not only is the build quality better than the others, it's legitimately good. The ergonomics
06:15are solid, the material quality is better, and everything just kind of feels more nicely put
06:20together. The bottom line is that it feels like the machine was put together by someone who gave
06:26a damn, and that goes a long way. For your money, you're getting that lovely 110 horsepower inline
06:323 and the fantastic steel belt CVT. The steel belt is enclosed, and Polaris says it's a lifetime
06:39part. No more annual rubber belt swaps, no more burning up a belt under a heavy load,
06:44you just get in your machine and go. In the car world, none of that would be revolutionary,
06:48but this ain't the car world. UTVs, believe it or not, are still a niche product, and they're still,
06:53technically, a low-volume product. But in Polaris' case, they still have to build these
06:58things in the United States, which means pay American workers. On top of that, they've also
07:03got to do research and development on all the parts they need to build these things, or go out
07:07and buy the parts from a third party. Then, they have to ship the parts to a manufacturing facility,
07:13and sometimes a couple of manufacturing facilities, before they get to final assembly. And then after
07:18final assembly, they gotta ship them to dealers, and then those dealers have to sell the machines
07:23for a profit. That leads to a hard truth. Side-by-sides, no matter how you cut it, are
07:27expensive. If you have decided that your use case demands a UTV, you have two choices. You either
07:33pay the man, or you don't get what you need. Them's the brakes. And if you ask the manufacturers,
07:38they will tell you that they sell every one of these things that they can build, especially the
07:43ones built to a higher price point. That leaves them zero incentive to back off the spec sheet,
07:48or start cutting the MSRP. And that leads us back to our thesis. The 2024 Polaris Ranger XD1500
07:55is the best side-by-side ever made. It erases concerns about build quality, while raising the
08:00standard of work performance to a level that the others simply cannot match. Where the other
08:05machines require big compromises, the Ranger XD1500 just offers solutions. It's not just an
08:12excellent side-by-side, this is an incredibly well-realized product. It moves the UTV industry
08:18forward. After this, side-by-sides are no longer just power wheels wrapped around a sport bike
08:24engine. This is now a truly excellent utility machine made to do utility tasks. So there you
08:32have it. That's why the Polaris Ranger XD1500 is simply the best side-by-side ever made. Thank you
08:38so much for watching. If you disagree with us, and we bet some of you do, go in the comments and
08:43tell us why. What is the best side-by-side ever made? What metric should we be using to decide
08:48that? We want to hear from you. And then we want you to head to UTVDriver.com, where we've got
08:53news, reviews, and buyer's guides five days a week. And then you can catch us on social media,
08:58on TikTok, on Instagram, on Facebook, seven days a week. And we're here on YouTube. We'll see you there.