Would you buy an ATV from Canadian Tire?

If you've been to Canadian Tire recently, you've probably noticed the very low cost ATVs near the front entrance or in the sporting goods area. Maybe it's just me who notices them because my kids make a beeline for them each time we go to the store. I'm that parent standing sheepishly beside the fish hook display while my kids crawl all over the things. We're the "shoppers" store clerks hate.

Anyway, I'm working on a couple ATV articles for the November Grainews. One lead I'm looking at is these Baja ATVs and whether "you get what you pay for." At $5,000 or less for the 400 cc model and quite a bit less for the 250 cc, they are half the price of any major brand. A mechanic who services them in North Battleford says he would buy one, but he says you really have to take a close look at the assembly. "They seem like not too bad quality, but they seem slapped together," he says. And parts take a long time to arrive. If you break down and you want to go hunting the next day, you're out of luck.

Do you have one of these ATVs? What do you think of it? Would you buy another? Please email me with your comments.