I'm looking at golf carts and side by sides for going to shooting ranges and general "off-roading." Primarily this will be used to travel to various gun clubs (shotgun sports,) through out the SE, I'm tied of paying golf-cart rental fees which equate out to a payment on my own. I figured a Side by Side made more sense due to being able to off-road as opposed to a "golf cart" with a very limited use.

From my understanding Honda is the choice for reliability overall but the Honda has an odd 2+3 seating configuration. I need 3 seats all the time AND storage so enter in the Kawasaki Mule with a traditional 2+2+cargo area. Polaris Ranger is the most popular choice but seems to not be overly reliable. What should I have on my radar for say under $20K?

I have run one Kawasaki mule for 18 years here on my farm until the motor gave out. In all fairness this thing ran just about every day. So again I bought another Kawasaki mule which has been running now for3 years great machine. Granted they are not as fast as some of the other sxs but still has a top speed of 40-43 mph. Again it all depends what you want it for.

Again, not looking for a Baja runner, yes I've read the Mule is slow. How's the cargo area when 4 people are in it (if you've run it that way?) Most of the time this is going to have 1-2 shotguns and flats of shells, maybe a cooler so I don't need a super badass rig. Nor do I want to drop a lot of money on one of these rigs.

Ideally I'd find a creampuff used unit but suspect the used values for these don't make sense over new. I'm going to hit one or two places up this weekend to look at options.

The Honda 1000's have a 3 person bench seat
up front, and 2 smaller pop-up seats in the bed.
The pop-ups are tight for adults and are better
suited to children or smaller stature people. The
2 outer positions on the bench have great leg
room for adults. The foot well for the center
position has a raised area of about 2.5".

We have a 2017 EPS, so things may have changed.
We love hours. I move mulch & gravel with ours
for around our yard & driveways, but it is a very
capable off roader, as well. It's a great blend of
sportiness & utility. It's now tagged so trips to
town are even more funner.

Edit to add: Our EPS package (Electronic
Power Steering) came with a Turf mode,
which is an effective 1 wheel drive, so it
doesn't tear up our yard, and it's good for
driving on asphalt, as it doesn't wear out
our tires. I will drive a lot in turf mode on
the trails, because it does well enough that I
forget to put it in 2/4wd a lot of the time.
4wd diff lock is a beast. It has low range,
as well. I knew up front that I wanted
turf mode.

@ATLDiver

You've hit most of them on the head, mule/ranger/pioneer.  The Defender is an option as well, and comes in a variety of cabin and bed options.  The Max / Max DPS version have turf mode, and would give you 4 people in the cab, and still have the bed available with a 1,000lb bed limit.  Options for 52-82hp.

As to reliability, I think all of them will last you a very long time if you do maintenance and aren't abusing them horribly.

Thanks guys. I’m going to look at the Honda/Kawasaki/Polaris options this weekend. Should I look at used, what are the resale for these things?

OP,,,We bought our CanAm Commander in 2014. It has NEVER let us down. As for care of these machines do NOT take them (any brand) into the mud as the primary use. Repair shops are FULL of those. Our has never been abused but has been to Moab, all over Colorado and so many shooting competitions that I can't count them all. We use it daily around our place. I have no experience with the 4 seat version as ours is a two seater. We have been really pleased with the durability of our machine. It isn't for sale. I'd TRY and find someone like us to buy from. New ones are expensive to almost any buyer. Lots will be for sale "take up the payments" soon I suspect.

Good advice, that’s my initial thought as well. I don’t plan on muddin’ it, just light trail use and general landscaping duties around the house.

Check out the Polaris General.  Resale on any used SXS right now is almost as much as a new unit . We looked for low/ mileage used for quite awhile and decided to just buy new . Wound up with a 22 Polaris general xp4.  It's a sport utility model so I can use it around the house , hauls 600 lbs in the bed and can tow 2k , or load it on the trailer and go bomb down forest service roads

While the Honda Pioneer 500 won't meet the OP's needs since it is only a two seater, it is pretty bullet proof.

I've had my Pioneer 500 since 2016 and I've never had a problem with it. While it isn't the fastest UTV, it is definitely a work horse. The Kawasaki Mule is a great choice too as long as you aren't wanting a speed demon. The Mule is a work horse and very dependable.

The main reasons I went with the Pioneer 500 was that I wanted something that was only 50" wide and with a real transmission. Yes I know CTV transmissions work fine but I wanted a geared transmission for the type of stuff I use my UTV for.

Actually they have a 5-seater model but no dealer anywhere close to me has one in stock to actually look at. In principle the Honda is the choice on paper, followed by the Mule. I’m not looking for a speed demon, anything faster than a golf cart is perfectly fine.

So some more questions. After looking at options, the Can-Am Defender, Commander, Polaris Ranger, General and Honda 1000-6 is on the short list.

We found a barely used Commander Max XT with a bunch of accessories. Dealer wants new MSRP, realistically where should pricing be on this? Best I can tell, 20K is it but there’s near 10K in upgrades added. I assume this very similar to cars, aftermarket options you don’t pay for?

I prefer the work/play mix of the Commander/General, which of the two is best?

General rides way better than Commander , looks better then the Commander also . As for price depends on miles and which model.it is . There are 4 Commander models . DPS is basic , XT is a step up , XT-P is top model then X-MR which is built more for mud . I looked at Commanders and wound up with a General XP4  .

Seems the General is always a favorite.

Full disclosure. I've never owned a SxS, so you may want to take my advice with a grain of salt. I have always owned atv's and dirt bikes. However, I do have a fair amount of experience with SxS's and have a lot of friends and relatives that have them. Down where our hunting land is, they are extremely common and almost everyone in the area has one. What I've noticed is that every single person I know with a Polaris, either atv or sxs, is constantly having problems with it. It seems like every few years someone else will give them a try with the same result. They handle great, have tons of power, are comfortable to ride in, etc. That's why people get suckered in. It's just the reliability that sucks. The handful of people I know that have tried them have all gotten rid of them.

You may want to research this more before buying one. I bought a new atv a few weeks ago, so I've been researching those pretty heavily over the last few months. What I found is that the internet is full of the same experiences there. The Facebook groups are full of people complaining about their reliability. The Polaris groups I joined all seem to be full of people asking for help with problems. One magazine article I read was talking about how great it handled, how comfortable it was, etc. However, it broke down over their 2 day test and they were unable to finish the review. This is exactly the same thing I've personally witnessed.

While they are much slower and don't handle nearly as well, I have several friends that have all had great luck with their Kawasaki Mules. They get worked hard and seem to beg for more. In addition to the Mule, I also have seen them have positive experiences with John Deer Gators, Kubota RTV, and Yamaha Rhino's. I don't know anyone with a newer model Yamaha, nor a Honda. Nor have I driven any of them, so it's hard for me to comment on them.

One of my good friends traded his relatively new Polaris Ranger in on a Can Am Commander after a ton of issues with the Polaris. He absolutely loves it. He's gone from constantly complaining about his SxS, to constantly talking about how much he enjoys it. He liked it so much, he bought his step son an Outlander to ride with them. He's the only one I know with a Can-Am SxS, and I don't have very much experience with it, so I can't say too much about it.

I ended up buying a Can-Am Outlander atv a few weeks ago, and that's my first real experience with the brand. I'm curious to see how it holds up over time, but so far I have to say that I'm a big fan.