Hi to all that answered this, lot of knowledge and experience out there. Treeman1042 thanks for your thoughts. My mule and my dealer are all OK so far?? You and Nate T feel the Mule is good for the long haul. I also agree with Willy M, without parts support there will not be a long haul.
AirsenseOO, likely you have already gotten a unit. After going through just buying a machine I would say to buy from a big name brand for long term parts support, tech support, recalls, safe design, nation wide dealer locations and more likely they will be in business when you want service, repair or just to trade up.
Second, unless you are going to move before your unit gets old, your dealer and relationship with them can be a curse or a blessing. Hopefully you may have a choice, I had four dealers all at about the same distance. I chose the lowest price dealer, it was a significantly lower price, or I might have spent a lot more time researching the 'best' dealer.
Finally on the bolt in seats. I explored that option because I thought I could get into a lower priced two passenger unit and add seats for passengers. I found that the weight of the seats and passengers, even kids, will alter the unit's center of gravity far beyond its design specifications making it highly unstable. That said I see a lot of units with bolt in seats?
What ever you do I wish you well.
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