Used Commander Review | 17000 km (10500 miles) 

I forgot to mention I have 585 engine hours. What's the most mileage you've ever gotten out of your ATV or SxS? It doesn't matter what brand. Put a comment below.

My old man’s 2012 commander 1000 has 20,488km and 961 hrs. Just had to do regular maintenance, u joints , a arm bushings and wheel bearings and clutches since they were so worn. Everything else is still holding strong , engine is still running great We do pretty hard riding in the backcountry for hunting and thro all those years it haven’t let us down once , only had small problems here and there but it always made it out on its own. Pretty impressed with it

🏆🤗🙏🇺🇲 I had a 2001 Honda Rubicon for 20 years and a 2003 Yamaha Rhino for 18, and it never required a new belt. Just oil, filter and grease. Ridden nearly daily. Don't know mileage. Never abused. Sold to friends and still going. To take care of your machines 🏆🏆🏆 Thank you for sharing

Great video! I purchase a 2022 commander xt 700 last year and I absolutely love it! Great machine

One on the best reviews out there as far as I’m concerned. Those commanders are awesome all around bike. I’ve never been partial to any one brand but I’ve owned 2 cfmotos for the last couple of years and I’m lovin them. Love all you videos especially the Newfoundland trips can’t wait to see how the new defended 6x6 is going to do this year

Good video and info for the future of my machines possible problems, THANK YOU!!!

Great review! I’m looking at a 1000 max with almost 10k miles so kinda nervous so this video was perfect! love to hear you friend has over 25k on his that’s awesome!

Great review. Have a 13 XT 800 and been quite happy with it. We did add heat reflection/sound absorbing material to the centre tunnel and made a considerable improvement damping engine noise and heat.

I have a 2011 commander X and it came equipped with fox shocks and those shocks handle bumps like a pro.the best riding SXS I’ve ever driven

I have a2014 commander 800 and i love it.

This video actually encouraged myself to buy a commander. I’m in Saint John, found a used like new 2018 commander limited 1000R in dieppe,1275 kms, enclosed/ heater etc. was looking at a new 700 commander, base, 4 seater. Got the used one 10K cheaper. Very happy so far. Awesome review. Thanks!:)

I've got a 2014 XT 1000 that I've had since new...I have 7000km of all trails on it. I love it. I also had the leaky gas tank. Welded it up myself and good as new. I've had a few other small things here and there go wrong with it but honestly, it's been a very reliable, very solid, and very fun machine. I still have no desire to replace it after almost 10 years.

Time to upgrade !! 2024 Can Am Commander XT-P

I had a 2017 commander xt. I really liked the machine except for 2 main issues. The heat in the cab was unbearable in the summer. I tried heat shield wrap under the plastics and it reduced it a little. The noise in the cab especially after installing the soft cab bothered me since I work around extremely loud rotating equipment all day and didn’t really want to hear noise and use ear plugs on my time off. Problem wise I had to replace the water pump at 1000km, 1600 km right ball joint and wheel bearing . Coolant sensor leaking at 2000km. So just minor issues. It was a well maintained machine fully serviced twice a year whether it was needed or not. I sold it with 2500 km on it. The new owner is really happy with it. I ordered a defender hd9 dps cab and it finally came in. Very quiet machine with fully enclosed cab and a heater . It’s perfect for long cold Alberta winters . I also still have my 2005 Honda rubicon at my folks place back east. I use it every fall for a couple of weeks . Usually put 400-600 kms on it every fall. It’s a well maintained and still very reliable quad.

Bought a 2012 brand new and it’s still going strong.

Great video are you planning on driving across Newfoundland this year ? I ride around corner brook and the trails have had some work done

Great review Patrick, I have the same machine with 6k . Have to replace steering rack soon. did you replace with OEM or after market?

The issue with my Commader was trying to keep it from overheating, which was quite frustrating. I ended up doing a radiator relocate behind the cab. This solved the problem and has made riding way more enjoyable.

I have 13,500 km and 550 hours on my 2016 Outlander Max XT 650. It's still on original ujoints, ball joints, wheel bearings, and bushings. I grease it regularly and maintain it meticulously and it's been nothing but a joy.

Good honest review. I had a 2012 800r commander. It was a good machine up until 10,000kms. Then it started giving me issues. Sold it with 17000kms. Issues i had were minor other than the high gear issues. Had to rebuild the transmission. I miss the hp and seating of it vs my teryx

Great review I have a 2015 Commander 1000 as well with almost 3800 miles on it, I just took all the interior plastics out and starting adding the heat shield kit to all the plastics to help reduce the interior heating inside the cab. I decided to change my transmission oil and do a regular oil change since I had everything removed, mine already has a 2.5 inch lift kit and has 30 inch Carnivores on it also. I love mine and I hope mine will last for 10,000 like yours.

I bought a used Commander last October. It overheated quite often but I caught it and shut it down. It spent a couple of weeks at the dealer where they could find nothing wrong Other than it may have had air in the system. It still runs too warm for my liking going by the gauge but the only times it gets to the overheat area of the gauge is at idle. I love the power, not the dealership.

I bought a used one this fall with 10k miles. First time I took it for a ride it overheated. Long story short, the water pump has a set of plastic gears all the way in the middle engine where you have to tear the whole thing down to fix. Not sure if they are worn from high mileage or abuse.

I got a 2012 xt I’ve had for over 7 years and I’ve have about every problem you’ve had but same opinion things just great the gearbox grind in high had my dying laughing I feel that 😂

had 2019 commander limited with very little trouble only major issue was the rear drive shaft at 7000 miles now i have the 2024 commander xt wich rides way better than the old with much better ground clearance . just waiting for summer to get the new one out for it first ride hope it as good as the older one !

Like your review, i had a 2014 pearl white Limited with 11K km ( loved it.. couldn’t put a lift kit on it cause of the air ride suspension) I called it my little tank.. was very stable and had plenty on power. We are also a group of friends than do week or two weeks trips once a year and multiple weekends a year… but all my friends were buying newer models…then my issue became ground clearance… with the new machines having 15 inches ground clearance… well and mine once fully loaded for a weeks trip would only get about 9! Traded to a 2021 Maverick sports XXC with 32.. ground clearance at almost 17 inches. But will be honest.. if i could have kept my old « Star Commander » longer i would have.. i have about 2K km put on this new one. ( we are doing the Gaspesie tour this coming September ( Pointe-a-la-Croix, New Richmond, Chandler, Percé, Gaspé, Mont St-Pierre, Cap Chat, Amqui then back to Pointe-a-la-Croix) Love the new machine ( but miss my old commander sometimes). Like any sbs its always a work in progress.. I have a little bit less room in the trunk space for storage.. but have two large storage box on dash plus door bags and between seat bag.. and was able to carry as much as needed. The only thing i’m working on now is to custom adjust a rear rack so i can carry my full size cooler on large trips and still have easy access to my rear storage box without having to take the cooler down every time i want to access the storage box ( they sell that fold up rack! But for me. That rack don’t make sense and I would need to take down cooler every time i want to access the storage box) Anyways.. You asked if someone had G1 commander and upgraded to new models… though i’d give you some of my input. Think we might be doing NFLD back again next year! Safe riding!

The grinding noise when putting the trans into low (sometimes high) can be fixed by the adjusting the shifter cable. It can be finicky to adjust ( I took mine to the dealer, 1/2 hour charge to adjust) and now works great. If you let it go it will will wear the ears off the gears, which is expensive if you cannot do it yourself. My machine is a 2011 Commander 1000 xt with 5000km. I also have the Can Am snow plow, works like a hot dam!

Love my 13 maverick 1000r. I use high temp belts and they last. Only real issue I had was the one way bearing at 1200 miles

As a former OG commander owner the ride and cab size is all relative. I’m 6’2” and 200lbs and found it cramped and uncomfortable. Especially after a few hours. I found the cab to get WAY too hot in the summer to enjoy the rides. I never had any issues blowing shocks, but agree that the stock shocks suck. If I could have afforded it o would have put Elka or Fox shocks in it for sure. I was pleasantly surprised with how effective the Big horns were in most situations. I had also run ITP Cryptids ( DO NOT RECOMMEND) and finished out with System Offroad XTR 370s (30”) and they didn’t disappoint at all, I LOVED those tires My belt ran into issues after about 5000kms. After that it started chewing through them faster than normal but I will attribute that to 30” tires with no clutch kit. Personally I was disappointed with visco-lock I found it stupid and sending power where I didn’t need it Maintenance on the commander is nothing short of a joke and the engineers should be made to work on this thing every time there’s a problem. It’s dependent on how you ride, I’m going to say you haven’t pushed it as hard as I did mine. I had issues with my steering rack, my rear sway bolts fell out, my gear box grenaded after 3,000kms, my diffs held up with no problems, I’ve found the machine’s reliability is not as good as you’re making it out to be. For longevity buy Yamaha or Honda. If I were to ever get back into the game I’d be getting a Yamaha. Easier to work on, more reliable and just straight up a better built machine in my opinion. Canam was never the best out there, but I figured I’d give them a try and after owning one and putting 7,000kms on it I should have just kept my Yamaha

17000km is amazing. I have soon 7000 on my CF 520.

Really good video in 2018 the made the commander 1000r with 92 hp i wounder how it stacks up to the new machine far as a race goes

Great videos. Can you share with us where you purchased, or the brand of that spare tire rack?

I have a 2013 XT with just over 18000 km. Four steering racks so far and this is only because I cheaped out three times and went with super ATV twice and rack Boss once all junk in my opinion OEM rack is pricey but sticks around much longer. Rear diff lost a tooth on the ring gear but got me home. Several U joints also go OEM on those. probably replace all my axles by now. Drive clutch I replaced with CVTech that works good different noise though. To rebuild the clutch was almost double the cost of a CVTech. I put tracks on when the snow gets deep and no problems on the drive line you just have to be a bit gentler and take a gas jug lol. I like it very much but I'm going to go with the new commander when I decide its time, not yet though. I want to circumnavigate NB again this summer and I'm sure it will do the trip. I got rid of the heat issues by heat shielding the panels. What dont I like, they are too short and the ride suffers for it. Elka stage 1 shocks helped especially with the whoops. I also replaced the torsion bar in the rear with the XTP one, its smaller diameter and as you mentioned the bolts loosen off and you have to pay attention to that, Loctite is your friend.

Thanks

2014 grizzly 700 .. 24,000 kms ( stock internals, engine was never opened, valves even were still in spec !! currently bought a can am outlander 850 about 2 months ago..only has 1300kms atm ! well see how many i can add to this can am ! im also in cape breton !! wahoo

Interesting - I have had almost an almost identical experience with my machine (2012 Commander 1000XT - 17k) It has been solid with almost the same issues at the same mileage/times (I plan to install a new steering rack this week ) . The new ones are enticing and address two of the issues I have - I would like doors and I would like it to be quieter)

Heavy shock proof fixed my gear box grinding never done it again after oil change

My buddy had a pioneer 1000 it has been so good he never had anything break on it for 9000k km just oil changes

have a 2019 limited been awesome and have 7000 miles on it .

How many engine hrs do you have?

What are the characteristics of front diff going out

I have right at 8000 miles on my 2015 rzr 900s. My rzr has been a great machine with nothing but just normal wear and tear maintenance needed. It is great to see other people putting real mileage on a machine. It is not that common for me to find anyone with over a couple thousand miles.

for as many kilometers you put on i think it would be a great investment to get some upgraded suspension like the elka kit.

Lemons.

You must putt putt alot. Mine breaks all the time. Junk lock system for sure.