The list price on a well equipped gas Gator will be in the $12,000 mark, you should be able to buy it for at least 10% less than that. Here in Illinois tractors are common and unless you are using it for a car, you can get by the highway with a SMV (slow moving vehicle) emblem and flashers. Utility vehicles are not allowed on Illinois roadways but that doesn't mean you can't get by. I take my XUV to town on the back streets and stay on the secondary roads without any hassle. Whats is good about the XUV is that you can jump a ditch or hit a field if you need to get off the road in a hurry.
I have had an 05 HPX, a 06 HPX, and now a 07 XUV. The 06 HPX was a good machine but I thought I had to have the newest and best. The HPX is good if nothing else for the ride. I noticed it is quite a bit louder that the HPX but I attribute that to the design and the canopy.
On the HPX, the muffler was under the bed, on the XUV, the muffler is out in the open to the rear. The canopy also gives you an echo effect. The XUV also has a more noisy drive train. The HPX was a lot smoother and quieter on the drive train. I figure you have to give one thing up to get another.
The XUV starts better but you need to wait a few seconds before shifting into gear for the rpm's to settle down after starting or you will grind the gears. The HPX could be shifted immediately after starting.
One thing you can do to reduce the rattle significantly is to modify the shoulder harness. I am not one for using the seat belt and when going down the road the upper shoulder harness will rattle loudly because it is shaking and vibrating on the bracket attached to the roll cage. Get some air conditioner weather seal, the foam stuff that is 1 1/4 by 1 1/4 square and cut off about an inch or so. Poke a hole in the middle that a bolt will fit through. Take the bolt off the upper seat shoulder harness and put a piece of the foam seal on both side of the bolt. Reinstall the bolt. It make for a neat job, does not effect the performance of the seat belt but puts enough pressure on the bracket so it doesn't rattle against the roll cage. It will make a huge difference in sound. I did the same thing to my HPX when I got it new.
I do believe the XUV was worth the trade, it is perfect, no. Is is good enough for me, absolutely. The ride is tremendous compared to anything John Deere had before. My son said it has a much better ride than his Honda 4 wheeler. I can run full speed over rough plowed ground. It starts good, it pulls like a horse, will go through mud and about any terrain. It steers decent and has good acceleration, perhaps too good acceleration at times. When coming off a stop, you really have to watch if you want to creep up because it will shoot away from you pretty easy. I have also noticed is has good engine braking when going down a hill.
The only real complaints I have is the engine/muffler noise and extra drive train noise. As a side note, when going full speed down a paved road, you can hear a bit of a grinding road noise is a systematic rythum. I attribute this to the belt hitting the high side of the pulley. You can't hear it in dirt.
