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2024 Hvac Ridge Limited Regrets of buying

Mark D

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Joined
Feb 20, 2026
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The first problem I encountered was the tailgate not holding which resulted in It always remaining down. The second problem was the passenger side door coming unlatched. The third problem was with the clutch in that it took several seconds for it to engage then it would bolt in whatever direction I had moved the shifter. This made it extremely hard to load or unload onto my trailer without having my left foot riding the break while my right was on the accelerator loading it onto or off of the trailer. All of this happened within the first few days that I owned my Ridge. I was pretty upset about all these issues on a brand new unit that cost close to 30 grand. This is my first Kawasaki too and I immediately regretted buying it. My dealership, here in the Houston, Tx area, is doing an excellent job trying to fix everything that needs fixing. They immediately replaced the tailgate but asked me to take it easy with it……take it easy??? I use my ridge for hunting in the hill country of central Texas, there isn’t anything that is easy about that. The dealership managed to get the door to not come unlatched by filing down the frame latch where the door latches. It holds but when you open it from the inside the door drops down and the inside door handle is very hard to open. This makes me think the doors aren’t lined up properly. They adjusted the clutch and it ran better and I decided to just put the unit into low and 4 wheel drive when loading/unloading my unit. There was also a problem with the garmen speaker/entertainment system so that makes the 4th problem with this brand new Ridge. I called garmen and they sent me a part to give to the dealership to install. It took about 3 months for the dealership to work out all the problems and tear the whole dash out of the cab of my ridge to install the part that Kawasaki had forgot to install when they put it all together. Finally I got my Ridge back just in time for deer season. After 3 months in the hill country of central Texas it is back in the shop due to the clutch, passenger side door again , and a new problem of front suspension rattling when off-road. I can feel the rattling in the accelerator like something is loose in the whole front suspension. The dealership is telling me they are working with Kawasaki on the clutch. I read here on this forum, it doesn’t sound like their fix will work. I am really also concerned about the front suspension system too. I believe Kawasaki rushed this side by side to market without fully testing it out and I think they have put out a total Lemmon of a product. I wish I would have never bought this unit.
 
You may want to try a different dealer.
I have located another dealership which is a lot closer to me. My current dealership has had it going on four weeks now. I will try the closer one once the current one finishes. Thanks for your reply
 
The first problem I encountered was the tailgate not holding which resulted in It always remaining down. The second problem was the passenger side door coming unlatched. The third problem was with the clutch in that it took several seconds for it to engage then it would bolt in whatever direction I had moved the shifter. This made it extremely hard to load or unload onto my trailer without having my left foot riding the break while my right was on the accelerator loading it onto or off of the trailer. All of this happened within the first few days that I owned my Ridge. I was pretty upset about all these issues on a brand new unit that cost close to 30 grand. This is my first Kawasaki too and I immediately regretted buying it. My dealership, here in the Houston, Tx area, is doing an excellent job trying to fix everything that needs fixing. They immediately replaced the tailgate but asked me to take it easy with it……take it easy??? I use my ridge for hunting in the hill country of central Texas, there isn’t anything that is easy about that. The dealership managed to get the door to not come unlatched by filing down the frame latch where the door latches. It holds but when you open it from the inside the door drops down and the inside door handle is very hard to open. This makes me think the doors aren’t lined up properly. They adjusted the clutch and it ran better and I decided to just put the unit into low and 4 wheel drive when loading/unloading my unit. There was also a problem with the garmen speaker/entertainment system so that makes the 4th problem with this brand new Ridge. I called garmen and they sent me a part to give to the dealership to install. It took about 3 months for the dealership to work out all the problems and tear the whole dash out of the cab of my ridge to install the part that Kawasaki had forgot to install when they put it all together. Finally I got my Ridge back just in time for deer season. After 3 months in the hill country of central Texas it is back in the shop due to the clutch, passenger side door again , and a new problem of front suspension rattling when off-road. I can feel the rattling in the accelerator like something is loose in the whole front suspension. The dealership is telling me they are working with Kawasaki on the clutch. I read here on this forum, it doesn’t sound like their fix will work. I am really also concerned about the front suspension system too. I believe Kawasaki rushed this side by side to market without fully testing it out and I think they have put out a total Lemmon of a product. I wish I would have never bought this unit.
I had several of the same issues with my new Ridge and with the dealer, where I bought the Ridge. I changed my service dealership. Kawasaki covered all repairs. I could not be happier.
 
The first problem I encountered was the tailgate not holding which resulted in It always remaining down. The second problem was the passenger side door coming unlatched. The third problem was with the clutch in that it took several seconds for it to engage then it would bolt in whatever direction I had moved the shifter. This made it extremely hard to load or unload onto my trailer without having my left foot riding the break while my right was on the accelerator loading it onto or off of the trailer. All of this happened within the first few days that I owned my Ridge. I was pretty upset about all these issues on a brand new unit that cost close to 30 grand. This is my first Kawasaki too and I immediately regretted buying it. My dealership, here in the Houston, Tx area, is doing an excellent job trying to fix everything that needs fixing. They immediately replaced the tailgate but asked me to take it easy with it……take it easy??? I use my ridge for hunting in the hill country of central Texas, there isn’t anything that is easy about that. The dealership managed to get the door to not come unlatched by filing down the frame latch where the door latches. It holds but when you open it from the inside the door drops down and the inside door handle is very hard to open. This makes me think the doors aren’t lined up properly. They adjusted the clutch and it ran better and I decided to just put the unit into low and 4 wheel drive when loading/unloading my unit. There was also a problem with the garmen speaker/entertainment system so that makes the 4th problem with this brand new Ridge. I called garmen and they sent me a part to give to the dealership to install. It took about 3 months for the dealership to work out all the problems and tear the whole dash out of the cab of my ridge to install the part that Kawasaki had forgot to install when they put it all together. Finally I got my Ridge back just in time for deer season. After 3 months in the hill country of central Texas it is back in the shop due to the clutch, passenger side door again , and a new problem of front suspension rattling when off-road. I can feel the rattling in the accelerator like something is loose in the whole front suspension. The dealership is telling me they are working with Kawasaki on the clutch. I read here on this forum, it doesn’t sound like their fix will work. I am really also concerned about the front suspension system too. I believe Kawasaki rushed this side by side to market without fully testing it out and I think they have put out a total Lemmon of a product. I wish I would have never bought this unit.
That’s unfortunate. So far the only issue we’ve had with our 2024 Ridge Ranch is the same clutch issue. The dealer adjusted it according to an update released by Kawasaki and it’s been good ever since. I had a Boss plow dealer install a new steel v plow on it this winter and it handled the snow in Michigan like a champ. Kind of crazy how 2 machines from the same factory could be so different. Hope it gets better for you.
 

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That’s unfortunate. So far the only issue we’ve had with our 2024 Ridge Ranch is the same clutch issue. The dealer adjusted it according to an update released by Kawasaki and it’s been good ever since. I had a Boss plow dealer install a new steel v plow on it this winter and it handled the snow in Michigan like a champ. Kind of crazy how 2 machines from the same factory could be so different. Hope it gets better for you.
Thank you for your reply. I, like you, am surprised about the fact that 2 machines from the same factory are completely different. I have found this throughout the different Ridge forums that I am a member of. Almost all of the forum members do have clutch issues, and others have no issues at all, which is very strange to me and to top it off, the ones with no issues, have 300 or more miles on them. My ridge has only 30 miles on it, and only 50 hours, so it’s pretty weird to read some have no issues at all and others have multiple issues like I do. I called the dealership Thursday of last week and they said all issues have been addressed, and all they are waiting on are the new door latches. Today marks the beginning of week 5 that they have had it so hopefully I will get it before Wednesday because I need it to go to my deer lease for some days. One thing they did not address was the front suspension rattling noise. I will make sure I put my Ridge to the test this week and run it hard to see if it holds up and none of the clutch issues reoccurs.
 
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