Razor Dune Buggy

We ordered a PowerWheels Dune Racer for our 4 year old son for Christmas and found out the week before that our 6 1/2 year old daughter wanted one too. She is tall for her age, so we were afraid that the PowerWheel would be too small for her (it actually wasn't!) so we looked online and found the Razor Dune Buggy and with overnight shipping, it arrived on Christmas Eve! (whew). It is actually smaller in size than the PowerWheel; however, the speed is much faster. Our son is somewhat of a daredevil, so they both swap out riding both without any issue. Our 4 year old is a little too short to sit back comfortably on the Razor Dune Buggy, but he scoots to the end of the seat and drives just fine. It does have a seatbelt, so that is very assuring if you're worried about them flying off. We don't allow them to ride in the street, so they've had no trouble at all riding the Razor Dune Buggy on our graveled driveway or grassy backyard. Our 16 year old daughter daughter (125 lbs) even rides it from time to time with no issue.

Got two (well, 3; I'll explain) of these for our kids for Christmas and finally thawed out enough here in the upper Mid-west that they can use them. They are having a blast with them. Our boys are 3 1/2 and 5 1/2 and have no problem safely operating these buggies (with helmets). The grass is still brown here and we have flat terrain, so they can zip all around the yard no problem.

Materials:
The frame appears to be 3/8" painted steel tube that is bead welded at all the junctions. The steering wheel appears to be about 1/2" tubular steel and the column appears to be about 3/4". The frame for the motor and gear box is steel as well. There is a single spring shock in the center behind the seat for a smoother ride. It appears to be adjustable with a star-shaped finger nut, but I haven't attempted this. The platform and foot rest are a thick plastic that seems appropriate and durable with a diamond-tread texture. The seat is a durable plastic. The cover on the motor and gear box is durable plastic. The tires are rubber and have an inner tube. The rims are two plastic parts sandwiched together by 4 lock-nuts and probably the weakest of all the construction materials. The rims have a metal liner with standard sealed bearings on each side that can easily be removed and replaced. The rear wheels are attached to a solid steel axle. The front wheels are on independent spindle arms connected by a galvanized steel adjustable tie rod. The throttle lever and brake lever are plastic. The disk brake caliper is metal and mounted in the rear under the motor cover. The motor is connected to the gear via a metal chain commonly seen on bicycles. Overall, this thing is made from superior materials and is a heavy 83 pounds.

Function:
It has excellent speed even in the grass. Our boys are easily able to operate the throttle and steering safely. It has sufficient turning radius. The brake is almost obsolete, honestly. When the throttle is released it stops within about 8 feet from full speed. I rarely see the boys using it. For little hands, its a little difficult to reach. Both buggies came fully charged. They run a solid hour or more on a full charge which ends up being plenty for one day at this point. As described, they can charge overnight and be ready to go for the next day.

Safety and Comfort:
There is a 1 1/4" adjustable nylon web lap belt. Not sure it's necessary. The chances that this thing would tip enough to dump out the driver are almost nil. The main purpose of the lap belt is to prevent the driver from hitting their face on the steering wheel in an abrupt stop. When necessary, the rear disc brake does an excellent job of stopping.

The seat is hard plastic. For kids, this does not seem to be an issue. For older kids and small adults this may be relevant, but with only an hour of drive time probably not. The steering wheel is not adjustable so it can be little difficult to reach depending on the driver. The throttle is operated by the right thumb. It can be rotated toward the driver to make it easier to compress. When the buggy arrived it was rotated away from the driver and was very awkward until I realized that it could be easily rotated. I would recommend rotating it toward the driver so that when the throttle is completely compressed it ends up being parallel to the steering wheel. You'll know what I mean when you look at it. If you don't do this the drivers thumb could get wedge between the steering wheel or throttle. This happened with my son and it was stuck so he crashed into a tree. Fortunately, no harm was done.

Shipping:
We ordered ours 4 weeks in advance and they arrived prior to Christmas. One shipped in the original box. It was exceptionally well packaged and arrived without flaw. The second was clearly repackaged in a generic box. Unfortunately, both of the rims on the rear wheels were broken. I talked to Amazon and they sent me an entire buggy free of charge and told us to keep the one with the broken rims! I ordered new rims for the other one, so now we have 3 of these monsters. FANTASTIC SERVICE FROM AMAZON!!

Maintenance:
The chain will probably need a little lube twice a summer just like a bicycle. The batteries should last a couple years or more if properly cared for by following the charging recommendations and storing inside in the winter months. I expect the tires will last several years depending on the terrain. Most of the nuts have are of the nylon lock-not variety and shouldn't need frequent tightening.

Improvements I'd like to see:
--Adjustable seat
--Adjustable steering wheel/bicycle steering wheel (I think this would make the throttle and brake lever easier to manipulate, hence safer)
--Faster motor!! (Yes, 10mph is plenty fast for the little kids, but it would be a nice to go even faster of course)
--Reverse! (Most of the time this is not an issue. Even my 3 1/2 year old can get out and pull the buggy back on course, but it would save some hassle if there was a reverse)
--Lights! (Because it would be awesome)
--Alloy rims
(Yes, I know these are very doable after-market modifications. I've already started planning.)

Summary:
We are super pleased with these "toys". My wife is small enough even she can ride one. They are superior quality for the price point. We have several other battery powered cars, trucks, ATVs and tractors that are now obsolete. Fortunately, they were all gifted to us. I would never waste money on any of those other plastic-bodied, plastic-wheeled toys after comparing them to this Razor Buggy and this thing is cheaper than some of the more expensive plastic alternatives.

This dune buggy is awesome!! We opened the box, my husband pulled it out and my son was able to immediately start riding. No assembly required!! Great birthday present and plenty of riding time.

This thing is well made and solid. My kid LOVES it. It could have been better with a few small changes: slightly bigger wheels for rougher terrain, aluminum tubing instead of steel (this thing is HEAVY. Hernia-inducing HEAVY.) , and interchangeable batteries (like my electric mower & weed trimmer). Also, the steer could dampened down a little. It turns TOO sharp, too easily. My kid has flipped it by turning sharp. I couldn't believe that was even possible, but she did. With a few of these tweaks, this thing could be PERFECT. But as-is if your kid has outgrown their Powerwheels, and a gas-powered gokart is too fast or impractical for your home, this is what to get. 10 mph feels fast for the kids, yet still slow enough to zoom around the yard. Go for it!

My son was recently injured and cannot use his legs. This is such a wonderful design that uses a hand throttle and hand brake, and therefore he is able to use it without a problem. The battery life is great. We have never exhausted it and it has enough power to climb significant grades. Kudos to the engineers that designed this product. Even the tires are an inflatable type. Unlike so many children's vehicles, which can't get going on most surfaces due to hard plastic wheels, the Razor Dune Buggy has no problem at all. I don't know if the design that accommodates handicaps was intentional or not but it is just a great product in general!

Opened up at Christmas and it's been two days of fun going all around the driveway, across the grass, and even over a bit of ice.

Best part was it was all put together with the exception of putting in the flag. Can't beat that. Opened it up a few days before Christmas and charged the battery so it was all ready to go. My 12yr old and 10 yr old boys and my 8yr old girl all have been flying around the driveway and yard. So far it seems very well put together and the battery easily lasts for over 30 minutes. It does mention that the battery can't go below freezing which I'm hoping isn't an issue in my garage -- guess we'll find out.

Overall, they loved it.

We have two children that love it, goes up hills and on grass fine, works about 30 minutes with continuous use, would definitely buy again.

UPDATE: About 3 months and a week (one week after the warranty expired), one of the go-karts stopped holding a charge for more than 5 minutes and the other developed a loose connection and only worked sporadically. These have only been used probably 8-9 times total and we were very disappointed. Now we will try to find someone in our area that services these.