I had, and still own 2006 fst switcher. It got recalled BEFORE I even took delivery, something about the starter getting toasted because of a missing spacer, or sum such. The list was long with trips back to the dealer, with new plugs designed to prevent plug failure prior to introduction of the FST Weber motor, and a plethora of hose and wire re-routes to prevent chaffing, melting hoses too close to the suitcase muffler, poorly designed steering geometry, fuel gages that were inaccurate, and so on and so on.
Still the machine was a fun sled. It ran fast, and went in the deep, especially when I put a 2 inch track on it. Little by little they improved the sled and after about 4 years Polaris finally got the bugs out with the owners being the field testers.
When I bought my 2011 Turbo Cat, it was like a huge step up from the polaris...hoses were routed carefully and fuel gages worked properly, and the machine would plow thru the deep stuff like a bull dozer. I loved that sled and it spent zero time in the shop for the year that I had it. Everything worked very well, and it was very very fast. In fact since I often take novice/rookies out everyone always wants to try the "fastest" sled. Which is why I sold it. It was so fast I was afraid it would get someone killed.
The fellow who bought it sent me several emails later on and said that he did have to take it back for the potential loose nuts on the ty-rods...no biggy, and a re-program for an rough idle when it was cold. As far as I know he is still running it problem free.
All turbos NEED premium fuel to prevent pre-detonation but the gas mileage was right there with the Polaris gallon for gallon. Mid to upper teens was the norm unless you were dogging it in the deep then it fell off some which is to be expected cutting trail.
Quality, performance and ride was second to none. If I had a beef it was that the instrumentation, like Yamaha was positioned cheaply on the speedo gauge cluster requiring removing your hands from the handle bars when you wanted to switch thru the dozen readings the gages were capable of providing. The Polaris has them right on the bars where you can rifle thru them without loosing grip or ability to steer. I did have the extended track which was far better at putting the ponies to the trail, and a bit longer lug track would have been nice for the very fluffy stuff, but I never stuck it much because of it. As is any 4 stroke is heavy, but once you learn how to use that weight to your advantage and stay on the throttle rather than let off at a moment of indecision, she was a beast of another kind found now where else on the planet.
Would I buy another one? In a heart beat if I didn't have the novices tagging along and wanting to ride it all the time.
We have to remember than any motor with this much torque and horse-power is going to bring out the Ricky rocket in just about anybody and doing so will push the frame, track, and equipment to a leave never before achieved. There is going to be a manufacturing curve which needs to be followed with the resulting corrections made. As long as Cat is willing to stand back of the product and not shuck and jive "gee, we never heard of that one before...which was all I got from Polaris" then I am okay with it and should be expected to go along with the territory of super high horse-power sleds.
And dat's all I got to say about it.
