Power Wheels Dune Racer, Green

I bought this ride-on car for my 5.5 year old son, who loves driving. (He "drives" on our safe, private driveway, on a parent's lap, and is quite the steerer). He has wanted a ride-on car since trying one out at a party and driving a mini-Escalade at his cousins' home. We scoured Amazon together and almost went for a Police Motorcycle but reviews indicated that it was tippy. Then we came across this Dune Racer and the description, along with the great reviews convinced me it was the right one. So far, it definitely is.Assembly: I am moderately handy, but no expert. It took me about 90 minutes to assemble this car (not including decals) WITH my 5 year old helping me. That means it probably could have taken less time without the "teaching moments" that were well worth the extra time, and his regularly asking if it was time for the steering wheel yet. TIPS: A power screwdriver is not necessary but a welcome luxury that will speed things along. Highly recommeded. It comes with a "skate key" type wrench for most of the nuts. A regular wrench is needed for only 2-3 parts and I think a pliers would suffiece. Another reviewer recommended a 90-degree screwdriver (aka ratchet screwdriver) so I bought one for about $5. It was helpful on two screws which had little room for the handle to be turned, so good advice. The instructions were very clear and we only had to pause a couple of times to make sure we were using the right part. (Tip: All screws are the same EXCEPT two that are a bit shorter. Those go through the headrest area and will be backed with the two little cap-nuts (not their name, but their nuts with a dome)--you use your regular wrench to hold those caps while tightening the shorter screws on the other side. Overall it was relatively easy to do and quite methodical.Thanks to those who point out that the battery needs charging (18 hours!) before using. Important to know if this is a gift the recipient will want to use immediately upon assembly. We started charging at the start and were able to at least test the car out for a couple of minutes when we were done. The next day it ran about 45-55 minutes before running out. I thought that I might buy a second battery to have one in reserve, but then it occured to me that this fun, exercise-free product might wisely be limited to an hour at a time! You decide.Performance: The car is great. It fits my 5-year old's size nicely and an adult can fit uncomfortably along side the driver (if necessary). Smaller kids will fit easily and somewhat bigger kids can fit too. I would guess that kids above 8 would not fit as well.The car rides great. The plastic wheels spin on concrete and then catch the pavement. Where the car is wonderful is on the grass, where it is quieter and moves nicely. On gravel it is more noisy (probably due to the hollow wheels echoing the gravel noise). My son is delirious about this car! The turning radius is a little wide, so a bigger open space is better. It has no brake pedal but stops almost instantly when the gas pedal is released. It has REVERSE and FORWARD has two modes (beginner and expert): One is 2.5mpg, the other is 5mph. You restrict the speed with a screw that comes inserted in the left side of the gear shift. Once removed, you can put it in either forward setting (or reverse, of course). I did not see any on/off switch, so hopefully it is not draining battery when we aren't using it.One thing I noted in the instructions was the caution NOT to overcharge the battery more that 30 hours. I am curious what the consequence would be, as I can imagine forgetting to unplug it--hopefully nothing dangerous, but I am checking that out.Overall this is a wonderful toy. Sturdy, quick, easy to handle, easy to assemble and FUN. It has room for two jr. sized passengers, and two velcro lap-belts for some safety. It also has a small "glove box" storage where the hood of a car is. Stylish and fun and good driving training. I highly recommend it!

Assembly took about 1 hour and that includes the time I took to make sure all parts where in the box, organize them and look over the assembly instructions. My grandson is 4 but tall for his age so he was able to reach the gas pedal with the toe of his shoe. Shorter children may have a problem but I put a folded towel behind him and problem solved. He will def get a couple years out of this. My grandson weighs app 35 to 40 lbs and with him and a bigger little boy that weighed prob 50 lbs it still had all the power in the world. The description states 2 1/2 mph or 5 mph and even with right at 100 lbs in it this thing will GO! We did put the screw in it to keep it at the lower speed though because 5mph is pretty fast for a 4 y/o. He rode this thing in gravel, grass, sand and on pavement with no spinning or getting stuck. The construction and materials are very good, this has a metal frame verses some I have seen with more of a PVC kind. I charged the battery for a full 24 hours and it gave him over an hour of continuous riding before showing any signs of running down. I did purchase an extra battery and quick charger so that I always have a fully charged battery ready for action.The only things that I wish were different on this is there are no seat belts or safety harnesses or braking system. There also isn't a "roll cage" that I would have liked it to have for safety purposes. We are going to order a set of harnesses and have them put on so that my grandson does stay inside in case it flips etc.All in all I am very happy with this purchase. Shipping was fast, received it with no damage to box or product. Pretty easy to assemble, made solid yet not to heavy to lift to put in back of truck. I would recommend to any parent or grandparent looking for a well made ride on toy. My best guess would be that a child up to 100 or so lbs would still be able to enjoy this especially as their first ride on of this nature. It will absolutely teach a child how to steer and use a gas pedal so like I said a very good choice for a intro to four wheelers and such. Def will get my grandson ready for his first 4 wheeler when he is old enough.

I got this Fisher-Price Power Wheels Dune Racer for my 3 years old, and he loves it. When not in use, I have it in the living room, where he'll sit in the car to watch TV. The installation was a bit long, took me close to an hour, and you need to follow the instructions carefully and handy with tools. I've seen quit a lot of power wheels in stores, and I feel this model by Fisher Price has the best design, size, and durability. You just cannot go wrong with this power wheels. I highly recommend this Power Wheels. Here are some pros and cons from my experience with this car.Pros:- Very sturdy- 2 speed. My kid is not ready for the faster speed, but it's good to know that I can unlock the faster speed when the time comes.- Holds kids up to 130 lbs. (my wife can drive this car - she's 115 lbs.)- Sits 2 kids comfortably- Battery life is very good- Metal frame- I feel my kid can use this up to 10 years old, as long as the car doesn't break.Cons:- A bit heavy to carry. I guess it's a trade off for its sturdiness. I got a cargo carrier for my SUV so I can take it between my home and the nearby park.- Plastic wheels slips on some surfaces. Wish it had rubber treads.- Can use seat belts. Sometimes the passenger kid just feels like to get off the car while it’s still in motion.- Bad packaging design. When I open the box, everything was all over the place. There were a few holes from shipping, good thing that nothing fell through the holes.- No trickle charge. Don't over charge the battery; you may decrease the battery life from over charging.- Turn radius is a bit wide. Kids who do not know how to maneuver the car with reverse will get out of the car and push the car away from the obstacle and ride on again.

Very easy to assemble works really great battery life excellent

My kids love this! I have a tall 6 year old and a 4 year old and they have plenty of room. Our property is a mix of grass, rock, hills and dirt and this thing goes over it all. We did find we had to put it into the higher gear right away to handle our rough terrain.We love it!

UPDATE: my daughter, now 9 years old, is still sipping around the yard. Nothing had broken, using original buttery and still Enjoying it as much as ever!I couldn't be more pleased!Purchased for my three year old daughter, who loves it! She likes speed and this delivers. We have a fairly flat yard and it moves easily over the grass unlike many similar products. She has driven through snow and mud without slowing down a bit. The size, speed and sturdy build means this is one toy that will last her at least 8 years.

My kids absolutely love this. We've had it for about 1.5 years (Oct 2014) now and with proper battery maintenance, the battery hasn't showed any signs of weakening yet. It would benefit from having another range if using it for walks. Low is a little too slow and fast will almost get you jogging to keep up. We use it mostly on grass and gravel, but when on the sidewalk or asphalt, the rigid wheels make for a pretty rough ride. There's plenty of room for two kids and it's nice and wide, so it's really solid on the ground.

Awesome Power Wheels dune racer...My 2 1/2 year old grandson absolutely loves it. Goes pretty fast in high gear and has good traction and power. Good amount of ride time on a fully charged battery. Very happy with purchase, paid $300 CAD Lightning deal price. But i would say its still worth the regular price of $400