Financial Services Arrangements - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Investments in and Advances to Affiliates [Line Items]
Investment in affiliates	$ 88,790	$ 88,764
Trade receivables, net	217,694	$ 200,144
Aggregate repurchase obligation, amount	$ 164,969
Maximum
Investments in and Advances to Affiliates [Line Items]
Aggregate repurchase obligation, percentage	15.00%
Polaris Acceptance
Investments in and Advances to Affiliates [Line Items]
Equity method investment ownership percentage	50.00%
Net amount financed for dealers	$ 1,237,689
Trade receivables, net	566,102
Securitization Facility
Investments in and Advances to Affiliates [Line Items]
Outstanding balance of receivables	$ 671,587

Financial assets accounted for as sale, repurchase commitment percent of outstanding month end balances.

No definition available.

Name:	pii_TransfersOfFinancialAssetsAccountedForAsSaleRepurchaseCommitmentPercentOfOutstandingMonthEndBalances
Namespace Prefix:	pii_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The amount owed to the reporting entity by counterparties in securitized loan transactions.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AccountsReceivableFromSecuritization
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount due from customers or clients, within one year of the balance sheet date (or the normal operating cycle, whichever is longer), for goods or services (including trade receivables) that have been delivered or sold in the normal course of business, reduced to the estimated net realizable fair value by an allowance established by the entity of the amount it deems uncertain of collection.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130549-203045

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(3))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AccountsReceivableNetCurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=114001798&loc=d3e33918-111571

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentOwnershipPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of investment in equity method investee and investment in and advance to affiliate.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.12)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentsInAffiliatesSubsidiariesAssociatesAndJointVentures
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentsInAndAdvancesToAffiliatesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

This is the result of the principal amount outstanding of total loans managed or securitized less securitized loans and loans that are in the process of being securitized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 860
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109247956&loc=d3e107314-111719

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PrincipalAmountOutstandingOfLoansHeldInPortfolio
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the initial fair value recorded for liabilities incurred on transfer of financial assets in a securitization, asset-backed financing arrangement, or a similar transfer which transaction is recognized as a sale of the transferred financial assets.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 860
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (b)(2)(ii)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109247956&loc=d3e107207-111719

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_TransfersOfFinancialAssetsAccountedForAsSaleInitialFairValueOfLiabilitiesIncurred
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentsInAndAdvancesToAffiliatesCategorizationAxis=pii_PolarisAcceptanceMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentsInAndAdvancesToAffiliatesCategorizationAxis=pii_SecuritizationFacilityMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: