I live in a fairly large community that also includes a nature preserve. I am thinking of getting a golf cart to ride around the lake/pond and venture into the preserve, as a lot of others do. It will also come in handy when my parents come for a visit.
What things should I be looking for? I know there are electric vs gas. Besides that, any brand better than other? Does buying a used one makes sense?
I want it to seat at least 2 people, preferably 4.
Our first big covid purchase was a golf cart.
I thought I wanted a gasser but the research lead me down an electric Club Car or Yamaha. I think the one thing to find was an aluminum frame. The steel frames rust. I now notice how loud the gas carts are.
Found a rebuilt 2013 Club Car Precedent (4 seat) and it's been great. At the time I want to say it was $4.5k and the new ones were at least double that price. The seller purchased the batteries from a local place and one of them went bad, and was replaced under warranty. If the electric motor goes bad it looks pretty easy to work on, and since I am leaving it stock, should last a long time. It does have bigger wheels and tires, but not crazy huge.
Get a cheap multimeter to check each battery. Top off battery fluids once a year, keep it charged. I wired some ground LED lights for fun. Also a volt meter to see the battery levels. I think it will be $800 to replace the batteries, hopefully not until 6 or 7 years total. Not sure how that compares to a gas engine rebuild.
We have a street legal Club Car. I can offer more later, but IMO stick to the major brands (Club Car, EZgo, and maybe Yamaha), and stay away from the China stuff (Icon, etc.).
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some good information here if you're looking to be street legal
https://www.flhsmv.gov/safety-center...peed-vehicles/
Municipalities may enact rules allowing some on-road use of non-registered golf carts, but state wide the above are the requirements. Summed up:
- Must have certain equipment (windshield, wiper, seat belts, turn signals, horns, etc.)
- Must be registered
- must be insured
- may drive on roads with speed limits up to 35 mph
- must be capable of going at least 20 mph and no more than 25
you can either make the above conversions yourself, take it to be weighed, and then take it to be inspected to get a VIN, or you can buy one previously converted and take it to weigh/inspect/VIN, or buy one previously registered. we did the latter, in which case we simply had to transfer the title and get insurance like any other "car" with the caveat that this is legally no longer a "golf cart" but now a "LSV".
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