Buying A Golf Cart: 3 Important Factors to Consider
Be smart about your cart
Time to zip around in style—you’ve decided you’re interested in purchasing a golf cart.
However, before sealing the deal on any particular vehicle, you want to think it through. This is a major purchase, after all, and the excitement of buying your new golf cart will wear off quickly if you realize you picked one that doesn’t work with your needs and preferences.
With that in mind, here’s a list of things you’ll want to keep in mind that will give you a better idea of what to look for in a golf cart.
1. Choose how you’d like to cruise
When it comes to golf carts, you have two options for power: gas or electric. Each has its pros and cons.
Electric golf carts tend to be friendlier to the environment and require less maintenance. 1, 2
They're also much quieter than their gas counterparts.
However, charging them takes time and can be a bit of an inconvenience.
Gas-powered golf carts generally have greater overall power and carrying capacity, and filling up a gas tank takes less time than plugging the cart in to charge. 1, 2
However, they make more noise, require more involved maintenance, and have costs associated with filling the gas tank. 1, 2
Consider your needs, wants, and lifestyle to determine which of these options suits you better.
2. Brand new or just to you?
Maybe you really, really like that “new golf cart” smell and won’t settle for anything else. However, if you’re more open-minded, you’ll want to weigh the pros and cons of getting a new versus used golf cart.
Buying a new golf cart: the good and the bad
- Warranty: if something goes wrong with your golf cart, you’re covered.
- Peace of mind: you don’t have to worry about past accidents or an underqualified previous owner who tried to fix some issue on their own (and failed).
- Features: new golf carts can have special customization options so your vehicle can be *just right*.
- Cost: expect to pay more for a new golf cart than you would for a used one.
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Buying a used golf cart: the good and the bad:
- Save money: this one’s pretty obvious, but it’s still an important consideration. You probably like keeping money in your bank account.
- History: perhaps the previous owner took excellent care of their cart. Perhaps they didn’t. It might not be immediately obvious which of those was the case. If you don’t know much about golf carts, you may want to bring along a friend who does to evaluate the vehicle for you and make sure you're getting a fair deal.
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Bonus tip if you’re buying used: Advantage Golf Cars recommends buying a cart whose lease with a country club just expired, as they tend to be in good condition and well-maintained.
3. Parts possibilities for your golf cart
As you get further along in the search for your perfect golf cart, you’ll have to deal with the question of what brand you’d like. Your answer will have an impact on how easy it is to find replacement parts for your cart.
For example, brands such as EZ-GO, Yamaha, and Club Car have a ton of parts available, both OEM and aftermarket (read our article on OEM vs aftermarket parts to find out the difference between the two).
Parts for other brands, like Bintelli, Star EV, Garia, and Tomberlin, tend to be trickier to find and more expensive.
If you think you may want to install new parts relatively frequently, you’ll probably want to stick with a brand that has a lot of options for parts so you don’t have to conduct a full-on scavenger hunt and shell out a lot of money to get what you need.
Wrapping up: what golf cart do you need?
The search for the “perfect” golf cart might seem like a long one. There are a lot of golf cart options out there and loads of hype to be tuned out, but you can do it.
Keeping the factors we discussed in mind (gas vs. electric, new vs. used, and parts availability) should help you narrow down your options until you find the golf cart that’s right for you.
We hope you find a great cart that brings you years of fun and adventure!
Be sure to visit The ROP Shop when the time comes for regular golf cart maintenance and repair parts.
[REVISED 3/2023]
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