Looking for either a golf cart project or suggestions for a budget minded one. It's for my kiddos to drive around the neighborhood with friends or just drop by the pool house this summer. Anything I should look for when on the hunt? I think a 4 passenger is ideal. I'd like to keep it low budget in the $2k or less if possible but may splurge for something that's turn key and fits the bill. Any specific brands to run from or towards? Things to look for that are dealbreakers?
Oh yeah. Following this with intent.
Im partial to older club car DS's. . They have good suspension, way better than ez-go. Also aluminum frames. I had a nearly 40 yea old electric club car that had its battery tray mostly intact. The steel framed electric carts will rust/rot the frames out within 10 years.
unfortunately everyone wanted a golf cart so they became WAY overpriced and hard to find a decent fixer upper for a ok price
Not directly relevant, but I noticed that some electric industrial carts on the local CL for $300 use a seriously beefy drive axle.
Sounds like you are looking for an actual golf cart, not a "no, really, this meets the legal definition of a 'golf cart' (nudge-nudge, wink-wink)". We live in a world where it has become normalized to build PowerWheels with double-digit horsepower and lawnmowers with triple-digit top speed.
We have a few acres, and golf carts have always been our choice of vehicle for property service. Our current ride is a Club Car Caryall with an all-aluminum body and a dump bed which is pretty much the perfect gardeing support vehicle. The downside is it was like close to five grand.
And that's you first lesson: Golf carts are either expensive or garbage, and don't think you can fix it yourself and save money unless you have a yard full of parts carts to pull from already. Parts are not cheap. A good $5000 cart is a good deal. A $2000 cart probably needs $3000 worth of work to get it into shape. Buy quality instead of trying to build a project and you'll be happier in the long run.
Lesson 2: Gas > electric. Batteries are EXPENSIVE, heavy, create electrolysis issues, and the controllers are finicky and parts are expensive. And if they spend any time outside, electrical issues pop up like crazy. Electric fleets work at golf courses because they return to the same spot every day and get regular maintenance. On the other hand, gas carts are dead simple and parts are cheap. A refurb 350cc motor for our cart is like $800, should we ever need one. I don't even clean the carb anymore. The first time it coughs (about once every 18 months) I just throw a brand new $12 carb on it and keep on driving. I'm not saying I'll never do an electric cart again, but our current cart seems like it's going to last forever, and it would take a real special deal to make me switch for our use case at this point. The rest of the drivetrain is ridiculously overbuilt. Dana axle out back, transverse leaf in the front just like a Corvette. Pretty much unstoppable.
If you want any specific pics or details on ours, let me know. Happy to help.
A clubcar precedent is the way to go. Aluminum frame, composite and plastic bodies, as previously mentioned a more sophisticated front suspension. They are the miata of the golf cart world and have a huge aftermarket.
Unfortunately the prices have gone up significantly since covid. Alot of the price increase is due to high demand with the pandemic, but a majority is because of the spread of factory lithium carts. Golf courses used to replace carts every 3 years, which guaranteed a constant stream of retired golf carts available for sale. A few years ago courses started buying lithium carts which have a 7 year warranty. Now they don't replace them as often and there are less retired carts coming to market.
My suggestion is to find a flood cart. They pop up from time to time on copart. The frame, body, and suspension components are pretty much indestructible. With a flood cart you may need to replace a controller ($300 used), a harness ($200 new) or a motor ($300 used).
The last flood cart I bought cost me $700. It needed a $300 controller and a motor which I found on Facebook for $250. After I fixed it, it drove great.
I recently bought a 6 seat flood cart that I am in the process of fixing to keep and register. Let me know if you have any questions, I have probably built 15 golf carts over the years.
All good info so far to go over. I have seen some electric popping up with 3 12v deep cycle conversions. I haven't looked much into whether that's a good thing or not though.
Gas was my initial plan but there are so many electric compared to the gas it seems.
It sounds like Club Car is the way to go versus EZGO.
I'm really trying to keep the "project" side of it to be stupid simple. If the parts bolt in cheap and can all be done over a weekend or two it's doable. If it becomes more than that I'd rather just get one ready to go. I think my limit budget wise could be pushed to $3500 as that seems to look a little more reasonable prospect wise.
Any thoughts on Yamaha?
If you stick to an ezgo, clubcar or yamaha you will be fine. I prefer clubcar because of aluminum frame and huge aftermarket support.
Avoid the Chinese carts. Parts are hard to get if they break and they are not engineered to be on a golf course. Keep in mind the other carts are designed to be driven for two rounds of every day, for three years without issue. They are robust to survive that, and parts are readily available if something does fail.
I would recommend sticking to 48v carts. 36v carts haven't been made in years and they don't have the support the 48v carts do. A $3500 budget should get you a nice clubcar precedent.
I just sold this one for $4200 for comparison.
In reply to JG Pasterjak :
Carryall's rock! My cart is a 90 something carryall 1 that had the stock 270cc kawi motor. Now its got a 20+hp 600+cc kohler v twin, 6" lift and 25" tires. Its been an amazingly fun toy and yard work machine.
I agree with the previous posters, Club Car Precedents are great. I have 2, one gas one electric. Both were total basket cases and I would have been much better off with carts that were in better shape. The only exception to that IMO is if you are going electric and you want to upgrade the whole system: controller, batteries engine and harness. There are high performance options out there. They will cost you $3k but if you get a non running cart to start with it can be a reasonable route.
That doesn't seem to be OP's desire though. Cart pricing has gone silly recently.
This is my gas one:
I turned this (free cart)
Into this:
This is the gas one. It was a lot of work and it seats 6.
My electric one was going the same route but it seemed silly to have 2 of them so I am going to sell it.
Bumping this up. I'm currently in the market. What is the hive's thoughts on starting with a factory lithium powered unit? Specifically, a ezgo txt model, 2018?
If anyone's near Atlanta, I'm selling a gas Yamaha G29 that I refurbished. I think $2k is a fair price, way less than what I have into it. It's a little dirty but has been repainted, has the rear seat kit and extended roof, lights and turn signals to make it road legal. It was trashed when I got it and most of the parts have been replaced. I had the motor bored and rebuilt it with factory Yamaha parts, it runs like a top. I got it for my not-mechanically-inclined wife to use at horse shows, but every show she found a different way to get it to not work and it drove us both crazy. Ended up getting her an electric cart and the gas one is just taking up space now.
In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :
You've got mail
Welp. 6" lift and wheels on the way!
Does it have to be an actual golf cart? Some UTV's are pretty much 90% golf cart - I picked up one with a blown motor (Honda GX 390) for a couple hundred bucks, rebuilt the engine with a few hop-up parts, painted the front bodywork and tilt bed, and use it all the time around my property. Adjustable coil-over shocks at all 4 corners, selectable locking diff, 2" receiver hitch, LED bulbs in the stock headlights.
It had plain jane silver steel wheels, I painted them Rustoleum Chrome a few years ago which look OK, but recently picked up aluminum aftermarket golf cart wheels (same bolt pattern and diameter), which I'm painting and polishing to install soon.
For $2k this one can be yours. Located in NC. Batteries arent what they used to be but it still works fine, just needs to hit the charger more often (I used to go a week between charges now its every couple of days if Im using it)
In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :
You've got more mail.
In reply to JThw8 :
Have any idea how steep of a hill that can climb? We live on the side of a mountain. It's paved, but it's steep.
nderwater said:In reply to JThw8 :
Have any idea how steep of a hill that can climb? We live on the side of a mountain. It's paved, but it's steep.
Not certain, my ground is pretty flat, but it just sold today.
+lift kit n wheels
I always thought that just buying a cheap / beat miata, taking off the trunk lid and throwing some seats in that area would make a cheaper / better golf cart.
captainawesome said:Looking for either a golf cart project or suggestions for a budget minded one. It's for my kiddos to drive around the neighborhood with friends or just drop by the pool house this summer.
Make sure it's legal to drive golf carts on the street in your neighborhood, and assuming your kids are minors that it's legal for them to drive the cart on the street. If all that's ok, make sure they drive responsibly...I've read too many news stories about kids hooning around with all their friends and getting in accidents.
Ill echo what has been already said about brands. I'm a club car guy myself. But local access to a dealer is important.
Also what's been said about gas versus electric is good advice.
The lithium ion cars are still a little new for me to recommend.
I think the replacement cost of a club car lithium battery is around $3500 right now.
The 2018 ezgo mentioned is at least one or two generations of drive system old now. Ezgo isn't great about supporting older models. I believe that vintage has a separate bms that is somewhat prone to failure.
Im not a fan of flood cars. Water gets into everything and they end up being basket cases.
You'll need to log in to post.
