[WLAN56]

After 2-3 weeks of looking at golf carts (our 1st after 4 yrs in TV), we bought last Friday. When we started looking, I asked for comments on TOTV (another thread) and got some input. We were open minded to both gas and electric although we were leaning toward gas a little more because of added range. We wanted a 4 seater and we don't play golf (sorry) and don't think we will ever take it up. We were also considering "Street Legal." But more on that later.

Looked at Club Car and were not impressed by dealer, area to test drive in, or the cart itself.

Checked out EZ-Go and had a few issues. EZ-Go cart (both gas and electric) seems pretty well put together. Didn't care for the standard bench seat in the back as it was like sitting on a 4x4. They do have an upgrade to a "Suite Seat" which is pretty good. The gas model was about what you can expect for a gas unit but couldn't take it for a long enough ride to see if it would quiet down at top speed. Electric had good pickup but again to short of a test area to see how it really acts. Salesperson gave me some pricing sheet and left us on our own to figure out what it would cost. One small issue was the closeness of the "go" pedal to the seat. I'm not tall anymore (use to be 6ft, now 5'9" and still have long legs) and there was little room to put my left foot when the "go" pedal was not depressed. Also little to no room to put my right foot as the break pedal was very close to the outside edge of the cart. Maybe that is why I see some many people driving with their left foot hanging outside the cart. A friend that maintains EZ-Go told me that if you spend a little more for Mid/HI grade gas, you will reduce noise and smell on the gas carts.

I looked at The Villages and their Yamaha gas and electric. Drove both a considerable distance and was able to see how they would act on hills (not the bridge over 441 but Stillwater up to Odell). Electric faded some with two in the cart and most likely will fade more with 4 people. Gas had a slight fade with 2 people but felt that it wouldn't be much different with 4 people. Quality seemed OK. What turned me off was being told that I had to buy certain options in order to get other things I wanted, i.e. you can't get Tier 3 without getting both Tier 1 & 2 add-ons. Remember, I don't golf. I hate being told I have to buy something I didn't want. Sales person, who owned a gas cart told me also to use higher grade gas to get rid of smell and reduce noise.

I looked at Tombolin electric "Street Legal" Only difference between "Street Legal" and Non-Street Legal is the speed setting for the controller. Looks and drove like a pretty nice unit. Good standard equipment. Several draw backs from my point of view. This is a new startup operation and it will be some time before they get established or fail. This may not bother other people but it gave me some concerns. Other concern was pricing and which accessories were included or added to the bottom line. It wasn't totally clear. But considering all factors, this would most likely was my second choice.

I looked at ParCar. I this point I was leaning slightly toward gas although not much since Ez-go, Yamaha, and Par Car all claim 50+ miles range on their electric carts. Par had only sold one gas unit in the last year but luckily they were able to give me a test drive in a gas cart which was in the process of being sold. The salesmen and the shop supervisor at the factory both told me that they didn't think I'd like it. They were right. The cart was great, but they are using a Briggs & Stratton engine. If they could only put the EZ-Go gas engine in there, it would be a great unit. They actually use sound deading material to bury the noise. Novel idea! I moved on to the electric and for the few dollars difference in price, selected the "Street Legal." Salesperson was great to work with. After spending a lot of time going over the carts and their differences, he walked us through pricing. He made several good suggestions on things we should get (options) and what was a waste of money. Even swapped out some "standard" items we didn't want for options we wanted. Even with all of that, we weren't too far above the base price. What a pleasure to do business with. As you can probably tell by now. We bought the "Street Legal" ParCar.

Our decision was based on what we liked/disliked about the various manufacturer's quality, the experiences we had in test driving the carts, and the sales people we had to deal with ( a possible indication of how the service department would treat me). Our choice between gas vs electric is still the same. Both have their pro's and con's and if ParCar had a decent gas unit, we may have bought that. Going "Street Legal" was only for the little added ump to get up hills. Last comment, if you fill your batteries "after" charging and get the one-fill system (offerred by EZ-Go, Yamaha, and ParCar), you greatly reduce the chance of boil over. Unless of course your controller malfunctions. But then, you can also spill gas all over..........