If you visit any of the squares on any evening, you'll probably see 80 to 90 percent of the golf carts are gas-powered Yamahas. They are the most popular and seem to keep their resale value better because of this. That said, electric carts are coming on strong. The new battery technologies are giving people the confidence to go longer distances in them. Electric carts are quieter than gas (though Yamaha "Quietech" golf carts are relatively quiet) and can go from 0 to 20 mph in a heartbeat. Gas carts are less hassle in that you fill the tank every few hundred miles vs plugging them in every night. Gas carts can run with very basic maintainance for a LOT of years where electric carts need to have fairly expensive batteries replace every few years (though the number of years is getting better). Some of the electric carts are of Chinese manufacture and are now subject to 100% tariffs (up from 25%), so the prices have gotten a little nutty.
If you absolutely MUST have a four-seater, your passengers will love you for having all four seats facing forward. It's a dirty little secret but basically NOBODY loves riding facing the rear in converted two-seaters and the suspension on standard two-seaters really isn't ideal at all for the weight of four adults. The front-facing four-seaters really can't be parked "nose-in" style, sharing a car parking spot with 3 other golf carts; they really need to be parallel parked. They also look pretty stupid on golf courses (hey, that are GOLF carts, after all!). Think about how often you'll be using the rear seats. If it's pretty often, by all means get a four-seater. I know of some inseperable couples who are always on the four-seater belonging to one or the other of the couples. If it's only once in a while, you might want to consider getting a standard two-seater and renting a four-seater for those rare occaisions where you need the other two seats. You'll save a bunch in the long run and have a better-riding cart.
Good luck with whatever you choose!
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