[mgcsooner]

Looked at both + Yamaha, EZGO, Club car. All of these were "Village ready--meaning they are set to 19 or 20 MPH. We had leased with a gas cart for a couple of months, but my wife didn't care for the noise and fumes. 2014 EFI was $1500 more than the non efi model, & both were somewhat quieter than the model we had with our villa lease--not sure if that quietness lasts or not. We decided that we'd either get a new electric or late model gas, and also a 2 seat model, since we'd rather rent one when our kids are in town anyway. Prepare your checklist as std eq is different on all--cooler, sand bottle, locking glove boxes, generic or unique keys, sumbrella or other cover, halogen or LED headlights, tail and break lights, sidelights, turn signal in-cab lights (must have I think--I can ignore that sound pretty easy, side and rearview mirrors, clear windshield pivot strip, golf bag and scorecard holders, seat belts and on and on). You need to test drive them and think about what conveniences are important to you.

Club car--didn't like the lower uni-headlight, upgrade was $500 to get the dual lights, also will only say that the salesman was highly indifferent and not too helpful. Village got cart now selling them too, so that might change things.

EZGO like'd a lot, but the base pricing is 4x12v battery config, and up charge for 8x6v (which is what you want in TV. Liked the auto breaking when you turn it off feature, and the AC motor.

Star had the most customer conveniences and normal upgrades included and a better rain cover grade, but didn't care for the steering--seemed a little lighter and less sturdy to me. Think this one may have a way to go yet, but it is promising. Looked at the Tomerlin at same time, but understand they are going through bankruptcy--seemed to chancey.

Yamaha electric--even the salesman tried to convince me to go gas, not too high on the electric model, and could't really give me any advantages over any of the other, mostly sold their dealership service. We almost flipped and got one of these--but then it does seem like everyone has these here. Also the trade in values didn't seem that good after 3 years, not to mention resale. This was determined by an unscientific matter of checking lots of classified and dealer adds.

Parcar--claimed 80MI on a charge in a recent test, but that was over VERY optimum conditions. Count on 70 as a more realistic goal when the batteries are in the first year and broken in--enough to golf 18, drive to Brownwood, then SS, visit a friend up by Nancy Lopez stop by LSL for dinner, and maybe do it all over again less the 18 holes. On the other had, it would TAKE FOREVER to do that--everybody seems to opt for car when going end-to-end. These came with a few more standard options than most, and a 19hp motor, which offered noticeably faster 0-19 times--ok we didn't clock it, but seemed to accelerate quicker.

All-in-all none of them seemed like they'd be a bad deal--probably like Pizza in Chicago or NY--if it ain't good they'll be out of business in no time.

So, after all those test drives, not to mention that I was hell-bent on getting my cart since we decided we would only have one car here, we decided on a 2014 ParCar demo that looked brand new, had low hours on it, and ended up saving about 4K. Should you go this route yourself, count on buying the Five Year service plan--only $288 prepaid, but you must remember to have it serviced inside of every six months to keep it valid. Service comes to your garage, and if they need to take it in, you'll get a loaner. The batteries are guaranteed 18 months new, and if any problems all 8 will be replaced. And definitely not all batteries are the same. Parcar uses deep cycle batteries, and the battery charger is built-in, and won;t overcharge. In fact it suggests you keep it plugged in all the time when at home for the life of the batteries, etc--variable charge go down to a trickle when not needed, and probably uses a lot left electricity to charge than cost to gas up. Five year cost of ownership very inexpensive, and the used models seem to hold their value very well.

So in summary, if you do get an electric--whichever make, GET the single point gravity waster fill system--saves time, no mess! Whichever cart you get--CHECK THE SEATS for comfort!! Base model seats not so comfortable. Also some add ons are cheaper aftermarket, and available online--Amazon. Ebay, especially for EZGO and Club Car--many many 3rd party add ons--Parcar was more limited, and really didn't check Star Car. We had the above electric models rated in this order--Parcar, EZGO, Club Car (all 3 close actually) and Star last. Hope this helps.