Golf cart usage
 

Just curious how many hours per year people put on their golf carts in TV? We haven't bought one yet, but the question came up in our discussions. Obviously, there are factors that come into play such as is the cart used for golf, are you located near the squares and shopping, etc.

I thought I would buy a cart when I moved here, but I eventually decided to not buy one. Personally, I don't think they are safe when you need to share the road with large vehicles and trucks. Also, many people discover that they are inconvenient and slow for shopping, and decide to use their car instead.

No golf for us and about 2,200 miles per year. A 15mph avg speed overall would give about 150 hours per year.

It's nice having the variety of both car and golf cart.

"Variety is the spice of life"

Approximately 200 hours per year on the gas cart and 150 hours per year on the electric cart.

About 175 hours on my cart and 50 on my wife’s cart. We are at the Villages about 5 1/2 months per year. We almost never use a car while at the Villages.

Since we downsized to only one car, the golf cart serves as our second vehicle. Very handy for getting the mail or going to friends' houses or rec centers. It gets used almost daily.

I suggest number of trips is more important than number of hours.

Don’t know how many hours but my cart has around 19K miles in 7 years. Still runs like new. I put about 3K year on my car if I don’t go out of state.

Honestly curious: Do those 175 hours represent time the cart was actually moving or does it include time the cart was waiting for you to make your shot?

I find that my average speed with stop signs, corners, merges, etc turns out to be 15mph. At 175 hours that would be 2,625 miles. If that was traveled in 5 1/2 months it would be something like 110 miles per week or 15 miles per day every day. I like riding in the cart and we use it as much as possible but nothing like an hour a day every day.

Yeah - it's gonna be a personal choice.

For me, golf carts are just fun. I like fun. I want to ride around and explore and have my hair in the wind.

It's like my JetSki.. Sure, it's safer if I take my pontoon boat and then I don't need to worry as much about other boats hitting me, but my JetSki is just fun. I like fun. I want to ride around the lake and TN river and explore and have my hair (I still have a full head!) in the wind.

So, personal choice. Yours works for you, mine works for me. Ain't America great? :)

OP, lots of anecdotal information. But, my non-scientific estimate is that, on a nice day, the number of golf carts parked in a golf cart accessible shopping center, will be about 5 percent or less of the total number of vehicles. I would suggest that you do your own estimate.

We rent a cart when the family comes to visit, just for the "fun" experience. But we don't golf and most places we visit seem too far and long to go to via cart, so we use the car. And we like it that way. Rent a cart, see how you like it, before buying.

Shopping centers - sure.
Rec centers - depends on the event but could be over 50% carts
Squares - Over 50% carts around the square, lower percentage in parking lots but still a significant number

Carts are fun. While I am aware of the cars and trucks around me when I am on a street, I don't feel endangered at all.

I figure I save nearly $200 in fuel and $400 in insurance owning a second cart over owning and using a second car.

But hey, it's not for everyone. No heater and no A/C in the cart. Cart is noisier than the car. Can't carry as many people in the cart. Fewer people in the cart to annoy me. Easier to find a parking spot for the cart.

Renting before buying is a good idea. We essentially did that when we used the cart that was provided as part of the Lifestyle visit.

The hour meter on a gas Yamaha only registers time when the engine is running. About an hour and a half, on average, of daily driving time sounds about correct. Between Executives and Champs, a round about 5 days per week. Back and forth to one of the various sports pools to swim laps about 6 days per week. About three trips a day to bring the dog to one of our various walking places. Occasional trips to estate sales. Runs to Publix, Fresh Market, Sprouts, Lowe’s, Ace Hardware, Tropical Smoothie etc…. A drive to LSL or SS to check out the band and grab some take out. Going to one of the outdoor exercise equipment facilities to work out. Taking the dog to go bass fishing in one of the ponds. Visiting friends, and sometimes just going for a ride with the dog. The hour meter on the cart is frequently running.

& how many of those cars in shopping lots belong to: employees of the shops, & non-villagers?

Your guess is as good as mine. But, I believe that more than half of the cars at the Colony Plaza Publix are Villagers doing grocery shopping. Also, many of the employees are Villagers who could drive a golf cart to work. There are hundreds of Villages houses located on both sides of Rt 466A. A lot of those homeowners own a golf cart, but they don't drive it to Publix. I think there is a golf cart novelty that wears off when people realize that it is more convenient to use a car or SUV. But, again, your guess is as good as mine.

I'd guestimate a minimum 5000 miles a year which is only 100 a week. Could easily be 50% more.

Around 100 hours a year. Do play champ golf 2X a week and our house is < 1mile from square. Drive our car to other squares. Use car whenever we believe that parking is not a problem

And the difference this makes is?

5% golf carts makes it seem like very few Villagers take golf carts to the shopping centers. However, employees and non-villagers who do not drive carts would skew the percentages. If 80% of the cars were driven by employees and non-Villagers then that would raise the rate of Villagers utilizing golf carts to about 21%.

Still a small number but considerably greater than 5%.

I haven't kept track. But I use my golf cart for almost everything that can be accessed via golf cart in The Villages. Unless the weather's bad, or if driving home will involve being blinded by the sun as it sets. We did do some actual testing, and it turned out that it takes less time to get from Orange Blossom Country Club to Spanish Springs Town Square by golf cart, than it takes by car. And of course the Plaza Grande West shopping plaza is right next door to the square, and the Target plaza is right next to that. The convenience of /not/ having to deal with traffic on 441 makes it worth the extra few minutes getting from the Square to Petco.

I also sometimes take the cart alllllll the way down to Brownwood when there's a festival I want to see. And now that I know how to get to Edna's, I'll be taking the cart next time. I also go to my dentist and most of my doctors via golf cart. It's much more relaxing and the ride can be actually enjoyable.

Most weeks - I average around 8 hours of driving, round trip. Some weeks not even an hour, some weeks 15 or more. Really depends on what's going on from one week to another, the weather conditions, and whether or not I'm in a hurry (which is rare, these days).

wow..................50 hours per week of non-stop driving.

Don't mean 5 hours? 100 miles would take 5 hours of driving at 20 miles per hour.

:bigbow::bigbow::bigbow:

:faint:

200 hours a year average for us.

[QUOTE=

I also sometimes take the cart alllllll the way down to Brownwood when there's a festival I want to see. And now that I know how to get to Edna's, I'll be taking the cart next time. .[/QUOTE]

That's a long trip for you (to Edna's on the Rocks); how long does it take? :gc:

By car, it took around a half hour. By golf cart, I'm guessing it'd take an hour, give or take.

It severely alters his point.

It was a valuable distinction, many employees & shoppers at Colony Cottage & the surrounding shopping plazas are from nearby areas - not golf cart accessible.

Not sure about hours, but it's extremely rare that we don't use ours multiple times per day. We never drive to the Squares in our car, always golf cart, same for dining unless it's an off-Villages property. Grocery shopping is always done with the golf cart unless we're going to Sam's club.

Which by the way, RetiredGuy gracefully acknowledged.

I’m not sure about hours but our cart is coming up on 1 year old very shortly and we have almost 4,000 miles on it. We use it a lot for everything including golf and I drive it to Brownwood to work 3 days per week. Much much cheaper than driving any other vehicle and the slower speed really allows you to take in the beauty of where we live. Would not want to be without it!

We use our cart for all errands in the villages, our car only for trips outside of the bubble in mosr any weather

Cart Usage
 

Been here a little over two years and average about 180 hours/year. Use is mainly golf.

I'm here mid-September through mid-May. How much I use my cart depends a lot on the weather. With the relatively cool, damp weather we had from mid-December until now I have used the car more often than I typically would if the weather were warm.

In nice weather I'll run about 100 miles a season. Like many, when I first got here it was a novel and fun way to get around TV, but after 6 seasons it has lost some (but not all) of its luster. I still enjoy it on a nice day. If I didn't have one, I'm not sure I'd fork over 15 or 20 K to have one. I'd probably get a used one, as it does allow us to function well with only one car.

We love our carts and use them as much as possible - very relaxing! Like driving a convertible. We don’t golf, but use our carts for shopping, appointments and recreation. For safety, get seat belts and use them. Most serious injuries in an accident occur because of being thrown from the cart and striking your head.

Very close to our usage. We bought our gas cart new in June of 2021 and have 700 hours on the hour gauge. Our gas cart we bought used and have added about 7000 miles in the last 4 years. Use the electric cart more since we upgraded to lithium. We are not golfers! We love our carts!

I put 150 miles (9-10 hrs)/wk on my golf cart.

We have one car and one electric cart. We average 2400 miles a year. We had 30,000 miles on our first electric cart when we upgraded to another electric cart with doors. One thing I didn't anticipate when we moved to The Villages was enjoying the golf cart lifestyle.

EZGO elite have 3900k in less than 2 years. Play a lot of golf. We are here most of the time unless we are visiting Grandchildren. Enjoy riding and listening to music and the fantastic scenery.

This post is the closest to our experience. We don’t work in Brownwood but do take our dog on his daily golf cart ride. We use the cart for 3,500 to 4,000 miles a year, saving miles off of our SUV. We golf a few times a week & use the cart for quick trips to the store, bank etc.

It is safer to traverse the cart trails than risk life & limb on the roundabouts here, especially this time of year. 14 years here & the cart is still fun.