[The Great Fumar]

I RECENTLY READ THAT A ROOFTOP SOLAR PANEL IS AVAILABLE FOR CLUB CARS, THE PRICE IS 1500.00 AND GIVES YOU 1/3 MORE RANGE.......SOUNDS INTERESTING IF YOU PREFER ELECTRIC OVER GAS.. I HAVE TWO ELECTRIC CLUB CARS AND WAS GOING TO TRADE ONE IN ON GAS BECAUSE SOME OF THE GOLF COURSES ARE GETTING SO FAR AWAY...HOWEVER I MAY LOOK INTO THIS ..........

[PJ]

Barefoot,
Yes you can buy a reconditioned golf car right off the showroom floor. That's what I did at Golf Cart Connections, as I saw several I liked. At that time they had several available in the store. I'm no expert, but they actually look like new ones to me.

Fumar,
The rooftop solar panel interests me also. Please let us know if you get that, and if you like it etc.

[Barefoot]

We are now in TV, feverishly shopping for furniture and TVs and household goods, but most of all .. for a golf cart! I would SO welcome any advice. :dontknow:

Are there any dealers that sell all types of products, used? We have basically found only individual dealers that sell one brand, either remanufactured or new.

We know we want a four-seater electric, but each dealer we visit convinces us they have the best product, until we visit the next place. We started with Golf Cart Connection on 441 - very nice staff. They are currently saying they offer a $400 discount. The price is around $7000 including tax for a remanufactured 2003 Club Car
which looks brand new, with a 3 year bumper-to-bumper warranty.

We visited a Star dealer, I believe they run around $6500 new and say they have the fastest cart on the market. I found it offers a rough and uncomfortable ride.

At Discount Golf Cart they also remanufacture Club Cars but say they have a 10.1 HP motor as opposed to 5.5 HP at Golf Cart Connections. :dontknow: Discount offers a 5 year warranty on mechanical versus 3 year at GCC. Or so they say.

New 2008 Columbia Par Car seems to run around $8600; and according to other dealers Columbia is "new" in the business and doesn't have a track record.

We found all dealers knowledgeable and polite (with the exception of The Villages Golf Cart shop with a salesman that didn't want to answer our questions).

We are totally confused as to what to buy. I'm sure we could save money by buying used through the Daily Sun, but something under warranty seems so much more dependable! Mr. Wallethead will be flying back to Toronto to be a firefighter, and Barefoot will be all alone in TV .. so something dependable is mandatory.

And then we see a Street Rod and happy passengers and are totally convinced we need a candy red cart that looks like a fire truck :2cool:

[coach]

barefoot.... I'll give you my advise but only if you tell everyone about the trip from Canada, how the dogs behaved on the ride and whether you are happy with your villa or not. Do you promise??

I would buy either a rebuilt EZ Go or a rebuilt Club Car. Golf Car Connection is my advise for the Club Car & Town & Country for EZ GO. Town & Country is in the La Grande Shopping Center adjacent to Spanish Springs.

Coach

[comurhamer]

Whatever you do, don't buy a STAR or from that dealer. He is obnoxious and the STAR is a piece of S___ :edit:

[bamafan]

Barefoot, yes villages golf cars is terrible. We just purchased from the EZGO factory showroom on 441. Ask for Dave. We were down to a 2003 Club Car at Golf Cart connection or the EZGO. The ezgo was new and was $1400 more, but it was new. The problem I had with Golf Cart Connection was that no matter how you sliced it you were buying a 2003 golf cart. It was like buying a used cart even though they had been completely redone. After you drive it off the showroom floor it is 4 years old again. The staff at Golf Cart Connection were very knowledgeable and helpful. We spent a couple of hours with them test driving and talking. It just boiled down to the best bang and value for the buck. EZGO also has a big sale on right now.

[Barefoot]

As always, thanks, thanks, thanks for the comments. ;D Sister915, I totally agree with your comments about the Star.

Coach, thanks for your comments. I did see a rebuilt Candy Apple Red Club cart with gold stripes and fell in love with the paint job. So I do realize my thinking is a little faulty; must be because I'm sleep deprived. I do promise to write about our "sight unseen" Villa, but I'll do that in another post, don't want to antagonize the Topic Cop.
:cop:

Handie, thanks for your PM, you are an absolute doll. :bigthumbsup: I will send you a PM tomorrow. You were SO right about the shopping, and total focus on getting furniture and stuff for the house. It is all consuming, and exhausting.

Bama, that is a good perspective about "remanufactured" carts .. it is true, a 2003 Club redone cart is still 4 years old. Hadn't looked at it that way. We visited EZGO this afternoon, over $7,000 for a new electric 4 seater, (around the same price as a remanufactured Club Car), but you're getting new! Good point.

Drove a California Roadster tonight, what an adorable cart. We're also looking at a couple of other private "for sales". We'll sleep on it and make a decision tomorrow.
Gotta bite the bullet and make a decision. :

[JohnN]

barefoot, so what did you buy?
I'll be in the same situation. I'm thinking either the remanufactured club car or EZGO, just planning to test drive both

[lindaz]

Hi everyone.

We went to the golf cart connection and bought a floor model. We added some mirrors and glove boxes and they delivered it an hour later. We charged it and were on the road in another couple of hours. We paid a full $3,000 less than the new club car quoted with the same accessories.

We are very happy with the cart and the service.

[saratogaman]

Bought a reconditioned Yamaha electric from The Villages store (LSL)...very pleased. Rode past one of those police roadside speed checkers and it registered 20mph.
Annual service from The Villages store is just $38 -- including pickup and return (on the same day). It's a safety check (lights, etc.), brake adjustment, tire pressure check, battery terminal cleaning & fluid/gravity check. Can't beat the price...and the service.
Neighbor bought a new gas Club Car for $1,500 more than I paid for my Yamaha and since it would top out at only 16.5 mph, he had to pay someone else another $400 to change the differential gearing. Savings off site? I dunno.
Never ran out of juice with the electric...just plug it in after EVERY use, even if it's just a short hop to the mailbox. To check the noise issue with gas cart, stand near a cart path and listen to the conversations of people passing by: you have to shout in a gas cart to talk with you passenger. You'll hear the gas carters talking but not the electrics.

[Barefoot]

After four days of non-stop golf cart shopping we finally bought. :bigthumbsup:
Boyohboy, I'm glad that decision is made!! We learned so much during our quest. (For instance, I was told that the reason a lot of people drive around with those coloured noodles on board is to stuff the space between the windshield and the dash because a lot of windshields don't come down to the dash and let in cold air in the winter season). Our primary consideration was reliability and ease of use as Mr. Wallethead (also known as "He Who Refuses to Retire") won't be around a lot of the time.

We were looking for 4 seater electric, and considered EZGO (new), California Roadster, Yamaha, Star, Columbia Par Car, and Remanufactured Club Carts (looked at Golf Cart Connection and Discount Golf Cart.)

We finally purchased a 2007 "gently used" Columbia Par Car with over two years of warranty remaining. We were told they have a 60 mile range when charged, compared to 40 miles with other companies. Probably not true, but who knows! I especially liked the ease of battery charging and topping up the water in the batteries; also the windshield comes right down to the dash board. It has some "goodies", a sweater shelf, very comfortable upgraded seats -- many carts we considered had uncomfortable vinyl seats. I know, I know, we should have bought for motor and tires, not sweater shelves!! But then we be newbies and have no idea what we're doing.

I'll be picking up the cart Wednesday at the other end of TV and driving it back home. Warn your loved ones to stay off the roads!! ;D

[villages07]

Congrats, Barefoot....that is one of the biggest and most important decisions you'll make when you arrive here. We all love our golf carts and I'm sure you will too. Folks back in Canada will not believe you're tooling around in a golf cart in the middle of February!!!

[Russ_Boston]

Barefoot - Report back on this thread in a couple of weeks to let us know how the range works out. It looks like the Par Car is the most 'car' like of the choices.

I noticed on their web site that the windshield goes all the way down but does it fold to allow the top to be down like most golf cars? I couldn't see that in the brochure.

Russ

[gingersmom]

We bought both of our carts in Houston before we moved here and then had them shipped. The hubby has the spiffy 2004 Club Car w/ all the bells and whistles and I have a 4-seater that was custom made for me. The back seat folds down and become a little flatbed, like a truck. We saved mucho dinero. Including the price of shipping we still saved about $4k.

[Bubbalarry]

Why not a Yamaha Drive 2007 or 08. I hear they are great golf carts both gas or electric.
That they are sealed units with steel vs. aluminum frames guaranteed not to rust or erode for 30+ years vs EZGO & Club Car which are much lighter and supposedly not as safe.

Difference is like a Chevy to a Lexus