[whippersnapper]

Also Battery or Gas.

I hear maint on Battery golf carts is more expensive in the long run.

[Mudder]

You'll get lots of advice on this one. We have two gas and happy with both. Bought both used so don't know about new prices. You can get a good used one for anywhere from $2000 to whatever!

[villagegolfer]

Get yourself a used gas Yamaha and don't ever worry much about maintenance.
Just do a regular $75 tuneup every year and that is it. Get a battery-powered and you have to remember to charge it and worry about the batteries.After 3 years or so you can expect to pay hundreds of dollars for new batteries.

[CMANN]

Originally Posted by whippersnapper

Also Battery or Gas.

I hear maint on Battery golf carts is more expensive in the long run.

Golf cart expense $ 38.00 per month, includes batteries.

[GTTPF]

New golf carts run from about $6000.00 on the low end to around $12k you can also go crazy and spend $25k. It all depends on what you want. I prefer gas TV is getting too big for electric IMHO Good Luck.

[bkcunningham1]

It is confusing at first. Gas versus electric. What brand to buy. Where to buy. At first, when we first bought our house two years ago and were snowflakes, we rented a gas and then an electric. I do not like the smell or sound of gas.

We are fulltime in TV and now have a 2012 Yamaha electric custom 4-seater from The Villages Golf Cart Store and a used 2005 electric Yamaha two-seater. Both our carts have 8-six volt batteries.

Nothing to it. No gas to store. No going to the gas station. The only thing we have to do is check the distilled water in the batteries every few months. We have our charges positioned so that we plug them in when we pull into the carport and golf cart garage.

We can go anywhere in TV that you can get to in a cart and get back home without any problems. We go, go, go. Believe me. We take them everywhere. We live on the historic side and cross the golf cart bridge across 466 nearly everyday. No problems.

We bought our used cart for $2400 and our new cart was...well, not $2,400. To me, one isn't better or worse than another. It just depends on what you like. I like the ease and quietness of the electric.

[John_W]

A new 2012 gas Yamaha from the Villages Golf shop will run from $8800 to $11,500 fully loaded, which means radio and the works.

I just went through this on the 4th of July I bought a new 2011 solid Black Yamaha gas model from The Villages dealer with gold pin striping and a black sun shade, it was reduced $600 to $8200 year end closeout plus an upgraded carbon fiber dash included. I added everything but the radio and speedometer and it hit about $10,000 plus tax. That included having the roof painted black $295, Ultimate Seats with armrests $1,495, gas gauge $89, SS wheels (a nice option for $120), sand bottle $39, big folding mirrors $32, running lights on the side $90, grocery bag $49, LED rear light bar $89. Other golfers have told me multiple times it's the best looking Yamaha they have seen. Electric has it's advantages, but the gas model will probably be the last one I'll ever have to buy and no putting out $800 for batteries in 3 or 4 years.

Radios installed overhead by the dealer are $450 and $650 (sounds fantastic), you can find them online for about $250 to $400 and install yourself or have someone else do it. Speedometers you can have installed for $75, the dealer wanted $250 combined with the gas gauge, so subtract $89 for the gas gauge.

I could of gotten a just as nice looking 2010 Club Car from Grandma & Grandpa on Hwy 27 for $8300. He gets year old carts from a course in Virginia that he use to work at. The outside looks beautiful, just as nice as mine with Ultimate seats and all. The one I looked at was $8300 plus tax, however I figured a year's use at a golf course is probably equal to 4 or 5 years use by a Villager.

I asked them if they rebuilt the engine or refurbished anything, and they said when you buy a used car do they rebuild the engine, the answer was of course no. Also, the owner is a nice guy and works hard but if you need any maintenance it will have to be trailered to their shop outside TV and it's just like the name, a two person operation. If the owner dropped dead tomorrow they are probably out of business. I felt better paying $1700 more to the Villages dealer for a brand new model and the convenience of having them around for maintenance and the operation doesn't hinge on one or two people. In fact, everytime I go in there they have people at 3 or 4 desks filled with customers buying carts, busier than any car dealer I've seen, and they have three locations.

[whippersnapper]

Im looking at somthing simple at first I kinda want to check into a customized one later on so not reallly wanting a 8 to 10k expense up front. But the wife will want the BMW of golfcarts of course.

[John_W]

Originally Posted by whippersnapper

Im looking at somthing simple at first I kinda want to check into a customized one later on so not reallly wanting a 8 to 10k expense up front. But the wife will want the BMW of golfcarts of course.

After doing a lot of research I figured a gas Yamaha was my ultimate choice, so no sense in messing around, I bought the best and hopefully will never have to replace it for the rest of my life. Finding cheaper transportation while you do your research, you can probably get something decent for about $4,000. Look in classified section of the newspaper if you can trust another private owner, or I would probably go to The Villages Yamaha dealer and buy a used trade-in cart from them. There is a greater chance of a problem and at least you have a reliable dealer to turn to when that happens and possibly will get a decent amount when you eventually trade your used cart in.

[bkcunningham1]

We just moved my father-in-law into a house last week. We took him to buy a cart today. We found a 2001 Club Car, four-seater with the extended roof to cover the rear facing back seats, with a sunbrella and new batteries for $2500. It is a really nice cart and we got a really good deal IMHO.

[hedoman]

[QUOTE=John_W;403097]A new 2012 gas Yamaha from the Villages Golf shop will run from $8800 to $11,500 fully loaded, which means radio and the works.

I just went through this on the 4th of July I bought a new 2011 solid Black Yamaha gas model from The Villages dealer with gold pin striping and a black sun shade, it was reduced $600 to $8200 year end closeout plus an upgraded carbon fiber dash included. I added everything but the radio and speedometer and it hit about $10,000 plus tax. That included having the roof painted black $295, Ultimate Seats with armrests $1,495, gas gauge $89, SS wheels (a nice option for $120), sand bottle $39, big folding mirrors $32, running lights on the side $90, grocery bag $49, LED rear light bar $89. Other golfers have told me multiple times it's the best looking Yamaha they have seen. Electric has it's advantages, but the gas model will probably be the last one I'll ever have to buy and no putting out $800 for batteries in 3 or 4 years.

We did this around the same time this year with The Villages Golf Cars and love our new carts. Got the ultimate seats so comfy! (a must if you drive to town a lot like we do), gas gauge, breezy easy a/c ,curtis cab doors and a host of things LOVE IT! Love the new car smell LOL

We didn't go the "find a deal" route as I wanted a car that I can count on and the 5 year warranty helps.

BTW some questions were asked if the Curtis Cab is too hot in the heat. IMHO I do not notice it at all and when it began to drizzle the other night on the way to LSL we just closed the doors and turned on the A/C without stopping. You do have to get used to the blind spots while driving but that takes all of 5 minutes

[debzaranti]

The type of golf cart you buy is definitely a very PERSONAL choice (as you can tell by reading these posts). Everyone has an opinion and a list of likes and dislikes for each type of cart available.

IMHO:
Pros for gas carts are the extended range and (I've been told) lower maintenance costs. Cons are: Air pollution, noise pollution, hassle of having to fill gas tank, gas smell in your garage, jerky ride.

Pros for electric carts are smooth, silent ride, they are very green...no noise or air pollution, no money spent on gasoline or the hassle of getting it all over when filling the tank, plug in/charge/go...very convenient. Cons are: range limited to about 40 mi/charge, cost of battery replacement (about $700 every 3 years), have to add distilled water to batteries about once a month, have to be careful to NOT overfill or batteries can "boil over" and make a mess on garage floor.

If you haven't figured it out yet, we have an electric cart. Even though it looks like my (very honest) "cons" outweigh the gas cons, I still would NEVER consider a gas cart. The fumes from them choke me up....hate being behind one, especially in the tunnels. This is MY opinion. Ultimately you will form you own opinions. It's a really good idea to rent both and drive them around for a few days to help you decide.

We bought our electric cart from Masters Golf Carts across from The Markets of Marion on 441/27 going north toward Ocala. We bought a remanufactured 2001 Club Car in March of 2008. May of 2010 we had Masters re-remanufacture it. They took it down to the frame (even painted the frame) and now everybody thinks we have a brand new cart. Looks great! Original purchase price on it was around $4K (it's a 4 seater). We spent just under $3K having it remanufactured. Worth every penny. Masters has been around for about 10 years and are very easy to work with and reliable. If you have cart issues, they come get it, fix it in your garage if possible, or take it to their shop if not. Prices are reasonable.

Good luck on your decision!

[davbrindle]

If you don't mind noise and stink a gas cart is the way to go, if you like a quite leisurely ride there is no comparison to and electric. I've gotten over thirty miles on a charge and never had an issue. How far do you want to go ina day anyway.