Memoirs of a Golf cart owner

Discovering the Golf Cart Lifestyle

My wife and I moved into our new house and quickly we noticed from the beginning everyone seemed in the entire community owned and was driving around golf carts. We moved here from Charlotte North Carolina in a rural community and golf carts were only seen on our local golf course.

As we unpacked and settled in our first few weeks, we met our neighbors and visited the clubhouse as well and once again golf carts everywhere. So, the wife and I discussed the possibility of buying a golf cart. We had no idea about golf carts other than occasionally I’ve played a round or two in the past at a local course or what we have been seeing riding around our neighborhood.

Researching Our First Golf Cart

So, we both started to research, and wow can you go down a rabbit hole looking at golf carts and stuff for them not to mention all the pop ups on your phone and computer that get attached after you look at stuff.

So, on a Saturday the wife and I went to a couple of golf cart shops in the area we googled to look at some carts. We were shocked at the prices of a new golf cart today. 15, 17, 20 thousand for a golf cart sounded crazy.

Trying the Marketplace Route

A neighbor suggested Marketplace and the local community board at the clubhouse certain residents post adds for things to sell. To marketplace we searched and were getting frustrated over lack of people responding or potential scammers.

We finally found two or three carts we liked and decided on one we went to purchase. We were told the golf cart was a 2015 model with one year old batteries and drove fine when we went to see the cart. We decided on a price, and we then had to go rent a trailer from Home Depot and went through that whole fiasco.

When the Cart Stopped Running

A few days after getting the cart and riding in the neighborhood the cart stopped running on us. Not knowing anything about golf carts I was like great! So, I called a few places and ended up having a golf cart shop pick up my cart up.

A day or two later the shop called to let me know my golf cart wasn’t a 2015 model but a 2005. The batteries were almost five years old, and the cart needed more than the seller led me to believe.

So, 2100.00 dollars later and new bushings, batteries and a solenoid later. So, to make a long story short I have learned a lot about golf carts since then and the golf cart shop was easy to deal with and informed me a lot.

Lesson Learned

Do your research before buying.