New Member/Owner - 2015 EZGO RXV

enki

Hello Everyone!
I just purchased a used 2015 (I believe) EZGO RXV Freedom cart. I did a lot of pre-purchase research on this forum, so I figured I would join, say HI and ask a couple questions I was hoping people here might be able to help me with :).

This is our first golf cart, though I've driven them a few times before. We bought it mainly to drive around our FL community, etc. I've been wanting one for a while, but couldn't really justify the expense (to my wife). But one of our neighbors was selling their's for what, to me, seemed like a very reasonable price. They bought it new, according to them, from a dealership in AZ about 2 years ago. In the two moves since, they lost all the documentation and didn't really know much about it. Didn't even know it was an EZGO (thought it was a Club Car). Based on the pictures and inspection, I determined it was an RXV. The manufacturing sticker says 2/26/2015, so everything looked good. The cart is in immaculate shape, going along with their story that it has been barely used since they bought it (husband got very sick). Batteries looked good and came with the Hydrolink system. Drives great, etc. We ended up buying it for $2500 -- hopefully that was good, but based on my research I believe it was.

Anyway, I downloaded the manual and read up on it to make sure I understood the ins and outs. But I still had a couple concerns. Not really concerns I guess, more just questions I was confused about. The previous owners were old and seemed extremely trustworthy. But they also didn't really know much about it. I'm uploading a picture of it plus what I believe is the manufacture date. So my questions:

1) Am I correct in my assumption that this is a 2015 EZGO RXV Freedom?

2) Is there a reason why it was debadged, with all the EZGO decals removed? They didn't do it and said it came that way. I was surprised a dealer would have done it without being asked.

3) The seats don't look standard and are not vinyl. They are very comfortable and look premium, and are a kind of cloth. Was this a factory option or something custom?

4) Does this look like a factory cart, or something customized in general? The wheel caps say "SS" on them, which to me would mean something like SuperSport. I doubt the previous 80yo owners would have customized it like this, but maybe they bought one that was done that way either by the dealer or a previous customer who decided not to buy it? To summarize, it looks great, but I didn't know how it got that way. The previous owners said they bought it for $6k "new".

5) Am I correct that there is no manufacturers warranty applicable here? On EZGO's website, it says it only applies to the original owner. What's weird is that the people I bought it from, when I asked, said it only came with a 90-day warranty, which makes me think they might have technically been the second owner.

6) Prior to purchase, I examined it to the best of my ability (I'm not technical, but read up online about checking batteries, etc.). It drives great and looks factory fresh cosmetically. No sign of rust or any problems on the frame. Garage kept the entire time. Is there anything else I should examine. It's too late now, but at least to look for problems to be fixed.

7) Is the sticker photo the manufacture date?

Should I get it checked out by a local service shop just to make sure everything is good, or just drive it and worry about problems if they occur?

Thanks!

Attached Images

	Cart.jpg (230.2 KB, 0 views)
	Sticker.jpg (198.9 KB, 0 views)

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cgtech

The body wasn't "de badged", it's not original. If you order a replacement body from Ezgo, it comes with no badges or reflectors. That sticker looks like it is on the red body, which doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the actual age of the cart itself. New Ezgos from the factory have a 3 year warranty. The steering column should have a serial number sticker, another sticker would be on the frame just above the driver's side front wheel (and a date code). Shopezgo.com has a serial number lookup to tell you the year. From what I'm seeing, new body & bogus 90 day warranty, leads me to think that cart being a "refurbish" used cart. Even if so, $2500 isn't a bad deal, if it has good batteries (what type? How old are they? Date code is stamped into top of terminal "C5" = Mar, 2015).

enki

Ah, that's good to know. I had a feeling something was off since it didn't have the badging or logos. The sticker I sent earlier was actually inside of the battery housing area on the interior wall (drivers side). Based on what I'm about to say next, I assume this is the date of the replacement body.

The serial number on the steering column was scraped up a bit at the end so I couldn't see the whole serial number. However, I just looked under the drivers side wheel and found it on the frame. I looked it up on EZGO's website and it came up with:
Make: RXV
Type: Electric 48 V
Model: RXV Standard
Year: 2011

After I saw that the SN was only 7 digits, I realized I could make out it on the steering wheel sticker, but the last part (date) was missing.

So either the previous owners lied, which I doubt, or the dealership lied or somehow misled them. Because it was 4 years old when they bought it based on the 2011 manufacture date above. This might explain the new body and seat upholstery. Would it have still been worth $6k when they bought it?

The batteries appear to be 2-3 years old. One says A5 (Jan 15) and two others say K4 (Nov 14). The one all the way under the back isn't easy to see, but I think it ends in 4 too. They are all Trojan T1275s. I'm attaching a picture of the battery compartment.

So assuming it is a refurbished 2011 model with ~2 year old batteries, does $2500 still sound OK?

Attached Images

Batteries.jpg (214.7 KB, 0 views)

cgtech

Meh, just ok. Will likely be needing batteries soon. When it does, consider getting the new tray & installing 6x 8v batteries instead. I would have been happier if it were the 2012.5 & newer model with the Curtis controller at that price. Parts for the older Danaher one are harder to get. The older Danaher RXV doesn't fetch near as much money as the newer model.

enki

Thanks. Well I guess that addresses most of my original questions. I think I might contact the seller and see about renegotiating the price then. The bill of sale they gave me was for a 2015 model, which this clearly is not. I still don't think they were deceitful, but in the end it is 4 years older.

Assuming the batteries were well cared for, which I think is the case since they have the watering system installed and he said he filled it regularly and they look good, I imagine I can hopefully get a couple more years out of them. I did read about the 6x8 conversion you mentioned.

Quick follow-up questions. Do you know how much it would cost for the conversion and batteries? Would it be about the same price for getting 4x12v replacements of the same type? Also, can the controller be swapped/upgraded, or is that too costly to even warrant consideration?

Overall, well a bit disappointed with my discovery, I still like the cart and it still looks good as new. The headlights are LED (not sure if that was original in 2011 or part of the refurb), and everything works well. I guess it didn't look 6 years old so I didn't think to look into it more when buying. Lesson learned I guess.

cgtech

Battery upgrade is a little more money, but will reward you with longer service life. Controller can be upgraded, but don't unless the controller or wire harness in yours fails (it's an expensive deal). Ezgo does not offer LED lights from the factory, so who knows about the lights.

kgsc

Like cg said $2500 isn't a great price but not horrible. Cart looks clean and it functions well run with it. As said it is probably a dealer flip with a new body, seats and lights. Now if they paid 6k for it they paid too much.

dougs_huntingcart

Enki:
Welcome to the forum. IMO 2500 really isn't a bad price although I'm sure you have a real bad taste after finding out the cart isn't the year you were told! I'd definitely call the seller out on that major detail. Consider what alternatives you have... is getting all your money back an option?.... would you now spend more to really get a 2012 or newer cart, or with a little incentive $$$ would you keep this one and upgrade it? ... that's a personal choice.

enki

Thanks for both of your replies.

I spoke to my wife last night and we agreed to just let it go. We are going to have it serviced very soon to get inspected by a professional, and assuming nothing major is discovered, will just enjoy the cart. If something major is discovered, that's another story, but based on my examination and driving I doubt that will be the case. As I mentioned earlier, I still don't think we were purposely deceived. The previous seller may have been, or just misunderstood (they are 80+ years old). She didn't even know the make until I questioned her assumption it was a "Club Car" before coming over. We live in a small community and they put 2015 on the bill of sale, which I'm pretty sure covers me if things went really sour, so we truly believe it was an honest mistake on their part.

We also looked online for comparative sales and everything we could see was in the $3-4k range. Plus we didn't need to pay for tax or delivery. So I still think we came out ahead a bit, though not as good as for a true 2015 model.

I was doing some more research on the forums last night, and it seems like the general consensus is that the battery watering systems are not good. Which is a shame because I really loved the simplicity and concept. It also seems like people aren't fans of Trojans which I found surprising because I thought they were considered top of the line. Regarding the batteries, assuming that they were replaced with new ones in 2015 and, with the previous owners, they pretty much just sat hooked up to a charger most of the time since with very little use, would that mean they should last longer or shorter than more active use? For our purposes, we aren't going to be driving it a lot -- mainly just down to the community pool or park and back, maybe to go see a neighbor, etc.

My next step is to figure out what mods we're going to do to it. Most likely back seats, maybe a lift kit and bigger tires... :D

Marauder

Cant help on the rest of your questions but if I were you, I would definitely keep the cart and move forward. Maybe go back to them and see if you can get any concession on the price if you want to fool with it but I would love to find that cart where I live for that price.

I am looking for my first cart now. I have not found anything close to that clean near me for anything close to that price. Maybe it is the area I am in. Florida is the capital of golf courses and neighborhoods that allow carts (in my opinion).