New member, looking to buy 1st cart

ugaDAWGS09

Hey everyone I'm a new member here. I'm looking to buy my first gas golf cart. I live in a good size neighborhood and I'm probably the only person there without a golf cart.

I would like to have a good riding cart for the neighborhood and surrounding areas. I'm trying to decide what kind of cart to purchase. I would like to get a cart with the flip back seat. I'm planning on a few upgrades including a lift and tires/wheels, radio, nice paint and seats.

I'm not sure if I should go with a basic 2 inch, or go for the bigger 3 or 6 inch lifts, and also not really familiar with tire sizes for golf carts. A nice smooth ride is important, but I would like for it to look nice with a little more aggressive look. Should I be looking for an older refurbished cart, or look for an older cart and have the work done myself?

BGW

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crash test dummy

i did a 2001 Club Car DS i went with the 6" lift and hd springs also the 23" a/t tires
it is a very smooth ride and an eye catcher


there is no feeling like building your own (or one for your brother )

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Welcome to BGW

sccowboy

First thing to look at is your budget and how much do you want to get into yourself. If you are mechanically inclined, then you could do everything to a basic cart yourself and get the satisfaction of a job you were fully involved in.

ugaDAWGS09

That looks great. I could probably find an early 2000 model DS for a pretty good price. So the 23 inch a/t tires ride good on asphalt and dirt (if needed)? What size wheels do you have on there? What would be a good estimate for the cost to fix one up like that? I know it's an older cart but I would think the engine would be great for years to come.

There is a local shop in my hometown that can help with the work, and he installs the blinkers and necessary lights.

ugaDAWGS09

I'm hoping to get the cart and be able to complete upgrades for under 6k. I'm not the type that can do the upgrades myself so I'll have to factor in labor.

crash test dummy

12x6 Tempest Golf Cart Wheels
Sahara Classic 22x11-12 All Terrain Tires

lift and tire combo $850
hd springs $100
dash $100
steering wheel $50
lights $25
flip rear seat $275

sccowboy

You can easily locate a good cart and do what you want to it for that budget. All the information and resources are right here on this forum to do the work yourself. Unless you are just wanting a turn key deal, that will save you a lot of money in shop labor, etc. 6k should get it done turn key. Take your time and ask lots of questions as far as whatever cart you find. Don't impulse buy anything. You could easily be taken for a ride if you don't know what you are looking at.

Isaac-1

If you are not looking for outright speed consider the EZGO RXV, introduced in 2008 so now showing up on the used market, I am still new to all this golf cart stuff and just bought one with flip down rear seats a couple of weeks ago, (still busy freshening and adding a few mods). This is the first electric golf cart I have owned, but I have driven a number of them on occasion over the years, and the comfort of the stock street ride on the RXV is better than any of them by far. This is likely due to the A arm front suspesion with coil over shocks much like a modern car, vs the more traditional leaf springs front and rear on older golf cart designs. The RXV uses a 48V AC drive system, basically a variable frequency drive controller powering a 3 phase drive motor, vs a traditional DC drive system (either series or shunt). The Upside of this is good economy and good performance without modification. The down side is it is different from what people have been working with for 50 years, and does not like people poking around in the wiring which can easily fry the expensive AC controller. (everyting from the key switch to the brake pedal are inputs to the controller). You will also see a lot of people saying there are no mods out there for the RXV, which is not exactly true, there are very few driveline performance mods, but there is getting to be a good bit of bling, as well as lift kits. Speaking of lift kits, for neighborhood driving you don't really need one with an RXV as they sit a couple of inches higher than traditional carts, and can fit 20+ tires without a lift kit, I just added some 20 inch tires on 10 inch wheels to mine here is the link http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/elect...combo-rxv.html .

ps I paid $1975 for my 2010 RXV stock with 1 year old batteries and aftermarket rear seat as seen in my avatar photo, and have spent $500 or so freshening and upgrading so far (added DC-DC converter, fresh windsheild, new wheels and tires, state of charge meter, HD springs that should have been added with rear seat, etc.)

ugaDAWGS09

As far as body style is it just all about preference? I don't really have a preference as far as EZGO or Club car or Yamaha. Is there a certain body that will hold up better since I'm getting an older cart? That Club Car DS does look really good.

ugaDAWGS09

I don't know much about the RXV, but I've had people recommend the Valor body style to me. I think it has a stock 2 inch lift and bigger tires.