My $200 Craigslist 1996 Club Car DS project!

tmd07

Sorry, this is kind of a long story but I wanted to explain how I got into the golf cart world and how I ended up with the cart we have.
So we recently started seasonal camping. We had a 17' older camper that we used to tow around but lost interest in always moving it and setting up etc. We bought a 2011 32' double slide out with all the bells and whistles already on a seasonal site. After a few weekends at the campground we started noticing a lot of golf carts showing up and zipping by Some stock, some modified. One day the wife says "we should get a golf cart". After spending a lot of time on eBay, Craigslist and this forum I was hooked. I missed a few good deals. Some of them I inquired about sold within minutes or hours of the ad going up. I figured these were a hot item and I would have to be patient or spend a lot of money to find a good one. Then I find one on Craigslist about 2 hours away from my house and I email the guy. The ad basically says: 1996 Club Car DS 48volt Power Drive with regenerative brakes. Needs new batteries and tires. Comes with a cover and battery charger. This is a steal, need this out of my driveway, must be able to pick it up. My message was basically: "If this is still available I will buy it for the $200" and left my phone number. About a half hour later I get a reply saying he's had a lot of emails but just question. He tells me if I can come pick it up it's mine. The pictures below is all I saw from the Craigslist AD and took a chance. I figured for $200 I could just resell it or part it out if it was bad.

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BGW

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TexasLongball

What's it look like under there??? :D

tmd07

We make the trip out on May 9th. The cart is in better shape than I thought, we load it up on my trailer and bring it home.

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tmd07

Got busy with life and it sat on my trailer for about a week before I could mess with it. Took it off the trailer and gave it a long overdue bath and filled the tires to see if they would hold air. I was shocked at how clean and unmolested it was. It still had old Trojan T-875 batteries in it from 2004! The owner said it last ran in 2013 and it sat all of 2014 because he was away in the military. I found a can of silver paint and gave the original hubcaps a freshening up LOL.

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tmd07

About a week and a half ago I brought it up to our campsite and parked it under the awning to get it off my driveway. Memorial Day weekend we were camping and I took out the old batteries. Tuesday after Memorial Day I made the trip up to the local Interstate Battery dealer and picked up the new ones. I then drove straight to the campsite and put them in and wired it all back up. It lives again!

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tmd07

This is where I'm at as of today. I purchased a rear flip seat kit and it was delivered but they forgot to include the roof supports and shipped those out yesterday. I also ordered spare keys, a light kit and new battery hold down rods and hardware. Mine are pretty rusty and actually thin/deteriorating near the threads but I used them for now until the new ones arrive. By the way I made a trip to the camper today to check on things and only the front left tire was going low. They are dry rotted but have been holding air for about 3 weeks! I also plugged in the charger and left it to maintain the batteries until we get up there again. My future plans are a lift kit, wheels, tires, and paint. I'm still researching what size and type of lift and which wheels and tires I want. I did order the rear seat in black. I am trying to find the newer style seat with the 1 piece backrest and the newer style bottom and handles. I then plan to recover those in black to match the rear seat. Also I think the roof will be painted black unless I find a good deal on a black extended roof.

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blazebuggy

I'm also looking to install a rear seat kit and newer style front seat back on my '92.

Unforgiven

One other thing I need you to do.

get dozen or so lemons, cut lemons in half, squeeze lemons in a glass, drink juice.

this should help wipe that grin off your face.

good deal, good find

tmd07

That's awesome! Yeah I almost felt bad after I got it cleaned up and saw how good it was for such low $$. Then when I put the batteries in and it ran. Plus the charger works too. Home run!

tmd07

I'm still waiting on my roof supports. I thought they would be here today. I'll post a before and after picture when I get it on. My battery holder rods showed up today. Still waiting on the light kit too.