Thoughts on which cart to buy? EZGO RXV, PDS or Club Car?

[briebb]

I know you're the experts. We're shopping for a family campground cruiser; mostly paved surfaces with some hills.

I've found 3 that I like, and would appreciate advice on each, for which you think would fit our needs best. (Photos of all 3 attached.)

1. 2010 Custom RXV, orange & black. Expected speeds on this cart? Known issues? Ease of modifying, if needed? Why would you choose this one? (Photos of cart and batteries below.)

2. 2011 Custom Club Car, Lime Green. Expected speeds on this cart? Known issues? Ease of modifying, if needed? Why would you choose this one? (Photo of cart below.)

3. 2010 Custom ST body PDS, aqua blue. Expected speeds on this cart? Known issues? Ease of modifying, if needed? Why would you choose this one? I'm aware this has original electronics, and the controller & wires should be upgraded - Not super excited about immediately spending more money on it, but willing if "this is the one." I do like the outside looks of this one the best, but also thought interior battery compartment might show some rust. (Photos of cart and batteries below.)

THANK YOU for all your help!! I really appreciate it, as being a newbie in this market can be a real head scratcher.

[kernal]

Some thoughts:

1. RXV state of the art, AC motor (48v)

Pluses: Most powerful of the three. Won't slow down on moderate hills even with multiple passengers. Top speed set by dealer. Max legally is 19-20mph. With 20"tires cart will make 22-23 mph with no other mods.

minuses: 12v batteries are not optimum for range per charge and service life. Can easily be converted to 8v batteries later when current batteries die if desired. Cart is not user friendly for repairs. Getting educated on how the cart works will help you get a long and trouble free service life. The low profile tires on that particular cart my give a rougher than desired ride. Charger that comes with it is not repairable and not very reliable.

2. Club Car (Precedent) In production since 2004. DC motor (48v) Solid, reliable, proven cart.

Pluses. If it has 8v batteries (likely) they are better for range per charge and longevity. Proven and reliable charging system. Lots of performance and functional/stylistic mods available. Top speed is 19-20 mph set by dealer. Larger tires will give it a couple of MPH but sacrifice acceleration and hill climbing. Included tires on this particular cart might give a better ride than the RXV.

minuses: Will slow down with multiple passengers and climbing hills. I personally don't like how they sit. You should sit in all the carts before purchase (your partner also, especially if vertically challenged)


3. This is a 36v cart. Not the equal of the other two in performance. The large tires will make this much worse and stress the controller. Otherwise it is also a proven, reliable cart. I wouldn't consider it compared to the others however.


Really I believe you would be happy with either of the first two.

[briebb]

Originally Posted by kernal

Some thoughts:

1. RXV state of the art, AC motor (48v)

Pluses: Most powerful of the three. Won't slow down on moderate hills even with multiple passengers. Top speed set by dealer. Max legally is 19-20mph. With 20"tires cart will make 22-23 mph with no other mods.

minuses: 12v batteries are not optimum for range per charge and service life. Can easily be converted to 8v batteries later when current batteries die if desired. Cart is not user friendly for repairs. Getting educated on how the cart works will help you get a long and trouble free service life. The low profile tires on that particular cart my give a rougher than desired ride. Charger that comes with it is not repairable and not very reliable.

2. Club Car In production since 2004. DC motor (48v) Solid, reliable, proven cart.

Pluses. If it has 8v batteries (likely) they are better for range per charge and longevity. Proven and reliable charging system. Lots of performance and functional/stylistic mods available. Top speed is 19-20 mph set by dealer. Larger tires will give it a couple of MPH but sacrifice acceleration and hill climbing. Included tires on this particular cart might give a better ride than the RXV.

minuses: Will slow down with multiple passengers and climbing hills. I personally don't like how they sit. You should sit in all the carts before purchase (your partner also, especially if vertically challenged)


3. This is a 36v cart. Not the equal of the other two in performance. The large tires will make this much worse and stress the controller. Otherwise it is also a proven, reliable cart. I wouldn't consider it compared to the others however.


Really I believe you would be happy with either of the first two.

THANK YOU! That was very informative!! From the feedback I'm getting, I guess we'll cross the PDS off our list. So now it's RXV or CC.

CC would have high shipping charge but is from King of Carts, which I hear is very good! Overall, the CC would end up being $1k more than the RXV. The RXV is within driving distance for us, so no shipping cost, but not sure if the quality would be as good as King of Carts.

The RXV was originally built by Golf Cart Wholesale in Georgia. Anyone know anything about them? I wasn't impressed when I asked them about the PDS and the guy told me an upgraded controller wasn't needed, and that they have 28 years experience. Now it's making me question other decisions they might make.

[kernal]

I don't know have personal experience with either of them. I'm not that impressed with the locals in my area either. Hence my avid participation in this forum so I can maintain and modify my cart myself.

[suffolklou]

Rxv for me. Great cart. My stock charger is still going strong. My buddies charger gave up and he got the accusense DPI. About $300.00. My rxv is set up like the one pictured and has lots of power. Do your research though. It will be a great cart if you learn its quarks. I did convert mine to 6-8 volt batteries. Easy. Tray cables and batteries. Love it, I have driven over 17 miles on a single charge. My buddies cart with the bigger tires can't go as far, but it is faster...

[cgtech]

If you dont need speeds higher than 19mph, the totally stock rxv will do great on any typical hills without losing much, if any, speed while climbing those hills. The comment suggesting stock "low profile tires" contributing to a rougher ride dont add up to me (rxv is factory equipped with the same 18" tire/8" rim common to most all carts from the factory). They dont deliver any at all to us with other wheel/tire combo unless you get the "LSV- 2five" cart designed specifically for street use and 25mph. The rxv will suffer some torque loss if you add larger diameter "off-road" tires, as will every other golf cart (or car, or truck, or bicycle, or train for that matter). The rxv "A.C. system" does not have extreme torque capabilities at zero motor rpm (thats one reason they used an unusally "numerically" high 16.99:1 gear from the factory), so if you park it on a super steep incline, it may not want to go up it from a stop. Its competition wouldnt do it well either (unless you get a brand new "A.C." Yamaha, blows everyone else out of the water right now for power, try one of them before you buy).

[kernal]

I said the "low profile tires on that particular cart". The one in the first picture. Not stock tires.

[cgtech]

Originally Posted by kernal

I said the "low profile tires on that particular cart". The one in the first picture. Not stock tires.

Oops! Derrrrrr.....

[stang99x]

The RXV being an AC cart, there are less available techs to work on it who are educated in them. That means the ones who are out there charge more. RXV's had some nasty brake system issues in the past, which years specifically I don't recall.....but they were awful. Also as stated the 4x12 system wasn't the best. I believe the RXV also had some big issues with the Trojan 12v batteries, there was an EZGO campaign that replaced them for quite a while. If you google search RXV problems you'll see most of the stories from those that have dealt with them. A cart I've heard many dealers, courses and private owners say they would avoid buying again. I personally do not take repair work on them, I have enough to do without those.

The Precedent is a very dependable cart. The 6x8 system has a very good power base. The Sepex motor is good for about 17 in stock form, 20 with a speed magnet. ($30 for the magnet) There are very few issues beyond the MCOR, which is cheap and easy to fix should it fail. (less than $200) This is the single best selling cart I offer.

The PDS is older technology. The 36v system is less powerful, though I have found that you can add a magnet on them and get 22mph on stock wheels and tires. They'll still have less torque to climb with.......it's simply less battery lead to work with and cannot compete with the big boys. This is an economical choice.

I tell my customers all the same thing.....I sell Club Cars, I work on EZGO's. If speed and pulling power is a major factor, forget the PDS. It simply cannot compete with 48V systems. Any cart is going to struggle more on large inclines or with heavy loads. The AC power system will struggle less than the rest, simply as it is AC. My view on AC is that only EZGO has dived into it, there must be more to it than meets the eye. If it was as great as it seems it should be, every maker would be doing it. And as to Yamaha, well in the past they just sucked. They have gotten much better, but given their "tiny" market share I'm not ready to call them a player yet. No offense to those who have them or work on them, they just haven't proved themselves on longevity. Their previous models had lots of issues and people just didn't like them.

Also, you can view this thread: http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/elect...e-problem.html This was a thread about the auto brake problem with the RXV

[jdunmyer]

I have a 2013 RXV and couldn't be happier. The charger works great, and I'm told by others that it is quite dependable and eliminates/prevents a lot of battery troubles. Mine still has the stock 4 X 12-volt batteries, but I will probably change it to the 6 X 8-volt setup when the time comes.

The brake problems are supposedly fixed on carts newer than 2008 or 2009 or if the original brake was replaced.

As far as hill climbing ability: I can stop on the 7.5' long (steep!) ramps going into my p/u, then start back up again. Conversely, when descending a grade (like those ramps), you can take your foot off the pedal and the cart will actually STOP.

There are no service brakes to adjust/service/wear out, the motor does all the braking. I understand that an emergency stop will cause the parking brake to activate. This is a bit hard on it, and is to be avoided. What I read into this is that if you have kids who are rammy driving/beating it, you might have trouble. Driven by adults, the way it's meant to be, and you'll be rewarded with a long, trouble-free life.

Although some folks think the AC drive could be troublesome, reports here claim that it's pretty trouble-free. It is a fact that you do not want to be poking around in the wiring if you don't know exactly what you're doing. If that's the case, you might be best off with a 36-volt resistor cart, as they're hard to hurt and easy/cheap to repair. Also, there's a reason that ALL commercially available electric cars use AC drive.