New gas cart. Yamaha or Club Car??

[harpojim]

I am in the market for a new gas cart. Presently have an old reliable Club Car with an Fe290 that has been great but I am ready for newer upgraded cart.

I was all set to only look at Yamaha but a trusted cart mechanic said Yamaha has "cheapened" their carts and he would personally purchase a Club Car.

This surprised me because the golf course I work at only run Yamaha and they seem to go forever with basically no maintenance. However, the mechanic has now got me re-thinking.

My biggest concern is the Kohler motors. I am not sold on them since I have had bad experiences on Kohler motors on mowers. Plus, Club car seems to change engine manufacturers probably based on price. This concerns me.

They used to have the Kawasaki engines like in my present cart. Then they went to Subaru/Robin and now Kohler. So who is next? Briggs? Some Chinese small engine manufacturer? We have a Club Car with a small bed on it at the course with the Subaru motor in it. Part availability is a major problem. They are sick of it. Couldn't this same thing happen again when someone outbids Kohler to supply engines to Club Car?

At least with Yamaha I know they manufacture their own engines.

So, please give me some of your experience or advice. What cart would you buy if looking for a new gas cart? Has Yamaha really "cheapened" their carts? If so, how?

[CP241]

I don’t think Yamaha has cheapened anything.

The problem with the newer EFI club cars is that they can be very expensive to work on. Kohler makes excellent engines and always has. I’ve had kohler engines in many mowers, some with 2000+ hours and no mechanical issues so I really can’t say anything negative about the brand.

And I’ve always had a preference for club cars. My personal cart is a club car. Electric now, but still a club car :)


That said, personally, if I was in the market for a newer gas powered cart I would probably pick a Yamaha, all other things being equal. They’re very reliable, and parts availability has almost never been a problem. Almost with the exception of the airbox and a couple other misc things, I can still source most new OEM parts for 80’s Yamaha G2/G9’s I’ve owned. Plus if you want to give it a little more pep, you’ve got plowmans who can make these things really perform.

But, and to most people it’s a big “but”. I wouldn’t base a purchase based on brand alone. A Yamaha would be a great cart. So would a club car. Here comes the “but”… If you don’t work on it yourself or buy brand new and need warranty service, I’d take into consideration location of the dealer. See a lot of people want that “brand” so they drive hours to the nearest dealer and buy it. A few weeks later have issues and complain about the 4-6 hour round trip drive to take it to that dealer or potentially void their warranty fixing it themselves because they don’t want to make that trip. When they could have purchased “brand b” and the dealer is 10 minutes away

[Fairtax4me]

Club car changed engine manufacturers from Kawasaki to Subaru several years ago looking to stay ahead of the industry and try to get an EFI engine in a cart. Problem was Subaru sold their small engine division a few years later. Guess who bought it... Yamaha. Who's in competition with Yamaha golf carts?

So CC had to pack up those plans and moved to Kohler as the next best option.

But the bottom line is every manufacturer is trying to get their price-point lower to stay in competition.
If your concern is reliability, stick with the old and trusty. Give it a new body, replace the suspension and put some fresh shoes on it. The Precedents and Onward carts look good, but I bet they won't still be around in 25 years.

[Leon willis]

Forget club car and yamaha buy a 80’s E- Z-GO because there so much more reliable

[villebacker]

For what it's worth I have had a couple of gas DS models and there is nothing much more reliable. However, I now have a 2017 Yamaha PTV and there is no comparison to the advancement of this cart over them. The ride, quietness, comfort and quality are superior. I personally will buy another gas Yamaha PTV if and when I ever upgrade.

I agree with the gentleman that made the comment about not liking the Kohler engines because of having them in a couple of Zero Turn mowers.