04/18/2021
Hello all! I've had an interesting experience in the past 24 hours. I spend A LOT of time browsing Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and similar sites looking for various things, but mostly for golf carts. I saw two golf carts in the past 24 hours that I expressed concern to the sellers. The first was a gentleman who had a really nice 48 volt Club Car DS. Unfortunately it had the wrong number of batteries (4 instead of 6) the wrong kind of batteries (sealed vs flooded) and because of the wrong number of batteries, it had bungee straps for battery tie downs. I expressed concern to the seller, told him why I was concerned (rolling battery acid explosion) and what I felt was wrong and why. I gave him some information on what he could do (sell it for less without batteries, sell it for more with appropriate batteries and tie downs) and what I generally recommended, I gave him links to things that would help. He was very kind, he immediately pulled the ad, and said he was going to get things squared away properly before selling. Then I found another cart where a seller claimed a "Factory Street Legal Cart." This was an older gas Club Car. I explained to him that there was very little "Factory" about the cart, for instance the headlights and taillights were LED's, not something they were really using in 1990 Club Cars, nor was the rear "windshield" the wood grain floors, a bizarre black box installed on the back, no sweater basket, a giant steering wheel....etc. My biggest issue was that he was listing it as "Street Legal." So here is a little education on the term "street legal" as it pertains to golf carts. It is by no means comprehensive, but should give you an idea of what to look for. So, in Tipton, you can drive your golf cart around the streets, but it needs to have a registration through the city which is basically a bicycle license. You need to have a slow moving vehicle sign and a safety flag. Your cart needs to have functional brakes. You do NOT need headlights, tail lights, turn signals, etc to drive these carts on the streets of Tipton. These carts are allowed to be driven during daylight hours only. As an example, my golf cart if you have seen it, has headlights, tail lights, brake lights, turn signals, hazard lights, rear view mirrors. It goes 19 miles an hour. It is NOT street legal. A street legal cart is something like a Tomberlin E-Merge. It will have headlights, taillights, brake lights, turn signals, rearview mirrors, a solid one piece DOT approved GLASS windshield. Not a split plastic folding windshield. A street legal cart has SEAT BELTS. And it generally has a steel body as opposed to aluminum, and it has a speed capability of approximately 25 miles per hour. And last but not least, a street legal cart can be registered at your county office like you would a car, having license plates, allowing it to be driven on higher traffic thoroughfares and after dark. So I expressed to the gentleman that had the second cart that he was mistaken, this was NOT a street legal cart, that it didn't have the DOT windshield, or seatbelts, that the chassis was not made of steel, and there was a sticker right on the engine that said "Governor is factory set at 14 mph, adjusting it to make the vehicle go faster can damage the engine." This gentleman was DETERMINED to continue lying about the listing. He said "I removed the DOT windshield because the flip windshield is more convenient for everyday use." and I replaced the headlights with LED's but everything else is factory." and "It has seatbelts, but they're tucked under the seat." and "I don't see how it's your concern, mind your own business" I see. Okay. I know when I drive a car, I would want seat belts that were bolted into steel rather than ones that were tacked into a thin fiberglass body and hanging down into my engine compartment. I explained that my only concern was that he was misinformed, and that he was perpetuating misinformation. So, my point is, that there are people out there that are great people and they want to represent what they're selling you in the most honest way they can. And there will be people who will continue to lie through their teeth to bilk you out of money. If you are buying a golf cart from the personal ads, and you have questions of what you should be looking for, what certain terms mean, or even if you can bring it down to our shop to have us take a look at it and let you know what we think of it's condition/value, please do! We are happy to share information with you. We are not infallible, but we are willing to share our knowledge/experience with you. We're happy to help. Have a great day folks!
