Here is Maine it can take us a while to come around to trying new things. Golf carts are no exception. The first thing I ask a customer is whether they want a gas powered or electric golf cart. The old design for electric golf carts was weaker in horsepower and torque than it's gas counterpart. The old design was for a 36 volt electric cart. New current design is a 48 volt cart which has the same torque and horsepower as the gas model (within 0.1hp). 48 volt carts have been out for well over a decade, but some people are just unwilling to give them a try, even in our parking lot!
Personally, I prefer the electric carts to the gas ones. There is not engine noise so the only sound it makes are the tires on the ground. Also, when you push down on the accelerator pedal you get instant power compared to the gas carts where the engine has to start up, idle for a second and get into gear every time (when you take your foot off the pedal the engine shuts off). In a race with both a gas and electric cart set to the same top speed, the electric cart will always win because of that 0-to-top speed advantage over gas.
That is not to say that gas does not have it's advantages. Electric is limited in range to the charge on the battery. A set of new batteries can give you a pedal to the floor run time of up to two hours which is twenty to thirty miles (depending on the terrain). A gas cart has a 5 gallon gas tank and averages 50-70 miles per gallon (depending on the terrain). So if you need to go long distances per day and cannot break to recharge in the middle, gas is the way to go.
Batteries are expensive, but very easy to maintain. A new set of top quality batteries costs about $750.00 (cheaper batteries ten to only last 1/2 as long, so that $20.00 in savings ends up costing you $100's). In electric carts you tend to lose 5-10 minutes of run-time a year as a battery ages. The useful life for a set of top shelf batteries in a personal use golf cart is 6-9 years, while lower quality batteries or un-maintained batteries can give out in 3-4 years. It is imperative that you use the proper batteries in your electric cart. They are not like car batteries. These are used to run the electric motor, not just start it like a regular car. Putting in the wrong batteries is just throwing money away. It's like putting diesel in a gas car.
Our gas golf carts are powered by a Kawasaki 290cc engine. It's basically a motorcycle engine. It takes regular gas, no need to mix in the oil like old-fashion carts and lawnmowers. They last for a very long time an are fairly simple to repair compared to a full-sized car. Like a car they do need regular maintenance. You need to change the oil, the air and oil filters, check seals, keep it fueled, an keep the engine clean. Low costs items one at a time, but when put side by side with an electric cart over 5 or 6 years, they cost about the same as replacing the electrics batteries.
Gas carts are becoming more and more difficult to find used. This is because fewer an fewer are being produced each year. Many golf courses have switched to electric because of the lack of noise and the tax incentives provided by the government for going with zero emission vehicles. Don't be surprised when you see the price difference between used gas and electric carts, and don't be surprised when people won't haggle over the price of the gas carts. It's supply and demand.
If you have any questions regarding golf carts or have an idea for a subject for this blog, please feel free to contact me.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
The Customer is Always Right, but the Salesman Could Make you Happier!
I honestly don't buy into the whole "the customer is always right" thing. A customer might think they are right. My job as a salesman is to make a customer happy if I can. To do this properly I need a customer who is open minded and forthcoming with what they want to do! I could just sell the customer whatever they come in saying they want, but often times that is not what the customer actually needs!
I like to start off a conversation with a customer by gathering a little information about them. I also ask if they are replacing an existing whatever-it-is. If they are then I ask them what they like an don't like about it. Then I ask what they want to do with the item being purchased (now it's golf carts, but in the past I have sold cars, domain names, computers, etc.) Often time I find that customers are looking at an item that is either overkill (buying a computer when what they really need is a label maker) or they are focused on something that will not do what they want.
I come from the Russian Space Program way of thinking. Why spend millions developing a pen that writes in space when you can use a pencil! Last year I had a customer come in who was convinced that they needed to buy a brand new utility cart for their house at the cost of $12,000.00. After speaking with him for 5 minutes I found out that the only reason for his focus on that specific vehicle was because once a year he wanted to transport firewood across his property (50 yards). The rest of the year he just wanted it to drive around on with a small toolbox. I ended up selling him a used golf cart with the rear seat that can fold out into a cargo tray. This cart only cost him $3100.00. How did I convince him to save almost 9K? Three magic words, "Make two trips". I could see the light bulb flash over his head. Sometimes it just takes a fresh set of eyes to come up with a better solution.
This is not to say that I always have a better idea than the customer. It's not about that at all. As a salesman, I just want to make sure that my customers get what they really need, not just what they think that they want. When spending several thousand dollars, I want to make sure that my customer's needs are met. So next time you some into a store, or a dealership, or anywhere with a salesperson, don't just blow them off. Spend the 2 minutes talking over your options with them! We want to make sure you are happy!
I like to start off a conversation with a customer by gathering a little information about them. I also ask if they are replacing an existing whatever-it-is. If they are then I ask them what they like an don't like about it. Then I ask what they want to do with the item being purchased (now it's golf carts, but in the past I have sold cars, domain names, computers, etc.) Often time I find that customers are looking at an item that is either overkill (buying a computer when what they really need is a label maker) or they are focused on something that will not do what they want.
I come from the Russian Space Program way of thinking. Why spend millions developing a pen that writes in space when you can use a pencil! Last year I had a customer come in who was convinced that they needed to buy a brand new utility cart for their house at the cost of $12,000.00. After speaking with him for 5 minutes I found out that the only reason for his focus on that specific vehicle was because once a year he wanted to transport firewood across his property (50 yards). The rest of the year he just wanted it to drive around on with a small toolbox. I ended up selling him a used golf cart with the rear seat that can fold out into a cargo tray. This cart only cost him $3100.00. How did I convince him to save almost 9K? Three magic words, "Make two trips". I could see the light bulb flash over his head. Sometimes it just takes a fresh set of eyes to come up with a better solution.
This is not to say that I always have a better idea than the customer. It's not about that at all. As a salesman, I just want to make sure that my customers get what they really need, not just what they think that they want. When spending several thousand dollars, I want to make sure that my customer's needs are met. So next time you some into a store, or a dealership, or anywhere with a salesperson, don't just blow them off. Spend the 2 minutes talking over your options with them! We want to make sure you are happy!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
An Early Spring
This winter was the mildest on record for quite some time! This mean that golf courses opened very early, more than a month ahead of schedule here in Southern Maine. This also meant that used golf cart sales spiked in March when normally there are few to no sales. How does this affect you? It means that people are already going through the lot and cherry-picking the best cars to buy now. I would not be surprised if I run out of inventory to sell by mid/late summer!
Buying a used golf cart can be like choosing teams in the grade school playground. The best ones usually get picked first. We put a 60 day warranty on all of our retail used carts, but the pretty ones tend to go first. We have already sold 1/2 of the custom painted and lifted carts out of the showroom. With the pressure from the courses to deliver their fleets early, it may be a little while before we have the free time to build up more "show carts".
Just because you buy a cart now does not mean that it has to be delivered immediately. We can tag it as sold, run it through the service center and set it aside for you to be delivered in a few weeks at your convenience. This has been the popular option this Spring.
Don't have time to drop in just to browse? Many people call or e-mail to tell me what they need and I e-mail photos, specs and prices to them to review at their leisure. This can save you a lot of time and can help make sure we have what you are looking for in stock.
If you would like a customized cart built up, now is the time to contact us. That way we can have it all ready to go when the summer hits and you can get to your campground, summer house, etc... Plan ahead!
Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or ideas!
Buying a used golf cart can be like choosing teams in the grade school playground. The best ones usually get picked first. We put a 60 day warranty on all of our retail used carts, but the pretty ones tend to go first. We have already sold 1/2 of the custom painted and lifted carts out of the showroom. With the pressure from the courses to deliver their fleets early, it may be a little while before we have the free time to build up more "show carts".
Just because you buy a cart now does not mean that it has to be delivered immediately. We can tag it as sold, run it through the service center and set it aside for you to be delivered in a few weeks at your convenience. This has been the popular option this Spring.
Don't have time to drop in just to browse? Many people call or e-mail to tell me what they need and I e-mail photos, specs and prices to them to review at their leisure. This can save you a lot of time and can help make sure we have what you are looking for in stock.
If you would like a customized cart built up, now is the time to contact us. That way we can have it all ready to go when the summer hits and you can get to your campground, summer house, etc... Plan ahead!
Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or ideas!
Monday, April 9, 2012
Fun at home!
The third largest demographic for used golf cart sales seems to be general property owners. People are using these carts to help with chores and transportation on medium to large properties, or to get around in enclosed communities. Some people use them in similar ways to ATV's but with golf carts you can take a lot more passengers with you! Instead of buying 2-4 ATV's you can get one golf cart with a rear seat. That can save you tens of thousands of dollars!
Utility boxes can be added to the back of a golf cart instead of a rear seat. These are great for hauling around several hundred pounds of cargo. Need to move firewood or soil for the garden? Just load it into the cargo box instead of schlepping it in a wheelbarrow.
I have sold several golf carts to customers for their parents or grandparents who live on adjoining properties. It's perfect for those who maybe cannot legally drive anymore, but still want to pop next door for a visit and have a trail between the houses. It's a small but important freedom for some.
The nice thing about a golf cart is that you can adjust the breaks on these so that they engage as soon as you take your foot off of the accelerator! There are several settings for the breaks. You can set it to immediately stop when you take your foot off the gas, or choose from 3 or 4 other varying degrees of breaking. It's a nice safety feature and can prevent a runaway cart on a hill! You can adjust the top speed too. You can have it set to a slower top speed for a safer ride for children an adults drivers alike.
Another great safety feature for young an old is the reverse buzzer. Whenever the cart is in reverse the buzzer comes on. This cuts down on the number of accidents of having the cart in the wrong gear! Think about how many car accidents there have been where someone was in reverse when they thought they were in drive!
All of our used golf carts come with a 60 day limited warranty. If you would like more information about our inventory, pricing, customization or repair services, please feel free to contact us at http://PatriotGolfCars.com or come check us out at 837 Portland Rd, Saco, ME 04072!
Utility boxes can be added to the back of a golf cart instead of a rear seat. These are great for hauling around several hundred pounds of cargo. Need to move firewood or soil for the garden? Just load it into the cargo box instead of schlepping it in a wheelbarrow.
I have sold several golf carts to customers for their parents or grandparents who live on adjoining properties. It's perfect for those who maybe cannot legally drive anymore, but still want to pop next door for a visit and have a trail between the houses. It's a small but important freedom for some.
The nice thing about a golf cart is that you can adjust the breaks on these so that they engage as soon as you take your foot off of the accelerator! There are several settings for the breaks. You can set it to immediately stop when you take your foot off the gas, or choose from 3 or 4 other varying degrees of breaking. It's a nice safety feature and can prevent a runaway cart on a hill! You can adjust the top speed too. You can have it set to a slower top speed for a safer ride for children an adults drivers alike.
Another great safety feature for young an old is the reverse buzzer. Whenever the cart is in reverse the buzzer comes on. This cuts down on the number of accidents of having the cart in the wrong gear! Think about how many car accidents there have been where someone was in reverse when they thought they were in drive!
All of our used golf carts come with a 60 day limited warranty. If you would like more information about our inventory, pricing, customization or repair services, please feel free to contact us at http://PatriotGolfCars.com or come check us out at 837 Portland Rd, Saco, ME 04072!
Campgrounds and Golf Carts
People who vacation at campgrounds are the second largest group that I see buying used golf carts. Some people travel to several different campgrounds a year, others get a seasonal site for the whole summer. As with island folk, campground people use them as their primary vehicles within the campgrounds.
Many campgrounds have strict rules about cars an trucks driving around in the campground. At places like Hermit Island Campground, campers are only allowed to bring their cars or trucks to their campsites to drop off their equipment at the beginning and pick it up at the end of their stay. The rest of the time their vehicles are to be parked in the parking lot. This is for safety and noise reduction mostly. You don't want people getting intoxicated and driving through your campsite at 3AM. Golf carts do less damage to dirt roads, create a lot less noise, and are less of a risk to the campers.
Each campground has their own set of rules and regulations regarding golf carts. Some just do not allow them at all. Others rent them out themselves by the hour or by the day. The campgrounds that do allow privately owned golf carts have different requirements. Most require lights. Some differ between only gas or only electric depending on if there is power available at each site and if it is separately metered or not. Before I sell someone a cart for use at a campground I will tell the customer to call the campground and double check their requirements. I don't want to sell someone a cart that they cannot use!
People love the versatility of a golf cart at a campground. It is a fast and easy way to get supplies from the store to your site, get you, your family and all your stuff down to the beach in one trip, and they are and excellent way for older and/or less mobile people to move around the campground.
Some people love to customize their golf carts. It's all about outdoing your neighbor. Who is king of the campground? Some go for lift kits, big tires, chrome rims and custom paint. Others like the luxury accessories like custom seat covers, cd players and fans/heaters/ac. Whatever you can dream up, they probably make it as an accessory for a golf cart.
While we tend to be a little more conservative in the customization of golf carts up in Maine compared to retirement communities in Florida (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrpq5A-KAoA), occasionally you do find a NASCAR replica cart or at least custom paint an decals to look show support for their favorite race car, sports team, or even their own business. Customization of a golf cart is only limited by your imagination and/or your wallet.
They are not just for golf!
I started selling golf carts in 2011 in Maine. I am the only in-house salesman for our location so it was a steep learning curve. I had never even sat in a golf cart, let alone driven one and I had no idea what to expect from a sales perspective. The first thing I found out is that for my side of the business (used golf cart sales), barely any of the inventory that I sold was for use on a golf course!
Up here in Maine there are 3 types of people who seem to buy the majority of used golf carts. In this, my first blog, I will concentrate on the first group; people who live out on the islands up and down the coast. Many of the island communities are primarily seasonal vacation type communities. Home owners and summer renters come up on the weekends or for a few weeks at a time to relax and unwind.
It used to be that rather than pay to bring their cars across on the ferry each time they come and go (which can get pricey very quickly), people would buy junk cars to leave out on the islands and park their nice cars on the mainland. The problem with this was that these cars were already old and in disrepair. When a car breaks down on an island and needs to go to a service station it can be a big ordeal! First you have to find a tow truck that is willing to go out on an island. Then you have to pay to have it ferried over. Next you have to tow the car to the pier and pay to have the tow truck and the broken down car ferried back to the mainland, then towed to the garage. That can take several hours and cost anywhere from $500-$1000.00 just to get the car to the repair station! Then the actual cost of the repair can make the whole deal extremely expensive and unappealing. Many people would just let the broken down cars sit in their yards and rust away into the island.
Imagine your beautiful island paradise covered in broken down cars. Gas tanks spring leaks, oil pans rupture, and coolant leaks into the ground. This lowered property values, discouraged renters, and became an ecological hazard. In Portland, Maine (which includes many island communities out of it's ferry terminal) they decided to make it legal to use golf carts on the public roads on many of the islands. Club Car golf carts are much better suited to the islands than most automobiles. They are essentially aircraft grade aluminum frames with plastic and fiberglass bodies. Not much to rust! Even if one breaks down, they are only 700lbs and can be easily pushed or towed to the pier and many repairs can be done on site!
I personally sold about 40 golf carts last summer that were put out on the various islands along the Maine coast. Some as far away as the Cranberry Islands, but most right out of Portland Harbor. Most were sold with added accessories like head & tail lights plus a rear seat that can be folded out into a utility tray (much like a sleeper sofa) so that you could transport 4-5 people or 2 people and up to a few hundred pounds of equipment, luggage, and or groceries.
The average price for a used golf cart is between $2500 and $3500 with the rear fold down seat, canopy, windshield and lights already installed. All of our used golf carts come with a 60 day limited warranty. If you are interested in getting a new or used golf cart, or know someone who is, please feel free to contact us at http://PatriotGolfCars.com for more information! We are located in Saco, Maine in the middle of the Rt 1 Automile (837 Portland Rd, Saco, ME 04072).
*Side Note: Many island communities do have requirements for golf carts to be used on their roads and some require them to be registered with the city (usually for a $15.00 fee per year). The most common requirement is that the carts have lights.
Up here in Maine there are 3 types of people who seem to buy the majority of used golf carts. In this, my first blog, I will concentrate on the first group; people who live out on the islands up and down the coast. Many of the island communities are primarily seasonal vacation type communities. Home owners and summer renters come up on the weekends or for a few weeks at a time to relax and unwind.
It used to be that rather than pay to bring their cars across on the ferry each time they come and go (which can get pricey very quickly), people would buy junk cars to leave out on the islands and park their nice cars on the mainland. The problem with this was that these cars were already old and in disrepair. When a car breaks down on an island and needs to go to a service station it can be a big ordeal! First you have to find a tow truck that is willing to go out on an island. Then you have to pay to have it ferried over. Next you have to tow the car to the pier and pay to have the tow truck and the broken down car ferried back to the mainland, then towed to the garage. That can take several hours and cost anywhere from $500-$1000.00 just to get the car to the repair station! Then the actual cost of the repair can make the whole deal extremely expensive and unappealing. Many people would just let the broken down cars sit in their yards and rust away into the island.
Imagine your beautiful island paradise covered in broken down cars. Gas tanks spring leaks, oil pans rupture, and coolant leaks into the ground. This lowered property values, discouraged renters, and became an ecological hazard. In Portland, Maine (which includes many island communities out of it's ferry terminal) they decided to make it legal to use golf carts on the public roads on many of the islands. Club Car golf carts are much better suited to the islands than most automobiles. They are essentially aircraft grade aluminum frames with plastic and fiberglass bodies. Not much to rust! Even if one breaks down, they are only 700lbs and can be easily pushed or towed to the pier and many repairs can be done on site!
I personally sold about 40 golf carts last summer that were put out on the various islands along the Maine coast. Some as far away as the Cranberry Islands, but most right out of Portland Harbor. Most were sold with added accessories like head & tail lights plus a rear seat that can be folded out into a utility tray (much like a sleeper sofa) so that you could transport 4-5 people or 2 people and up to a few hundred pounds of equipment, luggage, and or groceries.
The average price for a used golf cart is between $2500 and $3500 with the rear fold down seat, canopy, windshield and lights already installed. All of our used golf carts come with a 60 day limited warranty. If you are interested in getting a new or used golf cart, or know someone who is, please feel free to contact us at http://PatriotGolfCars.com for more information! We are located in Saco, Maine in the middle of the Rt 1 Automile (837 Portland Rd, Saco, ME 04072).
*Side Note: Many island communities do have requirements for golf carts to be used on their roads and some require them to be registered with the city (usually for a $15.00 fee per year). The most common requirement is that the carts have lights.
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