Looking to Upgrade to a New(er) Cart

[t_walnuts]

Originally Posted by kernal

2004 is the first year of production for the Precedent. In that year the carts came with 12v batteries. Club Car changed to 8v batteries in 2008 and offered a kit to convert the older carts. If this cart is still equipped with 12v batteries, that would be a minus.

In my area that cart would have to be equipped with a back seat, canopy, windshield, lights and new tires besides the refurbishment you mentioned to command that price. Also new or almost new (provable) batteries.

However, that is before covid. Rummer is carts and parts are in short supply in most parts of the country so IDK. Also cart prices tend to vary locally. In my area there are thousands of them and pricing is competitive.

It has been converted to 8V batteries. It has a new seat, new tires, top, windshield and lights. Batteries are 1.5 years old. No backseat, though.

I guess what I'm having a hard time with is a build on something like this. All in to get it the way I want it would be around $7K. AC conversion, 600 amp controller, 5kw motor, lift and tires, back seat, street legal kit and seat belts. I can be in a new Advanced EV cart that has all of that for $7.5K. They're built in Rosenberg, TX and come with a 2 year warranty.

I'd even be good with a newer DS, but they are still fetching top dollar too. Even though the cart has been gone through top to bottom, that's comparable money in a 16 year old cart vs. one fresh off the line. Problem is I can't find much on Advanced carts. Literally nothing on this forum.

[kernal]

Advanced EV. Another China cart. So, built in China but "assembled" in Texas. Another version of an Icon. Google them. Same thing different name. You won't find any replacement parts let alone upgrades/bling. The 2 big golf cart suppliers for parts etc are Nivel and Redhawk. Both have web sites. Nivel is "buggies unlimited" not to be confused with "carts unlimited" or this site BGW. See if you can find any replacement parts for advanced ev, Icon or any other China carts. You don't need to take anybodies word for it. You can see for yourself. Some of these carts claim to have Toyota or Curtis controllers. They are clones. Curtis is having a terrible time with this. It is why the Curtis controllers on new EZGOs and Club Cars are so locked down. A constant battle to keep China from stealing their intellectual property/ patents.

[t_walnuts]

Originally Posted by kernal

Advanced EV. Another China cart. So, built in China but "assembled" in Texas. Another version of an Icon. Google them. Same thing different name. You won't find any replacement parts let alone upgrades/bling. The 2 big golf cart suppliers for parts etc are Nivel and Redhawk. Both have web sites. Nivel is "buggies unlimited" not to be confused with "carts unlimited" or this site BGW. See if you can find any replacement parts for advanced ev, Icon or any other China carts. You don't need to take anybodies word for it. You can see for yourself. Some of these carts claim to have Toyota or Curtis controllers. They are clones. Curtis is having a terrible time with this. It is why the Curtis controllers on new EZGOs and Club Cars are so locked down. A constant battle to keep China from stealing their intellectual property/ patents.

I have an appointment with the rep down here for Advanced on Thursday. He claims they stock of parts at their warehouse in Rosenberg. I guess my question is theoretically what is going to go wrong requiring parts? I currently have a 15 year old Yamaha that is all original and still going. I'm relatively new to golf carts, so asking an honest question.

[kernal]

Maybe nothing or maybe everything. Like a car it has consumables. Brake pads, light bulbs, shocks etc. Does it have light bulbs or if a headlight goes out do you have to replace the whole unit? What if you bang it into something and break a headlight or crack the winshield/bend a canopy strut. Things happen or maybe they don't. All I'm saying is I've seen this act before. A shop here used to sell carts called Cit-E-Car. Stopped selling them and now carries Icon. The people who bought Cit-E-Cars will be fine until something goes wrong. Then what? Some of these carts may still be under warranty but where do they take it for warranty service? Independent shops won't touch them except for simple things like burnt wires or tire repair. Good luck!

[t_walnuts]

Alright, had a guy today that I'm interested in buying from tell me that range on a lifted CC Precedent would only be 12-14 miles running four 12V batteries. Does that sound right? He said he would convert it to six 8V batteries for $250. What would that potentially do to range?

He's telling me I would be better off with a gas cart. I don't like the jerkiness of gas carts and would rather go electric, but I am concerned about range for visits to places that I would be able to drive it on the road.

Thoughts?

[ATrain]

I have two ICON's. i40L and i60L and I love them both. If there are no dealers near you, there may be now, so double check as they're expanding crazy fast. I didn't have a dealer in Feb and then one showed up in March and I bought 2. I'm in southern CA.

I also have a gas Yamaha and electric Western (EZ-GO) and I've owned two other club cars.

With the ICON, people already have schematics, programming cable, and software , so the tinkering door is already blown wide open.

Everything on it is crazy simple too, so apart of molded plastic, if anything screws up on the cart I could replace it and get it working pretty easily. Tons of mods for other carts fit on my ICON and more ICON-specific ones will appear too.

There's a 12v fuse relay under the front dash that has a basketball hoop-sized access hole with a spare slot to easily hook your own stuff to it. I've done backup-camera for my i60L and big speakers too...crazy easy.

One "con" is, I can't think of anything else cool to do to my cart. It's pretty much all done.

I looked at some Evolutions too, but the 6-seater is WAYYYYY too long. It's longer than my car vs the ICON's 6-seater. The ICON's 6-seater is also a bit long, but nowhere near the Evo's.

I didn't compare the 4-seater length.

My opinion is that ICON is going to be a big player in the golf cart world here soon and I'd get one of them. I'm obviously partial to them since I have two. I see a lot of Evo's around me too, but for some reason they look cheap to me compared to the Icons and mine is easily 5-8mph faster than those.

[jetfixr]

Do you really want a Chinese cart? Really?

[t_walnuts]

Originally Posted by jetfixr

Do you really want a Chinese cart? Really?

Well the short answer is, I don't know. Honda's seem to have worked out pretty well and are extremely reliable. The two Chinese carts I am looking at are:

-Evolution EV Classic 4 Plus w/ Lithium (cart is loaded with everything I could ever want to put on a cart and has lithium batteries) for $8,995
-Advanced EV 2L+ (has everything the Evolution has minus lithium batteries) for $7,500

A new Onward without anything but the HP package and lithium is $14,500. So by the time it is outfitted, it would be double the cost of the Advanced and nearing double the cost of the Evolution.

A pre-owned Precedent and building it out will put me in the $7K + range and that doesn't include lithium.

So my dilemma lies in how much do I trust the manufacturer and dealer? The dealer that sells Evolution has been selling them for 4 years with minimal issues; normally a screen going out here or there. The BMS system runs separately of the screen, so the cart is only losing out on speedo, odo, and entertainment pieces (i.e. I could still use the part while the new screen comes in). The dealership says they have never waited more than 2 weeks to receive a part. I don't know much about Advanced EV, other than they look exactly like an Icon (which can't be found down here in the valley). I have a meeting with their rep for the local area tomorrow.

So for me, it's justifying building a cart on an existing and older model Club Car for virtually the same amount of money I would spend on one of these new. Decisions, decisions...

[t_walnuts]

Originally Posted by ATrain

I have two ICON's. i40L and i60L and I love them both. If there are no dealers near you, there may be now, so double check as they're expanding crazy fast. I didn't have a dealer in Feb and then one showed up in March and I bought 2. I'm in southern CA.

I also have a gas Yamaha and electric Western (EZ-GO) and I've owned two other club cars.

With the ICON, people already have schematics, programming cable, and software , so the tinkering door is already blown wide open.

Everything on it is crazy simple too, so apart of molded plastic, if anything screws up on the cart I could replace it and get it working pretty easily. Tons of mods for other carts fit on my ICON and more ICON-specific ones will appear too.

There's a 12v fuse relay under the front dash that has a basketball hoop-sized access hole with a spare slot to easily hook your own stuff to it. I've done backup-camera for my i60L and big speakers too...crazy easy.

One "con" is, I can't think of anything else cool to do to my cart. It's pretty much all done.

I looked at some Evolutions too, but the 6-seater is WAYYYYY too long. It's longer than my car vs the ICON's 6-seater. The ICON's 6-seater is also a bit long, but nowhere near the Evo's.

I didn't compare the 4-seater length.

My opinion is that ICON is going to be a big player in the golf cart world here soon and I'd get one of them. I'm obviously partial to them since I have two. I see a lot of Evo's around me too, but for some reason they look cheap to me compared to the Icons and mine is easily 5-8mph faster than those.

Not that I'm in a huge rush, but Icon does not have any dealers remotely close to where I am located. I spoke to their lead sales manager this past week and he tells me it will be at least 3-6 months before they have a dealer down here, then they will have to ship inventory. I was also disappointed to hear that they are not offering lithium even though their website says that they are going to. The model I'm looking at will be somewhere between $8,000-$8,500.

Advanced EV appears to literally be the same cart as Icon, but cheaper. Comparing them side by side on the website, I can't tell the difference.

[ATrain]

Originally Posted by jetfixr

Do you really want a Chinese cart? Really?

It's Chinese/Japanese I think.

It uses a Toyota (Japanese) Controller, Trojan (USA) batteries, and I'm not sure on the motor...I'd guess that might be Chinese, but it's pretty solid. China isn't known for poor electric motors.


@t_walnuts - I think you can talk to ICON and get the Lithium pack if you wanted. At this point though, I'd probably steer clear of Lithium packs for any cart.

I did a decent amount of research on them, spoke with dealers, battery sellers, electrical engineers, etc and I don't think the tech is fully baked yet. Too many things that can go wrong when the Trojans give solid performance still.