NEW IS NOT ALWAYS NEW

FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE AD:

New 2021 Club Car Precedent – Only $4500

There’s a sweeping trend hitting the nation and specifically social media that has customers and golf cart dealers in a bit of an uproar. At any given time on Facebook Marketplace, which is vastly becoming the go to for online golf carts sales in local communities, you will see dozens of golf carts for sale that claim “NEW 2021” or “Brand New” in the title of the post, when in fact they are old refurbished golf carts that were manufactured anywhere between 2006 and 2016 with replacement or remanufactured parts. This misleading trend is deliberately tricking unsuspecting customers into thinking these golf carts are brand new or much newer than they really are. The fact is that they are older carts with the manufacture date purposely hidden to help drive more sales and mislead customer into thinking they are getting a smoking great deal. This “sales tactic” according to the FTC (who polices shady and misleading sales practices) is not only illegal but is becoming a serious problem nationwide.

A GROWING PROBLEM

Researching this article, we didn’t even have to try to hunt for these ad posts; they literally show up in our own personal Facebook news feeds daily. Smaller golf cart “companies” and “ builders” are sprouting up and flooding the marketplace by creating numerous listings on Facebook (sometimes many dozens of posts showing the same cart). Just today we found over 90 posts that had “NEW”, “BRAND

NEW” or “NEW 2021” in the title and all of them were golf carts that were manufactured prior to 2016. These popup golf cart companies are generally guys working out of their garages and they refurbish a few carts a month, but these misleading sales tactics are causing a major problem in the industry. There is nothing wrong with people building and selling golf cart in their garages and in fact this is how most of the larger custom golf cart shops got started in the industry. But there is definitely a right way and a wrong way of doing business. Deliberately misleading customers is not only wrong, it’s illegal. Imagine buying a 2010 ford F-150, repainting it, adding a lift kit and new tires and calling it a 2021. Obviously, this isn’t possible in the automotive industry because of dramatic changes in body styles and VIN numbers that identify a vehicle but it is certainly happening in the cart industry.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH AN OLDER REFURBISHED CART ANYWAY?

Let’s breakdown the process here. Builders are typically buying a 2006-2016 golf cart from anywhere between $500 and $3000 and replacing or upgrading a few parts. Generally, they will add a lift kit ($250-$400), wheels and tires ($300-$700), lighting of some sort ($50-$250), possibly a rear seat an seat covers ($100-$350), maybe a new or painted body ($200-$500) and maybe batteries if needed ($600-900). Generally speaking, that’s all it takes to make an old cart look much, much newer. Often, the parts and accessories used are low-grade and haphazardly installed on the cart. The idea is to save money and the cart is “Frankensteined” together with used and poorquality parts. We have even seen batteries that were stamped 2018 but were in fact 2016’s. The serious problem here is that the frame, motor, wiring, body, brakes, parts of the suspension are all original and often times never have been serviced or replaced. These parts of the golf cart can easily fail and cause problems with operation and most importantly, safety. For example, if the wiring on a cart is over 10-years-old, it will often need to be completely replaced due to corrosion and could be a ticking time bomb for total golf cart failure or possibly even an electrical fire. Let’s be honest, golf carts are potentially dangerous if not built correctly and could cause damage to an unsuspecting family. We heard one horror story of a steering wheel coming off while a family of four was joyriding around their neighborhood.

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

Money is the driving factor here and in an unregulated industry it’s easy to get away with it. Your average golf cart “flipper” can probably build or upgrade anywhere from 2-10 carts a month in their spare time and make anywhere from $500-$3000 per cart. That is a nice source of income for a side gig that is also probably very fulfilling. But without the proper training, tools, electrical programmers and access to the OEM (factory) parts like an authorized dealer would have, it’s much harder to service a golf cart and do it properly. What we’re seeing online goes even further than that. Some “flippers” are setting up “companies” which today could simply consist of a Facebook business page. They market themselves as a business that is much bigger than they really are. Many probably don’t have employees. They probably don’t pay sales tax and most importantly, it’s unlikely they have any type of insurance that would protect them from issues that may occur. This practice is hurting the cart resale market and the golf cart industry as a whole. If more and more people are having negative experiences with golf carts, it gives the whole industry a bad name.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

We all can help police this trend. Consumers, golf cart dealers, shop owners, technicians and DIY guys all need to chip in and report these misleading, spammy posts to Facebook or Craigslist (there is a “report this post” link on every listing). Or even take it one step further and call out these people by posting a comment that they can’t hide behind. For example, posting a simple question “What is the actual year of the cart?” where everyone can see their response. This type of accountability could influence these sellers to clean up their acts and might push Facebook to realize this is a growing problem that needs to be taken seriously.