Joy Rides: Cambe Carts Provides Golf Cart Sales and Comprehensive Service

from The Lakes Magazine October 2020

Hoosier Powder Coating: Nappanee-Based Company Handles Wide Range of Services

Cambe Carts Provides Golf Cart Sales and Comprehensive Service

Writer / Angela Cornell Photography Provided

There are few vehicle purchases that can qualify exclusively as recreational. That’s one of the main things that sets Cambe Carts apart from other businesses.

“It’s kind of cool to deal with something that people are excited to buy,” says Owner Jeff Cambe. “A golf cart is a toy to everybody, and toys are more fun to sell.”

For Cambe, the opportunity to move from car to golf cart sales was somewhat unexpected. At the time, the car dealership he was working for was interested in buying some golf carts to make the large lot easier to traverse.

“I started looking around for golf carts and started realizing that there weren’t a lot of them available in the marketplace,” he says. “You had to go up all the way to Michigan to buy one.”

It didn’t take much marketing research for Cambe, who already owned JC Motorsports, to realize it would be a shrewd move to add golf carts to his sales repertoire. Thanks to area lakes and campgrounds, the business was doing so well that Cambe, along with his wife Sherri, decided to diversify the business even more by buying the Knox Chevrolet dealership in 2003.

“When we moved to Knox with the golf cart business, it just took off,” he says. “It’s been a tremendous business for us. It’s been good and golf carts are different from anything else I’ve ever done.”

As the only golf cart dealership in the area, Cambe keeps a wide variety of E-ZGO carts stocked onsite so he and his

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sales staff can match each customer to the best golf cart for their needs.

“We try to qualify and figure out what exactly it is that they’re looking for,” Cambe says. “We try to get them through the door and show them what we have.”

Delivery and local financing options are available for those who want it. Gas and electric carts are available, depending on the customer’s intended use. “The person who likes the electric likes that it’s quiet and smooth,” Cambe says. “The downside to them is you need to take care of the battery. A new one on a full charge will go approximately 30 to 35 miles. Say we get someone who owns a farm and he wants to go through his fields and stuff, to where he’ll be on it all day. Then we’ll probably recommend a gas cart. On the new side, the gas ones seem to be more desirable. Everybody likes the gas golf carts.” Cambe also offers pre-owned options, with a current selection that is smaller than most years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“[The pandemic] affected our business this year in more ways than one,” he says. “It seemed like the sales of golf carts were stronger this year. Everyone I talk to in the outdoor activities market seems to have done very well this summer.”

Cambe and his team offer in-house service and parts.

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“Our number-one priority is taking care of our customers, especially our lake customers,” Cambe says. “That’s the largest percentage of our business, so we try to cater to that market.”

Their services range from routine maintenance to cleaning and detailing, as well as filling custom orders.

“We stock tires and wheels, windshields and back seats, and all your common things that people are looking for,” Cambe says. Most of the time, routine maintenance orders involve a 24-hour turnaround. Once in a while, the business is given a more complicated repair job that will take longer, but the service department works hard to make sure each customer can get their golf cart back as soon as possible, even during busy times.

The company can add extra safety features to carts, depending on the customer’s desires and local safety requirements. “We encourage safety, like rearview mirrors, break lights and stuff like that, so that you can alert a car behind you that you are getting over,” Cambe says.

All of the company’s customers are treated like priority customers - even those who purchased carts from other dealerships.

“If they didn’t buy it from us, that doesn’t matter to us,” Cambe says. “We service it,

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and try to get people back to using their golf carts as soon as possible, even if that means disabling one of our own to make theirs work. I understand how important it is to have it for the weekend when they’re here. Summer is short enough as it is.”

Cambe believes that a golf cart is one of the best recreational purchases a person can make.

“If somebody has never had one, I don’t

think they realize how much they would use it,” he says. “I use mine even during the wintertime quite a bit for different things I do. You can use them for yard work. Most of them have back seats that will flip over and turn into a little flatbed for picking up sticks or things like that. There are so many uses for them.”

Cambe’s favorite part of the job is being there for his customers and providing for their entertainment desires.

“For most people, they get a lot of enjoyment out of it, and I’m right there with them,” he says. “Nothing is more relaxing to me.”

Fall is typically an excellent time to get a good deal at Cambe Carts. It is located at Cambe Chevrolet Buick, at 704 South Heaton Street in Knox. For more info, call 574-772-2191.