Golf cart owner guides

Before you buy parts you need to know what the cart is worth, where you can legally drive it and whether it fits the garage. These pages answer the questions that come up before the seat gets flipped up.

Start here: How much is a golf cart? New, used and lithium prices in 2026 See all 7 guides

Updated Nov 5, 2026 Every pick names the carts it fits

Our top picks in owner guides

The first pick from each buying guide. Open the guide for the alternatives and the reasons.

The upgrade that moves the price most
Eco Battery 48V lithium pack
From our guide: How much is a golf cart
Fits: Any 48V Club Car, EZGO or Yamaha; check the tray size for your model
about$1,600–$2,600Details
The one part every ordinance mentions
Retractable golf cart seat belt kit
From our guide: How old do you have to be to drive a golf cart
Fits: Any cart with a bench seat and a steel frame to bolt to; two-seat and four-seat kits
about$30–$120Details
Bring this
Digital multimeter, auto-ranging
From our guide: Used golf cart checklist
Fits: Every cart
about$20–$60Details
Covers most ordinances in one box
Golf cart street legal light kit with turn signals, horn and brake lights
From our guide: Can you drive a golf cart on the road
Fits: Model-specific kits for Club Car DS and Precedent, EZGO TXT and RXV, Yamaha G-series and Drive; check voltage and year
about$180–$450Details

Which guide do you need?

Find your situation, then follow the link.

OptionBest forTypical price

Price ranges are estimates as of Oct 17, 2026.

How to choose

Every page on this site assumes you already own the cart and are standing over it with a question about batteries or tires. These guides are for the step before that: what a cart costs, whether you can put a grandchild in the driver’s seat, which streets you can take it on, and whether it fits on the trailer. They also happen to be where most of the parts questions start.

Price is mostly a battery question

The spread between a fleet cart at about $3,500 and a refurbished one at about $7,000 is new batteries, a seat cover, paint and a set of tires, which is about $2,000 in parts and a weekend. How much a golf cart costs lays out the ranges for used, refurbished, new gas, new electric and lithium carts, and the used golf cart checklist is the list to bring to a driveway so you know which of those you are looking at.

Both pages lean on the battery guides, because a battery date code is the single number that moves a used price the most. A pack past four years is about a $900 to $1,500 lead-acid bill or a $1,500 to $2,800 lithium one, and that belongs in your offer.

Rules of the road decide what you install

The three legal pages, how old you have to be, whether you need a license and whether you can drive on the road, describe how the rules work in the US without pretending to know your town’s ordinance. The pattern is consistent: private property is the owner’s call, public streets need a local ordinance and usually a licensed driver, and an LSV is a motor vehicle with a federal equipment list.

That equipment list is why these pages point at the lights and street-legal section. Most ordinances ask for headlights, taillights, turn signals, mirrors, a horn and seat belts, which is about $250 to $700 in parts and an afternoon. If your community talks about LSVs, read what an LSV is before you buy a cart, because a 2009 cart with a 12 mph governor is not becoming one.

Size and weight decide what fits

How much a golf cart weighs matters the day you tow it, the day you go lithium (you drop 250 to 300 lb) and the day you add a lift and a rear seat (you add 100 to 200 lb and raise the center of gravity). Golf cart dimensions is the page to open before you buy a cover, an enclosure, a trailer or a lifted cart for a 7 ft garage door; it hands you off to the covers and weather pages and the lift kit guide with the numbers you need.

Know the make before any of this

Every guide here names Club Car, EZGO and Yamaha models by year, because the same question has a different answer for a 1993 DS and a 2015 Precedent. If you do not know what you are looking at, the fitment finder reads the serial number, and the make pages for Club Car, EZGO and Yamaha list what fits each one. Once the owner questions are settled, the accessories pillar is the map of everything else on the site.

What fits each make

Club Car

Two platforms matter on the used market. The DS (1982 to 2013) is 36V through 1994 and 48V from 1995; a 36V DS is cheap to buy and the most expensive to upgrade, so price a battery set before you shake hands. The Precedent (2004 on) is 48V throughout, the most common cart in golf communities, and the one with the deepest aftermarket. Onward and Tempo are built on the Precedent and share most parts.

EZGO

The TXT (1996 on) is 36V through 2009 and 48V from 2010, so two TXTs that look identical can need different batteries, chargers and controllers. The RXV (2008 on) is 48V with an AC motor and an electric parking brake that puzzles first-time owners; it holds a hill and is quicker, but motor and controller upgrades cost more. Marathons and Medalists are 36V and old enough that a battery set can cost more than the cart.

Yamaha

G14 and G16 (1995 to 2002) are 36V. G19 and G22 (1996 to 2007) are 48V, and the Drive (G29, 2007 to 2016) and Drive2 (2017 on) are 48V with the widest parts support. Yamaha gas carts hold their value in hilly communities. Check the charger plug on anything older than a Drive; Yamaha changed it more than once.

Questions owners ask

Which cart should a first-time buyer look for?

A 48V cart from 2010 or later with a known battery date. A Club Car Precedent, an EZGO TXT48 or RXV, or a Yamaha Drive all have parts on every shelf and a lithium pack that drops straight in. Older 36V carts are fine if the price reflects a battery set you will be buying soon.

Is a gas or electric cart cheaper to own?

Electric, for most owners. A lead-acid set is about $900 to $1,500 every four to six years and charging costs well under $150 a year. A gas cart skips the battery bill but wants oil, belts, filters and a carburetor clean when it sits, and it costs more to buy. Gas wins on long hills and long days away from a plug.

Where do I find the year of a cart?

On the serial plate. Club Car puts a bar-code sticker under the passenger-side glove box, or above the pedals on a Precedent; EZGO in the passenger glovebox on older TXTs and on the frame rail under the seat back on later TXTs and RXVs; Yamaha in or under the driver-side glove box on G-series carts and under the seat on a Drive or Drive2. The fitment finder turns the code into a year, model and voltage.

Can I make any used cart street legal?

Any cart can take lights, mirrors, turn signals, a horn and seat belts, which is what most golf cart ordinances ask for. Turning a cart into a registered LSV is a different job; it needs a VIN, a 20 to 25 mph top speed and federal equipment, and not every cart or every state process makes that practical. The street-legal guide walks through both.

Every owner guides guide

Owner questions (7)

How much is a golf cart? New, used and lithium prices in 2026

A used fleet cart runs about $3,000 to $5,500, a refurbished one about $5,500 to $9,000, and a new two-passenger cart about $8,500 to $13,000 depending on gas, lead-acid or lithium. Lifted four-seaters and street-legal LSVs are about $14,000 to $25,000. Budget roughly $400 to $900 a year to own one.