look of a car and provides stor-
age space for groceries or other
items.
Ms. Joy had fold-up seats in-
stalled in the back where golf
clubs would be carried so she
could transport more people,
and a special basket that clips in
for her two small dogs. “It’s kind
of blingy,” she said. “You want to
have something that you love.”
The terms golf carts and golf
cars cover two types of vehicle.
The more traditional golf carts
are not allowed on general
roads, but “low-speed vehicles”
can share the road with automo-
biles and have additional safety
requirements, like headlights,
taillights and a parking brake.
Some companies, like Club Car,
make both types, and either
can be customized. The vehicles
have traditionally run on gas,
but consumer demand for elec-
tric models is increasing, and
more solar power options are
coming to market. Basic models
start around $11,000 and can
top $20,000 with all the bells,
whistles.
Sotero Gutierrez, who is 82 and
goes by Salty, retired to the
Villages but still works part time
in a barbershop. Mr. Gutierrez
said he was always in the local
dealership seeing what was
new and trying to be one of the
first to order it. He has added
a customized horn, Bluetooth
speakers and lights under the
dashboard to help him see in
the morning.
Mr. Gutierrez, however, has
had to tone down his custom
wheels. An old cart of his was
Yankees themed, with blue and
white stripes. It wasn’t easy to
sell, he said: “It was hard to find
someone that wanted that.” His
new cart still tips its cap to the
Yanks, but more subtly, painted
blue on the bottom half and
white on the top half with a blue
and white striped canopy, LED
running lights and team decals.
His new cart also has custom
seats that are more comfortable
(and help with the resale value
here, too). carts, because “uniform pre-
sentation is part of the brand,”
said Robert McElreath, a vice
president at Club Car, which has
been making golf carts since
the 1960s. Club Car has noted
a “very strong rise in consumer
sales,” Mr. McElreath said. The
first individual purchases were
carts being retired by golf cours-
es, but now the vehicles are
designed for personal use.
Holidays especially will bring
out the carts, with parades and
residents lined up to watch. “It’s
a very patriotic community,” Ms.
Resmondo said, so on holidays
like the Fourth of July, residents
will “deck out their golf carts
in honor of the event.” Special
events will draw out a drill team
that drives in formations like a
marching band. Safety features are a key dis-
tinction. Low-speed vehicles are
legal to drive on streets with
speed limits up to 35 miles an
hour, but they must include
items like seat belts. On the
GEM, seat belts, low- and high-
beam headlights and backup
cameras come standard, Mr.
Simon said.
Polaris, which makes GEM
low-speed vehicles, sells mostly
to the business market but is
“diving into the consumer seg-
ment and seeing what they are
most interested in,” said Keith
Simon, vice president of Polaris
Commercial North America. No
surprise, sales are especially
strong in retirement, beach and
golf communities.
“Customization is a big part of
our business,” Mr. Simon said.
Buyers can order a vehicle
online and have many more
choices than car customers.
Along with passenger capacity,
color and type of seats, there
are choices on suspension,
wheels, bumpers, battery, type
of dashboard and whether to
have doors or not.
One of the biggest differences
between fleet and individual
sales is the level of conformity.
A golf course will want identical
Ms. Joy uses her golf cart for just
about everything, so she want-
ed to make sure it was as safe
to drive and ride in as possible,
she said. She ordered seatbelts,
a backup camera, self-canceling
turn signals, an electronic dash-
board, backup lights, taillights
and an extra-bright light to see
what is behind her when she
goes in reverse.
The first golf cart she bought
when she moved to the Villages
cost about $16,000, but after
spending some time seeing
other carts, what was available
and how much she used her
own, she wanted more features
and paid about $24,000 for the
current one.
Ms. Joy has a friend who is
retiring from the Army soon
and moving to the Villages. She
is encouraging him to order a
golf cart painted camouflage
or “maybe some kind of James
Bond themed golf cart.”
JANUARY 2020
31