Whether your golf cart is brand new or has been cruising around your neighborhood for years, it represents a significant investment. But here’s the kicker: maintaining your golf cart can be surprisingly easy and affordable, as long as you stay on top of it.
Golf cart maintenance is incredibly important for three simple reasons:
- Safety: First and foremost, maintaining your golf cart is key to keeping you, your passengers, and everyone around you safe. Golf carts are heavy and can move fast enough to seriously injure (or kill) you. Regular maintenance can catch issues like faulty brakes or worn golf cart tires before they lead to accidents.
- Financial Savings: Neglecting maintenance almost always leads to expensive repairs. You might get lucky for a while. But eventually, your deferred maintenance will cost you hundreds or even several thousands of dollars in replacement golf cart parts.
- Reliability and Peace of Mind: Well-maintained golf carts provide a sense of security and freedom. They allowing you to travel all around the neighborhood or course without a worry in the world. You want your cart unusable when you really need it, and don’t want to get stranded.
12-Point Golf Cart Maintenance Checklist
For the past 10 years now, we have been working with the best golf cart owners on Earth (our customers) and both giving and receiving advice and tips on how to best keep your golf cart maintained. We have turned this list of tips and advice into a quick GTCS 12-point Golf Cart Maintenance Checklist, that will not only keep your golf cart in peak condition year round, but make sure you enjoy as many seasons as possible with your cart.
Safety First:
These series of checks are what we deem critical for ensuring the safety of you as the driver of your cart, and all your passengers.
- Inspect Brakes (every few months)
Regular inspection and maintenance of brakes are vital to prevent accidents. This includes checking brake pads, drums, and cables for wear and proper adjustment. - Check Tires Pressure (each use)
Maintaining the correct tire pressure ensures better handling and reduces tire wear, enhancing safety. - Inspect Lights and Mirrors (monthly)
Ensuring all lighting and mirrors are functioning correctly is crucial for safe operation, especially for street-legal carts. - Check Steering Wheel Assembly (yearly)
Regular checks of the steering mechanism, including tightening bolts and greasing the rack, ensure good handling and prevent accidents.
Reliability:
Get in, and go! That is the goal here. Keeping your golf cart reliable means less downtime and fewer frustrating interruptions while riding. Which means more memories with your loved ones and friends. To keep your golf cart reliable:
- Charge Your Cart’s Batteries (every day)
For electric carts, daily charging prevents battery degradation and ensures readiness. - Check the Water Levels in Batteries (weekly, applies to Lead-Acid batteries only)
Proper electrolyte levels are crucial for battery health and performance. - Get an Annual Professional Service at your Local Golf Cart Shop (yearly)
An annual check-up by a professional can catch issues that may be missed during regular maintenance. - Properly Store when Not In Use (periodic)
Proper golf cart storage, including using a golf cart battery charger / maintainer, covering your cart in adverse weather conditions, etc., will preserve your cart’s condition and ensure it’s ready when you need it.
Financial Savings:
At the end of the day, we all want to save money. And while preventative maintenance does take a small amount of time, these simple practices will help you avoid repair costs and extend the life of your golf cart (and its batteries):
- Clean Batteries (monthly)
Keeping battery terminals clean prevents power loss and prolongs battery life. - Battery Replacement (as needed)
Replacing all batteries at once, rather than mixing old and new ones, ensures optimal performance and longevity. - Lubrication Schedule (varies by model)
Regular lubrication of moving parts like the steering system and suspension helps avoid premature wear. - Fluid Changes (for Gas carts)
Changing your cart’s oil, oil filter, fuel filter and air filter regularly will help keep your cart breathing and running properly.
Now that you have an understanding of how to care for your golf cart to the highest level, below we provide you with two quick tools. One is a PDF checklist for your use. You can print this and use it any time you head out to the garage to do a full checkup. The second tool is a few bullets on generalized maintenance for Electric golf carts vs. Gas Golf Carts.
Golf Cart Maintenance Checklist PDF
If you prefer to print off a simple checklist to use when going over your cart, please click here for the Golf Cart Maintenance Checklist PDF. We also have it in table format below:
| Category | Task | Frequency | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety Checks | Inspect Brakes | Every few months | Check brake pads, drums, and cables for wear and proper adjustment to prevent accidents. |
| Check Tire Pressure | Each use | Ensure correct tire pressure for better handling and reduced tire wear. | |
| Inspect Lights and Mirrors | Monthly | Verify all lights and mirrors are functioning, especially for street-legal carts. | |
| Check Steering Wheel Assembly | Yearly | Tighten bolts, grease the rack, and ensure the steering mechanism is in good condition. | |
| Reliability Checks | Charge Your Cart’s Batteries | Every day | Daily charging prevents battery degradation and ensures the cart is always ready. |
| Check Water Levels in Batteries | Weekly (Lead-Acid only) | Maintain proper electrolyte levels for battery health and performance. | |
| Annual Professional Service | Yearly | Get a professional check-up to catch issues not seen in regular maintenance. | |
| Properly Store When Not in Use | Periodic | Use a battery charger/maintainer and cover the cart in adverse weather conditions. | |
| Prevent $$$ | Clean Batteries | Monthly | Clean battery terminals to prevent power loss and prolong battery life. |
| Battery Replacement | As needed | Replace all batteries at once for optimal performance and longevity. | |
| Lubrication Schedule | Varies by model | Lubricate moving parts like the steering system and suspension to avoid premature wear. | |
| Fluid Changes (Gas carts) | As needed | Regularly change oil, oil filter, fuel filter, and air filter to keep the cart running well. |
Written by Alex Sturwold
