Is There a UTV Company That Makes Good Stuff and Backs it Up, Unlike E-Z-GO?

[ruffdog]

I will be keeping my eye out for something better. Kubota looks good.

You complained about the price of EZGO parts but have you bought Deere or Kubota parts ever? I had a RTV 900 that I bought a bunch of accessories for and they $ure did co$t a pretty penny. I'm sure the tariffs will make them even more expensive too!

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Read closely. You misstate the point. My main complaint is not the price of the parts, although even the ripoff artists at John Deere would have a hard time outdoing a $2300 cart bed that cost $75 to make. And I just happen to need bed repairs. It would be nice to buy a new one, I'm going to have to weld mine up instead, which will be a royal pain.

The bigger issues are the fact that so many parts are unavailable, plus the sickliness and incompetence of this poorly-run company. Kubota will be here 50 years from now. E-Z-GO appears to be barely alive right now.

I just read that Textron/E-Z-GO/Jacobsen/New-Name-This-Month has sold its entire powersports line, as of the first quarter. That's not something you do when things are going great. You don't say, "We are rolling in cash, so let's abandon a major division and have a fire sale."

I just looked, and I can buy all sorts of parts for my Kubota engine, which is older than my unsupported cart engine. Far as I know, Kubota is not selling off any of its lines.

The Subaru engine in my cart has been unavailable for a long time. It wasn't discontinued when the cart turned 20. It was a lot earlier.

I don't understand why people get angry at me when I have a problem with a product. This happens about 75% of the time when I post things on the web about bad products and companies. It's like I said someone's baby was ugly.

I don't know why this is an emotional issue. You can criticize any product I own, and I will have no problems with you.

Forums exist to help consumers, not corporations.

 

[ruffdog]

The bigger issues are the fact that so many parts are unavailable,........

There are a TON of EZGO dealers around the country, many with a bunch of NOS (new old stock) parts they would love to get rid of. See if a local dealer can get on a dealer parts database to find those hard to get parts. Good luck!

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I appreciate the advice, but I'm just looking for a better company.

 

[Torvy]

Like I said, it's a golf cart company. They make most of their money doing that. They will keep making money doing that. Pitching them as a UTV was just a marketing ploy to expand sales, not their bread and butter.

Lots of actual UTV manufacturers who focus on off road utility. The customers for EZ Go will continue to buy them for golf and golf course maintenance. Commercial users will typically have upgraded in 20 years, so parts for old machines aren't worth the effort.

Tractors have a lot longer life span, thus, tractor oems tend to support a bit longer.

 

[2515R Dude]

The bed is small, and it only holds 440 pounds, so that's no good. The Kubota Sidekick has a bigger bed and payload. It has 54 HP, which seems ridiculous on a farm cart. If I break 15 mph on this lumpy farm, I'll go flying.

what kind of transmission does it have?

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Like I said, it's a golf cart company. They make most of their money doing that. They will keep making money doing that. Pitching them as a UTV was just a marketing ploy to expand sales, not their bread and butter.

If they manufacturing UTV's, it's a UTV company. They took on the responsibility for making good UTV's and giving them proper support.

You're just saying they neglect one product line in favor of bigger ones.

Yamaha is a guitar company. Kawasaki is a shipbuilding company. Honda is a an airplane company. If you make X, you're an X company.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

what kind of transmission does it have?

The Kubota site says it has "CVT PLUS with centrifugal clutch." The ST350 also has a centrifugal clutch.

 

[5030]

... and Maico makes hearing aids as well as made competition dirt bikes so what is your point? Kohler makes bathroom fixtures and made engines as well.. It's called diversification.

I still don't get you disparaging EZ Go.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Why are you upset about me criticizing a company?

If you don't get it, you can go look at the things I said about it. I listed them. All valid complaints.

 

[Torvy]

If they manufacturing UTV's, it's a UTV company. They took on the responsibility for making good UTV's and giving them proper support.

You're just saying they neglect one product line in favor of bigger ones.

Yamaha is a guitar company. Kawasaki is a shipbuilding company. Honda is a an airplane company. If you make X, you're an X company.

You're missing the point. If you buy a UTV that isn't really a UTV, it's on you.

EZ Go isn't a conglomerate. They make 1 product type. Comparing them to Yamaha is silly. Next time, do your research. If you want a UTV, buy one from someone with a long history of making UTVs.

The other important piece is they don't need your UTV business. To be fair, JD and to a lesser degree Kubota probably will not care either. Unless you are a big corporate client, you will take a back seat.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

That's an interesting opinion, and you are entitled to hold onto it. I am very content with my response.

"Do your research" is not a helpful suggestion. I am doing research, right now. That's the purpose of this thread. When I got this USED CART as part of a PACKAGE, I did my research. I got a screaming deal on three items. It was a huge bargain. I could not ask the seller to give me a Kubota instead of an E-Z-GO. He didn't have a Kubota.

I needed a tractor, a mower, and a cart, fast, and this guy was selling for about half of what his were worth. I was very busy with a move and taking care of a dementia patient. I did not have time to scour the state to see if some other stranger would basically give me $10000 and hand me exactly what I needed.

Now because I have done more research while I owned the cart, I am doing new research because I may want to get rid of it and get something better.

Because I researched, I know I can sell the E-Z-GO and put myself in a big Kubota diesel with low hours for about $4K. Now I am researching things like ground clearance to see if the Kubota will work

Kubota isn't going to give me "a back seat" if I order a part for a Kubota UTV. I don't know where that came from. If you want a Kubota part, you ask for it, pay for it, and take it home. Nobody asks if you have a fleet or whether you also have a tractor.

As for Jacobsen-GO's poor business practices being "on me," well, that's a novel theory. Ordinarily, companies are responsible for their failings, and customers are not.

If their failings are on me, then my choices to show them up on public forums, Youtube, and my widely-read blog, and to buy someone else's products, are on them.

 

[D&D]

Respectfully, you don't know what you're talking about. Go compare E-Z-GO support with any other big company. They stink with newer products, too.

What stinks here is your attitude. You didnt start by asking who has what and their likes/dislikes about it. You started ranting EZgo as a whole over your vintage equipment.
Since you believe the whole bed only costs $75 to make, why havent you made one?

" You misstate the point. My main complaint is not the price of the parts, although even the ripoff artists at John Deere would have a hard time outdoing a $2300 cart bed that cost $75 to make. And I just happen to need bed repairs."
PS May want to double check your story about EZgo's status

 

[RandyT]

Something to also keep in mind is Subaru ended production of all industrial products including their small engines in 2017. As of last December that have laid off the last 3 employees that acted as parts distribution and tech support. So Subaru is history.

 

[ruffdog]

Club Car Carryall 1500 AWD Kubota diesel.......

Diesel Utility Vehicle (UTV) | Carryall 1500 | Club Car

 

[stevem5215]

Bottom line is a quality product made by a company that has staying power (think a company like John Deere) will cost you more to buy and own. If you want cheap then you get that with a lower tier supplier. Bashing a low cost low quality product is why people on here or anywhere oppose your comments.

 

[5030]

Not upset at all. I never understood any poster posting disparaging remarks.

I was raised to.. If you don't have anything good to say about a person or company other than an outright screw job, don't say (or post anything). Posting that crap just makes you look small.

You are whining about the cost of parts. Got news for you, all replacement parts that are OEM are expensive.

 

[5030]

Something to also keep in mind is Subaru ended production of all industrial products including their small engines in 2017. As of last December that have laid off the last 3 employees that acted as parts distribution and tech support. So Subaru is history.

Actually, Kubota bought the entire small engine line. Mine has Subaru cast in the valve cover but the later ones, that is removed.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Not singing the praises of EZ-Go, but we're now on our second one. First one, bought used, was a '94 model. This newer one is a '97. Parts seem to be reasonable - plenty of supply out there. And they're easy to work on.
True enough, they're not heavy duty hard working machines. They're designed to carry people and perhaps a light load. They do that well, but don't expect them to do much heavy lifting. For that, you'll need to fork out some big bucks to buy and repair.

 

[RandyT]

Actually, Kubota bought the entire small engine line. Mine has Subaru cast in the valve cover but the later ones, that is removed.

Actually it looks like Yamaha was the buyer. 9 months before production of the Subaru line ended.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/yamaha-motor-corp-usa-acquires-143917263.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALsqYWsIRPioSMCyx1R3S8vZpQa8hU2L2nV83kaaD_sup7df0F6CveC6Anxpb2jzl78RV4z9OGcvkKUoY2wHbPAeuxFp_Nf5-ONsJoAAxCjEA02SYjRBth5wMMgSR-UJt8TQfWC5v_hx57jvmgrHn5Q7oAusxxDhJtyh_0H-GgG5

And the article reads that Yamaha would contiue support of Subaru products in the US which ended this past December. And you would of thought that Yamaha would of reached out to the Subaru Industrial dealers and service centers to pick them up as Yamaha dealers but that didn't happen.